Memory Track issues

[UHATEIT]

I was playing some of the CD games I have that use the Memory Track this last weekend and have confirmed by starting the system and holding OPTION to see what was actually on the Memory Track's internal memory. I confirmed I have a save point for Alice's Mom's Rescue but when I put in the CD and hit the "continue" option the screen just goes black and nothing loads. I also played fairly far into Braindead 13 and then saved the game, confirmed the memory track has the save on it and when I tried to get back into the saved game which on Braindead 13 there is the option for Start New or Continue at the title screen, it just won't load anything under "Continue" which should be to return to the saved game. The last one I noticed was on Impulse X in which I confirmed I have a bunch of saved options on the Memory Track (screen settings, sound settings, high scores, etc.) and when I load up Impulse X and go to the High Scores section, everything is completely cleared out and all scrambled actually (almost looks like a glitch in numbers).

 

I didn't find any threads about the Memory Track in here to feed off of. Would this sound like an issue with the Memory Track itself, the games themselves, or perhaps the connection? I have this plugged into the cartridge slot on the CD unit which is plugged into the Jaguar itself. Like I said I can hold OPTION and access the memory track and see the saves, they just don't load or work properly when trying to play the actual game so I assume it is not a connection issue.

[Flojomojo]

Bad capacitor inside, maybe?

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/75642-question-about-memory-track-power-source/

 

It's pretty old, it might have burst.

[Gummy Bear]

Never assume it's not a connection issue.

Give the cart connector a good clean with isopropyl and cotton buds.

Give the connector in the cd unit a clean with isopropyl wipes and a credit card.

[UHATEIT]

When I say not a connection issue, I guess I mean that when I power on the Jag and hold OPTION it goes to the memory Track manager screen and shows that the saves are on there. They just aren't working or loading when I try the to load on those 3 games. I have some saves for games like Robinson's Requiem and almost to the end of BattleMorph I'll have to test out to see if those load. I'd really like to beat BatleMorph but am stuck towards the end and would hate to lose the ability to access that save point too!

[Sporadic]

I had an issue with my memory track cart. Wierdly, there was a blob of solder bridging 2 of the carts contacts. I scraped that off with my nail and then it worked flawlessly.

Before removing it, some games would lock up when loading and also when browsing the storage, some of the saves would show corrupted/random text and characters.

[UHATEIT]

I had an issue with my memory track cart. Wierdly, there was a blob of solder bridging 2 of the carts contacts. I scraped that off with my nail and then it worked flawlessly.

Before removing it, some games would lock up when loading and also when browsing the storage, some of the saves would show corrupted/random text and characters.

That sounds like my issue for sure. I can access the storage, but there are times if I jiggle the cart the screen goes black with green lines then will show up again. Also it will freeze when trying to access Alice's Mom's rescue save point, but also not do anything when I select Braindead 13, and then on Impulse I do get the corrected/scattered text in the high score section like you mentioned.

[Sporadic]

I did have a photo of the random solder blob. IllI try and find it. However, it could indicate yours needs cleaning.

[Gummy Bear]

As I said

 

Give that sucker a good clean.

[Sporadic]

For completeness, I found the post. Unfortunately my photos have vanished from there.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/170932-jaguar-cd-black-screen-start-up/?p=2158757

 

Edit, here's the pics!

 

Before

 

After

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2018 by Sporadic

[UHATEIT]

Oh wow that a gnarly piece of metal there. I inspected mine last night and wiped it with a q-tip. It does register my saves for Battlemorph thank god since i was super far into the game, but STILL Braindead 13 does not register the save, pisses me off since that game is pretty hard and I made it almost to the end and had to turn it off (to work) and when I start the game there s the option for NEW GAME or CONTINUE and the continue option just doesn't do anything. Jag games are often incomplete so maybe that function was never activated.

 

Perhaps someone else with Braindead 13 can start a game and save it with their memory track, turn off the system and then try to continue where it left off?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Could this also indicate that the flash is starting to die? I know it should be good forever with how ever many writes are possible, but I wonder if just age in general might cause them to not save data properly anymore? I have to admit it has been well over a year since I used mine and even then it was primarily for Battlemorph as well and I recall it did work at that time, but don't know if I've made any recent saves to it.

[Gummy Bear]

My money is still on contact issues.

There are pins in the cartridge slot that directly connect to the EEPROM in a cart.

The Jag can do odd and unfavourable things if the connection isn't good; such as failing to load data, or even erasing the EEPROM.

I wouldn't be surprised if corruption can occur either.

 

Give it a GOOD clean, man. Isopropyl or lighter fluid on a q tip. Keep going until that sucker is gleaming.

Cleaning the cart slot is less fun.

I made a cart slot cleaner with a small piece of plastic card, small enough to fit in the 'little end' of the cart slot. Wrap an alcohol wipe over the edge of it and go to town.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I made a cart slot cleaner with a small piece of plastic card, small enough to fit in the 'little end' of the cart slot. Wrap an alcohol wipe over the edge of it and go to town.

 

I do the same. I use one of those fake plastic CCs that come in the mail offers and wrap an old t-shirt around it. Give it some alcohol and start moving it up and down in the cart slot. Amazing how much crap actually gets built up in them that you don't know or see until you can give it a good cleaning like that.

[Matthias]

Hello!

I didn't find any threads about the Memory Track in here to feed off of. Would this sound like an issue with the Memory Track itself, the games themselves, or perhaps the connection? I have this plugged into the cartridge slot on the CD unit which is plugged into the Jaguar itself. Like I said I can hold OPTION and access the memory track and see the saves, they just don't load or work properly when trying to play the actual game so I assume it is not a connection issue.

 

FYI: Instead of OPTION, hold down 2 while booting Impulse X and you get my "Memory Track Manager Remix" loaded. It works similar to Ataris original MT Manager, but has some enhancements like displaying the content of a file or transferring it to a PC via serial connection. Browsing through the file content may help to track down the problem.

Kind regards
Matthias

[UHATEIT]

Hello!

 

 

FYI: Instead of OPTION, hold down 2 while booting Impulse X and you get my "Memory Track Manager Remix" loaded. It works similar to Ataris original MT Manager, but has some enhancements like displaying the content of a file or transferring it to a PC via serial connection. Browsing through the file content may help to track down the problem.

 

Kind regards

Matthias

I'm going to give that a try tonight then! Thanks for the info! I assume that your game does NOT come with a scrambled up High Score table (literally a bunch of scrambled numbers and letters) so I imagine there is something corrupted in my Memory Track or on the board that was causing that. I believe that Impulse X allows Memory track support for the high scores.