38 replies to this topic

[Ace_1]

Tr3vor, on Sat Nov 5, 2011 9:07 PM, said:

I've seen WAY more sound problems with Genesis clones. I thought the genesis sounded wierd on its own, but a genesis clone is like ear rape (At least, most of them)

Unlike NOACs, though, Geniclones sound bad only because their audio amps are complete trash. The only Geniclone I've come across which sounds almost spot-on is the FC3 Plus. It's the only clone I've personally tested with proper volume balance with FM Synthesis and PSG and unlike other clones, the sound is not overly muffled or distorted.

If you REALLY want to hear ear rape, listen to an AtGames Geniclone. Worst pieces of trash you can get. They're not even proper Geniclones as they run on a Titan ARM core with a VERY shoddy Genesis emulator on it. Other clones are GOACs, but the AtGames ones run on very bad software emulation.

Tr3vor, on Sat Nov 5, 2011 9:07 PM, said:

The FC-Twin had no problems with the sound. All my games from Kirby to Mario sounded spot on. The DPCM on Mike Tyson's Punchout was audible.
I don't know of the problems you speak of, you must have had a real shitty clone to have these problems.

Dude, I'm serious. Both of my FC Twins(one of which no longer works), my RES and my RetroDuo all have square waves with proper sound channel duties, and on all 3, the DPCM is too quiet and is sometimes completely mangled. I'll record some audio samples from Gradius II, which has speech that sounds really weird on the FC Twin, RES and RetroDuo. Even Super C's sampled instruments sound wrong. And even Mike Tyson's Punch-Out's DPCM is a bit weird. It's not affected as badly as Gradius II and Super C, though. Those sound really wrong, and in Gradius II in particular, the DPCM is VERY hard to hear. And I have proof of this; I'll get some audio samples for you.

Even Rad Racer's engine sound is off compared to a real NES. Here's Part 4 of my RetroDuo vs. Original Hardware series of videos which shows Rad Racer played on both the RetroDuo and a Front-Loader NES(it's the second game - starts at position 2:08 with the Front-Loader NES shown first):



Another thing: how old is your FC Twin? Newer models have very loud NES audio that's a bit distorted, but my first FC Twin had perfect, albeit a bit quiet, NES audio(well, aside from the audio issues I mentioned with weird square waves and DPCM).

Edited by Ace_1, Mon Nov 7, 2011 11:23 PM.

[Tr3vor]

It was one of the earlier ones, it didn't have a Yobo thing stuck to the back of it. I havn't even heard that kind of crap sound coming from it, it sounded exactly how it was supposed to. I fixed my NES about a year after I got it and compared them, they sounded exactly the same.

And yes, that Atgames Genesis clone has some pretty horrid sound.

[IntellivisionDude]

Haven't ran across a dead Nes game yet, only a few Intellivision and 2600 games.

I bought a new pin connector and cleaned every game with a white pencil eraser and rubbing alcohol. Now my games come on first try 90-99% of the time. Like others said after you get new pins don't push them down anymore. I did slip and push them down a couple of times out of old habit but so far that didn't harm anything.

I have used De-Oxit but only on 2600 and Intellivision carts but only as a last resort (that stuff ain't cheap). And it did bring a few games back from the dead. It can get some of the dirt that alcohol alone can't. The ones i can't take apart to take an eraser to.

Just recently i bought some brass polish that i keep hearing so much about but haven't yet used it except as an experiment to see if i could bring a couple Intellivision and 2600 carts back to life. It did not, but i was amazed at how much black came off the contacts and that was after using alcohol and de-oxit. The carts were still dead but those contacts were shiny. lol
I can't recommend the brash polish yet since i don't know how safe it is in the long run.

[Ace_1]

Tr3vor, on Tue Nov 8, 2011 7:49 AM, said:

It was one of the earlier ones, it didn't have a Yobo thing stuck to the back of it. I havn't even heard that kind of crap sound coming from it, it sounded exactly how it was supposed to. I fixed my NES about a year after I got it and compared them, they sounded exactly the same.

Those ones have NOACs with reversed sound channel duties. They sound completely wrong, but those NOACs have proper DPCM, so the screwy DPCM of NOACs with proper sound channel duties is not applicable to those. Both of my FC Twins have Yobo's name on them, so both use the same NOAC.

[SlowCoder]

Jibbajaba, on Sat Nov 5, 2011 9:18 PM, said:

Then never blow in your carts again,and ever stick a new game in your system without cleaning it first. My NES has run very reliably for years now. Chris

Very sound advice, and good for all consoles, not just the NES.

[Rockin' Kat]

While going through malfunctioning NES games to clean them(by opening them as some have explained earlier in this thread) I've come across a few completely non-functional NES game carts that had supports for the PCB inside the cartridge shell busted or for whatever inexplicable reason held the PCB loose even though the supports were still intact. In both situations the PCB slides back into the cart shell a bit when inserted into the NES.

