SOLVED!! The great Genesis Model 1 comparison list

[MegaDrive20XX]

Mine says

FCC ID FJ8USASEGA

Model 1601
Serial No. B10433327
EXT Port
"Hi-Def" Text
Made in Japan

Thanks for the help YoshiM and everyone else

[BIGMIKE]

my two copper coins in........

luckily have two models of the genny 1 and one with license one without.......wooooooooooooo

with>>>1601>>>serial r20115983.......no hi def

without..1601...30t14933...has hi def

coolness has been achieved

[savageone]

Bumping up this topic to post up this oddity I came across in the wild a few weeks back.

This is a Sega Genesis FJ8USASEGA system with no high definition graphics logo, but it does NOT have the copyright screen. More interesting is that there is a sticker on the bottom specifying the system was reconditioned by Sega of America at some point.

No idea what the story behind this one is but I just thought I'd toss it in here.

[Kitsune Sniper]

If it was reconditioned, then maybe they replaced the outer case.

[fahlim003]

I'll add my two cents to this topic stating it assisted me in bagging a ID less Genesis (HIGH DEFINITION no TMSS logo) at a Goodwill for a couple bucks this past summer. Good times.

[Jeffauto]

Does anyone know if the chip can be removed?

[Ace]

TMSS is a BIOS ROM embedded within a custom Sega chip that's critical to the Genesis' functioning. There is no chip per-se that has TMSS on it.

It can be bypassed, though, but I'm not sure of the specifics of how to go about doing so.

[Lady Jaye]

Thanks guys for all that info! I now know that I have a chipped Model 1 Genesis. The copy of Populous we found is the first print run (with the cardboard box) and of course it won't work at all on my Genesis. Oh well, didn't really intend on keeping it...

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Thanks guys for all that info! I now know that I have a chipped Model 1 Genesis. The copy of Populous we found is the first print run (with the cardboard box) and of course it won't work at all on my Genesis. Oh well, didn't really intend on keeping it...

I was always under the impression that the simplest way to bypass that lock-out was to load a commercial Genesis game that wasn't a locked-out EA title like Populous, let it load past the SEGA logo, rip it out with the console powered up, put the EA title in with the console still running and then hit the reset button.

[theclaw]

Game Genie is said to work for some of those games. It was mentioned back on page 1.

Japanese systems have neither an RF modulator, or the metal shielding over their main board.

The TMSS screen only appears for Genesis or 32X games. Master System and Sega CD modes will not display it.

[Polygon]

I probably already know the answer to this, but I'm assuming that all "High Definition" models had the ext port?

[xelement5x]

I probably already know the answer to this, but I'm assuming that all "High Definition" models had the ext port?

Unless someone was swapping shells then most likely. That's what I would guess was the case for that reconditioned systems mentioned.

THis thread on Sega-16 is also very useful for determining revisions:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthr...-from-bad-ones

[goldenband]

Game Genie is said to work for some of those games. It was mentioned back on page 1.

Of the five US releases that don't pass TMSS (Budokan, Ishido, Onslaught, Populous, Zany Golf), a Game Genie works for all of them except Budokan. The US release of that game won't boot on any Model 2/Nomad system I've tried, though the European release will.

(Someone mentioned having a Budokan that would boot on their Nomad, but that's the only contrary report I've heard.)

There are a handful of Japanese releases or variants that don't pass TMSS; I think the only one that could be troublesome is Super Daisenryaku (I don't know if it uses a battery or a password, but if it uses a battery, you won't be able to save through a Game Genie).

There are also a handful of unlicensed games that use a Russian devkit that won't boot because the game code trashes the registers used for TMSS. There are ROM patches/hex editing values that fix some of those. In general unlicensed/pirate games often don't get along well with TMSS for whatever reason.

[Polygon]

Unless someone was swapping shells then most likely. That's what I would guess was the case for that reconditioned systems mentioned.

THis thread on Sega-16 is also very useful for determining revisions:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthr...-from-bad-ones

That's awesome! Thanks for the link.

I'm actually trying to figure our what model 1 I should get to modify. I have a few model 1s, all have TMSS and none are VA7. However, according to that link all of the model 1s have equal audio except the VA7. However, I'm seeing links saying that non-TMSS units have superior sound to TMSS units. Is that true? I thought the only real difference was being able to play unlicensed games.

[PreZZ]

I dont know why, but my non tmss sounds a lot louder trough the headphone jack than my other hi def tmss model 1. Sounds a little bit better too.

[Polygon]

I dont know why, but my non tmss sounds a lot louder trough the headphone jack than my other hi def tmss model 1. Sounds a little bit better too.

Which is where I'm lost since they shouldn't since all model 1s use the YM2612 sound chip except the VA7 revision.