Strange Megadrive region problems.

OK, to start with, originally out of the box, my Megadrive is PAL Asian.

That is it was 50hz/w borders. It played all region games.

I modded it to run 60hz/full screen by severing jumper 4 (as far as i remember). So it does run full screen, I had assumed it was NOW JAP region NTSC......it no longer runs PAL chip locked games (Gunstar, Dynamite Headdy etc).

But get this, it doesnt appear to be. Going through some other games I find :

1) MY JAP Virtua Racing is locked out, says "only ntsc & pal region" useage....wtf?

2)my JAP Bare Knuckle is displayed on screen as "Streets of Rage".

...so, it appears it is not JAP NTSC region in the full context, what is wrong.....do PAL Asia Megadrives have an intervening bios??

umm..weird
i honestily cant help that much since I've never, in my life, bought ANYTHING Pal(games or console)

is the convo done properly??
check this pages

http://users.skynet.be/DuNe/Console/stuff.html

and

http://www.litespeedcomputers.com/sx/

anyway, problem number 2) tells me that there'ssomething wrong with conversion, cause certain(very few) MD titles are kinda neo AES carts
they carry both languages...

I guess you cut the wrong wire. Judging from the "Streets of Rage" display, your unit runs on US or Euro NTSC now.

The lockouts in some games are two-fold, some (like Gunstar Heroes PAL or Castlevania - TNG PAL) test for 50/60Hz, others for the territory (US/EU/JAP), there are even some which check both settings.

In other words, you will need two switches, one for US/JAP and one for 50/60Hz.

Take a look in here for more details:

Mega Drive Model 1 Switch

...and here:

Sega Genesis Personality Switch

Territory and PAL/NTSC switches also are a very cool way to trick the territory/display lock of some games. For ex. to play Castlevania TNG PAL in 60Hz full screen, put the unit on US/50Hz, power on and switch to 60Hz on the start screen - voila, full screen, full speed, no lockout!

This works with a lot of PAL games except for the PAL-optimized ones like Samurai Shodown, Virtua Racing, etc., they just freeze when switched to 60Hz while running.

on a side note:
are you sure your MD is PAL??

I know that asian consoles are NTSC jap encoded....and few of'em run at 240V, but are anyway NTSC 60Hz

I agree with Takumaji, it really looks like US NTSC, 90% sure.

Why you don't install a US/JP region switch? That was a pretty popular mod that time here. It must be not difficult to find a howto about it.

kaos said:

on a side note:
are you sure your MD is PAL??

I know that asian consoles are NTSC jap encoded....and few of'em run at 240V, but are anyway NTSC 60Hz

Click to expand...

Yeah fo sure it was 50hz with borders, when i first got it I only had the RF lead.

Thanks fo rthe help guys anyway, guess i'm gonna have to double switch it afterall.

BTW, what Euro territories are NTSC...Russia??