For the few (out of my some 300+ NES games I've only had to do this to maybe 3 or 4 games) that were like this, I've hot-glued Popsicle sticks into the cart shells to better support the PCB so it was held more firmly in the cart shell. I've only had one game where doing this didn't make it work.

In general it's a last ditch thing to check out when you absolutely can't get the cartridge to work.

[Asaki]

Never had a dead NES cart before, but I've got two dead 2600 carts, and I've seen a couple elsewhere that were dead.

I also have a copy of Quake 64 that doesn't like to run most of the time (got it used with pretty bad contacts). Fortunately, it's not a very good port anyway. And my friend bought a copy of Super Mario Allstars + Super Mario World that just would not run at all.

Like I said, I've never seen a dead NES cart before, but I could imagine they might be more common than other consoles. All the "wiggle it back and forth" and "blow into it" can't be good for them at all.

[DickNixonArisen]

Yeah, I wonder what happened between the NES and SNES that made the carts so much less reliable? More caps and resistors to go bad, maybe?

[AlvinKarpis]

Animan, on Fri Nov 4, 2011 12:52 PM, said:

I have a front-loader with a disabled 10NES chip (this helps tons, and it's such a simple mod. That, and it makes your system technically region-free)

I did this Mod myself (it is very easy, it was harder putting the NES back together then it was doing the mod to the 10NES chip)

After doing this 90% of my games work on the first try every time

Of course I still clean my games all the time

But anybody who has an original NES and has not disabled the 10NES chip needs to go on Youtube watch this vid and do the mod

[SeberHusky]

"...but I still feel that I spend way more time cleaning cartridges than playing games."

Oh, that's the charm of cartridge games, my friend! :-)

[DemonoidTentacle]

I've only ever seen one dead NES cart. It was maybe 5 years ago. I got Ducktales from a bloke on eBay. As soon as it arrived I checked it to see if it needed cleaning before putting it in my NES, but there was a crater in the circuit board. It was like something in it just went pop and damaged the circuit. I put in in my NES anyway and nothing happened.

I contacted the seller on eBay and sent him a photo of the cart and the problem. He apologised and gave me a full refund.

I ended up salvaging the cart case though and replaced the internals with Wanpaku Graffiti Splatterhouse through a Gyromite converter.

[guy767]

Genuine dead NES are carts are very rare, almost impossible to find IMO. Those that are not working usually just need a good cleaning.

I've only encountered one dead NES cart out the 100's I've cleaned and that game is Robocop. The contacts look clean but the gold plating is worn off and faded. The contacts also have a slight reddish tint. Here are some pics of the cart. I’ll give it away for free if anyone wants it. Just PM and pay $1 shipping…











I find the Retron 3 to be a decent Famicom clone. It gives me a way to quickly test NES, Genesis and SNES conveniently and easily in one machine. I first test the cart on the Retron 3 then play the game on the actual console.

Brasso and 91% alcohol are the most effective and economical for me when it comes to cleaning. I wouldn't recommend Deoxit contact cleaner as it's very expensive ($14 for a 5 ounce can) and can actually make NES carts unreadable.

Some formulas of Deoxit contain additives that coat a cartridge’s contacts that can prevent them from loading. Stay away from Deoxit with Flushing Action and get the Quick Drying formula if you insist on using Deoxit. It's a waste of money though IMO because the Brasso and alcohol combo is far more effective.

[Galeforcerm]

You can also get something called de-ox-id. It also dissolves oxidiation like deoxit but is only like 8.00 for a big can. I get it at the electronics supply near me. I've had the same can for 2 years. It works just as good as deoxit for 1/4 the price. Any contact cleaner thats safe on plastic is better than alcohol for games.

[guy767]

Hmmmm, despite the warning on NES carts not to use alcohol to clean games the official NES Cleaning Kit contains an alcohol cleaning solution I believe.

Also I heard that the airline industry uses a combination of contact cleaner and alcohol to clean electronic components. Someone who seemed very knowledgeable on the subject told me this...

"In the aircraft industry, the standard technique was (and may still be) to apply the contact cleaner and then flush it with isopropyl alcohol. Exactly what you are doing. The idea was to take advantage of the anti-oxidizing properties of the cleaner, without incurring any potential problem that might be caused by excess lubricant. It also reduced the possibility that the lub would pick up and retain dust."

The quote was from a discussion in an Amazon Review I did for Deoxit. It seems like I'm the only person in the world to be unsatisfied with it lol. You can read the full discussion here...

http://tinyurl.com/cbzm29e

IMO using a very small amount of 91% alcohol to clean games is fine. Just make sure the cotton swab is slightly damp and not dripping with it and everything should be kosher. I'm also amazed at the effectiveness of Brasso; it really does a superb job cleaning contacts.