How long will our neo carts last?

2D_mastur

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I know that I have heard somebody on the forums claim that our carts are already living on borrowed time.

Explain this to a tech dummy who knows little to nothing about eproms and longevity of boards, etc.

Will the carts out last the MVS/AES hardware? What is the weakest link in terms of console/cart design.

Give the worst case scenario.

Then give me the best.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but things like this are like predicting the end of the world... always in flux.
 

titchgamer

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Things decay and fail its inevitable.

The time it takes will be dependant on many conditions environmental, historical, individual components etc.

How long will it take for your cart to die?
No idea how long is a piece of string?
 

2D_mastur

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Things decay and fail its inevitable.

The time it takes will be dependant on many conditions environmental, historical, individual components etc.

How long will it take for your cart to die?
No idea how long is a piece of string?

Not helpful. Not looking for an exact date. The eproms have to have a min or max lifespan. This should give us a ballpark figure, plus/minus a few years.
 

GohanX

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In theory, eproms should last around 10-20 years, with mask roms lasting a bit longer. In practice, other than those stupid security chips in some of the newer carts they rarely fail and are easily fixable. Most Neo carts will probably outlast your desire to actually play/own them.
 

2D_mastur

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In theory, eproms should last around 10-20 years, with mask roms lasting a bit longer. In practice, other than those stupid security chips in some of the newer carts they rarely fail and are easily fixable. Most Neo carts will probably outlast your desire to actually play/own them.

Fixed? In what manner? My impression is that some/all of the data would be lost once the roms grow old. Or is it more of physical repair?
 

GohanX

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The same way SNK and ops repaired bad chips back in the day. Swap the mask roms out with eproms. Anyone that has any decent sized MVS collection has at least a few carts with repairs or updates done with some eproms on them.
 

2D_mastur

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So eventually, to live on, carts will need to be worked on in order to retain a tangible collection.

I think I will draw the line there and sell my dead carts to the highest bidder.

Thanks for the info.
 

oliverclaude

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What you really want to know is, will a not working unit remain its monetary value once it's gone? A cart doesn't have to work, the NeoSD takes care of that part. Or a MiSTer unit. Or whatever future holds for us. What remains is the object: either a tired piece of plastic with printed paper attached to it or the ultimate illusion. It'll be quite amusing, though, to watch the retro scene playing Russian roulette with time. Soon comes panic and then the last ones shall be first to cry. Or to laugh. Depends how you look at it.
 

ChopstickSamurai

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As long as the games outlive me it’s all good. After I’m gone I’m sure they’ll all end up in a Goodwill donation bin anyway.
 

Neo Alec

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So eventually, to live on, carts will need to be worked on in order to retain a tangible collection.

I think I will draw the line there and sell my dead carts to the highest bidder.

Thanks for the info.
Maybe, but most legit carts don't contain EPROMs, so it seems they could last a while.

I believe your console is more likely to need work before your carts. The caps and other chips there tend to wear out more quickly and then sometimes wreck other parts inside.
 

famicommander

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I have Atari 2600 carts that were made in 1977 that still work fine.
 

BIG BEAR

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Nobody is promised tomorrow...this is definitely an issue to not worry about but it is something to discuss.....
BB
 

Bishamon

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I am confident that the vast majority of my cartridge games, PCBs, CDs, DVD, etc., will outlast me at this point. I am fairly comfortable with that. Sure, I would prefer they last forever, but that just isn't realistic.
 

shadowkn55

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Having a good power supply is key. The aes like other consoles has a 5v regulator that keeps the voltage steady. MVS motherboards and carts are directly connected to a PSU that usually has an adjustable 5v rail. Improper regulation or the 5v line being cranked too high will slowly kill the hardware.
 

Buffi

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I’ve had three carts die due to mask roms failing.
Repairing them with new EPROMs arent very hard if tou have the tools (desoldering gun, eprom programmer).
 

RAZO

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I think the environment some of these carts were in and how they're are stored matters as well. High temperatures, moisture, dust, dirt are never good. Dont recall ever having issues with Aes carts but I've had 10 or so mvs carts that had issues.

Some of these mvs carts look like they were in a war zone and barely made it out alive. If some of these mvs carts could talk they would have a damn good story to tell.
 

Catoblepa

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Remember the initial enthusiasm about CDs? They were promoted as pretty much "eternal". :lolz: My Amiga floppy discs and my VHS tapes are outlasting most of my burned CDs and DVDs, which are becoming unreadable and dying like flies. Of course there's also the disc rot with Laserdisc. Granted, most writable optical discs were cheaply made to reduce costs, and the better - and costly - ones are still working, but I've found it's the reverse of what everybody expected: carts seem pretty much eternal (I've rescued some from the mud, and they still work), magnetic supports are holding surprisingly well, and optical discs not so much. That's another reason why I don't like to collect stuff from the Playstation era on, the supports feel... cheap and unreliable.
 

Heinz

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If some of these mvs carts could talk they would have a damn good story to tell.

Dear diary, today the darkness ended as I was taken out of my cardboard box and inserted into my masters slot.

Dear diary, 20 years have passed and now I have been sold to a fat shelf queen, when will I die?
 

Burning Fight!!

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Remember the initial enthusiasm about CDs? They were promoted as pretty much "eternal". :lolz:

CDs manufactured out of glass masters through sputtering pretty much are if you (and the pressing plant) know what you're doing. Unfortunately some bad batches exist meaning some are probably being eaten away by that corrosion or metal eating fungus ("disc rot"), my old Street Fighter Zero disc was like that back in the day, but I'd wager a good amount of discs will outlast us all.
 
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Buffi

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At least it's fun to repair neogeo games when they break.
VSIpzhi.jpg
 
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