36 replies to this topic

[Rob Mitchell]

I just bought a Nintendo .. and the power light blinks off and on and so does the video out .. Any way to fix?

This is my first exploration into the world of Nintendo .. Any help is appreciated!

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[CPUWIZ]

It's the damn cart connector, you can buy new ones from eBay or other places like MCM Electronics. It's always the damn same with NES systems, the connector is simply crap. One of the reasons why I don't own any more NES stuff.

[Rob Mitchell]

CPUWIZ said:

It's the damn cart connector ...

But the console power blinks even when there is not a cart inserted .. What gives?

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[CPUWIZ]

Rob Mitchell said:

CPUWIZ said:

It's the damn cart connector ...

But the console power blinks even when there is not a cart inserted .. What gives?

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

I thought that was normal ?

[Ze_ro]

You might want to read this thread. You get the flashing screen/power light when the cartridge isn't getting a good connection with the system. For a quick fix, blow on the end of the cartridge, or into the cartridge port and try again... for a better fix, open up the system and either clean, replace, or bend the pins on the connector... or you can try my Game Genie method to get games working easier.

--Zero

[Rob Mitchell]

Thanks to you! .. I took the NES apart (my god how many screws to remove!) .. and adjusted each pin of the cart slot by hand .. then I inserted / removed the cart over and over .. and now it works with the ONE Nintendo cart I have (Death Race).

Funny though .. the cart works when the tray is up .. but not when it is pushed down. And it is hard to grasp the cart when removing it. What a poorly designed system!

Now I need to get some NES controllers!

BTW: I have 8 screws leftover .. I just didn't care to put all the screws back in their respective holes .. One screw per side of the shield cover is enough! (This makes you thank god for Atari simplicity!)

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[VidGameKing]

Damn Nintendo for making such a good system. and screwing the world by giving it a crappy conector!!!!! Some day, when the world is a perfect place, There will be some sort of hinge spring gold-plated connector that works forver. But seeing as that is not the case currently. I gues wee all need t speed the five bucks on ebay and pick up new conectors. I have a massive stock pile of about fifty of them. I dont want to sell them, or give them away. I just want my system to work even when finding new connecotrs is the hardest thing in the world.

[Raijin Z]

Front loading means you can put shit on top of it, like any self-respecting set-top box.

[JerseyDevil]

I replaced the connector in my NES 5 or 6 years ago. Whenever I buy a game I open it up and clean it thoroughly, so it does not contaminate the connector. I never have a problem, its a great system but it needs to be taken care of. If you replace the connector and put dirty games in the system, you will ruin the new connector.

[VidGameKing]

I found the problem with the NES connector to be a case where the steel contacts on the connector loose their springyness. You see when a new connector is put in, it's tight (like prom night) and thus clears away dirt and debre as the cart is slid into place. Unfortunetly as it looses springyness it fails at clearing off the contacts and eventually gets gummed up. You could somehow re-design the little contacts on the conector to have a better shape, one that is self cleaning, like most modern cart systems. Additionally, one could put in a better steel, one that doesn't loos it's springyness. Or you could make some sort of mech all together. One that when you press the cart down into place the contacts are made by some sort of clamping system. That way there is the zero insertion, exsertion, force needed to make putting in a cart and taking one out a breeze. But thats my idea. it will probably never happen. but it is more likely to happen then, say, some other style of hardware mod for that system. Because a day will come, where those connectors are a comodedy and NES will get snached off the market becaue the connector "might" work. it's almost as bad as some CD based systems. soon they will simply die, because of hardware failure and lack of replacement parts. the only way some games will continue to live is through emulation.

[Room 34]

Rob Mitchell said:

Funny though .. the cart works when the tray is up .. but not when it is pushed down.  And it is hard to grasp the cart when removing it.

I have the exact same problem with one of my NES consoles. Fortunately, there's no real NEED to push the cartridge tray down... so I just leave it up all the time.

I wish I had a top loader...

In fact, I will trade my two front-loaders (deck only, both work but have some minor issues) for a good fully functioning top loader.

[VidGameKing]

two fully functional NES' are not worth one top loader!!!!!! maybe six, or seven fully functional NES' but not two. around here I can buy a NES a dime a dozen, or there abouts! top loaders are extremely hard to find, and cost way too much for average collectors. too bad.

[ubersaurus]

Rob Mitchell said:

Thanks to you! .. I took the NES apart (my god how many screws to remove!) .. and adjusted each pin of the cart slot by hand .. then I inserted / removed the cart over and over .. and now it works with the ONE Nintendo cart I have (Death Race).  

Funny though .. the cart works when the tray is up .. but not when it is pushed down.  And it is hard to grasp the cart when removing it.  What a poorly designed system!

Now I need to get some NES controllers!

