not pushing eject button on SNES what damage could this cause?

[gruzniak]

so i allow my sister to play my snes and she doesnt push the eject button and promptly just tears the game out of the system without even turning off the system first. i promptly tell her she's done playing my system, and than she picks up two of my games (Super Mario Brother all stars, and DKC2) and throws them against the wall. Both of the games still worked when i plugged them, but i dont know if they still completely work, in but i was wondering what damage just pulling the game out of the system can do, i only saw her do it once, but i dont know how many times she did it, btw my sister is 20.

[Nebagram]

If it still works first time then probably you've got lucky. I've only done that on a few occasions but I've heard horror storiers of people who've killed games and machines that way- I once saw a 32X game completely die after being ripped out carelessly.

Then again, maybe some systems are more susceptible than others. I for one am not going to conduct the necessary experiments to find out.

[dendawg]

IMHO, throwing the games at the wall did more damage than not using the eject button. After all, the SNES-2 didn't have it.

[bust3dstr8]

Fix the source of the problem..... your sis's major malfunction.

[DeputyMoniker]

IMHO, throwing the games at the wall did more damage than not using the eject button. After all, the SNES-2 didn't have it.

Someone else will better provide details but yeah, I think it can damage the system. It needs to be powered down before you break the circuit. You could cause a short.

BTW: WTF is wrong with your sister? She throws your shit at the wall? And she's 20 years old? The next time she wants to borrow your things you need to tell her to kiss your ass. There's no fuckin' way that should happen a second time. I can't stand having to be around goofy people like that.

[udisi]

Not pushing the eject button itself won't hurt anything....Pulling it out while the power is still on could damage the system. Throwing games against the wall could break the games.

[digitalpress]

I NEVER use the eject button, but I ALWAYS power the system off before removing the cartridge. Regardless, I have never seen a system "break" because the eject wasn't pressed or the cartridge was yanked out.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

20 huh? Do you still have to tell her that biting is bad too?

[dendawg]

Someone else will better provide details but yeah, I think it can damage the system. It needs to be powered down before you break the circuit. You could cause a short.

True. I tried to point that out, but the forum crashed.*_*

Though it's funny that the fact they may kill their cart never stops Atari fryers.

[Leo_A]

On early model Super Nintendo's, isn't the game locked in unless you eject it? That's why they changed the cartridge casing so it wouldn't lock anymore in later games, and I think they changed how the ejection function works well before the SNES 2 so you could safely pull any game out without using the button (Assuming the power is turned off).

At least that's what I've been told. I always use the eject button since its the easiest.

[Mr.collection]

In early SNESs there is a plastic stoper that stops you from taking out the cart while its on. Then they just left that part out and changed the carts. I have never had problems taking a cart out while a system is on,not that I do it that much.

[ProgrammingAce]

Any hardware engineer worth his degree will design a system to handle 'abuse' such as this.

If you unplug dreamcast controllers while the system is on, it's quite easy to blow out the resistor that delivers power to the port. The first revision of the Xbox1 has a transistor that's 1 volt over spec. Over time that transistor will give out, reducing the survival rate of that model to zero as time progresses. The versions 9 and 10 of the PS2 motherboard overloads the laser for the DVD drive, killing the drive within weeks of purchase (12 volts to a component that required 5). The Xbox 360... well, sucks.

My point is, hardware designers aren't infallible.

While an SNES should be designed to take the abuse, it's not unreasonable to think that a 20 year old penny a pound resistor might give out as you send a back current down the line by shorting out a connection unplugging a cart while the system is running.

In other words, shouldn't cause damage. Might cause damage.

[dlopez9069]

I never really had a problem when the botton isn't pushed but I like to make everybody push it so I can see the cart jump out. I say just rid yourself of this horrible game killer of yours by telling her to go to time out.

[Bandicat]

Strange, I didn't know you could rip cartridges out of the SNES without using the eject button until now. I always wondered why they changed the cartridges.

I know SNES's are built like tanks though. My cat went running across the room once, got caught up in the controller cord which violently whipped the SNES off of the entertainment center, into another piece of furniture and then crashing to the ground. Donkey Kong Country kept playing as if nothing had happened.

I know for a fact that pulling cartridges out of an Atari 2600 with the power on can screw the system up. My friends used to do this to one that I had, and eventually player 1 would act as if they button was constantly being pushed. I'd put in Air Sea Battle, select a game where you played against the CPU and watch the 2600 play itself.

