High Score Cartridge Problems

[Marioluigi64]

Hi.

 

I am having some big problems with a High Score Cartridge that I won off of ebay (it's cartridge #123, if that helps any). The first game I played to test it out was Asteroids. It seemed to work okay. After the Atari logo disappeared, it asked me to personalize the cartridge and after I did that it took me to the main menu where I selected expert. After I died, it took me to a screen to put my initials next to my score. I was then taken back to the main menu and I turned the game off and back on to see it the cartridge had kept the score. It hadn't, and after the Atari logo disappeared, it asked me to personalize the cartridge again.

 

I figured "okay, the battery is dead", so I went out and bought a new one and replaced it. I put everything back together and decided to try Asteroids again. I personalized the cartridge, and it took me to the main menu. This time however, when I tried to change the mode to anything other than the default "1-player Intermediate", it took me back to the personalize cartridge screen. I gave it a name again, and when I finished, I just got a black screen. I let it sit there for about a minute but nothing changed, so I just turned it off. I did try playing it on 1-player intermediate and it let me play, but I did notice the high score was 1,513,239, which was weird. After I died it told me to personalize it twice before giving the high score list. The personalized area was full of Q's and a few other garbled characters and all five scores were 1,513,239 done by a mister XAX.

 

I then tried Joust. I didn't ask me to personalize the cartridge when starting up. I was able to play as normal on any setting I wanted. After the game was over, I was asked to personalize the cartridge. I did, and was taken to the list that had the same garbled mess and high scores as Asteroids did.

 

At this point, I was thinking either I got a defective battery or the cartridge was broken. I decided to try Pac-Man Collection (most excellent game btw) and to my complete surprise, it worked fine! After I died, it asked me to personalize the cartridge, and then I was able to input my initials at the top-5 list. I then turned the game off, took the cartridge out of the system, then put it back in and started everything up again, played the same game, and after I died, it just took me to the top-5 list instead of asking me to personalize the cartridge!

 

So now I don't know what to think. I decided to try Asteroids again now that the cartridge had saved something, but the same thing happened as before. I tried Joust, and the same thing happened again. I tested out the other games I have and here are the results for those:

 

Centipede: Played, after game over, came to the personalize cartridge screen but couldn't input anything. I could move the joystick around and change characters, but it wouldn't take any presses of either fire button.

Dig Dug: Played, after game over, named the cartridge, and got the same gobbledygook top 5 screen as Asteroids, but I was able to play the game normally

Food Fight: same as Dig Dug

Galaga: same as Dig Dug

Ms. Pac-Man: Asked me to personalize twice in a row, then gave me the garbled top 5, but otherwise, was the same

Robotron 2084: the scores had the initials “UAU” by them, but otherwise, was the same

Xevious: Asked me to personalize twice in a row, and took me straight back to the title screen with no top 5 at all, but otherwise was the same

 

I then tried Pac-Man Collection again and it still worked fine with that game and was now showing four scores with number 5 being blank. I did try to enter maintenance mode through that game though but it wouldn't let me. It just thought I was changing game modes, but other than that, it worked fine. It won't work at all though, with anything else. The battery is obviously not dead, or else Pac-Man Collection would not be working, so my question is this: is whatever’s wrong fixable, or is it just broken and I should start complaining to the seller? Help!!

 

Thanks----John

[+Mitch]

Wow, that is strange. What happens if you try to play without the battery?

 

Mitch

[Marioluigi64]

I tried Asteroids, Dig Dug, and Pac-Man Collection, and the same exact thing happened with Asteroids. With Dig Dug, the only difference was a different set of scores and initials in the top 5 screen. Pac-Man Collection still seemed to behave as it should (I guess) when there is no battery in the cartridge. It asked me to personalize twice then gave me a garbled top 5, except that the top 4 scores were 0 and the 5th score was around 1.5 million.

 

I did put the old battery back into the cartridge just to see what would happen. I played Asteroids and, after personalizing the cartridge, was able to pick which mode I wanted to play, unlike when I had the new battery in. After I died, it took me to enter my initials like it should. After I did that I turned the console off and back on and it actually had saved the personalization and took me to the title screen where sitting at the top of the screen was a high score of 60 points (my game consisted entirely of running into asteroids ).

 

I thought that it might have magically fixed itself, but it was not to be. I played the game again (the same way) and after scoring 60 points it took me to the top five screen where, while the personalized area was fine, the scores were messed up. I'll just list what it said:

 

1 60 JQS (supposed to say JSS)

2 262144 ___

3 8388608 _Y'

4 60 ___ (My second game score. I had to type my initials in again when it should have kept it in memory.)

5 0 .__

 

I played a third game where I shot a few asteroids first before running into them. I scored 140 points but I only ranked 4th behind the three screwed up names, while my second score was bumped down to fifth.

 

I turned it off and back on again, but this time it had lost all information and I had to re-personalize it.

 

I then tested Dig Dug and Pac-Man Collection and both behaved normally, but no information was actually saved to the cartridge. I also tried Centipede and it behaved the same way as before. I still couldn't input characters when asked to personalize the cartridge. This is very weird.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention something in my first post. When I received the cartridge, it and the booklet were packaged in a large Toys R Us bag that was wadded up and jammed into a small box. When I took the cartridge out of the bag I found that the two halves of the cart were separated and the top-left tab of the top half was broken. I assume it came that way because I couldn't find the tab in the bag or the box. Also, the mainboard was loose inside the cartridge and I had to pop it back into place. Do you think something on the board was scratched and that's why it won't work right?

