[ICEknight]

Meat Miracle, on 28 April 2012 - 03:25 PM, said:

Yup, indeed made in 1989, and it uses an old numbering system I have no info of. They changed to a standard format around 1990, where you could read board numbers right out of the serial. Before that, that letter had all kinds of letters in it. I'd guess VA0 or VA1 based on age alone.

It would be cool if you could take a photo, both from the serial and if you end up disassembling the thing.

Oops, I knew I should have taken a pic of it. I might be able to, next week.


...So newer Serial Numbers allow to know the hardware version? I also took notes from the three PAL systems I own.

Here's the info I got from all of them:


(1)
Model: HAA-2510
SN: 99N61029
"AV Intelligent Terminal"
With modem port
No RF connection
Made in Japan
Notes:
-Japanese Mega Drive
-Pack-in controller has really short cord
-Bought at "Happy Shop"



(2)
Region: PAL-G
Model: 1600-18
SN: 40f2272G
"High Def"
With modem port
Made in China
Notes:
-Bought in Spain when the first TMNT game on the NES was still the cool thing
-Came with Altered Beast, as printed on the box
-Has awesome sound quality



(3)
Region: PAL-G
Model: 1601-18
SN: 120362171
No "High Def"
No modem port
Made in China
Notes: Most likely bought in Spain, originally



(4)
Region: PAL-G
Model: 1601-18
SN: 130071623
No "High Def"
No modem port
Made in China
Notes: Most likely bought in Spain, originally.



If I understand correctly, the last three were built in '90, '92 and '93, respectively... But I can't figure out which of those numbers is the motherboard version. =\

This post has been edited by ICEknight: 29 April 2012 - 06:19 AM

[dsrb]

ReBirFh, on 28 April 2012 - 03:56 PM, said:

[pics]

So, the Mega Drive II is actually a Mega Drive 1, and the Mega Drive III is actually a Mega Drive 2? I wonder what that says about the Mega Drive I

This post has been edited by dsrb: 28 April 2012 - 04:27 PM

[ReBirFh]

dsrb, on 28 April 2012 - 04:27 PM, said:

ReBirFh, on 28 April 2012 - 03:56 PM, said:

[pics]

So, the Mega Drive II is actually a Mega Drive 1, and the Mega Drive III is actually a Mega Drive 2? I wonder what that says about the Mega Drive I

MEGA DRIVE (I) [BRA] and MEGA DRIVE II [BRA] are the worldwide MEGA DRIVE / GENESIS (I), TEC TOY numbered them differently as a marketing strategy, there is actually another version of MEGA DRIVE II called "Control Unit" this one doesn't have RF output and the bundle didn't include any game.

TEC TOY used the same numbering system with the MASTER SYSTEM (I and II are I worldwide and III is II worldwide)

[Meat Miracle]

ICEknight, on 28 April 2012 - 04:01 PM, said:

Oops, I knew I should have taken a pic of it. I might be able to, next week.

...So newer Serial Numbers allow to know the hardware version? I also took notes from the PAL systems I own. Here they are:

If I understand correctly, these were built in '90, '92 and '93, respectively... But I can't figure out whichh of those numbers is the motherboard version. =\

I'm honestly not sure. I took a few hour nosedive searching for serials, and it looks like they standardized their system mid-1990. Everything from that uses the exact same system, from Teradrive to Saturn. *

Anything before that seems to be iffy and random though, including the Megadrive. The MD1, specifically, is weird: for 1989 models, the revision number in the serial cycles through letters. Then starting from mid-1990, it's just fixed at 0, no matter the internal hardware. I imagine they first used letters for the production week, then they switched to hardware revision, but this is just speculation unless someone drops in 100+ MD1 serials for us to analyze. I think it's time I started saving those as well.


* except JVC X-eye and JVC V-Saturn which use Victors own numbering system, and HiSaturn Navi which has some other system. The Dreamcast uses a new format.

