WS Flash Masta and Neo Pocket FlashMasta / LinkMasta

Two days ago Flavor of flashmasta.com anounced the pre-presale of a new WonderSwan flash cart: The WS Flash Masta.
For all Bandai WonderSwan owners this is exiting news as the flash/development carts for this system are very rare and expensive (e.g. the official WonderWitch or the WonderMagic Color).

To give you an idea what we can expect I’ll show you some carts he has made for the Neo Geo Pocket Color:
First there was the Neo Pocket FlashMasta and the Neo Pocket LinkMasta. I’ve used the Blue Version of the LinkMasta since 2011 and bought a new red 3D printed case for it last year.

Continue reading WS Flash Masta and Neo Pocket FlashMasta / LinkMasta

Printing Fun-Fun with Sega Pri Fun

Today, I’m finally testing the Sega Pri Fun printer that I bought 4-5 years ago. Back then, it was still sealed.
The printer was marketed by Sega in 1995 as an add-on for the Pico and Saturn game consoles. You won’t find much information about it on the WWW except a small article at Sega Retro and a commercial on YouTube.

Sega Pri Fun 01
Sega Pri Fun 01

Continue reading Printing Fun-Fun with Sega Pri Fun

Sega Pico Flash Cart Tutorial

This has been figured out and posted by TeamEurope in 2012 (link, link via link). Unfortunately, the original document has vanished from the WWW. I’ll try to recreate this tutorial here:

The original document suggested to use Sesame Street: Alphabet Avenue as donor cart and pointed out to use an „Assembled in Mexico“ cartridge. As you can see, a regular US cartridge won’t do the trick.
Continue reading Sega Pico Flash Cart Tutorial

Philips CDI 220/00 Mini MMC 60Hz Modification and Timekeeper Replacement

Recently I found a CDI 220/00 with Mini MMC mainboard. It’s a heavy and bulky unit that contains lot of PCBs, wires, screws and metal parts. It’s one of the first consumer CD-i players. Later models have all components on one single mainboard (Mono).

CDI220/00 inside
CDI220/00 inside

Continue reading Philips CDI 220/00 Mini MMC 60Hz Modification and Timekeeper Replacement

NEC PC-FX Laser Pickup HOP-E1

I’ve been struggling with a weak PC-FX laser for quite some time. What kept me from changing the laser or pickup unit was that having to take the PC-FX apart and put it back together later is something you wouldn’t wish your worst enemy. A complete disassembly can be found here. However, getting close to the drive unit is surprisingly easy if you just follow this guide.

First, you need a replacement laser. I chose the complete pickup unit (Hitachi HOP-E1), which was available for about 15€.
Continue reading NEC PC-FX Laser Pickup HOP-E1

Philips CDI 220 Service Software / Self-Test

Chapter 5 of the Philips CDI 220 service manual (the manual that helped finding the right spots for the 60 Hz modification) deals with the built-in service software:

5 SERVICE SOFTWARE
In the set there are 3 different testsoftware available:
1. FTD-display/keyboard test
2. Low Level test
3. Service Shell

I’m going to cite the instructions for 1. and 3. and add pictures or comments if needed (I’m not going to cover 2. as it requires an extra service pcb and/or terminal).
Note: The service manual is valid for the Philips CD-i players CDI 220/20 220/25 220/39 (PAL) and CDI 220/31 220/37 (NTSC). On other players/models the test instructions should be similar if not the same. Continue reading Philips CDI 220 Service Software / Self-Test

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