[phreak97]

the only way youd cause damage pulling the cart out with the system on as far as i can see is if you pull it out on such an angle that contacts cross over multiple pins, or move onto the wrong pins, but im pretty sure the cart slot is snug enough to prevent this. the n64 is another matter, i KNOW you can cross pins on that, but i've never heard of permanent damage from doing it. look up zelda crooked cartridge in google, its quite amazing what happens when you mix sound lines with data lines (i think thats what causes the effect, goldeneye is also quite amusing, but less useful). anyway, i've rambled enough. im fairly confident you wont ruin anything, but the chance is always there. how many snes consoles or games have you encountered with isses that werent caused by a kid pouring his coke in there, or by a somewhat older kid trying to mod it? (or by some retard using a random power cable just cos it fits? though the us snes probably doesnt get that problem)

end ramble

[xaer0knight]

I know SNES's are built like tanks though. My cat went running across the room once, got caught up in the controller cord which violently whipped the SNES off of the entertainment center, into another piece of furniture and then crashing to the ground. Donkey Kong Country kept playing as if nothing had happened.

if my girlfriend's Slim PS2 can take headers from her wiener dog/mini pin about 3 times total while its been on, doesn't skip, or while saving and it takes the header and doesn't destroy the save games while on. I would say your doing pretty well. I've had my NES kicked when i was 8 (while on, still played Ninja Gaiden), my SNES tried to drink Co-ca Cola once at 12 (still plays Chronotrigger to this day), and my N64 loved that Mountain Dew when i was 16 (still plays Zelda 64) but i cleaned them out at least once a month (damn gamebit cost like 15 bucks a set). My Dreamcast while on had its cord bite by a dog and that was the only time a system busted on me.

That cat story FUNNY AS HELL! deserves a Signature!

[InsaneDavid]

In early SNESs there is a plastic stoper that stops you from taking out the cart while its on. Then they just left that part out and changed the carts. I have never had problems taking a cart out while a system is on,not that I do it that much.

They didn't take it out, the changed the cartridge design so if a cartridge was pulled out while the system was on the shape of the cartridge shell would attempt to push back the eject lock slider, cutting the power to the system. Usually the cartridge connection would be broken before the power was kicked off however.

As for the second model SNES, they removed the eject button completely, so there's your answer concering that - the eject button is not required although it's nice if your system is in a tight space.

As most of us from Technical have and will say, the system should always be off when inserting and removing cartridges unless designed to function as such (the Atari 5200 for instance). Your games stand more risk than the system in most instances but as has been said, you're basically forcing a short. You have to remember with all cartridges, controllers, memory cards, etc. across all systems have electricity running through them when connected. Removing or disconnecting them while system power is on breaks a circuit, technically causing a short. This has been noted with the Dreamcast controllers which are prone to all kinds of crap because of the VMU slots.

Also about SNES durability, yes the SNES is pretty rugged, with the exception of the power adapter jack which breaks off if you look at it wrong. ;)

[josekortez]

Throwing games against the wall could break the games.

No offense, but this quote is "Quote of the Day."

[Bandicat]

Awesome, only my second post here and I've already gotten signature props. I think I'm going to like it here. Thanks xaer0knight!!

[exit]

Throwing games against the wall could break the games.

Well N64 carts can take a beating serious beating and still work fine, my friend learned that the hard way tho. One time his crazy (now ex) step mother flipped out, grabbed 2 of his games, a hammer and whaled at them full force. Well one of them (Starwars) died, but the other one (Goldeneye) played like nothing happened, despite the big dent in it's face.

So if a N64 cart can survive the actions of a psychotic woman and her hammer, I don't think a wall will have much impact on it

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

So ... what condition was the wall in after the SNES cartridge impact?

Was it drywall? Brick-face? Stucco?

[spoon]

I have a good SNES story to throw into the fray

When we were younger, my friend decided to play another friend in NBA Jam for SNES. My friend decided to use his brother's CWEB (Chris Webber) profile that was something like 65-0. My friend ended up losing on a last second shot.

Flash forward to next week after school, my friends brother decides to play a friend in NBA Jam. Finds out his profile was played and they get to fighting over the loss. My friends mom comes downstairs, rips the SNES off the entertainment center, cords and all. yells something at them that I can't remember, and throws the thing against the wall and walks up stairs after some more yelling.

The case was cracked on the system and the game flew out. System worked fine, but, all the game saves were erased.

