I got a Radica Genesis today

scherzo · Post by **scherzo** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:44 pm

It seems like a quality product for the money. Of course, I didn't buy it so I can play the games inside of it. I bought it so I can dismantle it and see if there's any possibility of using the hardware for a portable. However, I've never made a portable in my life and I have a faint grasp of electronics. So I was hoping if anyone here has a Radica and did any fiddling with it.

I opened it up. I see the Genesis on a chip. On the same side of the board is what appears to be the ROM. It has a sticker on it that reads "L121 32M (chinese characters) E5F0 L 03-6-04". Probably a capacity of 32 MB.

I'm curious if the menu system is implemented via a genesis binary or through something lower.

It also looks like the memory could be desoldered and removed. But do the pins coincide to the pins on a genesis cart.

I haven't a clue. The internals are so incredibly small though. It would be sweet if this could be used to make a new portable Genesis.

Yes, the nomad exists. But they are fairly rare and this Radica thing surely draws less power.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:56 pm

From what I've seen (pics) the internal rom is connected with the same number of leads the carts and cart slot have in the standard genesis. So if you have the plastic part you could possibly wire the leads to it and it would read the carts. The whole menu thing is likely apart of the rom and not the system's hardware.

scherzo · Post by **scherzo** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:32 pm

Well, I have a Genesis 2 lying around and wouldn't mind sacrificing it for the sake of experimentation. I can get the cart connector from there.

I counted my Golden Axe cart to have 64 pins and the memory on the Radica board to have 44. I'm going to open up the cart to see if there are 20 dead-end pins. If so, I'll give it a try.

...

OK, my Golden Axe has 22 dead-end pins, which puts it's true count to 42, 2 SHORT of the Radica ROM. Time to open some other carts...

...

Altered Beast has 22 dead also, but Eco - Tides of Time has 20! It has 44 used pins, just like the Radica ROM. I guess I found my test subject.

Now, if any of you knows of a good site about soldering, I could really use it. I've successfully done soldering before, but not on anything as small scale as today's electronics. The last time I tried soldering new age stuff, I totally screwed up a PS2 (mod chip). That ROM is smaller than my thumb.

xxxeagle · Post by **xxxeagle** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 6:01 pm

I just searched google and if found a pretty good soldering guide this http://www.aaroncake.net/electronics/solder.htm should help you soldering is really easy once you get the hang of it. I picked it up after soldering two boards.

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:42 pm

hey, aaron's site, i know that guy.

and good luck on the gen

scherzo · Post by **scherzo** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 7:52 am

Well, I managed to desolder the cartridge connector from my Genesis 2. I was also able to remove the ROM board in the Radica. Now I was wondering if anyone had some good ideas about how to match up the 44 pins on the Radica with the 44 active pins on my Eco cart. I would hate trial and error. That's a lot of possibilities!

I could also use some soldering tips. Kind of basic stuff but the tutorials I've found on the internet didn't touch on this. How do I prevent the board from moving in a table top environment. Should I buy some kind of clamp that I can attach to my table? What kind? Also, when soldering a wire to a point on the board that doesn't have a hole allowing me to bend the wire a little, how do I hold the iron, the solder, and the wire all at the same time? I feel kind of retarded that I haven't figured it out, but every time I've attempted soldering in my life, it's been a problem and I've made many cold joints because of it.

vb_master · Post by **vb_master** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 10:20 am

Use duct tape to stop it from moving.

I would assume that pin one on the chip = pin one of the cartridge.

To solder a wire directly to the board, put some solder down first on the pad, and add the wire after a nice glob of solder is down.

scherzo · Post by **scherzo** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 6:35 pm

Thanks.

About the pins. A genesis cart actually has 64 pins, 44 of which are used. The 20 unused pins are not all the ones after pin 44. They are in a few groups on the B side. That's why I have the problem of matching them up. I have a breadboard with enough slots to test with. I might just have to resort to trial and error. *sigh*

Post by **Sparkfist** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 6:46 pm

Or go to http://www.gamesx.com/cartouts/gennycart.htm and look at the pinout guide they have for the genesis. It looked like at least 5 pins they dont have a clue what their for. It should help none the less.

scherzo · Post by **scherzo** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 8:25 pm

Thanks a lot. That pinout should come in handy. I'm just going to go 1 to 1, skipping the unused pins and hope it works out. The only other problem is that the contacts for the ROM are very small and close together. It'll be difficult to solder the wires without jumping pins and still having solid connections. This'll be a good practice for more desoldering, I'm sure.

If I mess this up, I'll just move on to a SNES portable.

vb_master · Post by **vb_master** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 8:28 pm

Could you scan the board for us, top and bottom?

scherzo · Post by **scherzo** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 8:55 pm

Well, I just scanned it but the board came out very blurry because the capacitors and stuff keep the board from being against the glass of the scanner. I'll have to take a photo with my old Cannon, get that developed, and scan that.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 9:05 pm

If your worries about the connections coming lose or something like that, just grab the trusty hot glue gun and use it to secure the solder points.

Good luck.

scherzo · Post by **scherzo** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 9:09 pm

Ah, hot glue. So that's what that goop is on some of those wire connections, like the ones for the controller. Is hot glue easily removable?

Post by **Sparkfist** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 9:16 pm

Well you can tare it off with some effort, or in your case with the radica use a knive and pliers to remove sections of it (incase you mess up). Its really tough to argure the advantage of hot glue, electral tape is a close second, and sorry but duct tape has its limits in this area.