NBA Jam crashes

[Noprizewinner]

I have been building my jaguar collection and just picked up an NBA Jam TE from eBay. The game randomly crashes every time I play it. Sometimes at the input initials screen and other times in between quarters. Is this a known problem? I've seen posts on this with 32x. Is my game bad? Thanks in advance.

[JagChris]

Not a common problem. Make sure cart connector clean

[+LS650]

If it happens with other carts, the Jaguar's cart slot needs cleaning (carefully!)

If it happens with only this cart, the cart's pinouts need cleaning.

[Noprizewinner]

Is cleaning it only on the outside (visible part) or do I have to take the cart apart? Thanks again for your help.

[+LS650]

Just the exposed pins on the cart.  If you use the search, you'll find plenty of details.

[Noprizewinner]

Thanks for the help! I read the article on cleaning the Jaguar and the game and I did so. However the game still crashes. Let me be more clear of the problem. The game loads fine and will play the demo forever. It crashes in a few places when you try to play. Either when you attempt to input initials or in between quarters. Sometimes you can get to the third quarter and then when you try to play the 4th it freezes. Could it be that the battery is bad (since it crashes at times when it's trying to save stats)? If so, is that an easy fix? Thanks in again in advance for any help. 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Noprizewinner
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[Editorb]

39 minutes ago, Noprizewinner said:

Thanks for the help! I read the article on cleaning the Jaguar and the game and I did so. However the game still crashes. Let me be more clear of the problem. The game loads fine and will play the demo forever. It crashes in a few places when you try to play. Either when you attempt to input initials or in between quarters. Sometimes you can get to the third quarter and then when you try to play the 4th it freezes. Could it be that the battery is bad (since it crashes at times when it's trying to save stats)? If so, is that an easy fix? Thanks in again in advance for any help. 

Jag EEPROMs don’t require batteries. I’m clueless on rest of problem as is my wont.

[+Mitch]

Sounds like your EEPROM on the cartridge may be corrupt. Have you tried resetting it?

 

Mitch

[Hyper_Eye]

Here is the relevant page in the game manual that includes instructions on resetting the EEPROM: https://www.atariage.com/manual_page.php?SystemID=JAGUAR&ItemTypeID=&SoftwareLabelID=1100&currentPage=4&maxPages=22&currentPage=5

[Noprizewinner]

Yes I reset it first. That was why I was concerned originally that resetting it messed it up even more. I read that the clearing of the data corrupted the cart on the 32x. This is frustrating. Thanks for all your help and input. I wish I could figure out why it's on the fritz. Maybe the EEPROM has gone bad. Can that be the case?

[Noprizewinner]

Thanks again for all the help and input. It seems that my ac adaptor was going out and as strange as this sounds it played some games fine but others would stop or freeze at certain points (maybe when pulling more power?). Anyway, I unplugged my Jag CD and used that directly in the jag and it plays fine. Now I need to order a new AC adapter to play Jag CDs again. 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

5 hours ago, Noprizewinner said:

Thanks again for all the help and input. It seems that my ac adaptor was going out and as strange as this sounds it played some games fine but others would stop or freeze at certain points (maybe when pulling more power?). Anyway, I unplugged my Jag CD and used that directly in the jag and it plays fine. Now I need to order a new AC adapter to play Jag CDs again. 

Sega Genesis model 1 power supplies are pretty much identical to the original Jag supplies. Wouldn't surprise me if they were made in the same factory back then they look so close physically. I've been using a model 1 genesis PSU with my jag for 15 years without an issue. I do have an actual Jag PSU for the JagCD though.

 

[Atlantis]

I have problems with my NBA TE cart as well, and it is the only cart among official releases that bug on me.

 

But in my case it is the sound. It turns into sharp data sounds in game. When it come to the only game sell pitching itself to be a 3D sound game it becomes even more annoying. Haven’t cleaned it yet though.