"Fry cartridge" term

[Tangentg]

I've seen a video that tells you that you could get double shots by holding down the reset button with the power off, then turn on the power and then let go of the reset button, to get double shots in Space Invaders. Now the "fry cartridge" functions in Atari 2600 emulators result in getting double shots too (after you hit reset), but why is it called "fry cartridge"? What does holding down the buttons have to do with frying and the cartridge?

 

Also, isn't Space Invaders the only game where this has a significant effect? (Other games being just unaffected or causing undesired glitches, rather than desired glitches)

 

Thanks.

[ferghead]

I'm pretty sure Slapdash (Russ) came up with the term. It does have weird effects on other games, but I think you may be right about the Space Invaders significance, I can't remember off the top of my head.

 

I'm sure that frying came first, accidentally hitting the power switch and getting that weird screen probably came before deliberately (or accidentally) holding down reset while powering on. I know it did for me.

[+save2600]

Actually, it's "frying the cartridge". You know, like when someone says something is toast. It's glitched (janked up as kids say today) or just plain not right afterwards. Usually exclaim that when something electrical gets fried. Now we're just going in circles.

 

But yeah, it's an old familiar term with most of us by now. The act of turning the system on/off quickly to see what the game does and/or holding down various buttons while doing that in order to "unlock" or expose glitches.

[Tangentg]

I'm pretty sure Slapdash (Russ) came up with the term. It does have weird effects on other games, but I think you may be right about the Space Invaders significance, I can't remember off the top of my head.

 

I'm sure that frying came first, accidentally hitting the power switch and getting that weird screen probably came before deliberately (or accidentally) holding down reset while powering on. I know it did for me.

I don't know who that is... But what's this about hitting the power switch and getting the weird screen? Since I've only seen the video about the reset button thing, I don't know anything about how to get that weird screen... Wouldn't hitting the power switch cause it to turn on or off completely? Or is it something like turning it off and back on too quickly?

 

 

Actually, it's "frying the cartridge". You know, like when someone says something is toast. It's glitched (janked up as kids say today) or just plain not right afterwards. Usually exclaim that when something electrical gets fried. Now we're just going in circles.

 

But yeah, it's an old familiar term with most of us by now. The act of turning the system on/off quickly to see what the game does and/or holding down various buttons while doing that in order to "unlock" or expose glitches.

 

Googling "frying the cartridge" didn't get me anything on the origin of the term... I quoted that from Stella and Javatari, where the backspace is used to "fry cartridge".

Is that used to refer to something not going right?

[0078265317]

So does holding down the reset while the power is off and then turning it on fry the cartridge?

[+save2600]

Or cartridge frying, whatever - take your pick! It's just that the phrase "fry cartridge" struck me as goofy at first (grammatically speaking), but I see where you're coming from now. *That* particular feature on an emulator would or might be called simply "fry cartridge" for short. Not into emulation, but interesting cartridge frying is now an option apparently. lol

 

And yes, the act of frying a cartridge can produce all sorts of weird effects. Some interesting like Space Invaders, but mostly not. Depends on the game. Be interesting if developers today or since the term was coined, purposely add particular features, glitches or easter eggs to their games using this method. I'm aware of some of Bob's (PacManPlus) 7800 cheats which involve holding in the pause button while powering on the system to unlock things, but not so much on the 2600 homebrew side of things. Might have to pick out a few and give them a try come to think of it!

 

Not frying per se, but holding down reset or select while powering up. Maybe that should be called "soft frying"? haha Not a big fan of frying using the quick on/off method. Would hate it if I accidentally toasted a game or system doing that.

[Keatah]

Turning something off, and then back on again, especially computers, strains and stresses the circuits. Logic gates are stuck in limbo and undetermined states.

[Tangentg]

Turning something off, and then back on again, especially computers, strains and stresses the circuits. Logic gates are stuck in limbo and undetermined states.

So I guess it refers to turning the console off and back on again quickly then? I've seen a weird screen effect on an Apple II from someone turning it off and then on again without waiting long enough. I guess that would be similar.

 

So basically it's that first act that was called "fry cartridge", because it makes the game on the cartridge go weird? And then the releasing the Reset button isn't part of cartridge-frying, I take it.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Tangentg

[Keatah]

It is not. Holding reset buttons and other controls in a certain position while powering up is more like activating a power-up option.

