Sega Master System Problem

[cbroddy]

I hooked up the Sega Master System and put in a cartridge. But I got the message after the logo shows up on the screen saying to make sure the power is off before inserting a cartridge. I tried all of my games but I couldn't get any of them to work and the same message keeps popping up. On some of the games I would get the system error message. Does anyone know of a cleaning kit for the Sega Master System?

[omnedon]

First clean your carts.

You can try q-tips and rubbing alcohol with a bit of water, or you can disassemble the cart and use a white eraser gently on the contacts.

You can clean the cart slot with an old toothbrush, some of the same rubbing alcohol solution, and a credit card with strong paper towel.

Put a "bit" of solution on toothbrush, scrub slot (after removing deck cover). Use credit card and paper towel to dry the slot after, hopefully removing residue.

If that doesn't work, your slot may have come loose or something. Did the unit work before? Is this a new all of a sudden problem with al carts? Does it work with Sega cards?

[Raedon]

You may have run into the SMS's big downfall.. Cheap cracked solder. This usually only effects the joystick ports. If cleaning doesn't help, and this effects the Hu card slot also, you'll need to do some resoldering.

[cbroddy]

Thanks omnedon

Yes, the system and the 13 Sega Master System games I have worked perfectly a few months ago. This is a new problem that suddenly happened to the system. Thanks for the advice.

[omnedon]

If it's all of a sudden like you say, it sounds mechanical, as in a broken joint somewhere. May be fixable. You have to decide how handy you are...

Whatever you do, don't toss it out.

[cbroddy]

Cleaned out the system on Sunday Nov 3. Found a tiny chip of cardboard inside the system. I cleaned out the system and all the games. Waited about 30 minutes for everything to dry out. All of the games worked again!!

[omnedon]

Yippee! :D

Good job!