MegaManFan Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 I'm hoping somebody could give me a little advice. I've been a Commodore owner since childhood, and of late I've gotten back into gaming with my C-128 (the C-64 has a bad power supply, so it's packed away somewhere). I recently picked up a working 1571 drive and I've been happy with that, and I've also gotten into acquiring carts. What I've noticed though is that even carts I get which are reputed to be "tested and working" (and I have no reason to think the sources aren't reputable) won't boot up on my C-128, and they're always Sega carts. Some that I own like Tapper and Zaxxon work right off the bat, but others like Buck Rogers, Congo Bongo, and Star Trek: S.O.S. never get anywhere. The closest I can get to them booting is a black screen. Now I will note that my cart slot on the C-128 has always been a "tight fit" even on Commodore made carts; as a kid and still today I had to push them in really firmly and pull them out really hard to get a good pin contact. It occurs to me that it may be that all of these Sega carts fail because of the molding of the shells makes them too wide for me to push in far enough to make a good contact. Of course, I don't want to rip these carts apart to play the games even if I was 100% sure that would solve the problem, because I don't want to ruin the labels. What's a Commodore gamer to do? Advice is needed - thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfnmadness Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Although I never got past a Vic 20 with the C lineup, I was able to find this little bit of history. http://www.oldsoftware.com/history.html The part about the C128 explains it is able to play C64 programs while running in 40 column mode only. (limitation of it) Maybe need to change back to 40 column before starting your game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 Good theory dude, but even in C-128 mode it start in 40 columns mode automatically unless you have the "40/80" switch down. C-64 mode should have no way to access any of the C-128 properties, including 80 columns, and all carts fire up the C-64 bios (I don't think I ever heard of or saw a C-128 game designed to run as a cart in that mode, and very few C-128 specific games exist anyway). PS: Even if true that wouldn't explain why Tapper works and Buck Rogers doesn't, when both are clean carts with good contacts. The only reason could be that the C-128 was poorly constructed and some carts just don't fit in the overly narrow slot, while other "looser" Sega carts do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyranthraxus Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Any chance these games fall out of the 99.9% compatibility of the 128? Do have any pirate disk versions of these games to try? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted June 23, 2003 Author Share Posted June 23, 2003 Fraid not. And again, I wouldn't be surprised if I had one or two games that fell out of 99.9% compatibility, but the fact that they're all carts and all made by Sega and they all don't seem to fit in the slot very well makes me suspicious. I guess as much as anything I'm trying to see if anybody else has had this problem. I got these carts from two very reliable AtariAge members who both reported them tested and working before I got 'em in trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Ah you posted this on comp.sys.cbm then? Ah... I replied there actually, but I will here also seeing as I sold you some of them heh. Yes, Sega carts are notorious for being a bit tight at times. I recommend getting one of those cart port expanders for the machine. Not only don't you then have to worry about anything fitting, but it saves wear and tear on the actual slot itself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted June 25, 2003 Author Share Posted June 25, 2003 Got any good sources I can get a port expander from then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Erm.... eBay I had a look though there doesn't appear to be any up there currently... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted June 25, 2003 Author Share Posted June 25, 2003 BTW dude, am I completely insane or is the disc version of Ms. Pac-Man better than the cart? I haven't dug out my disc yet to compare, but it seems to me it must have been much better. And I have to say Galaxian was a bit of a dissapointment too. After AtariSoft did such an outstanding job on Donkey Kong, I feel a bit let down by these two carts although I'm still glad they're in my collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 If it's the Thunder Mountain version of Ms Pacman, I could almost swear they are the same game (certainly there are a few TM releases which ARE the Atarisoft cart games)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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