NES not starting...solid red screen, game doesn't load

jdmlight · Post by **jdmlight** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:01 pm

Soup Up NES
After following Ben's guide for disabling the NES's lockout chip, I half-fixed my problem...Originally I had a flashing red screen when I started my NES; after this mod, it doesn't flash but stays constant.

Two questions:
1. I have a strong feeling that the cartridge connector is bad. Is there a way to prove that this is the case?

2. How would I know if this NES is dead? Ketchup gave it to me after he tried to get it working, so it might be completely dead.

This NES has a future in a NES portable...if I can get it working.

Tibia · Post by **Tibia** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:14 pm

Mine will often do the solid red screen, and mine is unmodded. It's almost always a matter of a bad connection. I've seen the new connectors on e-Bay for like $3 (I've got one coming, actually), so try that. It's not too expensive.

jdmlight · Post by **jdmlight** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:32 pm

Tibia wrote:Mine will often do the solid red screen, and mine is unmodded. It's almost always a matter of a bad connection. I've seen the new connectors on e-Bay for like $3 (I've got one coming, actually), so try that. It's not too expensive.

I'm wondering if I should buy a new original NES cartridge connector or do something like Ben did on that page (link in first post) and hack together my own connector (that's not ZIF). Considering that this NES is destined for a portable anyway, that might make the most sense.

Tibia · Post by **Tibia** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:37 pm

jdmlight wrote:I'm wondering if I should buy a new original NES cartridge connector or do something like Ben did on that page (link in first post) and hack together my own connector (that's not ZIF). Considering that this NES is destined for a portable anyway, that might make the most sense.

The new originals slide on the end of the mobo, just like the one in there now. There are solder-on ones available, and I believe Ben made his out of some old computer card slots. I just ordered the new U-shaped one because it's going to solve the problem in the simplest way.

WhatULive4 · Post by **WhatULive4** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:01 pm

Mine was giving me similar problems so I used the bent pin method to bend the connectors up. I also got all the corrosion off the existing pins. It works much better now, there are still some occasional problems, but I assume it is because my games are dirty from all the blowing I did growing up.

Tibia · Post by **Tibia** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:08 pm

I've heard mixed reports about the bent pin method. Some say it's harmless, some say it damages the conductors in the games. In any case, I desperately need to spring on some gamebits so I can open all my carts and clean them thoroughly.

jdmlight · Post by **jdmlight** » Thu May 08, 2008 3:39 pm

Tibia wrote:I've heard mixed reports about the bent pin method. Some say it's harmless, some say it damages the conductors in the games. In any case, I desperately need to spring on some gamebits so I can open all my carts and clean them thoroughly.

I'd bet that it has to do with how much you bend the pins. If you bend the pins too far, they will damage the NES cartridge. However, if you take your time and bend them a little at a time until your game works, you shouldn't have any problems.

Gonna try this later tonight.

Tibia · Post by **Tibia** » Thu May 08, 2008 3:46 pm

jdmlight wrote:I'd bet that it has to do with how much you bend the pins. If you bend the pins too far, they will damage the NES cartridge. However, if you take your time and bend them a little at a time until your game works, you shouldn't have any problems.

Gonna try this later tonight.

That's what Bicostp told me on another thread. That's definitely encouraged me to try this. If I get done with other things, I might give it a go too. Please let me know how yours goes.

jdmlight · Post by **jdmlight** » Wed May 14, 2008 10:36 pm

Tibia wrote:
jdmlight wrote:I'd bet that it has to do with how much you bend the pins. If you bend the pins too far, they will damage the NES cartridge. However, if you take your time and bend them a little at a time until your game works, you shouldn't have any problems.

Gonna try this later tonight.
That's what Bicostp told me on another thread. That's definitely encouraged me to try this. If I get done with other things, I might give it a go too. Please let me know how yours goes.

Does anyone know how to bend the top pins of the cart connector? I can see all of the bottom pins and have rebent them into shape, but I can't find the top pins. Are they recessed or something?

Dbstew · Post by **Dbstew** » Thu May 15, 2008 5:31 am

Take a look here

jdmlight · Post by **jdmlight** » Fri May 16, 2008 1:31 pm

Pin bending got me exactly nowhere. The only thing that I managed to do was waste a decent amount of time.

Is there any way that I can test to see if the NES itself is dead? I don't want to buy a cart connector on eBay just to find out that something else was wrong...

kidw/32+systems · Post by **kidw/32+systems** » Sat May 17, 2008 1:10 pm

If the light is on it is getting power
if the image is good and colored(any color) the system is fine
if you can only get a colored screen no matter what you do that means the connector is dirty.

Out of ~40 NESs this has always been the case, of those only one was unrepairable.

The easiest way to fix this problem is with really fine grit sandpaper to clean the connectors and roughen them a little so it also scratches the games a little. Giving you a good connection and bending the pins if needed helps.

jdmlight · Post by **jdmlight** » Sat May 17, 2008 7:14 pm

kidw/32+systems wrote:If the light is on it is getting power
if the image is good and colored(any color) the system is fine
if you can only get a colored screen no matter what you do that means the connector is dirty.

Out of ~40 NESs this has always been the case, of those only one was unrepairable.

The easiest way to fix this problem is with really fine grit sandpaper to clean the connectors and roughen them a little so it also scratches the games a little. Giving you a good connection and bending the pins if needed helps.

Darn me being such a cheaparse and not simply buying a new connector...

I'll try the sanding method and see where I get.

xtrmgam3r360 · Post by **xtrmgam3r360** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:59 pm

jdmlight wrote: Darn me being such a cheaparse and not simply buying a new connector...

I'll try the sanding method and see where I get.

I'm having the same problem so let me know how this goes.

snakerbot · Post by **snakerbot** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 12:56 am

This topic is about a week old, but I thought I should add my experiences to it. I bent the bottom row of pins up on my nes and it didn't work unless I didn't push the cart down, but left it up. It was also harder to push it in. Try that if you can't get it to work.