Sega Model 1 hardware reliability

RetroHacker

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The machine in question is a Virtua Fighter. The game sort of works - but there is a problem with all the 3d graphics. When you first turn it on, you get some flashes of glitchy polygons, and after it warms up, all those go away, leaving you with no 3D stuff - just the 2D text, menus and backgrounds. Then the game really becomes Imaginary Fighter, since the characters are all invisible, even though you can hear the sounds and "play" the game.

So, basically, from what I can tell, the 3D board in the stack is shot. I don't think they're repairable, short of replacing that whole board. But, from what I've seen, this is a somewhat common problem with this system. I even remember seeing a machine in the arcade with 3D graphic glitches.

Anyone have any experience with these games?

And, of course, I checked eBay and didn't see any boards for sale. If this is going to get fixed, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to track down a working 3D board.

-Ian
 
Sega stuff is really funky. Theres just sooo much hardware to drive you nuts. I had 3D problems on Model2 Daytona PCB and the solution was actually to hold a jumper over a certain resister for 10 sec and it fixed it.. this is all advice coming from this former Sega arcade division tech employee who was laid off when they shut down and now runs a Sega PCB repair service. (And doing quite well I might add) Not sure about his rates but this is his site:

http://www.irepairsega.com/

Maybe ask him for a quote? Hope you find a fix!

EDIT- I just noticed it says on his site he is currently repairing PCBs from 1994 (Daytona) and up. Well, I don't think it would hurt to ask anyway?
 
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