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My Sega CD seems to be reporting the wrong region
draelich - Apr 2, 2002
  draelich Apr 2, 2002
The Sega CD I bought presumably hadn't been used for a looong time (guy I bought it from, "I pulled it out from under my bed...") After about 10 min of trying to get anything from it, I finally got a screen that said "ERROR! This Sega CD unit is designed for use in NTSC regions other than Japan and Southeast Asia" and just stays there. I reset it a couple times, and finally the Sega logo came up, the one where sonic is right beside it, and he's twiddling his finger around, and it just froze there.

The Sega CD is NTSC-US, and so is the genesis (I can only assume they both are, cause the help numbers on the bottom are 1-800-USA-SEGA). Both are model 2 units.

What should I do?

 Gallstaff Apr 2, 2002
what game r u running or trying to run?

 draelich Apr 2, 2002
Many different games and cds. The cd's aren't spinning at all (yes, I mean no spinning at all, nothing is spinning, so it has nothing to do with the game). I'm having an extremely hard time trying to even get any output to begin with (I have to play with it like an NES game to get even the error message, usually I get a black screen)

 IceDigger Apr 3, 2002
your genesis is either a japanese or european one, not an US one. the scd appears to be US.

 Strictly Styles Apr 3, 2002
if its not spinning it might be some trouble with the internal battery of the sega cd, i dunno about your region problems

 draelich Apr 3, 2002
I understand why you say that the genesis isn't a US model, but thats not at all possible, because my parents wouldn't have gone out of their way to get a non US model, and on top of that, the help number on the bottom is 1-800-USA-SEGA. Would you reccommend using the instructions on how to switch the region on the genesis just to see if I could force it into NTSC-US ?

Irregardless of whatever region the genesis is, why is it that sometimes I get the sega logo, but it freezes after that, and the cd doesn't spin at all (no types of cds spin in it)?

Lastly, what about connecting the two units? I have to play with it like an NES game to get anything. This Genesis has never had its protective thingy over the chip off, let alone be connected to a Sega CD before. How would I go about cleaning the connectors on the Sega CD?

Thanks to those who are answering my questions

 draelich Apr 3, 2002
Also, if I changed the internal battery on either system (more importantly, the Sega CD) do you think that would impact anything?

 IceDigger Apr 3, 2002
the error message you mention ONLY appears when the scd 's country doesn't match the genesis' country version.

maybe your genesis has been modified in the past, i.e. to play japanese games. try adding the us/jap switch and see if that helps.

 draelich Apr 3, 2002
doh, I didn't want it to some to putting a region switch in it...however, the genesis never had anything done to it. It was more than likely purchased at Toys R Us way back when. Anyhow, hopefully the 5v lead to the pin is busted, or something along those lines. I'm gonna check it out later tonite

 ExCyber Apr 3, 2002
It sounds to me like there could be an intermittent short on the system bus somewhere. Do cartridge games run properly when the Sega CD is connected?

 draelich Apr 3, 2002
yes, cartridge games work when the sega cd is connected.

 draelich Apr 4, 2002
Ok, I just hardwired the genesis to J4 (5v) even though it appeared as though it already was connected to the 5v field. Sega CD still gives me the same error. Then I hard wired the genesis to J3 (0v) and it still gave me the same error. Yes, I am positive that all of the copper was removed from around the appropriate hole on the bottom of the board.

HOWEVER, one time (when it was hard wired to the 5v), and this was completely wierd, I had a copy of sonic cd in the tray. When I powered on the system, it went to the sega logo with sonic twiddling his finger. Rather than it playing the sega jingle (which is what I had heard before when that logo came up, and is what I always hear when i use the emulator Gens) it started playing some song. I thought at first it may have been the Sega jingle played very slowly, cause there were a lot of low notes in the song, but it wasn't, cause the song didn't sound like the sega jingle, and it kept going for awhile. However, the cd did not spin up AT ALL, and there was no more video after the Sega logo, just like usual, but the music kept playing. It was a kinda cool song actually, but not what I'm looking for here.

I still appreciate everyone's help, but do you guys have any more suggestions? I'd really hate to have to ship this back, just so the guy can try to screw me out of my money.

 ExCyber Apr 4, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			When I powered on the system, it went to the sega logo with sonic twiddling his finger.



...



However, the cd did not spin up AT ALL


That's really weird, because AFAIK the BIOS won't show that screen until its verified the logo display program on the disc...

 draelich Apr 4, 2002
Hehe, I never said it was working properly, now did I? The Sega logo usually doesn't come up though, I usually get the error message.

Mind you, I almost always get a black screen, and when I do get something, its either the error screen, or a garbled version of the error screen.