[King_Salamon]

Frying a cart was what we did to games in the 80's. Word of this spread across schoolyards and people starting 'frying' their games to see what would happen. I don't know how many of the Atari 2600 libraries titles had games that resulted in cool effects but it did strange things for sure.

 

So to 'fry' a game, you would have a cart in the system and you would then very quickly (I mean extremely quickly) flick the power off and back on. Sometimes by barely moving the on/off switch much at all... just enough for the power to stop and then start again. Was this good for the system? Definitely not! I was doing this foolishly because I didn't know any better and the 'cool effects' were well.... cool. (I was 9 or so at the time after all) I had a six-switch system that I did this to. I didn't do it a lot but every once in a while I would try it on a cart I recently got and played a ton of and wanted to see if it had any cool effects.

 

I continued to do this until one fateful day... a friend was over and wanted to play something on the Atari... it was Slot Racers or Asteroids if memory serves and when he plugged the AC Adaptor into the wall socket, there was a flash of light followed by a puff of smoke. Something bad happened and the six-switch was dead. (RIP ol' six-switch... you were a great machine). That same day, we went out and got a replacement (and much cheaper!) four-switch vader with Yars Revenge! Yars was on $7 brand new at Zellers and the system was well under $100 at this point... maybe $70? Not sure.

 

Anyway, I would see how the frying went on the new system and I could not replicate a single fry of a game. Did they change something over the years? I'm guessing they did but I remember questioning why it wouldn't work anymore.

 

My most memorable 'fry' of a game was Pitfall 2! If you fried it, Pitfall Harry would fall through the main level and you could beat the game in mere seconds! It was funny. I don't remember others off the top of my head but that was a good one.

[Tangentg]

I see, Keatah...

 

Ah, thanks for the detailed explanation, King_Salamon!

It's sad, with your 6-switch

 

But now you made me wanna check out cartridge-frying Pitfall 2!

Edited December 4, 2016 by Tangentg

[bradhig1]

I broke my 6 switch trying to fry pacman. The frying affect I remember from childhood was maze craze getting that maze full of square were you could just race across the screen. Love to see what happens when Haunted Adventure Trilogy gets fried.

[Nukey Shay]

A variable voltage power adapter will essentially produce the same effects - selecting a lower voltage and quickly moving it back to 9v

to get the power spike. This would avoid wear on your console switch. When such a power fluctuation happens (including during an electrical storm), the cartridge program begins execution at a random address instead of the powerup initialization address specified by the cold start vector ($1FFC). Since the program was not begun at the correct address to clear the ram table and TIA registers, this can produce all sorts of weird effects. Although the program itself could be written to safeguard against accidental execution...such as reinitializing the system whenever a new game is begun (which is why frying does not work on some games). Using Game Reset upon powerup to produce the double-shot effect in Space Invaders is not really related to frying...as this game normally requires a full frame to execute for proper ram initialization to occur. Holding down the Reset switch bypasses the full frame from executing, so the stray bit not cleared in ram which signals a two-player simultaneous game selection is coupled with the regular game option 1. Using Game Select at any time will return the game to normal...regular initialization is allowed to complete.

[hizzy]

You can "fry" in stella. No worries about wrecking your 2600.

[Rom Collector]

When I was a kid in the early 1980's, I used to "glitch" (as I call(ed) it) my Atari games by pulling the AC adapter plug out of its connector on the back of the unit a bit so it was barely connected. I would then lightly tap it till I got something unusual. I learned this on my own, and found that it occasionally would give me unlimited lives, weird colors, or something else desirable. I found Adventure's secret this way, before I first heard about the dot in the original Atari Age magazine, or the term "Easter egg".

 

When I hear the term "Frying" it reminds me of the crackling sound it would make sometimes when making or breaking the connection. You could sometimes see tiny blue or white sparks.

It would also piss off my parents because it would make strong zapping noises on my parents AM radio when they were listening to it.

[high voltage]

Famous video game collector Russ Perry (Stella gets a new brain) coined the phrase 'frying the VCS/cartridge'

Edited December 4, 2016 by high voltage

[Tangentg]

Famous video game collector Russ Perry (Stella gets a new brain) coined the phrase 'frying the VCS/cartridge'

Guess I just haven't heard of them :/

[high voltage]

Guess I just haven't heard of them :/

You're life is not worth living.....