no, Russia uses the stupid french "different" system
that is a PAL anyway

AFGHANISTAN PAL and SECAM
ALBANIA PAL
ALGERIA PAL
ANGOLA PAL
ANTARCTICA NTSC
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA NTSC
ARGENTINA PAL
ARMENIA SECAM
ARUBA NTSC
AUSTRALIA PAL
AUSTRIA PAL
AZERBAIJAN SECAM
AZORES PAL
BAHAMAS NTSC
BAHRAIN PAL
BANGLADESH PAL
BARBADOS NTSC
BELARUS SECAM
BELGIUM PAL
BELGIUM (ARMED FORCES NETWORK) NTSC
BELIZE NTSC
BENIN SECAM
BERMUDA NTSC
BOLIVIA NTSC
BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA PAL
BOTSWANA SECAM and PAL
BRAZIL PAL
BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY
(AF DIEGO GARCIA TV - AFRTS) NTSC
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM PAL
BULGARIA SECAM
BURKINA FASO SECAM
BURUNDI SECAM
CAMBODIA PAL and NTSC
CAMEROON PAL
CANADA NTSC
CANARY ISLANDS PAL
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC SECAM
CHAD SECAM
CHILE NTSC
CHINA (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC) PAL
COLOMBIA NTSC
CONGO (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC) SECAM
CONGO, DEM. REP. (ZAIRE) SECAM
COOK ISLANDS PAL
COSTA RICA NTSC
COTE D'IVOIRE (IVORY COAST) SECAM
CROATIA PAL
CUBA NTSC
CYPRUS PAL
CZECH REPUBLIC PAL
DENMARK PAL
DIEGO GARCIA NTSC
DJIBOUTI SECAM
DOMINICA NTSC
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC NTSC
EASTER ISLAND PAL
ECUADOR NTSC
EGYPT PAL and SECAM
EL SALVADOR NTSC
EQUITORIAL GUINEA SECAM
ESTONIA PAL and SECAM
ETHIOPIA PAL
FALKLAND ISLANDS (LAS MALVINAS) PAL
FIJI NTSC
FINLAND PAL
FRANCE SECAM
FRANCE (FRENCH FORCES TV) SECAM
GABON SECAM
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS NTSC
GAMBIA PAL
GEORGIA SECAM
GERMANY PAL
GERMANY (ARMED FORCES TV GERMANY) NTSC
GHANA PAL
GIBRALTAR PAL
GREECE SECAM
GREENLAND PAL
GRENADA NTSC
GUAM NTSC
GUADELOUPE SECAM
GUATEMALA NTSC
GUIANA (FRENCH) SECAM
GUINEA PAL
GUYANA NTSC
HAITI NTSC
HONDURAS NTSC
HONG KONG PAL
HUNGARY PAL
ICELAND PAL
INDIA PAL
INDONESIA PAL
IRAN SECAM
IRAQ SECAM
IRELAND, REPUBLIC OF PAL
ISLE OF MAN PAL
ISRAEL PAL
ITALY PAL
JAMAICA NTSC
JAPAN NTSC
JOHNSTONE ISLAND NTSC
JORDAN PAL
KAZAKHSTAN SECAM
KENYA PAL
KOREA (NORTH) SECAM and PAL
KOREA (SOUTH) NTSC
KUWAIT PAL
KYRGYZ REPUBLIC SECAM
LAOS PAL
LATVIA PAL and SECAM
LEBANON PAL
LESOTHO PAL
LIBERIA PAL
LIBYA PAL
LIECHTENSTEIN PAL B/G
LITHUANIA PAL and SECAM
LUXEMBOURG PAL and SECAM
MACAU PAL
MACEDONIA PAL
MADAGASCAR SECAM
MADEIRA PAL
MALAYSIA PAL
MALDIVES PAL
MALI SECAM
MALTA PAL
MARSHALL ISLANDS NTSC
MARTINIQUE SECAM
MAURITANIA SECAM
MAURITIUS SECAM
MAYOTTE SECAM
MEXICO NTSC
MICRONESIA NTSC
MIDWAY ISLAND NTSC
MOLDOVA (MOLDAVIA) SECAM
MONACO SECAM and PAL
MONGOLIA SECAM
MONTSERRAT NTSC
MOROCCO SECAM
MOZAMBIQUE PAL
MYANMAR (BURMA) NTSC
NAMIBIA PAL
NEPAL PAL B
NETHERLANDS PAL
NETHERLANDS (ARMED FORCES NETWORK) NTSC
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES NTSC
NEW CALEDONIA SECAM
NEW ZEALAND PAL
NICARAGUA NTSC
NIGER SECAM
NIGERIA PAL
NORFOLK ISLAND PAL
NORTH MARIANA ISLANDS NTSC
NORWAY PAL
OMAN PAL
PAKISTAN PAL
PALAU NTSC
PANAMA NTSC
PAPUA NEW GUINEA PAL
PARAGUAY PAL
PERU NTSC
PHILIPPINES NTSC
POLAND PAL
POLYNESIA (FRENCH) SECAM
PORTUGAL PAL
PUERTO RICO NTSC
QATAR PAL
REUNION SECAM
ROMANIA PAL
RUSSIA SECAM
ST. KITTS & NEVIS NTSC
ST. LUCIA NTSC
ST. PIERRE ET MIQUELON SECAM
ST. VINCENT NTSC
SAO TOMÉ E PRINCIPE PAL
SAMOA, AMERICAN NTSC
SAUDI ARABIA SECAM and PAL
SAMOA NTSC
SENEGAL SECAM
SEYCHELLES PAL
SIERRA LEONE PAL
SINGAPORE PAL
SLOVAKIA PAL
SLOVENIA PAL
SOMALIA PAL
SOUTH AFRICA PAL
SPAIN PAL
SRI LANKA PAL
SUDAN PAL
SURINAME NTSC
SWAZILAND PAL
SWEDEN PAL
SWITZERLAND PAL
SYRIA SECAM and PAL
TAHITI SECAM
TAIWAN NTSC
TAJIKISTAN SECAM
TANZANIA PAL
THAILAND PAL
TOGO SECAM
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO NTSC
TUNISIA SECAM
TURKEY PAL
TURKMENISTAN SECAM
TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS NTSC
UGANDA PAL
UKRAINE SECAM
URUGUAY PAL
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES PAL
UNITED STATES NTSC
UNITED KINGDOM PAL
UZBEKISTAN SECAM
VENEZUELA NTSC
VIETNAM NTSC and SECAM
VIRGIN ISLANDS (US & BRITISH) NTSC
WALLIS & FUTUNA SECAM
YEMEN PAL and NTSC
YUGOSLAVIA PAL
ZAMBIA PAL
ZIMBABWE PAL

kaos said:

BIG LIST

Click to expand...

Just an off-topic correction: the brazilian system is PAL-M, what is different from the european PAL.

Verythrax said:

Just an off-topic correction: the brazilian system is PAL-M, what is different from the european PAL.

Click to expand...

yeah, I know
unfortunately Pal-M is the poorest signal of the bunch.....sorry man

it's 525 lines, 50 Hz, 220 V primary power
It basically takes negative aspects of NTSC and PAL and mix up together

kaos said:

yeah, I know
unfortunately Pal-M is the poorest signal of the bunch.....sorry man

it's 525 lines, 50 Hz, 220 V primary power
It basically takes negative aspects of NTSC and PAL and mix up together

Click to expand...

Yea, I know

2 of my happiest moments in life where I got a auto VCR, so I didn't need to get PAL-M consoles anymore. And when I got an auto TV too

Thanks kaos and Takumaji, I been looking for the MD1 mods for quite awhile

/heats up the soldering iron.