[xaer0knight]

Awesome, only my second post here and I've already gotten signature props. I think I'm going to like it here. Thanks xaer0knight!!

your welcome.. even tho i hardly post on the forums. I'm mostly on the Live Chat section of DP. Been going there almost 4 years... dang 4 years this Aug. I'm DJXaer0 or xaer0 in the chats mostly there talking about the NEC Turbografx-16/PC Engine/PC-FX/Turbo DUO.

[josekortez]

So if a N64 cart can survive the actions of a psychotic woman and her hammer, I don't think a wall will have much impact on it

As an aside, my GF broke up with me 2 days ago, and I'm glad because I know that if I had married her and she ever got really po'ed with me, she would have scratched up every disc that I own. Thank heaven for small blessings...

[Mr.collection]

They didn't take it out, the changed the cartridge design so if a cartridge was pulled out while the system was on the shape of the cartridge shell would attempt to push back the eject lock slider, cutting the power to the system. Usually the cartridge connection would be broken before the power was kicked off however.
Ok I agree on why they changed the cart but I have 5 SNESs and only 2 have the eject lock slider the other 3 have the slots where it goes but it is not there. I have only taken a part one of them so Nintendo obivously took them out.

[phreak97]

As most of us from Technical have and will say, the system should always be off when inserting and removing cartridges unless designed to function as such (the Atari 5200 for instance). Your games stand more risk than the system in most instances but as has been said, you're basically forcing a short. You have to remember with all cartridges, controllers, memory cards, etc. across all systems have electricity running through them when connected. Removing or disconnecting them while system power is on breaks a circuit, technically causing a short. This has been noted with the Dreamcast controllers which are prone to all kinds of crap because of the VMU slots.


you must not be from GOOD technical, because what you describe is an open circuit, not a short. open cicuit is most often harmless. a short is when you connect two points together with something that provides no resistance (crossing pins would provide this, which is what i talked about earlier).

the dreamcast crap is probably due to changes in current etc, not shorts.

not to be a picky bastard or anything.

[InsaneDavid]

you must not be from GOOD technical, because what you describe is an open circuit, not a short. open cicuit is most often harmless. a short is when you connect two points together with something that provides no resistance (crossing pins would provide this, which is what i talked about earlier).

the dreamcast crap is probably due to changes in current etc, not shorts.

not to be a picky bastard or anything.

Well la-de-freaking-da for you. How will I ever find employment in my HOBBY with people like you on these boards?! I must now bow down to you, oh lord of the silicon diode, for I am not worthy to wield my dikes. How will I ever recover from wording something as a common term? It's called slang. :roll:

+1, oh it's your favorite!!

[phreak97]

short isnt slang at all:S and even less is it slang for open.

sorry, i didnt really mean to be that harsh, your point was just incorrect, dont bite back so hard, i was just trying to prevent people from being mislead.. it was not meant to be at your expense. at the time i was thinking jokingly when i said not good technical.

to clear up the definitions..
short (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=short%20circuit)
open (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/open%20circuit)

i have done a year of electronics full time. i dont claim to know everything, electronics is a crazy complex field, and it was a four year course which i didnt complete.
but from my understanding, in a system such as the snes (nothing external controlling current or voltage) simply disconnecting the cartridge, or parts of it, should not stress any componentry.
sometimes making something open can cause damage, such as in some arcade monitors (im an arcade technician) if you unplug the cable from the board with the monitor controls (if theyre pots) the sync (among other things) will go off its nut. i have been told by a more experienced technician that this can sometimes cause damage. however i think that's just cos the pots are used to limit the values, a monitor is an analogue system (though most new ones are digitally controlled, and o are not affected by this problem) and analogue systems are where this scenario seems like it would be common. digital is a whole 'nother world, and the snes is primarily a digital system, the catridge interface is all digital. the only things going to and from it are digital lines and power. these can cause damage when theres a short, but not when open. although i have never been confident to say theres no chance, since i dont know how it works. (this next bit is blind guesswork) it could be possible for the snes to take a combination of what it already has of the cart in memory and all these pins floating to wherever the snes puts them (probably high) as a signal to do something dumb. just as you can ruin a computers hardware with software. however i doubt theres much chance of that. i've pulled cartridges out of powered on consoles plenty of times in my life, so if through nothing more than personal experience, i dont think itll ruin anything except for on those consoles which people are aware have a problem with it.. i remember once as a kid hiring a game from the local video rental place and pulling the cart out to freeze the menu onscreen before we returned it, just so that i could have it on my tv when i didnt have the game anymore. i think that might have been for n64, but it was still on my tv for qa couple of hours without harm. i've done similar things with my gba's, so as to show the difference between different screens. i'd freeze the same part of a game on both (gba vs sp, or sp vs micro, or ds, or whatever) to show comparison. (they always make the same noise looped too).

