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Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Check the dumping hardware overview for a list of known preservation hardware.
If you need help, please come chat with us on the VGPC or No-Intro discord servers.
Introduction
Important Notes
- Unopened games should have their ROM and save data dumped before attempting to play them. This avoids inadvertent modification of the data and helps preserve the game in its unused/“factory” state. Note in your submission whether the physical media was sealed and include a photo of the cart/packaging in its sealed state, if possible.
- You should clean the physical media's electrical contacts before trying to dump it, and dump it twice, checking if both dumps match using a file comparison tool or calculating the SHA256 of each file and comparing those values.
There are numerous dumping tools available for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis, several for sale and many, many more open source electronics projects.
Methods
Method 1 - Retrode2
This is a super simple system that works really well, and is affordable and readily available. See our hardware page for shop links.
- Plug your game into the Retrode2.
- Make sure the voltage setting is at 5V.
- Connect the Retrode2 to your computer.
- The Retrode2 should now show up as a regular USB drive, and you can copy the ROM from there for further analysis.
Method 2 - Sanni Cart Reader
The Sanni Cart Reader comes with Mega Drive / Genesis dumping capabilities by default. Follow the Sanni Cart Reader wiki for proper settings, and dumping instructions.
Method 3 - RetroFreak
See instructions here for NES / Famicom dumping using the RetroFreak, the same setup applies to dumping Sega Mega Drive / Genesis.
Method 4 - RetroBlaster 2.0 + Genesis Adapter
- Make sure the '5V' setting is selected on the device (not the '3V' setting)
- Connect the Genesis adapter to the RetroBlaster
- Insert the cartridge or PCB into the adapter
- Open the RetroBlaster software (available on the RetroBlaster github)
- Navigate to the 'Sega Genesis' tab, and click “Dump ROM.” Choose the location and filename for your ROM
- A progress bar will indicate the status of the dump, and information will be displayed on the 'status' log when the dump is complete.
- You can also dump the SRAM from this same tab, by clicking the 'Dump SRAM' button
Gathering and Submitting Dump Info
Once you've dumped your games, it's time to generate and submit metadata to a preservation project for validating and cataloging. See the dump submission instructions for more information.