NES Scrambled Graphics Help!

[Starf]

Hi all,

 

I just cleaned my NES 72-pin with this guide. Once I hooked my NES back up I got scrambled graphics where most of my games would come up to one screen with the messed up visuals. I was able to start up and vaguely play one game, Double Dragon III where certain elements of the game where normal or "less-scrambled" than the background of the game, such as the characters and the "III" on the title screen. The music played normally, too. All the other games would stay still at one screen with no sound or change. I took apart the NES again and re-cleaned and tried to adjust what was wrong, I cleaned some of the games too. Double Dragon III would only play when the cartridge was in the down position and Double Dragon wouldn't play in the upright position. What went wrong?

 

Keep in mind that I'm not tech savvy at all and have little to no hardware knowledge so if there is a largely technical problem at hand, I might not be able to fix it in time. (I need to get this fixed by Nov. 1st because I'm having a party and without my NES games we'd be left in the dark)

 

There's a picture of the Double Dragon III title screen attached.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the help guys

Starf

[Starf]

Update: Did a little more fiddling with the machine and now more games are working but still in the scrambled state, where the sprites are the only clear objects on the screen. For ex: in Megaman 2 I can move all around and see enemies but the background is all screwed up. Now Double Dragon III and a couple other games I tried only work in the upright position.

Is this most likely a problem with the 72 pin connector? If so should I get a new one instead of fixing or cleaning the old one?

[+FujiSkunk]

If that's happening with all games, and it wasn't happening before you cleaned your connector, then odds are it's the connector. NES games can have all sorts of issues when there isn't a clean connection between the cartridge and the console, and it's not unusual for the graphics to become scrambled even when everything else seems "fine." It could be an issue with the console itself -- I had an SNES do the same thing once -- but start with cleaning again or replacing the connector and see what that gets you.

[Starf]

Ok, thanks for the advice, I've already ordered a new connector.

[Starf]

Update: Got the connector in the mail and installed it. I'm still having the same problem. When I disabled the lockout chip and when I opened the NES up could I have broken something?

Edited October 26, 2014 by Starf

[Starf]

Update: I took my old NES connector from the one I'm trying to fix and put it into my other NES that has not bee working, now that NES works fine. This means that my first NES doesn't have a connector problem, but something else is screwing up the video. Could the video connection from inside the console (I think its the blue looking plug) not be connected all the way? Or is something else causing the problem?

[icemanxp300]

Get "brasso" Take the system apart again this time use brasso to clean the board pins until no green is on q-tip. Then wipe off with alcohol. Next spray "deoxit gold" over board pins. System should be fine.

[David Niel Yoder]

Having the exact same issue. Ever get yours working?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

If you are sure that the 72-pin connector isn't the issue then my next guess would be a faulty PPU but as those were custom, you have to salvage them from other non working systems to replace them.

 

[pcrock]

I bet on a PPU issue too. 

Do you have the schematics to show us?