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Collectorvision Games


ZillaRUSH

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While a new/different power supply might do the trick, I'm still pretty confident that the issue is one of poor contact between the cartrdige edge connector and the CV cartridge connector.

 

I have run into this issue with Homebrew carts the last couple years when dumping the carts to rom files with the AtariMax MaxFlash Cart/CV Adapter Board... so much so that I sent the CV Adapter Board back to AtariMax for replacement and the issue still exists!!!

It is a copy protection feature ;)

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It's almost for sure the cartridge not going in far enough. Another trick is to try aligning all the way left then insert. or vise versa all the way to the right and insert. It's just not touching all the points needed.

 

I've been making homebrew carts using the same or similar pcbs and occassionally that's all it is.

Just recvd my second Power Brick...no go. Old games still play perfectly...but not homebrews. So I assume cartridge port? Will send it out to get fixed. Update you in a few weeks. Thanks again for all the help.

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digress...def possible connection issue. I tried your techniques...no go. Connection must be worn down or something. Here is what Moon Patrol looks like on the screen. I tried cleaning the connection area...no go. Think its an easy fix? If not...might have to get a new system on Ebay.

post-43234-0-09394800-1468035992_thumb.jpg

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digress...def possible connection issue. I tried your techniques...no go. Connection must be worn down or something. Here is what Moon Patrol looks like on the screen. I tried cleaning the connection area...no go. Think its an easy fix? If not...might have to get a new system on Ebay.

 

Just a thought - if you're in SoCal there has to be a few people on AA in your area that you might be able to send a couple of your carts to and have them test on their system just to find out if it's the cart or the system before you go buying another system off eBay. You said your other carts work just fine, right? Maybe this might not be a bad idea to double check?

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digress...def possible connection issue. I tried your techniques...no go. Connection must be worn down or something. Here is what Moon Patrol looks like on the screen. I tried cleaning the connection area...no go. Think its an easy fix? If not...might have to get a new system on Ebay.

I keep thinking that you're almost there. That screen is the difficulty selection screen. Pressing keypad 1-6 will take you to the game. I would keep playing around with the cart like pulling it back just a centimeter and press the reset button until it can load the graphics properly. I do that with my NES a lot. I keep trying until I get something on screen if I really want to play the game that badly. Too the point of frustration. I'm a very very stubborn person. Intellivision is sorta the same thing, but I pull the cart back a little if it doesn't load the game properly. A lot of cartridge based system sometime don't boot up games on the first try. Don't give up.

 

Yurkie here does Colecovision repair, so I recommend him to fix Colecovision system.

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I had this problem with the last batch of games I bought from Collectorvision. Forgive me if this has already been mentioned, as I scanned over all the posts but did not read every word in the thread.

 

Anyway, out of 5 or so games, only 1 worked. I noticed that the cartridge shells had a good bit of excess plastic from the molding process. So, I filed down the bottoms of the cartridge shells so the cart would sit perfectly flat when on it's PCB end. After doing this to each cart with the issue, every one of them worked fine.

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Seems pretty weird to me since we're all (Opcode, Pixelboy, CollectorVision) using the same cartridge mold for years now

And ugh, the very same plastic injection company as well .....for years now

Yes, but I like to remove the small "flashes" (that's what the lady at the plastic injection company calls them) at the open extremity of the cart. What I do is I assemble the cart, then I place it upright on a table. If the cart wiggles back and forth (and it often does) then I slice a little bit of plastic off the bottom (with an X-Acto knife) so that it stops wiggling.

 

Note that I'm not sure if it actually makes a difference or not once the cart is in the hands of the player... :)

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Just got an Adam memory module and am having a similar problem. It will not play my homebrew of Galaxian. I get the "Colecovision: Turn game off before inserting cartridge or expansion module" screen. My Colecovision carts all work fine. Tried blowing on it, cleaning the connector pins... nada. Cart will play fine though in my Colecovision just not the Adam.

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I had this problem with the last batch of games I bought from Collectorvision. Forgive me if this has already been mentioned, as I scanned over all the posts but did not read every word in the thread.

 

Anyway, out of 5 or so games, only 1 worked. I noticed that the cartridge shells had a good bit of excess plastic from the molding process. So, I filed down the bottoms of the cartridge shells so the cart would sit perfectly flat when on it's PCB end. After doing this to each cart with the issue, every one of them worked fine.

 

 

Years ago I had this problem with a home-brew copy of Ms. Space Fury on one of my CV consoles. Maybe the console was refurbished and that changed some of the hardware measurements, but the cart would not properly connect unless slight pressure was against the cart to hold it at an angle. I had to lean the console against the wall with a book pressing down on the back of the cart to get it to work! LOL Seems the original carts were connecting properly without any odd manipulation. I ended up swapping out the console and the problem disappeared, but before that I cleaned the cart, returned the cart and went through much of the same frustration you are going through.

 

So manipulating the cart case may work or swapping out the console may work. In any event it does sound like connectors are not properly lining up. If it was me, I would try a new console before manipulating the cart case as that is irreversible.

 

Troy

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  • 4 years later...

Hate to re-open such an old thread (my first post, btw), but I just wanted to add that I have "Electric Adventure Classic" by Collectorvision Games that I just recently obtained off ebay. It also doesn't want to run (just absolute blackness on my TV screen). I have noticed some issues with the cartridge slot running other 1980s-era carts but ultimately, they do work most of the time. It's tricky dealing with these old game consoles and computers sometimes!

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45 minutes ago, bumm13 said:

Hate to re-open such an old thread (my first post, btw), but I just wanted to add that I have "Electric Adventure Classic" by Collectorvision Games that I just recently obtained off ebay. It also doesn't want to run (just absolute blackness on my TV screen). I have noticed some issues with the cartridge slot running other 1980s-era carts but ultimately, they do work most of the time. It's tricky dealing with these old game consoles and computers sometimes!

I have one of these from the first run. It is more finicky than most of the carts. It may be a slight difference in the pcb or cart manufacturing. I did find if you fiddle with the position, you can get it to work.

 

EDIT: We have this problem with instruments at work. You replace part that looks exactly the same and it doesn't work right. You get it replaced twice, doesn't work right either time. You put in one from another machine six years old and it works perfectly. Company says it's the same exact part, but there is something a little different in there somewhere.

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4 minutes ago, Swami said:

I have one of these from the first run. It is more finicky than most of the carts. It may be a slight difference in the pcb manufacturing. I did find if you fiddle with the position, you can get it to work.

I just finished cleaning the cart's edge connector with rubbing alcohol solution, but it still isn't working. I've tried positioning it in all sorts of different ways but to no avail. I think half of the bottom of the cartridge shell has a very slight slant to it that might be causing the problem. Eventually, I should test the cart in my Coleco Adam computer just to see what happens.

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