SNES Game not working

I was wondering if someone here could help me out a little bit. I went to a Flea Market this past weekend when on vacation and bought a SNES with a few games (NBA Jam TE, Zelda: aLttP, and Final Fantasy III). When I got home I tried the new stuff out just to realize that NBA Jam and Zelda work, and FFIII does not. No big deal, so I clean it up with some alcohol and q-tips. Still doesn't work. I then go and find some needle-nose tweezers (I don't have a driver small enough for the screws) and get the game open to notice that nothing appears wrong at all. There are no burn marks, no cracks, and it looks legit (to me, I know nothing of SNES boots, and the board itself has "Nintendo" on it). I would like to fix this myself, but the dealer I bought the lot from said I have 2 weeks to report any issues and they will be fixed.

Here are some pics:









And just a little update as I type this up. I popped in NBA Jam and if the cart moves when its on (gets pushed forward or back) the game stops working and I get thrown back to my TV's "Searching For Signal" blue screen.

Could this be because of the actual cart slot being dirty? And if so, how would I go about cleaning it out? Would I use Q-tips and alcohol like I was with the carts?

Thanks in advance.

I've cleaned out my neo-geo slots a little by folding a piece of paper over a few times and carefully sliding it in and out of the cart slot. Might work for the SNES.

Or you could always look for the SNES cleaning cart. Basically it's just a stiff piece of fabric that slides in and out of the cart slot. Might be able to rig your own.

I'll see if I can find some fabric and a thick piece of cardboard and see if that works. Any other ideas? Does it seem like my game is dead, or does it look like the system just needs some cleaning?

Those pictures made me chuckle a little. My old Fatal Fury SNES cart stopped working so I opened it up to take a look. The PCB was damn near 1/3 the size of that FFIII PCB you have there. Shows the real work and effort that went to porting that game over.

Just a little update, blowing a little bit in the NBA Jam cart solved the rocking problem. Zelda does not have this problem either.

I know that the battery is for saves, but if the battery is bad, could that keep the game from booting?

mmelzer2004 said:

Just a little update, blowing a little bit in the NBA Jam cart solved the rocking problem. Zelda does not have this problem either.

I know that the battery is for saves, but if the battery is bad, could that keep the game from booting?

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Nope, it just wouldn't keep any saves after turning off the system. The battery didn't by chance leak on the board though did it? I've never heard of this happening with snes carts.

In order of likelihood:

-One of your console's pins is not making contact (test another >16M game)
-A trace near the gold fingers on the cart is damaged
-A mask ROM is damaged
-The MAD-1/CIC is damaged

I already see two bad pins on the frontside of the board, clean them and if it doesn't patch up, get some solder and make a bridge for em.

TougaKiryuu said:

I already see two bad pins on the frontside of the board, clean them and if it doesn't patch up, get some solder and make a bridge for em.

Click to expand...

Could you point them out to me?

Thanks.

Sort of off-topic, but do you have a multimeter you could use to measure the resistor to the right of the SRAM chip (upper-right corner on the parts side)? I'm trying to repair a Chrono Trigger for someone and there's rust all over this thing. I had to replace the SRAM chip itself and the resistor just completely disintegrated on me (the legs were all corroded and just broke). Going from the markings, it could be 100K ohm, but I'd appreciate if someone could tell me for sure.

The second to last pic, look at the 3 pins that are between middle and the end. They look darker than the other pins. Even some of the first half of the pins seem kinda dark as well. I bet it is bad traces to the gold contacts.

Also, take a tooth brush, dip it in a little bit of alcohol and brush the system's cart slot. Use the folded paper method to get the loose stuff out afterwords, let dry for 15 minutes, and fire it up.

To further clean the cart, try an art eraser and then clean off the residue with alcohol and a coarse cloth.

Added: Also, with the SNES there can be corrosion between the system's slot and motherboard. Once unscrewed, the slot pulls right out of the motherboard and you can check to see if it looks oxidized.

Isn't Tech Support for Neo Geo games?

The way you clean a cart slot is with a table knife, a thin towel and distilled water. Be gentle but swift and let it dry before playing.

joe8 said:

Isn't Tech Support for Neo Geo games?

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Tech support is offered for any game in general.

joe8 said:

Isn't Tech Support for Neo Geo games?

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No..

Murray said:

Sort of off-topic, but do you have a multimeter you could use to measure the resistor to the right of the SRAM chip (upper-right corner on the parts side)? I'm trying to repair a Chrono Trigger for someone and there's rust all over this thing. I had to replace the SRAM chip itself and the resistor just completely disintegrated on me (the legs were all corroded and just broke). Going from the markings, it could be 100K ohm, but I'd appreciate if someone could tell me for sure.

Click to expand...

Usually it's a *1K* ohm to allow the SRAM 5mA (of which <500uA is used in standby). 100K is too big. Battery consumption is negligible because the SRAM is dual powered and the console's current is used whenever available.

mmelzer2004 said:

Could you point them out to me?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Clean in these places, if it doesn't clear up.. repair the pins to traces.

Murray said:

Sort of off-topic, but do you have a multimeter you could use to measure the resistor to the right of the SRAM chip (upper-right corner on the parts side)? I'm trying to repair a Chrono Trigger for someone and there's rust all over this thing. I had to replace the SRAM chip itself and the resistor just completely disintegrated on me (the legs were all corroded and just broke). Going from the markings, it could be 100K ohm, but I'd appreciate if someone could tell me for sure.

Click to expand...

Dude take a pic of that shit, I wanna see it.

I think it might just be the picture (bad as it is), as those spots aren't there when I look at the actual board.

I think I'll just call the place up tomorrow and see if they will send me another one.

looks like a boot.