slightly ticked off/need help/atari jaguar

[ncman071]

ok so i bought an atari jaguar via ebay for 132 shipped including 2 controllers and 14 games which also include AVP, Doom, and tempest 2k

so, last night i hook it up and put AVP in and turn the power on and...nothing. so tap the system, wiggle the cartrige around, unplug and plug back in, wiggle cart around some more and finally after a solid 10 minutes the power comes on. its as if something is loose inside or not connected properly. i shook it gently and didnt hear anything sliding around inside. also, during gameplay, sometimes if i just tap the console, the power goes off.

i've also noticed the screen is red sometimes and i have to turn it back off and back on again to get rid of it. the picture sucks too i'm assuming mainly due the the RF connection.

i've sent an email to the seller. in his description of the console he said it was "near mint". well, it may look near mint but it surely doesnt act like it.

anyway, if anybody on here knows of a way to fix jaguar problems like above, please help.

Thank you.

[Pantechnicon]

Red screen on a Jag indicates a faulty connection between the cart and the slot. If you were to power on the Jaguar with no cart at all inserted you'd get the exact same thing.

When you say you powered on the first time and got "nothing", did that nothingness extend to no illumination of the red LED by the power switch, or was there simply nothing on the screen? Also, are you using an original Jaguar power supply or some sort of third-party substitute?

Immediate suggestions would be to thoroughly clean the cartridge port using either compressed air or an electronic cleaning solvent (I recommend Radio Shack Cat. No 64-4345 for this). Secondly I would check if the power cord connector is secure inside the unit. Take a toothpick and gently wiggle it around to see how much play there is in its connection to the board. Thirdly I would substitute the power supply and see if there's any difference in performance. Assuming you are using an orginal Jag power supply, you can substitute a Model I Sega Genesis power supply in its place. These are easier - possibly cheaper - to get a hold of than OEM.

Keep us posted. As a fellow Jag owner I'd hate to see your initial experience with the machine get soured like this.

[ncman071]

actually the power doesnt come on at all when i dont have a cart in the slot. yea the first few times i tried to power on the red light would not come on and there was no power. i had to jiggle the cart around a bit to finally get it to come on.

i think the power supply is indeed an original jag power supply.

unfortunately the only genesis power supplies i have are for the model 2 and the sega cdx.

but thank you and i will definitly try your suggestions.

[retro junkie]

Reading this made me get my Jag out, ended up playing Raiden and Tempest. I wished there had been more arcade ports like these.

[ncman071]

well, i was able to spend some time playing AVP and Tempest. There is definitly an issue with the cart slot in the system. i dont think its so much the games being dirty, but the connection between the games and the cart slot seem to be very touchy.

is there a cleaning kit available for the jag? do you guys use anything else to clean the cart slots?

[Pantechnicon]

is there a cleaning kit available for the jag? do you guys use anything else to clean the cart slots?

I checked the websites of the two most knowledgeable online Jag vendors (Best Electronics, B&C Computervisions) and neither of them have anything. AFAIK, there does not seem to have ever been an official cleaning kit released. Can't say anything about 3rd party, though.

Again, I would suggest you try the electronics cleaner from Radio Shack I mentioned in my first post. Costs about $8 a can and I use it on pretty much everything I own that has a cart slot, as well as carts themselves. I'd say I have a 90% success rate with this stuff. Give it a try.

[ncman071]

sounds good man, i guess you just use q-tips to clean the slot with?

[Pantechnicon]

No Q-tips needed. The bottle's nozzle has a built-in brush with nylon bristles. Just squirt enough to get the bristles wet and scrub away. (Link to description) (http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=64-4345)

[SpaceHarrier]

Reading this made me get my Jag out, ended up playing Raiden and Tempest. I wished there had been more arcade ports like these.




well, i was able to spend some time playing AVP and Tempest.

ROFL how funny.. Other day I was in a retro game store in my area and the owner said the only 3 games worth owning on Jag were Tempest, AVP, and Raiden. I beg to differ, but I just thought this was funny.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Any Jaguar without Power Drive Rally is a mighty forlorn Jaguar indeed.


...word is bondage...