Table of Contents
Sega Master System
Sega's entry into the newly formed (again) western games market. Releasing in September 1986 for the USA, the Master System was reasonably capable with it's Zilog Z80A, 256×192 output resolution, and 8 KB RAM. Despite not selling well in North America, it's European release was relatively successful at challenging the reign of Nintendo, while it's Brazilian release was an absolute blowout, taking over the video game market to the point where “plug and play” Master Systems still sell there today.
Operating Systems (Zilog Z80A)
CollapseOS
On boot, you will get a regular Collapse OS BASIC shell. See the rest of the documentation for shell usage instructions.
CollapseOS is meant to run on a large variety highly minimal systems, in the context of a future “collapse” scenario. To be more detailed, CollapseOS is meant to have a low resource overhead, many ways to interface with it, large reading and writing abilities for a large array of devices, and much more. Of it's overall abilities, it certainly has a technical function that would be quite helpful in a “collapse”. This can also run on the Sega Genesis using the Power Base Converter.
https://git.sr.ht/~vdupras/collapseos/tree/master/item/arch/z80/sms
PC emulation (potential)
Whether these emulators support operating systems for these computers is unknown; it must be looked into further. PCs without meaningful OSes are not included.
CHIP-8 – SMS CHIP-8
SymbOS, MSX-DOS, FUZIX, etc.
A thread discussing some of the OSes that could maybe run on the SMS.
Version & Revision Guide
For general information, see the Game Console Revisions Overview.
This guide has been essentially depreciated by the excellent work of our friends over at consolemods.org. It is linked below.
https://consolemods.org/wiki/Master_System:Master_System_Model_Differences
Versions
There are three versions of this console, arranged chronologically.
“Master System (original)” (1986-1990/1992?)
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The original release of the Sega Master System for the rest of the world. Stock features include the card slot, composite out, and the reset button. Found in a distinctive black and red color scheme. This also had an FM sound + rapid fire unit. 3D glasses connect to the card slot on this system. While there are 4 model variations, the only differences are in what game is preinstalled on the system (Snail Maze, Hang On + Safari Hunt/Astro Warrior, Missile Defense 3D).
“Master System II” (1990-1992)
A cost-conserving slimmed down version of the Master System. Noticeably smaller than the original, this version may come in gray instead. The card slot, composite out, and reset button features have all been removed. It is unknown if the FM sound and rapid fire remain on this system, although it is known that the 3D glasses will not work, as they depended on the card slot.
“Power Base Converter” (1989-199?)
While technically requiring a Model 1 Genesis to work, this is effectively a Master System version in the way it functions, so thus, it is included. Has both the cartridge and card slot, and is compatible with all games except ones with the Control Pad, or SG-1000 graphic calls. The former can be overridden, but it requires changing the mode of a US converter to JP.
There are no revisions within any version. BEST RELIABILITY couldn’t be assigned.
https://segaretro.org/Power_Base_Converter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_System
https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/5908108
https://gametrog.com/sega-master-system-information-specs/
https://segaretro.org/Master_System_consoles_in_North_America
https://gametrog.com/sega-powerbase-converter-information-specs/