My 4-port apparently doesn't like 3rd Party Titles

[Lynxpro]

Anyone else have problems playing 3rd Party carts on their 4-port? I have 2 copies of River Raid and neither will play. my copy of Star Trek also won't play and the same goes for 1 of the 2 Frogger carts I have. I've recently acquired these along with a lot of Atari carts from eBay. The difference is every Atari cart works. None of the carts have been cleaned and they cosmetically look about the same dust-wise. The Atari carts all fit better but then again, the 5200 cartridge connector was definitely a step up over the 2600/7800 connector anyway. Since I found this rather odd, I thought I'd bring it to the forum.

 

Pitfall works like a champ though...

[Lynxpro]

Ugh, double threads due to Tapatalk error!

[RickR]

Try cleaning them. Without dust covers, those third party titles get corroded more easily.

[+FujiSkunk]

There are some known issues that prevent certain third-party cartridges from playing on most 2-port Atari 5200's but those don't apply to 4-porters. I agree with RickR, try cleaning the cartridge's contacts, with rubbing alcohol or with a soft eraser if you have one handy. In my experience, Activision cartridges are especially bad about getting dirty contacts for some reason.

[ApolloBoy]

Activision cartridges are especially bad about getting dirty contacts for some reason.

That's mainly because Activision carts use thinner PCBs than most other carts, even on other systems (and especially the 2600). So when the game contacts are dirty, the thin PCB makes matters worse.

[Lynxpro]

Ugh. 3 different copies of River Raid and none of them work even after cleaning them. Well, at least Gyruss works and kicks ass.

[zylon]

Ugh. 3 different copies of River Raid and none of them work even after cleaning them. Well, at least Gyruss works and kicks ass.

Sometimes, you need to pull back slightly to make them work. Other times, a matchbook can help keep them making good contact.

[Lynxpro]

I think Activision carts are a good selling tool for the AtariMax Ultimate SD Cartridge Adapter. I'm pretty cheesed off over this. In a million years, I never would've imagined Parker Bros making better cartridges than Activision. The 2 copies of Sega's Star Trek also aren't working.

[zylon]

try removing the top cover of the system and insert the carts on the open board.

 

Activision carts don't have a cover to open, so they should fit easily.

Edited March 3, 2014 by zylon