Sega-Naomi

Hi there,



After a power shutdown-restart sequence my Naomi 2 system stopped working correcty. Everything is very slow including startup fading and boot logo which appears slowly and currupted.

Games still load correctly from the GD-ROM and are playable but they are slow (about half the speed), some graphics is somehow corrupted and the whole screen is flashing.



RAM TEST says IC22 is BAD and stop there, so I don't have any info about the remaining chips.



I know someone who have the equipment and the skill to change the damaged chip, which is far cheeper for me than sending the pcb to Ken Westerfield from Italy or buy a new one.



My questions are:

1) Assuming the description of the symptoms is clear, do you think that just a damaged RAM chip can be the cause of this weirdness? So is it worth looking for an IC22 and trying to replace it? In this case, where can I buy this RAM chip? (Please consider that I cannot get any info about the remaining chips, and I don't want to start hunting for every single component to replace)

...or...

2) Do you think it is wiser to send the motherboard to Ken Westerfield in any case?

...or...

3) Better to forget about this pcb and look around for a new one?



Any help you can give me is highly appreciated.

Thank you all.

This is a fairly common issue with this system. So unless it's a Naomi2, and you think it's worth Mr. Westerfield's $75 fee + parts, I would recommend option #3.

Thank you for your reply.



Well, actually it is a Naomi2.

Shipping it to Mr. Westerfield from Italy would means adding shipping costs * 2 ("Italy2USA" + "USA2Italy" ~= 100$) to fee and parts.

So I foresee a total avarage cost of 200$ (maybe more)



Just to know, what is a reasonable cost for a Naomi2 motherbord?



I'm more convinced that a reasonable alternative would be to buy IC22 from Mr. Westerfield, if he would be so kind to sell it, and ask some skilled one in my town to replace it.



Thank you again