How the hell do I hook up a Sega CD
 

I'm interested in buying a SEGA CD, and I was about to do so today. The guy I was buying it from offered to show it works and I agreed. In short, we couldn't get it to function, only the genesis half would come on. He didn't know what the "mixing" port was for and neither did I. It was about this time that I noticed the "access" light of the CD wasn't coming on. We tried, but couldn't get the sega cd to come on or play.

Um, help?
EDIT: The set up looks like this:



(I read the following, almost no use: http://my.ais.net/~xtreme/SF/SCD/SCD2.html

You do have an AC Adaptor plugged into the Sega CD as well, right?

I'm pretty sure we did... Other ideas?

I have a first model Genesis and a second model Sega CD. I will try to hook everything up later tonight or tomorrow morning and see if I can give you any pointers.

There's a port on the side of the genesis that plugs into the Sega CD. hook power to both devices and turn the genesis on with no cart in it, and the Sega CD loader will appear.

The mixing port is an input for stereo sound from a 1/8" TRS connector (normal headphone plug), so if you have a type 1 genesis you can run a cable from 'headphones' to 'mixing' in order to get stereo sound (gen mk.1 only outputted audio in mono from its rear outputs).

Much appreciated, WhiteRat!

It was already "together", when he was selling it. I mean the genesis seemed correctly plugged into the CD. That's an assumption though, it didn't fall out when I turned it over etc... I'll make sure both are plugged in when I go there next (tomorrow aft, ideally). Although, I'm pretty sure it was on and the the "access" (power?) light did not come on. I'll redo this and take pictures for diagnosis when I go. The guy is sort of seedy so I'm sure he wont mind.

So, Chojin, all that mixing port is for is a normal headphone to normal headphone cord? I'm guessing I could get one at radio shack, or ignore it because it's sound?

You can ignore it unless you want stereo sound, since the genesis only ouputted mono from it's back ports. He's saying for your sega CD games, in order to get stereo sound, you need to run it from the headphone jacks to your usual stereo-to-tv connector instead of through the genesis.

The access light will normally not come on unless it's accessing a disc, which only happens if no cart is inserted in the genesis AND a CD is in the CD player.

We had a disc in... :|

I picked up a 1st gen Genesis with a SegaCD already attached today too ;o I don't have a power source for the SegaCD, but will a normal Genesis adapter work?

The two AC adapters I have for the Genesis and Sega CD appear to be exactly the same, so I would assume so.

Well, I'm going to go buy it I guess. I hope it works and everything... If I can't get it to work at the store I may just abandon the whole idea... :(

Mario, did you have a genesis cart in at the time? If not, what happens when you turn it on? Nothing?

And yes, genesis and sega cd adapters are interchangeable, but the 32x uses a different one.

Alright, went down to the store again and got the CD part working. Brought up the menu or whatever.
Turned it off, inserted a Sega CD. It checked, said no disc. Tried a normal music CD, said no disc. Ended up not buying it, assumed it couldn't read.

Cool call, Sega add-ons are shit.

They do make great conversation pieces, though. People for some reason get excited whenever they see my Genesis/CD/32x abomination sitting on the shelf. A domino's driver even struck up a conversation about it one day.

It is a fascinating thing to behold.

Are there ANY good games on SegaCD?

snatcher? :o

I loved the Sega CD. Countless hours spent playing Lethal Enforcers in the comfort of my own home :D

Android Assault, Batman Returns and Silpheed kicked ass

The music to the Batman Returns CD port was fucking awesome. Lunar and Sonic CD were also some highlights of the Sega CD.

Sonic CD, Snatcher, the Lunar games, Popful Mail, and Thunderstrike are a few of my favorites.

I want to play Night Trap to help Dana Plato don't get killed

My brother and I used to get 4 people together for games of Dungeon Explorer.

I miss that game, I wish the roms of it worked right