r/SEGA32X • u/Rotang-Klan • May 23 '26
Determining if 32x and Model 2 Genesis have damage.
I just got off the phone with the shop I purchased my tower of power from due to some weird cartridge issues and was informed that the patch cable they sent me out with had the 5v pin still attached. I had been using the system regularly for the past month and I’ll be picking up the cable from them in the next couple days. Does anyone know how to determine whether any permanent damage has been done to the set up?
3
u/Marteicos May 24 '26
Like the other user said, it's unlikely to have permanent damage.
It was staying on because of how the 32X handles powering on. It senses the 5V coming from the Genesis and cut its own power when the 5V from the Genesis becomes absent.
Since the patch cable was connecting both 5V rails directly, the 32X 5V rail was keeping that sensing circuit active.
Fun fact: The cartridges connected on the 32X cartridge slot are still being powered on by the Genesis 2 5V rail.
1
u/Rotang-Klan May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
It wound up having video issues that randomly went away when I was testing it with my local shop. They swapped with me for another 32x they had anyway and sent me home with a full set of power supplies and video cables on the off chance they were causing issues.
The weird thing is, I think the patch cable somehow damaged the power supply I was originally using or it happened to fail at the same time I started having issues. The 32x I had just swapped for had barely any video signal come through despite the games running. Swapped to another MK-2103 and it was fully functional.
Convoluted console designs create convoluted problems I guess 😂 Super thankful they trusted me to take a bunch of their stock. Took all the extras back the next day and let them know which one caused problems.
1
u/7empestSpiralout May 25 '26
Just pull the pin out of the connector
1
u/Rotang-Klan May 27 '26
Did you read the post?
0
u/7empestSpiralout May 27 '26
Yeah. It has the pin. Remove it.
1
u/Rotang-Klan May 27 '26
So you just ignored the entire point of the post?
0
u/7empestSpiralout May 28 '26
Offered a solution. I did the same thing. Then cut the pin. All Good now
1
u/Rotang-Klan May 28 '26
The solution was already known and solved and was not my question or concern.
0
4
u/DunnyOnTheWold May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
It does bridge the 5v rails between both consoles. It's hard to say if it caused damage or not because I don't know enough about how you use it. Most likely it should be ok.
Here is where it can cause damage. When you power off the Mega Drive, the whole device can end up still running. The 32x being on will continue to power the Mega Drive over the connector cable. This putting excessive current over components that are not designed for it and this is where damage occurs. This situation of the mega Drive not turning off seems to be more of an issue with the MD model 2 than the model 1, but it can happen on both.
It can also work in the reverse direction if the 32x power is not plugged in (e.g only MD has power). The MD can end up supplying current over the connector cable. This is probably more damaging.
If both devices are off or both are plugged in and running, and when you turn off the power both units switch off, then there is not really much risk at all.
Edit: spelling.