Sega Saturn Cartridge input question

[xfactor1984]

I have a sega saturn, and my cartridge input stoppd working all of a sudden. I bought the system used and I bought a gameshark which is the only cartridge device i have used for it, and then one day my saturn stopped going to the gamesharkscreen and when i put the gameshark in sometimes it will go to the system screen when you have nothing in the cd tray, and if i go to load application it starts going all slow. My question is if my gameshark is shot or is it my cartridge input. I wish i could go out and buy another gameshark and test that but down here they are hard to come by, any suggestions? Thanks!

[bargora]

Did you insert or remove the cartridge while the Saturn was powered up? Doing that can fry the cartridge port. I'm afraid that you'll have to either try another cart in the Saturn or else try the Gameshark in another Saturn to figure out where the glitch is. You can get third-party memory carts pretty cheap on ebay, although I can't vouch for their quality.

[xfactor1984]

ok, thanks I will try that, I do not remember if i took it out when the unit was on or not, I hope I did not.

[VACRMH]

I think that Gamesharks may cause a problem for a Saturn's cart slot, Maybe it streches (spelling ) it too wide?

If so, is there a way to fix it?

[radjago]

I'm having a similar problem with a third party memory cart. I don't have any other carts to test the slot, and I don't have any other Saturns to test the cart.

[UndeadKing]

The problem could be one of two things.

1. The cart is burnt out. Either due to age or being inserted/removed while the unit is on.

2. The cart slot was stretched and now has issues reading carts.

I'd wager that numder 2 is more likely. Third party carts stretch the cart slot over time and the system will eventually stop recognizing carts. The Saturn's cart slot is notorious for failing in this manner. I know of no cheap fix for it, apart from buying a new Saturn and in turn no longer using third party carts.

Now, if it is your slot that is bad, you should still be able to get the cart to work sometimes. Mess with it a bit. Try pushing it in only part way. Once you find the "sweet spot" and get it to work, do not touch it. Leave it in the system and be careful not to jostle it and it should work for the most part.

It is possible that the cartridge is shot though, that isn't unheard of. The only way to know for sure would be to test it on another Saturn. Good luck.

[FABombjoy]

It might just need a good cleaning, too.