32X Questions...

[Ze_ro]

Okay, so I found one of these things at a thrift store today. I was lucky enough to get the entire package, including the box, manuals, and all the connections (for $30 CDN, which I thought was decent). Problem is that I don't yet have any games, and I can't seem to get the thing to work properly with normal Genesis games.

 

Previously, I only had a Genesis 2... and I didn't have an A/V cable for it, so I found the pinouts on the net, and just made a homebrew cable of sorts. Unfortunately, since finding a mini-din plug is next to impossible, one end of the cable was just a bunch of straight pins soldered to wires (It wasn't attractive, but it worked). Now, one of the cables that came with the 32X was a Genesis 2 A/V cable (well, it was meant for the 32X obviously, but it's the same port). "Great!" I thought... "I can stop using those stupid pins!" however, once I connected everything (including those stupid metal clips that you have to stuff into the cartridge port... nothing worked. The light on the Genesis came on, but the game wouldn't show on the screen. The only noticable effect was that the screen got slightly brighter.

 

So, I took everything apart, and just tried using the Genesis 2 without the 32X, but using the new A/V cable... same thing. I used a multimeter to make sure that the cable wasn't broken, and sure enough, the connection was fine... tried again, but the video/audio still didn't happen, even if I jiggled the cable. I tried stuffing the pins back into the A/V port, and sure enough, I got video and audio. This doesn't make any sense to me, since the cable doesn't seem to be damaged at all. At this point, I assembled the 32X back onto the Genesis again, and tried stuffing the pins into the 32X... but I just get the same effect as before... the screen gets slightly brighter, but no games will play. Has anyone had this problem before? A friend of mine had a 32X, so I'll probably take all this equipment over to his house and see if I can figure out what piece is causing the problems. I should probably also point out that I checked the A/V passthrough cable, and couldn't find any breaks in it either.

 

Also, regarding some of the parts that came with the 32X, is all this really necessary? I'm sure my friend doesn't have the metal clips, and his seems to work fine. Plus, I got this weird piece that apparently plugs into the expansion port. There was a little card in about 6 languages that said to install that if you don't have a Sega CD. Now I'm positive that my friend doesn't have this piece, so what the hell? When installed, this piece sticks out the side of the Genesis, and looks strange too. I tried setting up the 32X with and without both this strange piece and the metal clips, but still no go...

 

Finally, this question isn't really important, but I was just curious... on the front of the 32X box, it says that it's not compatible with a CDX... although in the manual, it actually shows you how to hook the two up anyways. Now, I read through some FAQ's and found out that the only reason Sega says it's incompatible is because they didn't get FCC approval for the combination (which seems reasonable to me)... however, in the instructions, it shows that you need a special mounting bracket similar to the one that you use for the Genesis 2 (except that this one is much bigger). It says that this piece is sold seperately... but did this ever come out? I would imagine that it didn't, since the FCC would probably not be too happy about it. I'm pretty sure you don't need the mounting bracket, and that it's just there so that the combination doesn't look goofy, and so the 32X doesn't break off the cartridge port or something.

 

--Zero

[Ze_ro]

Well, as usual, I figured out the answer to (one of) my questions 5 minutes after posting... and also as usual, it ended up being something stupid

 

Turns out that I wasn't pushing the A/V cables far enough into the Genesis. If you push it a bit, it clicks in... but if you push it REALLY hard, it pops all the way in. I didn't realize it was such a tight connection. Anyways, normal Genesis games seem to work fine through the 32X now, and I don't get nearly as much interference as when I was using pins in the port (sadly, I still need to use the pins for my Saturn until I get an A/V cable for that ).

 

As far as I can tell, the thing works fine without either the metal clips or the expansion plug thing. The manual refers to the metal clips as "electromagnetic shields", so perhaps they reduce interference or something, I have no idea. As for the expansion plug, I have no idea either. Since they obviously gave me these things for a reason, I'm going to leave the system with them both plugged in (also so that I don't lose them).

 

--Zero

[Lost Monkey]

Did you get the short Gen 2 to 32X AV cable as well?

 

The "electromagnetic shields" are there to cut down on interference - as the SH2's are in the "cartridge" portion of the 32X, not the upper part.

