NES game problem

[lonesome_pa]

Ok, here's the deal and it's stumping me. All my games work fine on my toaster after cleaning and re-aligning the pins on the connector. Except, my Spiritual Warfare keeps giving me trouble. The screen flashes the standard 6 or 7 times until the game really starts (which I understand is common for Wisdom Tree and it also states this on the cart). But when it does start, the power light is dim (but stays bright for all other games) and then after about 5-10 minutes of playing, the power light goes out and the game stops. I know it's not the power supply or the deck as every other game works fine, just this particular game. I cleaned the contacts and they are very shiny and everything I clean it with comes out clean, so I know it's not dirty. Could it be inside the cart itself, or something else that I'm missing?

 

Any help is appreciated.

[Bratwurst]

Best I can think of is opening the cart and checking the interior for any outright visible damage to the game's circuit board. Also, I'd check to see if the rom chips were actually eproms, as I have heard of this on rare occaisions regarding Wisdom Tree titles.

[lonesome_pa]

I tried to open it (it has standard screws) but there must be a fifth screw under the label and I'm not sure how to get to it without destroying the label. I tried a hairdryer, but that didn't work.

[lonesome_pa]

Ok, I got the case open and here's a pic of the board. I'm not sure if it's eproms or roms as I'm not really sure of the difference, but you can also see that the contacts are very clean. Hopefully this pic will help me get an answer.

[Dones]

Maybe the lighting on the pic is fooling me but you should try using an eraser on the pins to make them cleaner. Standalone office-type eraser are the best one for the job, but a simple pencil eraser will also do.

[lonesome_pa]

The contacts are cleaner than the pic looks. They're actually more of a gold color than silver as shown. But, I tried the eraser method too and till no luck.

[Raijin Z]

Damn, that looks like a home-etched IC there... The pinnacle of professional construction it ain't.

[The Historian]

Spiritual Warfare was 3rd party....

 

I wonder if the lockout chip is getting you....

[Adrian M]

Damn, that looks like a home-etched IC there... The pinnacle of professional construction it ain't.

 

I was about to comment on the very same thing!

[lonesome_pa]

Spiritual Warfare was 3rd party....

 

I wonder if the lockout chip is getting you....

 

The lock-out chip??? I never thought of that. But if it was that, wouldn't the game not work at all? I again tried other games and they work without a hitch. I tried cleaning this board, yet again, with alcohol, eraser, etc, everything short of acid, and it still has the same problem. I'm starting to think if one of the chips is going bad.

[Dones]

Do you have access to a top-loader? Those don't have lock-out chips.

[lonesome_pa]

Unfortunatly, no I don't, so I can't test it that way. I don't have a working second toaster to try it in either.

[Dones]

(edit)

[JB]

It's NOT the lockout chip.

A lockout chip problem would drop you into the blinking reset of death.

 

 

 

Uneducated guess is the thing's just taking more power than it should.

If it takes more power than the console spec allows, it could act flakey.

[lonesome_pa]

It's NOT the lockout chip.

A lockout chip problem would drop you into the blinking reset of death.

 

 

 

Uneducated guess is the thing's just taking more power than it should.  

If it takes more power than the console spec allows, it could act flakey.

 

Um, and in English that would mean???? And how would I fix it???

[JB]

It's NOT the lockout chip.

A lockout chip problem would drop you into the blinking reset of death.

 

 

 

Uneducated guess is the thing's just taking more power than it should.  

If it takes more power than the console spec allows, it could act flakey.

 

Um, and in English that would mean???? And how would I fix it???

In english it means the cart was built really shitty, and only works on some NESes to begin with. Not really fixable far as I know.

[lonesome_pa]

It's NOT the lockout chip.

A lockout chip problem would drop you into the blinking reset of death.

 

 

 

Uneducated guess is the thing's just taking more power than it should.  

If it takes more power than the console spec allows, it could act flakey.

 

Um, and in English that would mean???? And how would I fix it???

In english it means the cart was built really shitty, and only works on some NESes to begin with. Not really fixable far as I know.

 

Now that I understand.

 

Oh well, that it just my luck and most likely what is happening.

[Jasoco]

That's too bad. And Spiritual Warfare is actually one of the better Religious games out there. I love it. I just wish it wasn't a password system. I've NEVER gotten a password to work even after copying all 32 characters down carefully. Never.