Retrobrad has been created and maintained by me - Brad!
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times since June 2007
You should have your Mega Drive console all pulled apart before starting this tutorial. If not then click here to see how to do it.
Work out where you want your switches to go and drill two holes for them. I like to put them at the back of the console but you can basically put them wherever you want. Also, i have used toggle switches but if you prefer you can use slide switches (the principles are still the same but they're a little harder to install).
Alright, now that the holes are drilled you can fit your switches - as shown in the photo.
Now that part is out of the way, you will need to locate the jumpers on the mainboard. There are different mainboard revisions so the jumpers may be in a different place than in this photo but they are all the same. Also, some mainboards have a capacitor across JP1 and some don't - the mod still works with all mainboards though. (the capacitor is just acting as a filter)
Get four lengths of wire that will reach to your switches and then solder them as shown in this photo - one wire on either side of JP2 and one wire on either side of JP3.
Now that you have located the jumpers you need to cut the track at JP2 and also the track at JP3. (this is where you need to solder your wires to).
Now we're going to solder these wires from the mainboard to our switches. (It will help to look back at the previous image when doing this part of the mod)
Solder the wire from the left handside of JP2 to the middle terminal of the first switch. Solder the wire from the left handside of JP3 to the middle terminal of the second switch. Then solder the wire from the right handside of JP3 to the left terminal of the second switch and the wire from the right handside of JP2 to the right terminal of the second switch.
Finally, solder two linking wires from the left and right terminals of the second switch to the left and right terminals of the first switch.
and that's it - it's now ready for testing!
***NOTE***
The games will show up in black & white in 60hz mode if you don't connect it to your tv using a scart connection. (which most tv's don't have) - see photo.
There is a way to fix this - i have tried it and it does work i will upload details of the mod when i get the time. It involves a bit more of a knowledge of electronics and requires a crystal oscillator and a couple of discrete components.