Spectreman Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Hi. I just bought a multicart and after a few minutes the cartridge is warm. Not overheating, but I can feel the plastic way warmer than a normal cartridge. It is normal for this kind of cartridge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+groundtrooper Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Where did you buy the cart? Can you post a pic? I don’t understand why anyone would buy this type of cart these days with Harmony, UNO or Plus Carts being readily available and more versatile and scalable. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 but A 480-in-one DIP switch multicart probably has several pull-up resistors. If a DIP switch is "on" then a resistor is generating heat. Normally these resistors are large (well into the K-ohm range) so the heat generated should be negligible, so in that sense, excessive heat shouldn't be "normal." However, if the multicart used small resistors for some reason, the cart could get hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectreman Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 I bought in Brazil. Has a generic label and a reset button on the side. No screws that I can see so I don't want open now. It was cheaper than a cartridge with SD card e and I just want something to play with my original Atari. Another thing happing to me is that the cartridge seems to be generating a vertical noise. My Atari was already super noise, than maybe is more susceptible to the cartridge voltage. The effect is more noticeable in Kaystone Kapers (I have a normal cartridge of this one to comparison). Noise in general is because old caps? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_79 Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Seems to be using the "Menu Driven Mega Cart" design: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 9 minutes ago, alex_79 said: Seems to be using the "Menu Driven Mega Cart" design: Yep! And yeah, I don't see anything about that cart that should be generating that much heat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectreman Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 Thanks. I believe is my Atari that need a good recap and maybe the voltage is not perfect. The colors are off. Adjusting the color pot helped, but not solved 100%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGC Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 "Getting hot" I thought meant it was becoming popular ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_79 Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 On 3/13/2021 at 10:35 AM, Spectreman said: Out of curiosity, could you take a pic of that "Aardvark" game running? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 480 games takes a LOT of power to run. Not surprised! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 2 hours ago, alex_79 said: Out of curiosity, could you take a pic of that "Aardvark" game running? The title screen would do. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectreman Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 2 hours ago, alex_79 said: Out of curiosity, could you take a pic of that "Aardvark" game running? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 (edited) That's either the original prototype or an early version of @nanochess. From the name I would guess the latter. Edited March 14, 2021 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: That's either the original prototype or an early version of @nanochess. From the name I would guess the latter. It looks like the rev.8 free version from here https://atariage.com/forums/topic/259694-aardvark-for-atari-vcs2600/ Anyway I don't remember giving permission to distribute it commercially. *shrugs* A lot of heat and noise means the cartridge is pretty badly manufactured. From your description I think that the Flash chip is a 3.3v+ but it is feed 5.0v (because saving a regulator, or the regulator is too tiny) so it generates a lot of heat, the noise means there are no decoupling capacitors. Only a quick hack in order to get money. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectreman Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 2 hours ago, nanochess said: It looks like the rev.8 free version from here https://atariage.com/forums/topic/259694-aardvark-for-atari-vcs2600/ Anyway I don't remember giving permission to distribute it commercially. *shrugs* A lot of heat and noise means the cartridge is pretty badly manufactured. From your description I think that the Flash chip is a 3.3v+ but it is feed 5.0v (because saving a regulator, or the regulator is too tiny) so it generates a lot of heat, the noise means there are no decoupling capacitors. Only a quick hack in order to get money. Thanks. In long term this can damage the videogame hardware? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+groundtrooper Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 2 hours ago, nanochess said: It looks like the rev.8 free version from here https://atariage.com/forums/topic/259694-aardvark-for-atari-vcs2600/ Anyway I don't remember giving permission to distribute it commercially. *shrugs* Unfortunately this is not the first time that something like this has happened. In the past month someone on the Atari Age FB group was promoting a third party SD card that had the community build of Stella for the R77 and RomHunters Rom pack. The kicker was it also included a folder full of homebrews Mostly Thomas's and Dionoid's. The poster was asked to no promote such things especially the selling of homebrews. The poster wouldn't back down and was banned from both AA FB Groups. I also believe that Al reported the seller on Etsy as the last time I looked the item was no longer being sold on Esty. There is always gonna be someone who wants to break the rules and profit off of others peoples work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 8 hours ago, Spectreman said: Thanks. In long term this can damage the videogame hardware? I don't think it could damage the Atari, but it could damage itself because with the lack of decoupling capacitors then any static can destroy the cartridge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredtdk Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 I have one of those with 127 4k games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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