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I was playing the SMS version of Out Run last night and while the game boots up fine on my Genesis model 1 with Power Base Converter, there is no BGM at all. When I started playing the game, I could only hear the sound of the wave on the music select screen. Then, when I am actually racing, I would hear white noise in place of the selected BGM for about 10-15 seconds, and then the sound completely stops. No audible sound effects either. I don't understand how that is possible, since there is nothing wrong with the game since I last played it years ago or the system, and other games play perfectly with full sound. I even used a commercial cartridge cleaner and cleaned the contacts, but to no avail. Any ideas on how to fix this problem?

Bit rot, maybe? :S

I thought that only happens with EEPROM games (usually prototypes). SMS games didn't use EEPROMs for production copies, did they? (I know a few very early third-party-manufactured Famicom games did, and also some other early '80s consoles, so it's not completely out of the question.)

ANY storage medium is susceptible to bit rot - it's all a matter of how long can up push it back for the average. That's the idea behind gold CDs - aluminum is particularly susceptible to bit rot over just a couple decades, while gold allows them to claim a minimum of 100 years. Similarly, mask roms last MUCH longer than eeproms on average... but it is an average - some people will have problems sooner than others.

However, in this case I'd suspect bad address lines to the rom... could be anywhere on the cart PCB that a single trace went bad.

There's no technical reason I know of for the sound to be the only thing affected - bit rot of a mask rom is hugely unlikely in less than a few thousand years, and would be caught by the BIOS checksum anyway.

Maxim wrote

There's no technical reason I know of for the sound to be the only thing affected - bit rot of a mask rom is hugely unlikely in less than a few thousand years, and would be caught by the BIOS checksum anyway.

The Genesis + PBC doesn't check the checksum.

Well, I tried another copy from a seller whose setup is identical to mine, and it was tested to work as new before shipping. However, when I tried in on my system, the same sound issue occurred. So, it maybe not be the game after all...

Could it be trying to trigger the FM for some reason? Is there any possible short in the PBC that could cause that?

I'm not sure how to trace the short in the PBC. Can someone educate me? Also, how do I clean the connector contacts in the PBC? I'm starting to think it may be the PBC that is the cause of the issue, but again, why just this game and none of the others (I have over 100), whether they have FM sound or not?

Well, just as a check, I played Out Run for SMS on my CDX using the MD Myth flash cart... the BGM was fine - no problem with it dropping out or anything. So it's not an issue with the way the MD handles SMS games in general.

Author	Message
segagamer Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 9	SMS Out Run no sound issue Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 5:12 am
segagamer Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 9	I was playing the SMS version of Out Run last night and while the game boots up fine on my Genesis model 1 with Power Base Converter, there is no BGM at all. When I started playing the game, I could only hear the sound of the wave on the music select screen. Then, when I am actually racing, I would hear white noise in place of the selected BGM for about 10-15 seconds, and then the sound completely stops. No audible sound effects either. I don't understand how that is possible, since there is nothing wrong with the game since I last played it years ago or the system, and other games play perfectly with full sound. I even used a commercial cartridge cleaner and cleaned the contacts, but to no avail. Any ideas on how to fix this problem?

Maraakate Joined: 05 Jun 2010 Posts: 551 Location: Pennsylvania, USA	Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:28 pm
	Bit rot, maybe? :S

KingMike Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 90	Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:12 pm
KingMike Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 90	I thought that only happens with EEPROM games (usually prototypes). SMS games didn't use EEPROMs for production copies, did they? (I know a few very early third-party-manufactured Famicom games did, and also some other early '80s consoles, so it's not completely out of the question.)

Chilly Willy Joined: 23 Jan 2011 Posts: 64 Location: The Land of Enchantment	Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:23 pm
	ANY storage medium is susceptible to bit rot - it's all a matter of how long can up push it back for the average. That's the idea behind gold CDs - aluminum is particularly susceptible to bit rot over just a couple decades, while gold allows them to claim a minimum of 100 years. Similarly, mask roms last MUCH longer than eeproms on average... but it is an average - some people will have problems sooner than others. However, in this case I'd suspect bad address lines to the rom... could be anywhere on the cart PCB that a single trace went bad.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 9016 Location: London	Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:19 pm
	There's no technical reason I know of for the sound to be the only thing affected - bit rot of a mask rom is hugely unlikely in less than a few thousand years, and would be caught by the BIOS checksum anyway.

Chilly Willy Joined: 23 Jan 2011 Posts: 64 Location: The Land of Enchantment	Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:48 am
	Maxim wrote There's no technical reason I know of for the sound to be the only thing affected - bit rot of a mask rom is hugely unlikely in less than a few thousand years, and would be caught by the BIOS checksum anyway. The Genesis + PBC doesn't check the checksum.

segagamer Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 9	Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 4:33 am
segagamer Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 9	Well, I tried another copy from a seller whose setup is identical to mine, and it was tested to work as new before shipping. However, when I tried in on my system, the same sound issue occurred. So, it maybe not be the game after all...

goldenband Joined: 24 May 2010 Posts: 104 Location: New York	Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:52 am
	Could it be trying to trigger the FM for some reason? Is there any possible short in the PBC that could cause that?

segagamer Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 9	Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:04 am
segagamer Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 9	I'm not sure how to trace the short in the PBC. Can someone educate me? Also, how do I clean the connector contacts in the PBC? I'm starting to think it may be the PBC that is the cause of the issue, but again, why just this game and none of the others (I have over 100), whether they have FM sound or not?

Chilly Willy Joined: 23 Jan 2011 Posts: 64 Location: The Land of Enchantment	Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:01 pm
	Well, just as a check, I played Out Run for SMS on my CDX using the MD Myth flash cart... the BGM was fine - no problem with it dropping out or anything. So it's not an issue with the way the MD handles SMS games in general.

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