[Shawn]

Sounds like the timer and the RAM is shot. My first HSC was like that and I had to send it back to Curt Vendel to get a new one. I've know a few different people experienced this exact same problem. Some got them fixed\replaced, some just put it in a pile in the collection as a novelty item, shame they are so prone to failure cause this cart in full working order is pretty neat to have.

[Marioluigi64]

Hmm... Okay. That doesn't sound like anything I could fix myself. Would there be any way I could send the cartridge to Curt to have it fixed or should I just get my money back?

[Shawn]

Hmm... Okay. That doesn't sound like anything I could fix myself. Would there be any way I could send the cartridge to Curt to have it fixed or should I just get my money back?

 

 

I dunno, ask him youself.

[Curt Vendel]

Hi john,

 

Most likely the SRAM has gone bad. The carts sit in 7800s for 1 full day and I randomly play a game, update score power off the console, leave them out for an hour, plug them in again with check scores then leave them and run another game later so they get a good beating before going out the door...

 

I've sent you an email with my address and you are welcome to ship the cart back, I have 2 spares on the desk already built and I just plugged them in again to doublecheck them, so once I get yours and I'll send you out a replacement.

 

 

 

 

Curt

 

 

 

Hi.

 

I am having some big problems with a High Score Cartridge that I won off of ebay (it's cartridge #123, if that helps any). The first game I played to test it out was Asteroids. It seemed to work okay. After the Atari logo disappeared, it asked me to personalize the cartridge and after I did that it took me to the main menu where I selected expert. After I died, it took me to a screen to put my initials next to my score. I was then taken back to the main menu and I turned the game off and back on to see it the cartridge had kept the score. It hadn't, and after the Atari logo disappeared, it asked me to personalize the cartridge again.

 

I figured "okay, the battery is dead", so I went out and bought a new one and replaced it. I put everything back together and decided to try Asteroids again. I personalized the cartridge, and it took me to the main menu. This time however, when I tried to change the mode to anything other than the default "1-player Intermediate", it took me back to the personalize cartridge screen. I gave it a name again, and when I finished, I just got a black screen. I let it sit there for about a minute but nothing changed, so I just turned it off. I did try playing it on 1-player intermediate and it let me play, but I did notice the high score was 1,513,239, which was weird. After I died it told me to personalize it twice before giving the high score list. The personalized area was full of Q's and a few other garbled characters and all five scores were 1,513,239 done by a mister XAX.

 

I then tried Joust. I didn't ask me to personalize the cartridge when starting up. I was able to play as normal on any setting I wanted. After the game was over, I was asked to personalize the cartridge. I did, and was taken to the list that had the same garbled mess and high scores as Asteroids did.

 

At this point, I was thinking either I got a defective battery or the cartridge was broken. I decided to try Pac-Man Collection (most excellent game btw) and to my complete surprise, it worked fine! After I died, it asked me to personalize the cartridge, and then I was able to input my initials at the top-5 list. I then turned the game off, took the cartridge out of the system, then put it back in and started everything up again, played the same game, and after I died, it just took me to the top-5 list instead of asking me to personalize the cartridge!

 

So now I don't know what to think. I decided to try Asteroids again now that the cartridge had saved something, but the same thing happened as before. I tried Joust, and the same thing happened again. I tested out the other games I have and here are the results for those:

 

Centipede: Played, after game over, came to the personalize cartridge screen but couldn't input anything. I could move the joystick around and change characters, but it wouldn't take any presses of either fire button.

Dig Dug: Played, after game over, named the cartridge, and got the same gobbledygook top 5 screen as Asteroids, but I was able to play the game normally

Food Fight: same as Dig Dug

Galaga: same as Dig Dug

Ms. Pac-Man: Asked me to personalize twice in a row, then gave me the garbled top 5, but otherwise, was the same

Robotron 2084: the scores had the initials “UAU” by them, but otherwise, was the same

Xevious: Asked me to personalize twice in a row, and took me straight back to the title screen with no top 5 at all, but otherwise was the same

 

I then tried Pac-Man Collection again and it still worked fine with that game and was now showing four scores with number 5 being blank. I did try to enter maintenance mode through that game though but it wouldn't let me. It just thought I was changing game modes, but other than that, it worked fine. It won't work at all though, with anything else. The battery is obviously not dead, or else Pac-Man Collection would not be working, so my question is this: is whatever’s wrong fixable, or is it just broken and I should start complaining to the seller? Help!!

 

Thanks----John

[Curt Vendel]

Well, just make sure its pointed out, you did not buy the cartridge directly from me, other then a small batch of 8-10 I sold 2 years back, all of the cartridges are sold to resellers and they sell them out to buyers, I don't get involved in direct sales of these, so in all fairness you should've point out that the cart was not bought directly from me.

 

I do however work on, repair and replace them as needed. The TC5516's were scarce (1983 part) and I had to buy pulls from part suppliers at the time, so some of the SRAM's can be tempermental and have failed here and there, so I feel its only fair that I maintain the upkeep of the little buggers for people.

 

 

 

Curt

 

 

Oh, I forgot to mention something in my first post. When I received the cartridge, it and the booklet were packaged in a large Toys R Us bag that was wadded up and jammed into a small box. When I took the cartridge out of the bag I found that the two halves of the cart were separated and the top-left tab of the top half was broken. I assume it came that way because I couldn't find the tab in the bag or the box. Also, the mainboard was loose inside the cartridge and I had to pop it back into place. Do you think something on the board was scratched and that's why it won't work right?