SNES FFIII/VI Intermittent Garbled graphics/colors

[maxwatts]

Just bought a SNES copy of FFIII/VI from a local game store.
About 50% of the time when i pop it in it has garbled graphics and colors.

What's weird is that if i press in and hold on the cart when i flip the system on it will work about 90% of the time vs 50%.
I cleaned the contacts on the cart and they look fine, but it's still giving me the issue. The cartridge does have that semi-bad cartridge rattle.
Is it possible the PCB is loose inside of the housing?

Also:
Copy of Mario RPG that i bought from the same store has a similar issue where it will only boot about 20% of the time if im not pressing down/back on the cart as i flip it on. Same with a copy of Yoshi's island i got from ebay.

Could it be my system? Other games work 100% fine.

Any suggestions would be awesome!

Thanks
:help:

[maxwatts]

Annnnnnnnnnnnything at all guys?

[FABombjoy]

It sounds like you're still having an intermittent connection issue, be it due to dirty cart contacts, dirty/bent cart slot pins, or a cracked/cold solder joint.

Have you cleaned the cart slot yet? Inspected for pins that appear to be out of place?

[Darko]

Your solution involves a couple of qtips and some rubbing alcohol. I can almost guarantee it.

[APE992]

PEBKAC, definitely PEBKAC.

[maxwatts]

Well first I checked for PEBKAC and PIBCAK and even PICNIC. Cleared all my 1D-10T errors.

Thennnn...
Cleaned the cart throughly, contacts look great. Got one of those credit card sized alcohol pads and cleaned the cart slot and let everything dry. This *mostly* fixed the issue with Yoshi/Mario RPG. No improvement in FFIII. No pins bent/distressed in cart slot. Still having the problem. next im going to crack the cart open and scope it out and see if anything looks weird in there. Thanks for the encouragement such as it is.

[APE992]

I had bought Super Mario RPG many years ago only to find that that shortly before the first boss fight or during it the game would freeze. The first fight AFTER Bowser that is. Given the game uses a customish onboard chip I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't the problem.

Yoshi's Island uses the Cx-4 chip for a lot of the intro screens. Odd coincidence if you ask me.

[SparTonberry]

Yoshi's Island uses the Super FX2.
Cx-4 was developed by Capcom and used exclusively in Mega Man X2 and 3.

[APE992]

Yoshi's Island uses the Super FX2.
Cx-4 was developed by Capcom and used exclusively in Mega Man X2 and 3.

Yes, minor error. Regardless they all use custom chips.

Garbled graphics are exactly what I would anticipate from a Yoshi's Island cart whose SFX chip wasn't fully functional too.

[cynicalhat]

there is a piece of metal that attaches the game cart to the ground of the snes on games most notably with the Super FX chip, and possibly others. i would pop those suckers open and polish the connectors and the grounding point on the cart and the grounding point on the SNES (the outside of the connector). Make sure this metal piece is also bent sufficiently to make proper contact with both the outside of the SNES connector and the grounding point on the cart board. and intermittent or poor ground can cause voltage to drop a bit and processing errors. i always prefer to clean the inside of the connector on the SNES by using contact cleaner and a soft bristled toothbrush.

*edited for clarity

[maxwatts]

Well the main issue is with FF III a non special chip cart. This is the one i am mainly concerned about. Yoshi and M RPG dont have garbled graphics, just issues booting. Either they come one and are 100% fine or dont come on at all. FF III has the graphical and color issues.

Thanks for the other help regarding the special chip games. I've noticed those two silver tabs/grounding tabs. My question is: Should there be tabs on both sides of the cart or just on? Yoshi, Mario RPG, and MMX2 all only have one all on the same side, but i see the spot on the cart on the other side where one could be. So basically i am not sure if they are all missing one or if they just never had the 2nd tab.

Thanks again guys

[cynicalhat]

I don't think they ever had 2 grounding tabs, I think the points are there just incase another board/chip layout was needed. Id still polish and then clean the contacts on the carts though, the alcohol cant get rid of all oxidation. And really clean the snes cart connector with a soft bristled toothbrush to make sure the grime and oxidation is removed.

[maxwatts]

I don't think they ever had 2 grounding tabs, I think the points are there just incase another board/chip layout was needed. Id still polish and then clean the contacts on the carts though, the alcohol cant get rid of all oxidation. And really clean the snes cart connector with a soft bristled toothbrush to make sure the grime and oxidation is removed.


Do you suggest just standard contact cleaner vs alcohol?

[cynicalhat]

Contact cleaner usually comes in an aerosol can so after you brush away the snes contacts you can spray again quickly to wash away debris. i grab my contact cleaner at auto zone. Its made by a company called CRC. Electronic cleaner QD http://www.amazon.com/CRC-05101-QD-Electronic-Cleaner/dp/tags-on-product/B000CCMLD0 ). Alcohol works also, just get a high purity 90%+ and have at it. With the alcohol just wipe up the excess. Wait till its all dry and use the console. Cleaning the console connector with a soft bristled toothbrush is fairly straight forward, brush it kinda like your teeth, well enough to clean up, not hard enough to make your gums bleed.

to polish contacts on carts i use some cheap stuff at walmart by a company called weiman. Its just called metal polish and has a picture of a metal sink faucet on it. follow the directions using a spare cotton facecloth and dont go crazy rubbing it in. You wont need much polish at all to clean each side of the board, the more you use, the more you have to clean off. If you take a bit of the "gold" color off the connector, dont worry, nothing is wrong, but you will notice the slight marks from the cart being inserted into the console while have dissappeared. always clean the contacts after using the typical alcohol and q tip method. also make sure you wipe off excess metal polish that spread about near the connectors.

[cynicalhat]

i have cleaned NES games that wouldnt play no matter how much elbow grease i put into alcohol and qtips using this method.

[maxwatts]

Thanks. I actually have some contact cleaner i used when i worked for Verizon on cell phones in my basement (i think) along with a "cleaning brush" for electronics. I'd just never put 2+2 and thought to clean my carts with that stuff! Derp.

I'll check out that Weiman's and try that too.

Also the FFIII board continues to be loose and rattle-y in the cart even though i opened it and and reseated it and there is no debris in there. When i reclosed the cart i made sure it was nice and tight/secure but still rattles in there. Next time i get a chance im going to try the raw board in there and see if moving around in the cart housing is not at least part of the issue.

[cynicalhat]

you could always try hot glue to make the game stay in place in the cart shell

[FABombjoy]

I wouldn't be concerned about a slightly loose PCB inside of the cartridge, unless the card edge is sinking into the cart case when pushed. When you insert the cart into the console, it will align itself to the cart slot, more or less.

[cynicalhat]

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/nintendo/snes-glitches.htm

this might also help fix your issue. that site has alot of good info also, good to keep handy.

[Darko]

I've actually used a magic eraser on several stubborn games before. Take the board out and rub the connections with the magic eraser. You don't want to do it really hard or for too long because the magic eraser is basically sand paper. That being said, you'd have to rub the hell out of a board to get through the pins. Just another suggeston.