Chrono trigger "decaying" need help

[calgon]

Hey guys, need some advice on how to fix or preserve my copy of Chromo Trigger. I've owned this particular copy for over five years and go back and play through it once in a blue moon. Anyways, started a new save a few days ago and have been playing 20-40 minutes or so a day until today I encountered some game-breaking glitches. When in the cathedral rescuing Marle I will get a white block that shouldn't appear the closer I get to the second area. Eventually when I get into battle, the top (or bottom) stat menu starts to get garbled and corrupted and eventually the game will lock or turn to black. I've reloaded my save a few different times now and anytime I try and progress the glitching issue happens.

The save is still there so It can't be the battery. Do you think its something with the cart or my SNES? I haven't tried it on my SRT yet.

[XYXZYZ]

Did you clean it? Dirty connector pins are known to do stuff like that.

[calgon]

Yeah I cleaned the contacts a few times. I was able to get to the first boss (and save) before more glitching occurs. Even beat him in one instance but it seems even outside of battle it's going haywire on its own :(

Bummer

[Aussie2B]

Do the contacts look abnormally thin? If a cart is inserted and removed an inordinate number of times, it is possible for them to thin, which could result in the same issues of making contact with the system that occur when grime is blocking the connection.

[Tanooki]

SRT yet? Maybe the SNES or the game, hard to say until you narrow it down.

[Gameguy]

It could be the system contacts are dirty, or that there's a cracked solder joint on the cartridge somewhere causing intermittent problems.

[calgon]

I only had a few minutes this morning but I did try it in my SRT and the glitches did occur however it lasted a little longer than my SNES did before glitching out if that makes any difference.

Man this is a bummer. I rarely used the cart and when It was dormant it was always in a covered shoe box away from light and moisture. Argh.

[Tanooki]

Yup that game is on the way out if the pins are clean and undamaged.

Check the traces with a magnifying glass, see if you can spot anything breached, then bridge it. If that's not it, it sucks, but pop the chips and re-solder it, maybe a bad joint. That fails I think you're rightly screwed on an expensive cart. Could always pop the $20 for a complete DS copy if you have that handheld.

[goldenband]

It could be that the PCB is going bad but the ROM chips are fine, or vice versa. If the former, you could transplant it onto a compatible PCB; if the latter, you could replace the bad chip with an EPROM. Here's the board it uses, and it looks like a couple sports games are potential inexpensive donors:

http://www.snescentral.com/pcbboards.php?chip=SHVC-1J3M-20

Tengen games on the Genesis are notorious for going bad, but can reliably be salvaged by transplanting their chips onto a different PCB.

[Tanooki]

That's a reminder there. I recall someone doing this before with a sports game on this very title and succeeding.

The way I figure it, buy the cheapest sports sacrifice and go for it. The worst thing happens, CT is still basically dead, the sports game was useless anyway, it's a learning experience, and you still have a great CT shell so find the cheapest fugly working game and shell swap it. ;) Best thing, you get a shitty $5 game, work a couple hours if that popping chips, and it lives. I did this on Grind Stormer on Genesis. Bought a dud for $15 shipped that looked visually stunning. THen $5 in supplies and another $5 for a Menacer cart and I did the PCB swap and it came back from the dead.

[calgon]

Thanks all for the advice. I really don't have the time or know how to start frankensteining other ROMs and what not. At the very least I can always run this on an ever drive but damn does it sting.

[goldenband]

Thanks all for the advice. I really don't have the time or know how to start frankensteining other ROMs and what not.

I don't have the skills either, but there are certainly people out there who'd do it for you for a modest fee. :)

[Tanooki]

This is the board correct?

http://datomatic.no-intro.org/redumps%20media/Nintendo%20-%20Super%20Nintendo%20Entertainment%20System/20130205_131047_0437_pcb_front.jpg

I believe the ONE chip you'd need to transplant would be that MX branded MASK ROM correct? That's no more complicated than the one on my Grind Stormer. It couldn't be much worse doing this one. I strongly doubt you've got a crapped out CIC chip or that big SRAM one either. I know dumb suggestion, but look at that versus yours, see any scoring/darkening on those diodes and stuff? It could be any small thing.

Doing the chip isn't bad, just requires some flux and a soldering iron to loosen up the chip and pry it off the board carefully. Then the same on the donor, you then get some new solder in those pads and slot the game in, add a bit more and it's good to go.

[RP2A03]

Thanks all for the advice. I really don't have the time or know how to start frankensteining other ROMs and what not. At the very least I can always run this on an ever drive but damn does it sting.

It's a simple soldering job. If you don't know how to solder, then now is a good time to learn. It's not that hard and it is a skill that will serve you well in this hobby.

[Niku-Sama]

have you actually opened it up?

if you have a scanner, or a really really good camera, you can make high res images of the PCB, both sides, and post them up here and some of us could see if there was any thing that looks out of the ordinary.

I saved a copy of sunset riders that had never been opened. Over time a trace, that was lifted from the factory, had too much resistance and it just wouldn't work at all. I jumped it with a capacitor leg (i.e. stiff wire) and it worked