[Ze_ro]

Yeah, I have all the cables... even the cable for use with a classic Genesis (strange that they made it an adaptor instead of an actual cable... the goofy female end of it was probably more expensive this way). As for the shield plates, I can't see any noticable difference... is this just an FCC thing, or is interference actually a problem for some?

 

Another question... I managed to borrow three games from my friend.. Virtua Fighter, Doom, and Space Harrier. Is it normal for the 32X to make noise while you play? (That is, the system itself buzzing) I know the Jaguar does this, but I'd never heard of a 32X doing this... it seems to be somewhat related to what the 32X is doing as well... title screens and pause screens don't buzz at all, but heavy 3D gets noticable. Doom is especially bad, but even Space Harrier makes some noise... Anyone else get this?

 

--Zero

[krisjohn]

(sadly, I still need to use the pins for my Saturn until I get an A/V cable for that)

 

RGB

http://www.lik-sang.com/catalog/product_in...oducts_id=1478&

 

S-Video

http://www.lik-sang.com/catalog/product_in...oducts_id=1097&

 

I've got one of the S-Video cables from there. I also got my Saturn region bypass cart and multitaps from Lik-sang. They're fine as long as nothing goes wrong (like my rumble/memory pack for my N64), as they expect you to post the faulty item back at your own cost.

[Gunstar]

Yeah, I have all the cables... even the cable for use with a classic Genesis (strange that they made it an adaptor instead of an actual cable... the goofy female end of it was probably more expensive this way). As for the shield plates, I can't see any noticable difference... is this just an FCC thing, or is interference actually a problem for some?

 

Another question... I managed to borrow three games from my friend.. Virtua Fighter, Doom, and Space Harrier. Is it normal for the 32X to make noise while you play? (That is, the system itself buzzing) I know the Jaguar does this, but I'd never heard of a 32X doing this... it seems to be somewhat related to what the 32X is doing as well... title screens and pause screens don't buzz at all, but heavy 3D gets noticable. Doom is especially bad, but even Space Harrier makes some noise... Anyone else get this?

 

--Zero

 

Only a few of, I believe, the early Jags have this buzzing problem and not all of them. I've owned/own several Jags, both M and K series and now a Jag Development system, and though I've heard of others hearing a buzz from the Jag, I never have on any of mine...all are completely silent.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

The metal clips are officially labeled to help reduce the interference from the SH2 procs and the Genesis procs all so close to each other. However, I found a more likely reason the metal clips exist. On both of my 32x units...if I bump the Genesis while playing a game...the game will usually lock up. That is...without the metal clips they lock up. So the metal clips also provide a tighter fit for the 32X unit while it is attached to the Genesis base.

 

As for the cable stuff...I can tell you this. As long as the Genesis base could be connected up...you could have tested the 32x with normal carts. All the cable from the 32X does is overlay the 32x Graphics ontop of the standard Genesis video signal going to the TV. I didn't have the cable from the 32x to my Genesis when I got my first one so I actually found out that Shadow Squadron will run without it...but then you can't see any of the polys in the game

 

However, it is interested to pop in 32x games without the video attached to see what graphics the 32x is handling...VS the genesis by itself. I usually find out that title screens and polys are about the only thing the Genesis isn't displaying...

[Lost Monkey]

Yeah, I have all the cables... even the cable for use with a classic Genesis (strange that they made it an adaptor instead of an actual cable... the goofy female end of it was probably more expensive this way). As for the shield plates, I can't see any noticable difference... is this just an FCC thing, or is interference actually a problem for some?

 

Another question... I managed to borrow three games from my friend.. Virtua Fighter, Doom, and Space Harrier. Is it normal for the 32X to make noise while you play? (That is, the system itself buzzing) I know the Jaguar does this, but I'd never heard of a 32X doing this... it seems to be somewhat related to what the 32X is doing as well... title screens and pause screens don't buzz at all, but heavy 3D gets noticable. Doom is especially bad, but even Space Harrier makes some noise... Anyone else get this?

 

--Zero

 

Based on my own experience with the 32X, I would say the buzzing is an anomoly. A few years ago I bought around 10 of them from a salvage place and not one of the 10 buzzed.

 

My first Jag did though.... it was actually more of a hiss.