Is there a 'fix' for getting Activision carts to work better?

[kbarb]

I recently picked up a 5200 4 port(hoorah me) and one thing I found out after getting it is the 2 Activision games I have, Pitfall and H.E.R.O. are a real pain to get working.  All my other games work first try every time.   I cleaned them with 99% isopropyl alcohol and cotton buds. but it's still a huge pain to get them to work.

 

I searched Google and it looks like this is a pretty common issue from what I'm reading.  Has anyone figured out a trick to get it to work a little easier.

 

I have a NES game that I can't get to work in my NES unless I use a game genie to give it a better grip but those things weren't around for the 5200.

 

Are all Activision games like that or just some?

[RB5200]

Yes, there is a fix for the troublesome Activision carts, it involves a new board and a new replacement label, the boards require a 32k eprom.

here is a picture of a quality replacement board, and a H.E.R.O. cart with new board and replaced label.

[kbarb]

26 minutes ago, RB5200 said:

Yes, there is a fix for the troublesome Activision carts, it involves a new board and a new replacement label, the boards require a 32k eprom.

here is a picture of a quality replacement board, and a H.E.R.O. cart with new board and replaced label.

id hate to replace the board and label but the original is a huge pain.

Edited September 10 by kbarb
typo

[RB5200]

7 minutes ago, kbarb said:

the original is a huge pain.

Yes, they can be sometimes, that is why the better fix boards were made, the option lies with the owner, one can either deal with a troublesome cart, and maybe sometimes not ever get it to work, or fix it and be free of the issue.

The reason for the new label is because the Activision carts have the cartridge screws under the label, so the original label gets damaged no matter what, if you want to open one up.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Just wanted to state that another AA member just posted something similar in regards to their Kaboom! cart not working well in their 5200 earlier. I will answer the same here:

 

Activision cartridge PCBs are a tiny bit thinner than Atari made ones. Additionally the gold fingers on the cartridge do not seem to extent as high up the PCB as Atari made ones. So what I've found in order to get most of mine working, is that I insert the cartridge fully. Then I pull it back up a smidge. Like a millimeter or so and power on the console again.

 

You will find that there is a sweet spot on the cart where it will eventually seem to read properly nearly every time, provided you have it in that sweet spot to be read. I even installed a brand new 5200 cartridge port into my 5200 and that did NOT solve the issue either. So I really think the issue is more with the lack of the pcb fingers not extending far up along the PCB. It might be possible to carefully try and scrape away the solder mask on the top edge of the PCB fingers to expose more of the finger area and see if that helps. But it would be tricky to do this with the cartridge still in the shell.

 

[kbarb]

 

20 hours ago, RB5200 said:

Yes, they can be sometimes, that is why the better fix boards were made, the option lies with the owner, one can either deal with a troublesome cart, and maybe sometimes not ever get it to work, or fix it and be free of the issue.

The reason for the new label is because the Activision carts have the cartridge screws under the label, so the original label gets damaged no matter what, if you want to open one up.

That's definitely something to consider down the road.  Thanks a lot for the advice. 

 

19 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Just wanted to state that another AA member just posted something similar in regards to their Kaboom! cart not working well in their 5200 earlier. I will answer the same here:

 

Activision cartridge PCBs are a tiny bit thinner than Atari made ones. Additionally the gold fingers on the cartridge do not seem to extent as high up the PCB as Atari made ones. So what I've found in order to get most of mine working, is that I insert the cartridge fully. Then I pull it back up a smidge. Like a millimeter or so and power on the console again.

 

You will find that there is a sweet spot on the cart where it will eventually seem to read properly nearly every time, provided you have it in that sweet spot to be read. I even installed a brand new 5200 cartridge port into my 5200 and that did NOT solve the issue either. So I really think the issue is more with the lack of the pcb fingers not extending far up along the PCB. It might be possible to carefully try and scrape away the solder mask on the top edge of the PCB fingers to expose more of the finger area and see if that helps. But it would be tricky to do this with the cartridge still in the shell.

 

I gave it a shot and it did seem to make it a bit easier to get it to work, thanks a lot.

[Supergun]

On 9/10/2024 at 7:18 PM, RB5200 said:

Yes, there is a fix for the troublesome Activision carts, it involves a new board and a new replacement label, the boards require a 32k eprom.

here is a picture of a quality replacement board, and a H.E.R.O. cart with new board and replaced label.

Personally, I feel that this is a great solution, IF the person is utilizing it for a cart with a completely trashed or missing label.

 

However, I feel that this is a TERRIBLE solution, if the person is doing it to a good condition cart.

 

(also makes more sense as you can buy a hero cart with a wrecked label for much cheaper)

[+Cafeman]

I use a folded wedge of cardboard either in front, or behind, the Activision carts.  

[RB5200]

58 minutes ago, Supergun said:

However, I feel that this is a TERRIBLE solution, if the person is doing it to a good condition cart

Yeah, there's no need to do it if your cart is still fine and works without problems.

 

1 hour ago, Supergun said:

Personally, I feel that this is a great solution, IF the person is utilizing it for a cart with a completely trashed or missing label.

Not just a trashed or missing label, but when the cartridge itself is very problematic and is just a pain to get it to work, no matter how many times ones cleans it.

[RB5200]

1 hour ago, Cafeman said:

use a folded wedge of cardboard either in front, or behind, the Activision carts

And this does also work sometimes, but not always, at least for everybody, also this is again a bandaid solution.

Edited September 20 by RB5200

[leech]

On 9/10/2024 at 6:38 PM, -^CrossBow^- said:

Just wanted to state that another AA member just posted something similar in regards to their Kaboom! cart not working well in their 5200 earlier. I will answer the same here:

 

Activision cartridge PCBs are a tiny bit thinner than Atari made ones. Additionally the gold fingers on the cartridge do not seem to extent as high up the PCB as Atari made ones. So what I've found in order to get most of mine working, is that I insert the cartridge fully. Then I pull it back up a smidge. Like a millimeter or so and power on the console again.

 

You will find that there is a sweet spot on the cart where it will eventually seem to read properly nearly every time, provided you have it in that sweet spot to be read. I even installed a brand new 5200 cartridge port into my 5200 and that did NOT solve the issue either. So I really think the issue is more with the lack of the pcb fingers not extending far up along the PCB. It might be possible to carefully try and scrape away the solder mask on the top edge of the PCB fingers to expose more of the finger area and see if that helps. But it would be tricky to do this with the cartridge still in the shell.

 

I've had to do this with my Power Drive Rally cart on my Jaguar.  It started to not read correctly, and so I'd not quite insert it all the way, and it'd work better.  Didn't have the issue with any other cart.  Tried in both raw Jag and JagCD.  Though oddly, last time I played it, the issue had gone away.  I had come close many times to order a new one, but then it'd work.

 

Now I'm curious to see if I have any Activision carts to test on the 5200, pretty sure I do.

[Possumgrits]

I use a hi-polymer erasure to clean the pins on my carts. I've not had any issues with Activision or parker brothers.