No Disc Found (Japanese V2.00 ID5 bios, only)

[Barman]

Hi, I'm having some problem with playing the CD while running the game.

I've got a Japanese Mega Drive (Model 1) and a Japanese Mega CD (model 2). When I start the game, I get the following message:

No Disc Found, do you wish to insert Pier Solar disc? Yes - NO

The disc being already inside the mega cd, I press yes, then it says open the tray, place the disc and press start. I do what's asked but the game tells me the disc is not to be found.

However, my mega cd works perfectly on its own, if I insert just the CD and not the cartridge: the motor starts and I get a message telling me that this disc is to be used with the cartridge inserted.

Any advice on what's going wrong and why the game doesn't recognize my Mega Cd?

[Fonzie]

Interesting. Is the megacd modified of any sort or a special model (like pre-production or debug)?
We tested on many units, never had such issues and it do not seems to be a read problem (when you put the disc alone, it plays the music along with the warning message, right?).

Also, on the disc inner-ring, please check there is a small "B" written after the serial number.

If it has a B, Another quick test would be to check if a copy of this disc on a CDR do anything.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

[Barman]

Hi Fonzie,

No, this Mega CD seems just "basic" to me, no special model here, at least to my knowledge.
You can count on me for experiencing weird things that never happen to other people though!

I cleaned the ports (both on the Mega Drive and the Mega Cd) with Isopropyl alcohol on a Q tip and nothing has changed, unfortunately.

On a side note: My Mega Drive has a black coating on its pcb extension port designed to be hooked up with the Mega CD, it's the only one I've seen with this feature...

[Barman]

By the way, the game is FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Fonzie]

Plop!
The black coating is normal. Its carbon contacts I think.

1/ Regarding the "B", any news?
2/ Does the music play on the "warning" screen when the disc boots alone?
3/ Copy on CDR works?

Thanks

[Barman]

-There is no B after the serial # on the disc inner-ring.

-The music plays fine on the warning screen.

-I don't have a blank CD-R at the moment, I'll try that later, but it seems the game won't even drive the mega-cd to check whether a disc is inserted or not. The led on the mega cd never lights up anytime when I start the game from the cartridge.

[Fonzie]

Ok!
Please contact me via the contact form on piersolar website, i'll ask you more details. Your case is special!

[Barman]

Message sent!

[Barman]

double

[Barman]

While reading the French forum "Sega Galaxy Board", I came across a useful piece of information: It seems that the Model 2 Japanese Mega CD can be driven by any console, whether Jap, Euro or US.
I'm going to try to hook up my Pal Mega Drive to it and check if it works that way.

EDIT: I tried it and it didn't work!

[Fonzie]

Sure, I also have this unit here. Same as yours, seems. Will get back to you in a few hours.

[Fonzie]

Note: This message is only for Japanese V2.00 ID5 bios

The bios in your console is not standard and because we didn't test your particular machine we never coded any workaround for it.

As a result, the game's enhanced soundtrack disc will never work on your machine (megacd2, japanese, bios V2.00, ID5), its the one with a big sonic at boot screen and written "V2.00" at boot screen.
There is no Fix possible on the game, its definitive bug.

My apologies for that, please contact me if you're in the case via the contact form on PierSolar website.

Fonz

[Barman]

Many thanks for the check-up and explanation. As I said previously, this doesn't prevent me from enjoying the game in any way. You guys did a truly awesome job that inspires respect and admiration.

[TulioAdriano]

With some luck you can try having multibios installed on your MCD. There are some guys who can make it. The CD soundtrack really enhances the game play.

[Barman]

I know but apparently it's very fastidious and hard to deal with when you have to do it on a model 2 mega-cd.
Thanks for the tip!