20 replies to this topic

[rmaerz]

Alright, getting a little frustrated here...

I have a bunch of carts - off the top of my head - Buck Rogers, Sub Roc, Galaxian, Centipede, Jungle Hunt & Omega Race - all I have "sprite issues." I took the Sub Roc cart apart, took an eraser to it, fine grit sandpaper with some Radio Shack contact lube, alcohol and DeOxit and the thing still has sprite issues.

Brand new games I bought: Road Fighter, Sky Jaguar, Track & Field, Magical Tree, Mario Bros. along with some new older games like Squish 'Em Sam have no problems whatsoever.

I used to think that the console was the problem. But, when I started buying these home brews that never had any sprite issues I'm thinking I have a bunch of crap carts in my collection. Hell, come to think of it those carts that are having problems are probably the ones I bought from the same guy at the gaming expos.

What do you folks think?

[NIAD]

Seeing that the problem only occurs on a small number of the carts and not others in your collection, I would have to say that the "problem carts" are starting to show their age and have had a lot more use by previous owner(s) over the years than other carts in your collection. The edge connector contacts on the PCBs are probably pretty worm, the traces could be damaged especially ones that protrude outside the cart shell or they have solder joints that are starting to fail and the only way to know for sure would be to desolder the chips on one of these carts, clean up the PCB and then resolder the chips back in place.

All the more reason to pickup an AtariMax SD Cart, if you don't already own one. Plus, you never have to remove the SD Cart from the cartridge slot, just remove the SD Card when you want to add, change or remove a game rom. Sorry for the sales pitch!

[rmaerz]

If I had one of those multicarts it would ruin the experience. Sure, the end result is the same in that I get to play the game but the thrill of collecting would be gone.

I had the Vectrex Multicart and wound up selling it because it was more about going old school.

[AtariLeaf]

rmaerz, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:30 AM, said:

If I had one of those multicarts it would ruin the experience. Sure, the end result is the same in that I get to play the game but the thrill of collecting would be gone.

I had the Vectrex Multicart and wound up selling it because it was more about going old school.

[NIAD]

rmaerz, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:30 AM, said:

If I had one of those multicarts it would ruin the experience. Sure, the end result is the same in that I get to play the game but the thrill of collecting would be gone.

I had the Vectrex Multicart and wound up selling it because it was more about going old school.

I hear you re. the collecting experience. I had acquired a near complete loose collection in the short time I got back into the scene and when a huge opportunity presented itself to start a CIB collection... I jumpred at it and as you know am selling off my loose carts. It's just nice to be able to store away all the actual carts to prevent any further wear and tear or possible damage to them, as well as the cartridge slot, and have the access to all the roms on one SD Card... including the ones that weren't made available on cart.

[Yurkie]

I feel bad for you about having so many carts that don't work.

I wouldn't recommend ever using sandpaper. If you pencil eraser, alcohol to remove pencil eraser residue and then DeoxIT and it still doesn't work then I seriously doubt it is a contact issue. You could try reflowing the solder on the PROM/EPROM pins. Probably a pretty good chance the PROMS/EPROMS went bad on you, after all as much as we would all like things to last forever they are closing in on 30 years old.

Real bummer about the Galaxian by the way, it is one of my favorite CV titles.

I understand the whole love the original hardware/software thing, but like NIAD said and like I do personally, if you can find the strength to do it, collect the carts/CIBS but play the games off the SD multicart and save wear and tear.

[desiv]

rmaerz, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:30 AM, said:

If I had one of those multicarts it would ruin the experience.

You answer as tho the solutions are mutually exclusive...

When you bought a floppy based game, you copied it and played the copy, not the original, right??

Own/collect the carts, play from the multi..

desiv

[rmaerz]

I may consider the 128-in-1 USB Multicart (I don't have an SD card reader)...at least I'll be able to play and submit scores for all the games on the ColecoVision Retroboards

[ColecoDan]

rmaerz, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:09 PM, said:

I may consider the 128-in-1 USB Multicart (I don't have an SD card reader)...at least I'll be able to play and submit scores for all the games on the ColecoVision Retroboards

The SD one is awesome, You don't need an SD card reader.

There are SD to USB conversion tools. I think it costs around 10 bucks. The SD one is sooo much better that it would be better to do it that way. I have to do that as well since my laptop doesn't have an SD slot and I am too lazy to go upstairs to my computer so I have an SD to USB conversion tool that lets me plug it into the USB slot of my laptop.

[SlowCoder]

In the case where the contacts are getting worn, what would be the problem(s) with re-tinning them with electrical solder? If a very thin tin was applied, would it work? Is solder too soft to be effective over numerous insertions into the console?

[Christophero Sly]

I would still suspect the console.

[rmaerz]

Christophero Sly, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:33 PM, said:

I would still suspect the console.

Should happen to all the carts then, right?

[5-11under]

Christophero Sly, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:33 PM, said:

I would still suspect the console.

It's possible. I'd check with another console for sure.

[Deteacher]

rmaerz, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:55 PM, said:

Christophero Sly, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:33 PM, said:

I would still suspect the console.

Should happen to all the carts then, right?

Not necessarily. I had an issue with one of my systems a while back that only affected the "large pixel" games, like Outlaw, Hangman and Surround. On those games, I was getting a stray pixel on the screen. It turned out that the RIOT was going bad. Once I swapped out the RIOT, the problem was gone.

Try your suspect carts in another system and see if the issues are still present.

[thegoldenband]

Yep, I have a Tandyvision with a bad chip (not sure which one yet) that affects one of the sprites, but only that one. Games that don't use the affected resource appear to run normally; games that do, show all kinds of different behavior.

[Armonigann]

I had this issue a few years back where almost half my carts would do anything but work correctly, It frustrated me to the point where I almost gave up on the 'ole Coleco.

I then for some reason or another I used a different power adaptor and Viola', all carts worked great except Burgertime.

Edited by Armonigann, Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:45 PM.

[NIAD]

Christophero Sly, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:33 PM, said:

I would still suspect the console.

That's VERY possible as well and I guess sometimes I take things for granted that people have backup systems. Fortunately I only collect for the CV & ADAM so it was a lot easier to justify spending money on a second system/backup for both. While everyone hates when these situations arise, I guess it would be easier to get one system fixed than to have to track down and purchase multiple cartridges... especially if those carts are of the rare/expensive type.

If you go with one of the AtariMax carts, definetly go with the Ultimate SD Cart since it's capabilities and ease of use far exceed the USB Cart... plus you get Mario Bros. and Mr. Chin rom images FREE. Like ColecoDan said, all you need is a cheap USB-to-SD adapter.

[desiv]

NIAD, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:56 PM, said:

Like ColecoDan said, all you need is a cheap USB-to-SD adapter.

You might already have one..
A camera or printer?

I use my photo printer with built in card reader for most of that...

desiv

[rmaerz]

desiv, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:50 PM, said:

NIAD, on Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:56 PM, said:

Like ColecoDan said, all you need is a cheap USB-to-SD adapter.

You might already have one..
A camera or printer?

I use my photo printer with built in card reader for most of that...

desiv

Great idea!

[rmaerz]

Here's an update:

I got tired of this BS so I took the damn cover off. Cleared out the cobwebs, lubed the power switch with some oil & sprayed the contacts of the power switch, power plug and the cartridge slot with De-oxit. I let the B1tCh sit for about 5 hours and then fired it up with Buck Rogers (a cart known for garbage all over the place) and it works like a champ.

All the carts I played since then that previously had problems are crystal clear.

It works like a champ until I have to repeat this process.

[NIAD]

Great to hear that it was the system after all and not a large number of your carts going bad.