BTW:  I have 8 screws leftover .. I just didn't care to put all the screws back in their respective holes .. One screw per side of the shield cover is enough!  (This makes you thank god for Atari simplicity!)

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

I never had any trouble removing carts before. it's possible it only works while the tray is up because you just bent the pins up that far.

Personally when bending pins I prefer using a precision flathead screwdriver. This is after I clean it with the following method:
Take sandpaper, sand the pins in the direction that they are in
Use compressed air to clean out debris
take a cleaning kit to that bad boy
THEN bend the pins. That's how I got my friends NES working, the only game that didn't run right afterwards was my copy of mario 3, which takes some cajoling to work in my top loader anyway, so I wasn't worried.

[rpmxxipt]

I think the 72-pin connector is fine, it's the cheezy contacts they specified for the CARTRIDGES that I think screw everything up. The damned things will gum up overnight practically.

[VidGameKing]

how do you mess up the specs of a cart? it's simple you make a PCB board that is doubble sided and you put 36 contacts on each side, each one being 1/16 of an inch, and put them about 1/64 of an inch apart. pretty simple. ohh and coat them in gold for better connectivity. nope, cant screw that up. it's far too simple. on the other hand, the socket can have loads of problems.

[tantone56]

I heard that the gold pin connectors are crappy because the gold just flakes off leaving a vulnerable metal like the origional.

[VidGameKing]

tantone56 said:

I heard that the gold pin connectors are crappy because the gold just flakes off leaving a vulnerable metal like the origional  

Huh? I've never seen or heard anything like that before. (not saying it's not the case. it very well may be) But It does seem a like it ~~could~~ be a small reason but still the problem is that the contact between the PCB leads and the connector is not being made. even if the gold plating was falling off, there would still be the copper/tin/whatever leed that is still metal. and so it would still need to somehow get gummed up that way. What I dont understand is how does dust and debris get into the socket in the first place? dust? no. Top loading machines are far more suseptible to dust collection. and yet they work better. The key should be to study the way the contact is made on one versus the other. then we can apply the benifits of one, and possibly improve upon. and then implement what we've made onto the front loading system.

[sebastius]

Tip of the day for all the NES lovers here. Get some generic kitchen cleaning spray (ultra de-greasing stuff) and give that connector a good shot of it. Then the cartridges and you'll notice that all games play properly now.

[maibock]

Rob Mitchell said:

Funny though .. the cart works when the tray is up .. but not when it is pushed down.  And it is hard to grasp the cart when removing it.  What a poorly designed system!

Now I need to get some NES controllers!

BTW:  I have 8 screws leftover .. I just didn't care to put all the screws back in their respective holes .. One screw per side of the shield cover is enough!  (This makes you thank god for Atari simplicity!)

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

This is exactly what happend to our system. The NES was slowly failing and it got to a point where very rarely could you get a game going, so I decided to take the thing apart. I bent the pins back into position, but when I put it back together, not only did I have leftover screws, but it only works when the game is in the up position!

[tantone56]

um about that up position thing you need to loosen the screws next to where it loads because the plastic will bend causing a bad connection

[Avid Fan]

run a search on these boards for "unusual NES Cleaning Method" I wrote it, and its a fast effective way to fix your NES without spending any money really (I had all the stuff in my house already) and someone else tried it, and it worked like a charm. Although soon, I want to try that pin bending method, as I actually have a dental pick around here somewhere (an electronics one luckily, wouldnt wanna stick something thats been in an NES in my mouth)

[maibock]

tantone56 said:

um about that up position thing you need to loosen the screws next to where it loads because the plastic will bend causing a bad connection

Hmm I'll try that next time I'm in there again. thank you

[Redcurrie]

ubersaurus said:

Personally when bending pins I prefer using a precision flathead screwdriver. This is after I clean it with the following method:
Take sandpaper, sand the pins in the direction that they are in
Use compressed air to clean out debris
take a cleaning kit to that bad boy
THEN bend the pins.

I took mine apart the other night and I have a question. Do you take the connector off the board to do this (if so, how do you get it off) and how far do you bend the pins? I need to get this fixed because I'm currently undergoing Dr. Mario withdrawal!

Thanks,
Laura

[tantone56]

ok laura
what you want to do is work the pin connector back and forth wedging it off. Make sure your very slow and careful but dont be afraid to be forceul because it will take some strength. After that just slide a new connector on or fix the old one and slide it back on again.

[JB]

Backing WAY the hell up...

The blinking light/image is due to the way the NES' production control works.

The NES boots, then polls the Nintendo-manufactured lockout chip(intended to prevent unlicensed production).

If it sees the correct lockout chip, everything continues as normal.

If it DOESN'T see the correct lockout chip, it resets.

Once it resets, the process starts all over again.


Most other systems start with reset "held down", and won't let go untill they see a valid lockout mechanism.