Spector Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) I bought a Harmony Encore Cart in 2018 and have been playing it again recently, trying out some of the great Homebrews with melody enhancement. I was playing Space Rocks these last few days, and this morning when I turned the Atari on and selected it from the menu, I got the spinning ball in the middle of the screen as you do. But the spinning ball never went away, so after half a minute I turned the console off. I turned it on again to find a blank screen, then several more power cycles gave me various colours, vertical bars and sustained high pitch noises. In other words, it's buggered!! I tried some other carts and there's no problem. I have to say I'm deeply disappointed because I've only been using the cart for less than two years on and off, and that's it broken already? My Cuttle Cart from 2001 still works fine, so I'm a bit angry. But are there any miracle suggestions to try and fix it? Edited January 18, 2021 by Spector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 4 hours ago, Spector said: My Cuttle Cart from 2001 still works fine, so I'm a bit angry. But are there any miracle suggestions to try and fix it? Ha. I always wanted a Cuttle Cart. I'd trade three PlusCarts for a Cuttle Cart 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 10 hours ago, Spector said: I bought a Harmony Encore Cart in 2018 and have been playing it again recently, trying out some of the great Homebrews with melody enhancement. I was playing Space Rocks these last few days, and this morning when I turned the Atari on and selected it from the menu, I got the spinning ball in the middle of the screen as you do. But the spinning ball never went away, so after half a minute I turned the console off. I turned it on again to find a blank screen, then several more power cycles gave me various colours, vertical bars and sustained high pitch noises. In other words, it's buggered!! I tried some other carts and there's no problem. I have to say I'm deeply disappointed because I've only been using the cart for less than two years on and off, and that's it broken already? My Cuttle Cart from 2001 still works fine, so I'm a bit angry. But are there any miracle suggestions to try and fix it? You should be able to reflash the firmware and get it going again. The instructions for doing so are in the manual located here: https://harmony.atariage.com/files/harmony_manual_v2_online.pdf If you have question or have issues with the procedure, feel free to PM me and I can walk you through the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector Posted January 19, 2021 Author Share Posted January 19, 2021 4 hours ago, batari said: You should be able to reflash the firmware and get it going again. The instructions for doing so are in the manual located here: https://harmony.atariage.com/files/harmony_manual_v2_online.pdf If you have question or have issues with the procedure, feel free to PM me and I can walk you through the process. It's a big problem though because the PC is not recognising the Harmony Cart when I connect it. The red dot appears at the bottom of the pop up menu to show this. My USB cable works fine on that PC for recognising other devices, so the problem must be with the cartridge. It seems totally dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 5 hours ago, Spector said: It's a big problem though because the PC is not recognising the Harmony Cart when I connect it. The red dot appears at the bottom of the pop up menu to show this. My USB cable works fine on that PC for recognising other devices, so the problem must be with the cartridge. It seems totally dead. Which other devices? A USB cable that works with a digital camera, for example, is typically a 4-pin mini-B cable and this kind is not compatible with a 2018 Harmony cart. A 2018 Harmony cart needs a USB 5-pin mini-B cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector Posted January 19, 2021 Author Share Posted January 19, 2021 54 minutes ago, batari said: Which other devices? A USB cable that works with a digital camera, for example, is typically a 4-pin mini-B cable and this kind is not compatible with a 2018 Harmony cart. A 2018 Harmony cart needs a USB 5-pin mini-B cable. And that could well be it! I am using a cable without knowing whether it's 4 pin or 5 pin. Didn't even though the differences existed. I use the cable for a digital camera and a Dictaphone device, and while I see on ebay that mini b 5 pin cables can also be used for cameras, I'm pretty sure that's why it's not being recognised, so I've ordered a 5 pin cable off ebay and I'll see what happens later this week when I get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 I just got mine. Again. You guys scare me with this faulty harmony talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Ive known this one and the last one I sold years ago to have no issues. I hope it stays that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 (edited) I got the cable in today, a day later than advertised from an Ebay seller, took it out the packaging and... he sent me the wrong bloody cable. Talk about frustrating? ?? Edited January 23, 2021 by Spector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) I finally have the right cable, but when I attach it to my PC it says "the last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned and Windows does not recognise it." Does that make the Harmony beyond repair? Edited January 30, 2021 by Spector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+groundtrooper Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Have tried to removing the bad/corrupt usb device/driver from the windows device manager and plugging it back in and having windows install a new usb driver?Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 8 hours ago, groundtrooper said: Have tried to removing the bad/corrupt usb device/driver from the windows device manager and plugging it back in and having windows install a new usb driver? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk I'm not sure what to do next to be honest. I'm not sure how to remove the corrupt usb device driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 The update is that I received a Harmony Cart in the post today at the sorting office and tried it... and it works! Well well, thank goodness for that. The older one continues to not work at all and seems utterly fried. I would like to thank Batari for his help in this very awkward situation. Looking at this sub-forum, it doesn't seem too common that a harmony encore stops working completely, and that's what worried me. I'm just wondering if there's anything I did that could have caused it. All I was doing was turning it on and off to play games, and often only a couple of times per session. Maybe it was just a dud cart. Who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 1 hour ago, Spector said: The update is that I received a Harmony Cart in the post today at the sorting office and tried it... and it works! Well well, thank goodness for that. The older one continues to not work at all and seems utterly fried. I would like to thank Batari for his help in this very awkward situation. Looking at this sub-forum, it doesn't seem too common that a harmony encore stops working completely, and that's what worried me. I'm just wondering if there's anything I did that could have caused it. All I was doing was turning it on and off to play games, and often only a couple of times per session. Maybe it was just a dud cart. Who knows? Maybe you could send it back for diagnosis/post-mortem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, Andrew Davie said: Maybe you could send it back for diagnosis/post-mortem? Yeah that seem the best option. And the only option really, cause I've not got much use for it now! I also think there is a chance it could be made to work again, even though it could be a bit complicated to do so. Edited February 15, 2021 by Spector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamrodHare Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 I agree you should send it back so the problem can be diagnosed. Knowing what went wrong may be of help to others someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 5 hours ago, Spector said: Yeah that seem the best option. And the only option really, cause I've not got much use for it now! If @batari doesn't want it back for post-mortem, I'm in the market for one. I'd pay the postage + a bit extra and take a risk I could fix it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector Posted February 16, 2021 Author Share Posted February 16, 2021 (edited) I'll send a message to batari and see what he says. So good to play Space Rocks again? Edited February 16, 2021 by Spector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 On 2/16/2021 at 1:13 AM, Spector said: So good to play Space Rocks again Space Rocks is indeed amazing. And it's well-worth buying in cart form, if only to support @SpiceWare and encourage him to keep making amazing 2600 games. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 I never heard back from Batari, so I have one broken Harmony Encore sitting here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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