i really think that once the console industry was established (you can tell this happened after all the thousand switch consoles, silly num-pads and weird directional pads disappeared.. dont deny it:P and yes i do own half of them lol) someone would have realized that people wouldnt know that it didnt work so well hot-swapping. the locking mechanism is more likely there so that you cant put a game in while its on then return the console complaining that the stupid thing doesnt work, the later cart revisions also support this idea, since as mentioned the cart is pretty much out by the time the console shuts off, and the carts still wont go in if you turn the snes on first.

one important thing is to avoid comparing to recent generations of consoles. i think the last really well made console was the gamecube (the ps2 was terrible though released before the gamecube), and it may well be the last.


for anyone who bothered to read all that, and survived my army of brackets.. awesome..


sorry again, i didnt mean to offend anyone.. im good at doing that without realizing.

[PentiumMMX]

Well N64 carts can take a beating serious beating and still work fine, my friend learned that the hard way tho. One time his crazy (now ex) step mother flipped out, grabbed 2 of his games, a hammer and whaled at them full force. Well one of them (Starwars) died, but the other one (Goldeneye) played like nothing happened, despite the big dent in it's face.

So if a N64 cart can survive the actions of a psychotic woman and her hammer, I don't think a wall will have much impact on it

Yeah, I love how tough the N64 is (If I had a PSX growing up, it wouldn't exist now. I abused my systems when I got frustrated)

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

It's a well known fact that if you rip an SNES cart out of the system while it's powered on Reggie Fils Aime will show up at your house, ring your doorbell, and when you answer it he'll punch you in the gut and walk away.

Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend trying it.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b328/FrankieViturello/Reggie.jpg

[thom_m]

Even though it's about the SNES, this thread reminds me of a very weird trick on the Genesis. I read years ago on a brazilian game mag called "Ação GAmes", the very first to come out here.

I don't remember it exactly, but it was something like this: you should start a Super Monaco GP game (if I recall correctly), remove the cart with the console on, and insert Spider Man: Return of the Sinister Six (once again, if I recall correctly) right after. You'd get a level select screen, or something like that.

Needeless to say, the magazine made clear they would take no responsability for any kind of damage to the console or the games. I never had the balls to try it myself.

Have any of you guys ever heard of it?

[extra_anchovy]

when I was a kid I used to like thumping the eject button so the cartridge will come flying out and try to catch it before it landed on the super nintendo. now thats what I call a real toaster! you don't put toast in horizontally like most NES owners seem to think. but despite the abuse my SNES suffered my original one from 1992 still works fine. the super mario world cartridge that came with it stuffed up a long time ago though. anyone else used to do that cartridge launching thing? it only works on PAL SNES's btw, NTSC SNES's have a weak eject mechanism thats why you can just pull carts out.

[jahvybe]

There's an eject button?

Holy, crap! There it is.

I don't think I have ever pushed the eject button even once. I do however always turn the system off before removing the game.

[jb143]

Eh...it's an old thread but I thought I'd chime in anyways on removing games while the power is still on. Chips can take much more of a beating than people realize. I've seen memory chips and processors soldered down upside down by machine. By upside down I mean the belly side up. The boards were powered up and they didn't work of course(How I found the chips soldered wrong). After they were manually soldered in correctly they worked just fine.

What more than likely is going to happen is like what thom_m was refering too. The system is still going to have data from the game you removed in memory. Inserting a new game will likely cause a crash or other malfunction but not damage the cartrige.

Probally your only real concern would be a chance of loosing a saved game.

But then again why take the chance when it's so easy to avoid?

[rbudrick]

I actually killed a Thunder Force III cart by pulling it out of the system while it was on. Granted, I did it repeatedly.

Anyway, I almost never use the eject button, and it's really just there as a luxury. It's for old people with arthritis or something. Think about it: what's the difference whether you pull the cart out by hand or push it out from underneath with the eject button? Answer: NOTHING. I may even go so far as to say the eject button is potentially worse, since plastic rubs on plastic when you use it. Unlikely to be an issue, but the fact is remains.

-Rob