Odyssey2 problems

[NathanG]

After some shipping problems, I finally got the Odyssey2 I ordered not long ago, but unfortunately, not everything is working so well. Most games have some sort of problem with them; on some symbols and letters replace what should be numbers (or vice-versa), things are moving erratically (or I have loss of control over some things), there are graphical glitches (such as objects not showing up on screen), etc. Some just lock up, and Type and Tell! seems to have problems with the Voice module. Only Smithereens! and P.T. Barnum's Acrobats! seem to work fine, and that includes the Voice part of it (though it doesn't help that the first controller isn't working well and needs replacing, but I can fix that).
My question is this: Do the games need cleaning, or is there something wrong with the console itself? And if they do need cleaning, what's the best way to clean them? I'm just unused to the Odyssey2, and I figured someone more familiar with this sort of thing could help. Sorry in advance if it's hard to understand what I'm getting at.

[NathanG]

Well, I hate to reply to my own question, but I'm dying for a response. I've tried what I can for cleaning the carts and connectors (isopropyl alcohol, white eraser), but to no avail. I've done what I can to search the Internet for anything related to this, but I couldn't find anything. I've noticed that several of the characters built into the system are a bit messed up in the games, but two of the games (mentioned earlier) work fine, so I have no idea if it's the console or the games. However, I don't recall any of the special characters being used in the games that do work, so I am leaning a little toward the system at this point. The BIOS ("SELECT GAME") seems to work fine, though one game (I can't recall which one right now) shows "MELECT GAME" on occasion.

Does anyone have remotely any idea what's going on here? Has anything similar happened to anyone else, or does anyone have any ideas on what could be causing this?

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I occasionally get the "melect game" display - it's probably a once-in-a-thousand thing though.

Do you know anyone else nearby with an O2 who'd let you check the games out to help you narrow it down to a hardware problem?

[dendawg]

I'll probably get flamed for this, but what the hell....

Try **lightly** rubbing the contacts with a Scotch-Brite pad. I had some NES cartridges that wouldn't work after the alcohol, eraser, etc; and it worked for me. So, short of steel wool, it's worth a try, IMHO.

[jonjandran]

I'll probably get flamed for this, but what the hell....

Try **lightly** rubbing the contacts with a Scotch-Brite pad. I had some NES cartridges that wouldn't work after the alcohol, eraser, etc; and it worked for me. So, short of steel wool, it's worth a try, IMHO.

Yea , I've had to use sandpaper before on really stubborn carts.

Sometimes the alcohol and eraser tricks just don't work.

[NathanG]

Phosphor Dot Fossils: I live up in Northern Minnesota, so I doubt anyone would have an O2 that I could try things out on, but then again, you never know. It would be great if I could just get another one to try, but I'd hate to spend more money than I would have to (or want to, for that matter).

dendawg and jonjandran: I might give those methods a try (being extremely careful, of course) and see if they do anything. The football one would make a great guinea pig, really...it's of no value to me. Though, I will say that I've never had to do this with any carts for other systems; all of my NES ones, for example, have been fixed up with some rubbing alcohol.

Maybe I should just try and find a cheap copy of an old O2 cart that I have already that isn't working. I suppose it could help me find out my problem...and I haven't really been able to tell that at all, even in the month or two that I've had it. Kind of depressing, really.

[ozyr]

I occasionally get the "melect game" display - it's probably a once-in-a-thousand thing though.

Um.. just my two cents worth, but the 'melect game', or any other scrambled version of the 'select game' screen happens for than once-in-a-thousand. I would put it at once-in-a-dozen. I have many O2 units (more than ten at last count), and this happens so darn often, but is utterly harmless, most of the time. Not sure why the O2 does this, but it just does?! Personally, I find some of the things it comes up with rather humerous.


As for the problems with this O2 unit in question, it sounds like it just needs one heck of a cleaning.

NathanG, have you tried cleaning the cartridge port itself. This could be the issue, and you could use a slot cleaning kit from one of the older system (if you can find one). This has worked for me in the past, on O2 units and other cart based system. Otherwise, I usually use the insert/un-insert cartridge, repeat, repeat, repeat about a few dozen times approach. This works great on somewhat dirty carts. If they are really bad, I have used very mild sandpaper (just make sure to blow out the dirt before using the cart). Otherwise, good luck on the O2...

One last thing, it sounds like your using a Voice unit. If so, try the games without the Voice. I have come across bad Voice modules that makes some games not function correctly.