Cart Slot Relocation

SteelFox15 · Post by **SteelFox15** » Tue May 22, 2007 4:59 pm

I guess I'm not really here for advice, I just want to vent. I just finished my fifth cart slot relocation. And it didn't work. All the connections are good, but the damn thing doesn't turn on. Just a blue screen with a slight flicker when the switch is flipped.

When I did my first relocation, everything worked perfectly on the first try. I was so excited. That was about a year ago. Once I got further a long on the project, I realized that the mess of wires I left behind on my first working job wasn't going to fit properly in the case. So I decided to desolder some connections and move some wires out of the way. I guess somewhere during this operation the N64 fried because it didn't work afterwards.

So I got a new N64 and tried it again. Same result. Did it again. And again. And none of them are working. I still have one more working N64 and it's one of the old ones, from '96, so I'm hoping this last effort will be successful. But is there anything I could be doing to fry these things so quickly? It's the most frustrating thing in the world.

johnbjuice · Post by **johnbjuice** » Tue May 22, 2007 5:03 pm

Well, N64s fry. That's how it works.

The first rev ones (Black, '96, came in original box) are best. Don't use colored ones they're worst.

I dunno.

- Juice

SteelFox15 · Post by **SteelFox15** » Tue May 22, 2007 6:21 pm

Somewhat ironically, the one that I first used that lasted almost a year and withstood all the various tests I ran with it was one of the colored units. All of the ones that haven't worked have been black.

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Wed May 23, 2007 1:39 pm

flexing the board, touching the board, solder splash, dirt from your work surface are all things that could screw you up.

you have to be more than just careful with the cart slot. you have to be careful everywhere. make sure you are working on a clean surface, you have proper lighting and preferably a magnifier. before you power on something after working on it, you should be doing a minimum 10 minute inspection. theres no way you could check everything in less time. get a multimeter and test every pin on the cart slot against every other pin (keeping in mind there are certain ones that /should/ be shorted). check every pin of every chip for little balls of solder or slivers of metal. clean up all the flux that you can.

work in a static free environment. have a ground point nearby. touch it often.

not much more i can say. just be more careful in the future. use the right tools. take your time.

SteelFox15 · Post by **SteelFox15** » Thu May 24, 2007 4:56 pm

Whoo, just went back and found a single faulty connection. I fixed that and it's working again. Quite a relief. Now all I have to do is put it all together. Assuming nothing goes wrong again, you should be seeing completed pictures soon.

HotDog-Cart · Post by **HotDog-Cart** » Thu May 24, 2007 5:50 pm

Remember: Data Boards + Carpet = :'(