Garbled Screen

[Plastik]

Hi all, I recently acquired a Intellivision in a lot trade and was super excited to try it out. I've never owned an Intellivision before so I'm very much a noob. I plugged it in and got a blank screen . I went ahead and cleaned the cartridge port with PCB cleaner and some very fine grit sand paper on a credit card. I also cleaned the game and power switch. I still get a blank screen but sometimes after pushing reset a few times I get a garbled screen like so.

 

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated thanks!

[pimpmaul69]

Hi all, I recently acquired a Intellivision in a lot trade and was super excited to try it out. I've never owned an Intellivision before so I'm very much a noob. I plugged it in and got a blank screen . I went ahead and cleaned the cartridge port with PCB cleaner and some very fine grit sand paper on a credit card. I also cleaned the game and power switch. I still get a blank screen but sometimes after pushing reset a few times I get a garbled screen like so.

 

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated thanks!

as far as black screen until you press reset is very common on these no biggie. Now as far as the garble someone else can probably tell you whats causing that.

[+Lathe26]

How many different games have you tried? It is very rare, but sometimes a cart goes bad. I've only experienced this twice. It is little more common, but still rare, for a console to have a chip go bad. However, it is far, far more common for it to just be a dirty connector or the game isn't inserted just right. I frequently insert a cart, turn on the system but the game isn't working, power off, wiggle the cart a little, and it works the 2nd or 3rd time.

[pimpmaul69]

Yeah i forgot about the carts being pulled out a little at a time between attempts until you find sweet spot. But the garble makes me think a possible chip problem

[HunterZero]

If cleaning the cart slot and trying a few different carts doesn't help and the trick with backing out the cart a hair doesn't work, then you should...

 

1. Open the unit and check the ribbon cable and the single blue wire conbector for continuity. Make sure the blue wire is connected to the 2 pin connector so it makes contact with the pin closest to the ribbon cable.

2. Check power supply voltages at the ribbon cable

 

If these check OK then you probably have a logic problem. Most commonly the RA-3-9600 system RAM chip or STIC chip go bad, and sometimes the AY-3-8914 sound chip goes bad. You can try cleaning and resocketing these chips.

[Plastik]

How many different games have you tried? It is very rare, but sometimes a cart goes bad. I've only experienced this twice. It is little more common, but still rare, for a console to have a chip go bad. However, it is far, far more common for it to just be a dirty connector or the game isn't inserted just right. I frequently insert a cart, turn on the system but the game isn't working, power off, wiggle the cart a little, and it works the 2nd or 3rd time.

 

I've Tried 2 so far but I'll try some more. I guess its a bit like an NES where you have to give it a wiggle.

 

If cleaning the cart slot and trying a few different carts doesn't help and the trick with backing out the cart a hair doesn't work, then you should...

 

1. Open the unit and check the ribbon cable and the single blue wire conbector for continuity. Make sure the blue wire is connected to the 2 pin connector so it makes contact with the pin closest to the ribbon cable.

2. Check power supply voltages at the ribbon cable

 

If these check OK then you probably have a logic problem. Most commonly the RA-3-9600 system RAM chip or STIC chip go bad, and sometimes the AY-3-8914 sound chip goes bad. You can try cleaning and resocketing these chips.

 

I'll try today and check the continuity of those wires, I'll also try to get into the main board and tap the chips just in case they have become loose over time.

Is there a place that sells new cartridge slots for the intellivision?

[HunterZero]

Cleaning the power switch and cartridge slot with isopropyl alcohol or deoxit should fix things in almost all cases. You probably won't need to replace it.

 

However if you need to go this route, INTVFunhouse has this info...

 

http://intvfunhouse.com/tech/cartport/

 

Failing that, someone may have a cart slot from a dead board to share?