Help! Only some of my cartridges work!

[Blacklight]

I just broke out an Intellivision one with about ten games from a local Goodwill for $10!!!

 

I cleaned the HELL out of the cartridges to a point where absolutely no grime comes off them. I also sprayed some electronics cleaner into the cartridge slot on the machine.

I can only get one out of those ten carts working for some reason. It works flawlessly and looks great every time I put it in. None of the other carts will start at all. I just get a black screen.

Any suggestions to what to look at next?

 

And man... The people who made this thing did NOT want anyone who had to service it to have an easy tme. It's amazing seeing the difference in the insides of the Atari 2600 and it's controllers compared to the inside of the Intellivision and it's controllers (which are basically just a couple pieces of paper thing plastic with traces on it that are definitely going to get brittle and crack over time). Having the RF shield soldered to the motherboard?? Making it so you can't change controllers, at least without taking the whole thing apart?? They were not thinking about their service techs when they designed this thing.

The Atari controllers are definitely going to last longer than the Intellivision ones in the long run and the Atari is SO MUCH easier to get at everything to service it. It's a much better overall design from a serviceing standpoint.

Edited September 15, 2012 by Blacklight

[+DZ-Jay]

Here's what works for me. I apologize in advance for the highly technical nature of the instructions:

 

1. Hit the "RESET" button a few times.

2. Blow air hard on the cartridge contacts to dislodge any dust bunnies.

3. Do not insert the cartridge all the way in: jiggle it a wee-bit out, close to the "insert" line marker on the cartridge.

[nukeshed]

... highly technical nature of the instructions:

Hurr my Caveman head no like hard stuffs

[+DZ-Jay]

Hurr my Caveman head no like hard stuffs

 

Yeah, "jiggle it a wee-bit" is a term of art.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

You may also try inserting the cart in and out repeatedly (about 5-10 times). It may clean off the contacts a bit more.

 

Also, I have some finicky games (mostly Activision) where I have to insert the cart all the way and then actually angle it a bit so it's just barely in crooked.

 

Also, I have TERRIBLE luck with Hover Force carts. I have 7 total Hover Forces; 2 never work and the other 5 require some sort of insertion trick.

[Chuck D. Head]

Here's what works for me. I apologize in advance for the highly technical nature of the instructions:

 

1. Hit the "RESET" button a few times.

2. Blow air hard on the cartridge contacts to dislodge any dust bunnies.

3. Do not insert the cartridge all the way in: jiggle it a wee-bit out, close to the "insert" line marker on the cartridge.

Especially #3. On one console, for some reason, I have better luck leaving the Intellivoice in and plugging carts through that.

[+thegoldenband]

Which game is working? It's possible that the console has bad RAM or another hardware problem, and the game that works simply isn't accessing those addresses/functions.

 

Also, I have TERRIBLE luck with Hover Force carts. I have 7 total Hover Forces; 2 never work and the other 5 require some sort of insertion trick.

 

I have a suspicion that some copies of Hover Force may be incompatible with some systems. I had a Hover Force cart that I couldn't get to work no matter what I did, and I cleaned the heck out of that thing too. I gave it away for free to someone who bought some carts from me...and he got it to work on the first try.

 

I didn't try it on my Intellivision II (which I should've done), but my other copy worked perfectly on my main system so it didn't occur to me that it might be a compatibility issue. Speculation on my part, but...

 

Another one with compatibility issues is Slap Shot Super Pro Hockey, BTW -- some copies of that don't work with the Intellivision II. That's a little-known issue, but one established as true thanks to different ROM dumps.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

 

3. Do not insert the cartridge all the way in: jiggle it a wee-bit out, close to the "insert" line marker on the cartridge.

 

I have also found this to be very true myself, you need to find that sweet spot, logic says fully inserted but not always the case.............

[bennybingo]

...you need to find that sweet spot, logic says fully inserted but not always the case.............

That's what she said!

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

That's what she said!

 

Ha that took even less time then I expected lol.

[+thegoldenband]

Ha that took even less time then I expected lol.

 

...and that's also what she said.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

...and that's also what she said.

 

[bennybingo]

...and that's also what she said.

BAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

 

(I know...that's what she said as well!)

[Chuck D. Head]

Having any better luck, Blacklight?