[Black Squirrel]

dsrb, on 28 April 2012 - 04:27 PM, said:

ReBirFh, on 28 April 2012 - 03:56 PM, said:

[pics]

So, the Mega Drive II is actually a Mega Drive 1, and the Mega Drive III is actually a Mega Drive 2? I wonder what that says about the Mega Drive I

sup

By the way I added some stuff to this page. It would be lovely if someone more knowledgable could make it... better

[Meat Miracle]

It would be nice if someone with many Megadrives could do lightbox back/front pictures of each motherboard. Frankly, I'm surprised no one did a gallery like that before, given how popular the MD is.

[Black Squirrel]

Meat Miracle, on 29 April 2012 - 05:44 AM, said:

It would be nice if someone with many Megadrives could do lightbox back/front pictures of each motherboard. Frankly, I'm surprised no one did a gallery like that before, given how popular the MD is.

I think there needs to be a push to inspire better photography in general - the best video game hardware photographs come from this one bloke on Wikipedia.

Motherboard shots are useful but in some cases, just clear photographs of the complete console are needed

[Meat Miracle]

Well photography is not that simple as one would think. I ended up building a lightbox and buying extra lamps just for my own projects.

Quote

Motherboard shots are useful but in some cases, just clear photographs of the complete console are needed

I disagree. If you want to properly document the evolution of the hardware, proper back/front motherboard shots are needed. The current "hardware pics" section in the wiki is completely worthless and half-assed.
Especially since they only include front pics, sometimes unreadable ones. The 171-x serials (which is THE board identification id) are not visible in any of them, for example.

[Black Squirrel]

I didn't mean it like that - it's hard to convey a tone of voice through text

I mean in some cases the immediate priority should be to actually photograph some of these consoles and accessories from the outside, rather than just the internals. External shots are the ones most people are likely to care about.

We don't actually have a clear photograph of the first Brazillian Mega Drive model for example. I hadn't even seen a photo of it until today.

[TmEE]

I finally got a scanner worth something, I should scan all the mobo versions I got around.

[Meat Miracle]

TmEE, on 29 April 2012 - 12:20 PM, said:

I finally got a scanner worth something, I should scan all the mobo versions I got around.

While I suppose that would be a lot more than nothing, scanning alone would get terrible out-of-focus images from the back due to the protruding cart slot.

[Flygon]

Meat Miracle, on 29 April 2012 - 06:28 PM, said:

TmEE, on 29 April 2012 - 12:20 PM, said:

I finally got a scanner worth something, I should scan all the mobo versions I got around.

While I suppose that would be a lot more than nothing, scanning alone would get terrible out-of-focus images from the back due to the protruding cart slot.

It's not entirely impossible to desolder the cart slot.

[TmEE]

There's different kind of scanners out there, the one I got can take shots of stuff even half a meter away, though it will be quite dark at that point. I just have to make sure the board is level, otherwise it will get some trapezoidal distortion
Some previous ones I have had blur the hell out of anything not touching the glass.

[Spindash54]

Minor bump as I'd like to get an opinion on the matter.

I've been planning on replacing/upgrading my Genesis hardware and I think I've worked out the "optimal" combination.

Any HD Model 1 Genesis (VA2-6) + a 32X + a CD Model 2 (for reliability).

Combine that with a:
32X/Genesis 2 SCART Cable: http://www.ebay.com/...a-/160652364231
SCART->Component Adapter: http://www.amazon.co...41695414&sr=8-1
With the Sega CD outputting audio.

These hardware combinations "should" give optimal video and audio quality with American hardware & TV. Anyone care to agree/disagree?

[ICEknight]

Don't take my word for it, but it might be possible that 32X units work better on Mega Drive 2 systems.

I remember when I had to return one because the picture started looking worse and worse until you couldn't see a thing, after leaving it running for 20 minutes or so... then the same happened with the next one I got. And yes, those metal things were correctly put on my MD1.

This post has been edited by ICEknight: 09 July 2012 - 09:41 AM