MegaManFan Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 I receently won a Galaga '90 for TurboGrafx-16 on eBay. Despite my feelings that $13 might be too much, I was tired of being outbid and happy to get one that was actually in the gem case, in the HuCard sleeve, instead of loose and/or unprotected. Odds are, I thought, this card will work. Well.. it does, sort of. After reseating it three or four times with no success, I decided to run the gamut of cards I owned (all whopping 8 of them) to see if it was my console. They all worked first try. I came back to Galaga '90 every other two and tried it once, and got nowhere. After testing all my other cards and thinking my '90 was a dud, I tried it one more time. Bingo! It worked on the 9th try. Methinks to myself (meself?) that perhaps like an Atari or Nintendo cartridg, the contacts need a cleaning. Very gently (given how thin the card is and how small the contacts are) I apply a q-tip lightly dipped in rubbing alcohol to the edge, and dried with the other end. This time, it only took two tries. Somehow I'm not convinced the cleaning improved matters though, cause the tip didn't look dirty like it does when I scrub a non-working cartridge. I'm afraid to take the 90 out again, lest I go through another nightmare, from 2-22 or more attempts to fire it up. My conclusions: * The TG-16 I own works fine. * The other 8 cards I own work fine. * For some reason, my Galaga '90 from eBay is flaky. So what to do with a flaky HuCard? (Ear-ly in the mor-nin'...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeybastard Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 I have the same problem with My Hero card for the SMS. It stopped working all together after the last cleaning though. Now it just says system error when I try it. My TG16 Hu-cards all work fine and always have. I have never had to clean them. Sorry I know this doesn't help you at all, just comiserating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagWarlord Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Speaking of Turbo Grafx, I could of won a Turbo Grafix system with the cd attachment for $17 last night Somebody beat me to it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Monkey Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Try putting a piece of Scotch tape on the underside of the HuCard across the end that goes into the TG16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted October 28, 2003 Author Share Posted October 28, 2003 Try putting a piece of Scotch tape on the underside of the HuCard across the end that goes into the TG16. Hmm, interesting. Does this push the pin contacts up into place somehow? How long a piece of tape, and how thick? Run it all the way from the back end up to the pins, or just in the middle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Monkey Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Put the tape from one side to the other, so it is behind the contacts. You should only need one strip. The idea is to make the card a little thicker where the contacts are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Monkey Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Here is a picture.. I put a piece of tape on my Galaga 90 and highlighted the tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bivotar Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 MegaManFan wrote: My conclusions: * The TG-16 I own works fine. * The other 8 cards I own work fine. WHEW!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted October 28, 2003 Author Share Posted October 28, 2003 Not to worry old friend, I know you'd never pass off junk on me as good gaming. I trust you far more than I would almost any eBay transaction, save for sellers who are also AA users. BTW thanks again for the housewarming gift. They were delicious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratwurst Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 If the tape trick doesn't work out, have you tried running an eraser across the contacts of the hucard yet? Amazingly that gets dirt off that alchohol and swabs do not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 I dunno if this'll make a lick o' difference or not, but I have had good luck cleaning carts with rubbing alcohol and the brush from an NES cleaning kit. It's a little more abrasive and seems to get things a little cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted October 29, 2003 Author Share Posted October 29, 2003 I don't have a cleaning kit, since I've always used rubbing alcohol and plain old q-tups for my NES. But I'm going to try the tape trick right now. Well I'll be damned! Lost Monkey, that worked perfectly. I removed and reinserted the card three times after the tape trick and it worked the firts time each try. Genius! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 I don't have a cleaning kit, since I've always used rubbing alcohol and plain old q-tups for my NES. But I'm going to try the tape trick right now. Well I'll be damned! Lost Monkey, that worked perfectly. I removed and reinserted the card three times after the tape trick and it worked the firts time each try. Genius! If only NES games were as easy to fix... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted October 29, 2003 Author Share Posted October 29, 2003 Out of the all the NES carts I've ever bought or owned (hundreds) only a half dozen or less have ever been totally non-functional, meaning they couldn't be resurrected with a good cleaning. My failure rate on Atari carts has been a lot higher by comparison - at least a dozen or so duds I can think of, but then again I also own more Atari carts so that may not really prove anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Out of the all the NES carts I've ever bought or owned (hundreds) only a half dozen or less have ever been totally non-functional, meaning they couldn't be resurrected with a good cleaning. My failure rate on Atari carts has been a lot higher by comparison - at least a dozen or so duds I can think of, but then again I also own more Atari carts so that may not really prove anything. Different time period, different technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Out of the all the NES carts I've ever bought or owned (hundreds) only a half dozen or less have ever been totally non-functional, meaning they couldn't be resurrected with a good cleaning. My failure rate on Atari carts has been a lot higher by comparison - at least a dozen or so duds I can think of, but then again I also own more Atari carts so that may not really prove anything.Yes, but the DECKS... When an NES cart slot gets loose, you can't just put tape under the cartridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted October 29, 2003 Author Share Posted October 29, 2003 You can bend the pins, or replace the connector altogether, or have someone custom meld a Game Genie into the inside of your deck for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 You can bend the pins, or replace the connector altogether, or have someone custom meld a Game Genie into the inside of your deck for you. Yes. Mine was pin-bending. But think how much easier a strip of scotch tape would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted October 29, 2003 Author Share Posted October 29, 2003 If all problems in life could be solved with just a piece of scotch tape, what a wonderful world it would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratwurst Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 or have someone custom meld a Game Genie into the inside of your deck for you. You make it sound so easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avid Fan Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 i wonder if that tape trick would work on a NES game. I know that tape trick works on other things as well. At my old job, the ATM/Credict Card reader was very flacky, and if we put a thin plastic bag over the credit/ATM card, and slid it through it worked, so maybe this tape thing is more useful that previously thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raijin Z Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 They sell NES edge connectors at a local flea market... but unfortuantely for the guy selling it, and many other gaming goodies, I'm probably the only other person on the county who knows what they are.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 i wonder if that tape trick would work on a NES game.No. The NES connector is double-sided. There's pins ont eh top and bottom. A strip of tape would block a set of pins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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