Sick Jaguar needs Medicine!

[SpicedUp!]

Hello everyone - I'm new to the forum. I bought a Jaguar and a bundle of games a while back. I knew when I bought it that the Jaguar didn't work, but I figured I might be able to fix it (optimism!) I have always been into video games and I am interested in all the old systems. The jaguar is boxed and has all its leads etc. What happens is when I plug it in, nothing happens. (the power light doesn't come on) I know that the power supply is working (because I tried it on another console).

I am hoping this is a commom problem and could be solved with some solder or something simple. Does anyone know what might be wrong? I'd really appreciate any help. I found quite a few sites on the internet detailing how to make repairs on the Jag CD Unit , but nothing (yet) on the base console itself.

 

Just one more question - I read about a simple mod you can do on the UK Jaguar to make it play games at 60Hz. Does this mean that if I did this - all my UK games would play just like US games? I used to have an Amiga and you could force it into 60HZ but a lot of the games which had been specially made for 50hz play then ran too fast. I just want to play games at the speed they were meant to be played - not too fast - or too slow.

What happens if you play UK games on a US Jag. Does it switch to 50Hz mode?

 

Thank you very much for any help - I am looking forward to playing on my Jaguar (soon!)

 

Spiced!

[Zerosquare]

Hi and welcome to AtariAge

 

First - and sorry if you already know this, but it stumps most new Jaguar owners - the console won't turn on at all (not even the power light) if you don't have a cartridge inserted. Check that the cartridge is inserted firmly. If you need to, you can disable this check with a bit of soldering : see this topic.

 

Apart from that, the Jaguar's most common fault is a blown internal voltage regulator. It happens when you plug a power supply with the wrong polarity, and it's quite common since the polarity expected is the reverse of what's found on most adapters. Fortunately, it can be repaired if you're comfortable soldering surface-mount parts. See this topic.

 

Finally, yes, installing a 50/60 Hz switch will allow you to play your games in 60 Hz. See Matthias Domin's page for instructions on how to do it. There are no region-specific cartridges, all games work both in 50 Hz and 60 Hz, but some look better in 60 Hz (no black bars, smoother gameplay, etc.). So unless you install a switch, a US Jag will display all games in 60 Hz.

Edited September 2, 2008 by Zerosquare

[dreamcastrip]

The only region-specific game is Dragon's Lair for the Jaguar CD unit.

 

Welcome to the world of Jaguar!

[SpicedUp!]

Thank you very much for the welcome ZeroSquare and Dreamcastrip! I'm pretty sure I did put the cartridge into the machine first, but I will check just to make sure. If this is not the problem that it could very well be the internal voltage regulator so I will have a go at fixing it. It will be nice (eventually) to play some Jaguar games on it!

Thanks again!

[SpicedUp!]

Hi. I managed to get the Jaguar working now - I've been playing CyberMorph. The problem actually turned out to be my Doom cartridge (it was the only loose cartridge in the bundle - so naturally I tried to play it first - got no power light and prseumed the console to be dead. When I place it in the slot and turn the console on - most of the time nothing happens - ie the power doesn't come on at all. Occassionaly the power light will come on, but then I get a white flashing on my TV screen and some loud noises, but the game doesn't load.

Is this a common problem - do you think I could fix it by cleaning the cartridge? Does anyone know how to open the cartridge? I thought if the game isn't working now - then I can't make things much worse.

 

Thnaks for any help.

[ls650]

Is this a common problem - do you think I could fix it by cleaning the cartridge?

Q-tips, cleaning alcohol. Give it a try and find out!

[BuddyBuddies]

Welcome to the Jaguar community buddy!

[+doctorclu]

Is this a common problem - do you think I could fix it by cleaning the cartridge?

Q-tips, cleaning alcohol. Give it a try and find out!

 

 

Ditto on this suggestion. Welcome aboard!

[Tweety]

Is this a common problem - do you think I could fix it by cleaning the cartridge?

Q-tips, cleaning alcohol. Give it a try and find out!

I use an pencil eraser to rub the contacts until they are clean.

Edited September 7, 2008 by Tweety

[SpicedUp!]

Everyone's very nice. Thank for the friendly greetings!

 

OK I will give it a good clean before dismantling it!

 

Thank you

[+Stephen Moss]

Is this a common problem - do you think I could fix it by cleaning the cartridge? Does anyone know how to open the cartridge? I thought if the game isn't working now - then I can't make things much worse.

As other have stated a cotton bud (q-tip) and somthing like isopropanol or surgical spirits can be used to clean the cartridge contacts and some people advocate wrapping material like cotton around an old credit card dipped into the same to clean the cartridge slot.

You do not want to take the cartridge apart unless you absolutly have to because the screws holding the case together are located under the label.

[+doctorclu]

"Sick Jaguar needs medicine... badly."

 

"Sick Jaguar is about to die."

 

(A little "Gauntlet" humor there...)