+BitJag Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Dropped Atari Karts into my Jag and noticed that the game has no audio. I can't seem to find an option in the game or the manual to toggle it on or off and I have tried it with and without my CD attachment with the same effect. Other games seem to be working fine. Am I missing something? I don't have another console to test to see if the problem is the same on another console. Also, I haven't tried cleaning the pins or anything physical to cart yet. I played the game for about 30 minutes to see if there might be other errors with the game caused by a hardware issue, but everything else seems to be working fine. Just no audio. Has anyone had this issue with this game or other games before? I am hoping I am just missing an in-game option, as I would hate to have to buy a replacement for this game because of how expensive they have become. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoquickcapri Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Pause the game and hit A, B , or C to bring up the volume controls for each of the sound levels. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Pause the game and hit A, B , or C to bring up the volume controls for each of the sound levels. Thank you, but no luck unfortunately. Both SFX and music in the pause menu were turned up all the way. Still no audio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Well, if I had to make a guess, there is an issue with the ROM data. It seems that the SFX kind of work, they seem to layer on top of each other as they occur during gameplay, but continue to loop endlessly until the race ends and the next race begins. I had to crank the audio gain on this to even hear this happening. Unless someone else has any ideas, I am thinking this is a lost cause unless I replace the ROMs... Below is a recording of what I'm talking about, sound kicks in at about 50 seconds in.https://youtu.be/eNgtgdKYtpw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Did you try resetting the cartridge? * + # + option 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gummy Bear Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Clean your connectors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Did you try resetting the cartridge? * + # + option Tried it again for good measure. Got the message on the title screen saying that it cleared. Didn't seem to make anything better with the audio. Clean your connectors. Will give that a try soon. Its so strange that no other parts of the game seem to be affected visually or from a gameplay stand point. Also, would the cart even boot if their was the slightest thing different in the data when it verifies the cart? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gummy Bear Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Also, would the cart even boot if their was the slightest thing different in the data when it verifies the cart? Yes. Odd things can happen when the contacts are dirty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Yes. Odd things can happen when the contacts are dirty. Just did a thorough visual inspection of the contacts, and cleaned them. Did notice a bit of gunk on one contact that I had to work at to get cleaned, got it off. Tested with no differences, still no good audio. Thank you all for the suggestions and keep them coming if you have more. I am going to test this on a couple different consoles over the next couple days to see if there is a difference. I had forgotten that my current console has a custom bios on it, but I haven't noticed anything funny with other games, and I feel like a slightly adjusted bios is reaching at this point... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I've got an Iron Soldier cart that has lost its audio. I've got others, but I've never figured out what happened to that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter_J64bit Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Tried it again for good measure. Got the message on the title screen saying that it cleared. Didn't seem to make anything better with the audio. Will give that a try soon. Its so strange that no other parts of the game seem to be affected visually or from a gameplay stand point. Also, would the cart even boot if their was the slightest thing different in the data when it verifies the cart? Did you try an other game in your Jag to see if you have the same problem? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Did you try an other game in your Jag to see if you have the same problem? I just went through a handfull of different games and there doesn't seem to be any problems with them. Seems to be specific to my copy of Atari Karts. I am hoping to comfirm this on a couple separate consoles in the coming days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinkoVitch Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Is this an official Atari Karts made by Atari, Skunk running ROM or a Repo? If there is a bad contact or incorrect ROM (corruption) then the initial signature of the cart should fail and red screen. However if the header has been changed to the universal header then there will be no cart check and it would try and run even with corruption. Same is true of Skunk as it replaces the header with it's own, so if the flash isn't quite right or your skunk isn't perfectly seated you may get errors in the flash. (I have also seen my Skunk behaving oddly if the USB cable is connected to the skunk but not to a PC, I assume it's acting like an antenna/capacitor and upsetting things). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinkoVitch Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Yes. Odd things can happen when the contacts are dirty. NOT if it's using a fully signed header like official Atari released carts, as the console reads the whole cart to generate the signature, 1 bit wrong and it's red screen time. Unless of course the full scan was made without error and THEN the contacts went bad. Universal header, then yeah it'll boot regardless as no verification performed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosquare Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 lachoneus mentions a custom BIOS, so he may be using the BJL ROM which doesn't check the signature. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Is this an official Atari Karts made by Atari, Skunk running ROM or a Repo? If there is a bad contact or incorrect ROM (corruption) then the initial signature of the cart should fail and red screen. However if the header has been changed to the universal header then there will be no cart check and it would try and run even with corruption. Same is true of Skunk as it replaces the header with it's own, so if the flash isn't quite right or your skunk isn't perfectly seated you may get errors in the flash. (I have also seen my Skunk behaving oddly if the USB cable is connected to the skunk but not to a PC, I assume it's acting like an antenna/capacitor and upsetting things). Official cart purchased in 95. Good to know that if there is a problem with ROM it should just fail. This gives me hope that it may work on another console. Or there is something else wrong but fixable. lachoneus mentions a custom BIOS, so he may be using the BJL ROM which doesn't check the signature. I socketed my BIOS on this console, made a dump of my BIOS and then I just switched the graphics on the Jag cube that shows up before the game starts, and then flashed to a new chip. (Just tinkering) I still have my original BIOS, and until this conversation, I didn't think to switch it back to the original chip to see if that makes a difference. If this doesn't change anything, and if other consoles don't change anything, I was planning on opening the cart to see if there is something physically wrong. Maybe a dead bug causing a short Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinkoVitch Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 lachoneus mentions a custom BIOS, so he may be using the BJL ROM which doesn't check the signature. Good spot that man I was of course assuming stock Jaguar BIOS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 ... and if other consoles don't change anything, I was planning on opening the cart to see if there is something physically wrong. Maybe a dead bug causing a short Like cold solder potentially? I've run across that throughout the years on various other systems' games, so it's possible!? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFG 9000 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 A bit obvious maybe, but doesn't the 0 key toggle music on/off in a lot of Jag carts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 A bit obvious maybe, but doesn't the 0 key toggle music on/off in a lot of Jag carts? Thanks for bringing this up. I tried hitting the 0 key in every place I could think of in the game. Still no response, and based on the little bit of buggy sound that I am getting, it seems to be unrelated to an in-game setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 I've got an Iron Soldier cart that has lost its audio. I've got others, but I've never figured out what happened to that one. I thought I had lost the audio on an Iron Soldier cart a few years ago, and then I realized that the audio was turned down in-game and that the volume settings were saved to the eeprom when you finish a level or die. So when you boot the console back up to play again, it will have the same audio settings. Not saying your audio is permanently gone, but it would be worth starting a level and making sure the audio settings are turned up. Do you remember any of the other games you had issue with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gummy Bear Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I sill suggest a thorough cleaning of all contacts. A visual inspection doesn't always cut it. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/284937-how-to-clean-your-connectors/ Before chopping through the cart label anyway 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Agree about not being so quick to pry that puppy open - I'd try another system for sure. But if you do, maybe employ a hairdryer to peel the label back enough to get at the screws. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think I confirmed it is the console that is causing the problem. I just burned a couple eeproms to test a different copy of the game on the same console, and this "new" copy of the game is having the same exact audio problem. I will confirm this with another console tomorrow (I am starting to think it will work fine on another console). But in the meantime, I will take some time to clean the cart connector on the console itself. Up to this point I have been assuming its fine because every other game I try seems to work fine. I did swap my BIOS back to the original BIOS with no difference, also tried both Jag BIOS versions to see if there was a difference, and there doesn't seem to be an improved difference there either. Most likely the console though, and I am hoping it is just the cart connector. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BitJag Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Just to be thorough, I dumped Atari Karts to my skunk. Same problem, definitely something to do with the console. I just did a thorough cleaning of the cart connector, this didn't make a difference unfortunately. I don't know if I want to spend anymore time outside of testing this on another console just to make sure I can play this game with sound in the future. If anyone has any other ideas other than testing current on everything on the my Jag's motherboard, it is appreciated. Unfortunately I can't remember or confirm if Atari Karts worked properly on this specific console in the past. This console is a recent purchase, and I only started using it more than I did in the past only a few months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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