help me fix these snes games.

[RetroRich]

so last week i buy two snes games off this guy at the flea market. wwf royal rumble and samurai shodown. I clean them up, clean the rom chip, but get nothing from my snes, just a black screen. Thing is, the royal rumble looks mint.

today i thought that maybe it was just two fauty games so i end up buying a complete in the box Toy Story from the same guy. Get home, clean the rom chip with the alcohol + cotton swap, and it doesn't work, black screen. and this toy story also looks mint, and the rom chip looks like it hasn't even been played.

every other snes game i try works, except these three that i bought from the guy. Before he put them in the bag for me, he did check the rom chip on them which i thought was a little odd. Maybe he knows he's selling broken games?

is their anything i can do to fix this?

[Sunnyvale]

Hard to say for sure, but sounds like your seller is the problem. 'Same guy' was the giveaway.

[Ryaan1234]

every other snes game i try works, except these three that i bought from the guy. Before he put them in the bag for me, he did check the rom chip on them which i thought was a little odd.
So, wait... He opened the game right in front of you and looked at the ROM inside?

Well, that's odd to say the least.

[RetroRich]

So, wait... He opened the game right in front of you and looked at the ROM inside?

Well, that's odd to say the least.

no, i don't know if ROM is the right term, but he looked underneath the cart where the chip is. he didn't open it.

[Ryaan1234]

no, i don't know if ROM is the right term, but he looked underneath the cart where the chip is. he didn't open it.
No offense but the way normal SNES carts are constructed plastic blocks the view inside. If you were to look under one all you'd see would be the pins. To be able to see the chip inside you'd need to open it.

[Shulamana]

Yeah, you can't see ROM chips by looking at the edge connector on the bottom of the cartridge, the term you're looking for is "pins" or "leads", thin metal wires printed onto a circuit board.

[theclaw]

Perhaps the games have PAL boards inside? Isn't a black screen what happens when the lockout check fails?

[bb_hood]

I would try to get them to work a few more times, if you get the blank screen eject the game, re-insert and power on again. I find that with Super Nintendo games if they havent been played in a while it sometimes takes a few tries to get them to power on.

Ive never really heard of people 'fixing' broken carts that are really broken, and I RARELY find nintendo games of any type that just don't work.

I would suggest trying to get them to work a few more times, and if you cant get them to work just return them to the seller. If the seller says 'no' or gives you trouble I would complain to the help desk or whoever runs the flea market.

[RetroRich]

Perhaps the games have PAL boards inside? Isn't a black screen what happens when the lockout check fails?

that's interesting, and could very well be a possibility. But why would someone do that?

[crazyjackcsa]

They wouldn't. The games haven't been played in awhile. You get a little bit of corrosion on them connectors, which as has been pointed out, is not the ROM. You can do a couple of things. Insert and pull out the cart a half dozen times or so, and the friction will wear it clean. Or grab one of your moms scouring pads with the green turf on it and rub them lightly.


You cant "fix" carts. If they don't work at all, you're beat. I've never come across a Genesis or SNES cart that just won't work, and I've seen some pretty nasty stuff.

This is day one stuff people.

[n20vette]

I never seen a nes or snes game not work seen a couple genesis one not work though. Use about 3 q tips with cleaner on them wind them together were it makes one big one and jam them in one side and go to town the added pressure should get everything off. I just bought the tool to take the games apart and every cartridge I pick up I open up and clean.

[APE992]

You cant "fix" carts. If they don't work at all, you're beat. I've never come across a Genesis or SNES cart that just won't work, and I've seen some pretty nasty stuff.

This is day one stuff people.

You funnai.

Occasionally I've managed to fix these supposedly "unfixable" carts by reflowing the solder - properly. Cold solder joints can happen but it is the exception, not the rule.

Most of the time it is the SNES or GENESIS that is being picky. I worked on another member's Super Mario RPG cart a while ago that was picky for him and on my SNES. Reflow of the solder joints later and it worked fine for me but still picky for him. No idea how it eventually turned out for him.

The few carts that were 100% unfixable were due to PCB damage. Being of multiple layers I would need X-Ray vision to look at these.

[j1e]

Buy a security bit to open the carts. Clean the pins with Brasso. Put it back together. I've been doing this years with my NES, SNES, GB, GEN, N64 carts and have yet to have one not work.

[xelement5x]

Using a Gamebit and take it apart, clean the contacts with rubbing alcohol, then and eraser a regular art eraser, then alcohol again and test. If it still doesn't work, use Brasso or VERY FINE steel wool to gently rub the contacts and get gunk off, then clean contacts again with alcohol and test.

I've always gotten a cart to revive after this process, and I even got a copy of MegaManX which wouldn't play either working in tip top shape by doing this. Good luck :)

[omp!]

I have also gotten games going by re-flowing the solder. Had one where it would load etc up until game start where it would freeze. Re-flowing the solder fixed this.

Another one I have seen on N64 carts is where the plastic clip that surrounds the circuit board has actually rubbed through one or more of the traces, trimming back the plastic and repairing the traces and it is up and running again. From memory it seems to happen either Super Smash Bros or Mario Party mostly.