Bloody Red Screen of Death...

[Zerosquare]

I thought cats licked themselves clean...

[sirlynxalot]

I had some red screen issues, but they mostly fixed themselves by me frequently taking the game in and out of the slot. I suspect, as posited, that the act of inserting/removing is enough to scrape off any minor oxidation.

[Papa]

I clean my cartridges with Nevr-dull and then give them a once over with q-tips and over 70% alcohol with no oils in it. I usually don't have to do any more than that, but I did win a lot of cartridges on eBay (Rayman and Wolfenstien I didn't have yet, but it also came with extras of Trevor McBush and the Crescent Pubis and Raiden) that had one game that just wouldn't work! So I cleaned the crap out of it with Nevr-dull then cleaned that up with q-tips. I inspected very closely and found a couple of the contacts to be blackened with some substance (possibly black tar heroin), so I got in there with a razor and scritchy-scratched all of that black S#it off until each black-gummed contact was cleared! I then did the cleaning regiment all over again and it worked flawlessly and has since. Nevr-dull is sold in automotive parts stores for removing anything from rims or metal work on cars..and I mean ANYTHING! I also have used it to remove stickers from my lightsabers (the pawn shop jumped the gun and stickered them before I came in to get them out..) and it worked perfectly at shining them up and removing all the gunk!

[ataridave]

What do you all do to keep dust out of the Jaguar? I leave a cartridge in mine, but that doesn't cover everything

[Zerosquare]

You don't need to do anything apart from that. There's no fan, and the openings in the plastic shell are so small that dust doesn't really get inside. Just wipe the outside with a cloth from time to time.

Edited March 15, 2015 by Zerosquare

[Rick Dangerous]

I keep mine in a hermetically sealed environment, temperature controlled, with laser and thermal based security systems.

[cessnaace]

What do you all do to keep dust out of the Jaguar? I leave a cartridge in mine, but that doesn't cover everything

I generally keep Cybermorph loaded in the cartridge slot.

[cessnaace]

I keep mine in a hermetically sealed environment, temperature controlled, with laser and thermal based security systems.

I've had multiple systems go screwy on me after I made the mistake of buying a Hyperkin Retron FC. To wit:

 

Atari VCS 4-switch: The On/Off switch is flaky. I have to tap on it smetimes to get it to come on.

3DO (Goldstar): Center spinal dosen't lower when closing drawer, which causes it to catch.

GameCube: Power light comes on, but is orange. No audio or video.

Hyperkin died. No loss!

 

I already had issues with:

 

Atari 7800: RF output so weak it look terrible, when it actually triggers the RF converter.

2 NES Model 1s needing new pins.

 

I have now bought another model 1 NES, and another GameCube.

 

Everything else - no problem.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Blowjobs and NES's. Oh, the mental pictures one can paint with that.....

(NSFW)

 

 

Edited March 15, 2015 by stardust4ever

[Gunstar]

I am guilty of being a [cartridge] blower, because it is a quick fix to just get the game working right away, but I think this is because of not only the possibility of blowing some dust or dirt out, but also because that bit of spittle creates a better connection between contacts initially. But I still do clean my cartridge contacts on a regular basis too, properly, with an 'edge connector cleaner & protector' pen i bought from Radio Shack which is designed for specifically the purpose of properly cleaning edge contacts. I used to clean them as mentioned above with an eraser. I am going to stop blowing on the contacts, I know and have known this to be bad for my cartridges, but have done it in the past out of shear laziness. But now I have all my cartridges and CD connector edge and both cartridge ports freshly cleaned and protected and everything is working like new for the time being and at the first sign of trouble I will continue to use my special cleaning pen. I'm just going to have to find a new source of a similar product now that Radio Shack has/is going out of business.

Edited March 15, 2015 by Gunstar

[ataridave]

Yesterday, I purchased a cartridge cleaning kit from these guys: 1upcard.com

 

I heard about them on a Youtube video, and I have a lot of cartridge games, Jaguar, NES and Famicom, that need a good cleaning. As far as the Jag CD goes, I've read that you should not press down on any part of it, except right where it says "close here" in order to keep it in good working condition. (As opposed to say, a PS1, where you can press down anywhere on the lid.)

Edited March 15, 2015 by newataridave

[JagCD]

I generally keep Cybermorph loaded in the cartridge slot.

 

That's a good way to keep wear and tear to a minimum, too -- since no one actually plays that game.

[AtariBorn]

I had an old Sega Genesis cleaning kit with interchangeable inserts. I cut one of the inserts into 2 smaller pieces to fit the Jaguar slot and I was amazed at how dirty my primary Jaguar and CD were. I keep those two in prefect condition but the cart slots were a complete blackened mess. No Red Screens any more, besides the occasional bad EPROM burn.

[fmh]

I just recently set up my Jaguar again to play some games and there is one game that no matter how much I clean it will not get past the Red Screen. All others after one or two cleanings will work. For stubborn carts I lightly sand 600+ emery cloth on the contacts, then with electrical cleaner on a q-tip clean the contacts and then finally with a can of compressed air blow the contacts clean/dry. The one cartridge that refuses to play is Iron Soldier 2. I was wondering since this was an EPROM game from Telegames if the EPROM went bad? All contacts are straight and clean on the cart. Other Telegames Carts are working like Towers II just not this one.

[+SabertoothRetro]

The one cartridge that refuses to play is Iron Soldier 2. I was wondering since this was an EPROM game from Telegames if the EPROM went bad? All contacts are straight and clean on the cart. Other Telegames Carts are working like Towers II just not this one.

I am having the same issue with Barkley: Shut Up and Jam. I went to play it last night for the first time in ages and no dice. All of my other carts seem to work fine but this one goes to the RRoD almost immediately. I too suspect the EPROM went bad. I'm digging out my spare Jaguar today to see if it plays on that one. Has anyone elese had this issue with BSU&J or other B&C releases?

[+SabertoothRetro]

Just a quick update: BSU&J did not work on my back-up jag either. Its got to be the cart.

[fmh]

I believe I tried the IS2 on multiple systems and the same thing. Both our carts are EPROMs and they must have worn out or what ever the proper term is for a Flashed Chip is.

[+madman]

EPROMs shouldn't "wear out" as there isn't a finite read cycle on them, that said they are like any other chip than can become faulty.

[Zerosquare]

Indeed there is no limit on how many times they can be read. They do age, though: the bits very slowly self-erase (Flash memory has the same issue).

[djones60]

I just got one off ebay and it was getting the red screen of death. So I googled and found this thread. In my case, I just used some deoxit and it started working right off. Great stuff when it comes to old electronic, retro computers, etc.

[+madman]

Yeah, alcohol is great for a light cleaning but deoxit is next level stuff.

[omf]

Yeah, alcohol is great for a light cleaning but deoxit is next level stuff.

if .blow does not work, then brasso is the way forward

 

 

i have purchased so called '*CLEANED*' game cartridges from ebay before, they have been filthy so either alcohol is a load of bullcock or the seller lies.

 

brasso sorted them out