exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

So I put a cheeky bid on a NES and managed to win it, sold as not working and on arrival, it had the blinking red light that says 'No cartridge inserted'.

Here it is freshly unpacked:


I first tried contact cleaner on the cartridge slot, but to no avail, so pulled it apart as there is the inevitable clean to do, and popped off the cartridge connector assembly. At that point I could see the edge connector on the mainboard was looking badly oxidised, so I sprayed some contact cleaner on and gave it the once over with a cotton bud, then sprayed a little into the connector itself and popped it back onto the mainboard.

Lo and behold, no red flashing light anymore!!


So i popped my can of contact cleaner on top of the cart to hold it in position, and powered on my janky test setup:


And Happy days:


Next I need to look at the cosmetics as it is quite grubby and there is some minor plastic damage, but overall it's looking good.

One minor issue is that my control pads from the old 'physical emulator' that I had don't seem to work with it, but I'm sure I can pick up a controller or two nice and cheaply. I do have one unused pad from the old device that I can also try, but I'm expecting the same result.

:bravo:

HigashiJun wrote: 12 Jan 2023 13:12:bravo:

Got lucky again it would seem...

Nice work there.
You probably also want to do this region unlock mod. Also helps with blinking light:

http://www.retrofixes.com/2013/07/disab ... s.html?m=1

Higgy wrote: 12 Jan 2023 16:37 Nice work there.
You probably also want to do this region unlock mod. Also helps with blinking light:

http://www.retrofixes.com/2013/07/disab ... s.html?m=1

Already on my radar, but thanks :)

Coincidentally the page I also found, but I'd cut the leg at the bottom so it could be resoldered easily if needed.

Higgy wrote: 12 Jan 2023 16:37 Nice work there.
You probably also want to do this region unlock mod. Also helps with blinking light:

http://www.retrofixes.com/2013/07/disab ... s.html?m=1

Region free mod is now done, however I opted to remove the CIC chip and put a socket in as I really didn't like the leg cutting option and wanted to be able to easily revert if needed:


That way I was also able to test with everything as normal before bending leg 4 off to one side. All working just fine :)

Well done !

I always opt for non invasive mods as much as I can, but sometimes you have no choice...

HigashiJun wrote: 16 Jan 2023 11:21 Well done !

I always opt for non invasive mods as much as I can, but sometimes you have no choice...

Yeah, if you can it's always the best option. Like you say though, it isn't always possible. I can remember doing exxos first 32Mhz mod on my (at the time) only STE. I didn't have all the tools I have now to make it easier and I had to be super careful not to ruin the board when I removed the CPU socket. It took me a very long time to do it.

It was a trying upgrade and would take a lot to revert, but no option. My other STE has the plug in 32Mhz adapter, it's a much less fraught process!!!

Another nice score. I have a NES I got last year but need to sort a PSU out for it. I found a whole heap of boxed NES carts and an Amiga 500 on the side of the road years ago that needs testing too. But, too many projects and no time.

Fast fix reminds me, I scored a Yamaha receiver for $20 a month ago. Fired it up and it was dead. Little bit of home work, 80c cap replaced in the PSU and bingo. $20.80c RX-V1700 with phono stage too. Sometime (not often) you get lucky.

atari030 wrote: 16 Jan 2023 20:16 Another nice score. I have a NES I got last year but need to sort a PSU out for it. I found a whole heap of boxed NES carts and an Amiga 500 on the side of the road years ago that needs testing too. But, too many projects and no time.

Fast fix reminds me, I scored a Yamaha receiver for $20 a month ago. Fired it up and it was dead. Little bit of home work, 80c cap replaced in the PSU and bingo. $20.80c RX-V1700 with phono stage too. Sometime (not often) you get lucky.

I'm waiting for a controller to try it out properly, and in terms of power, it works just fine with my Atari 1010 and 1050 power supplies. It's 9vac and both work fine with it.

It's nice when it all comes together and you can fix something for pennies or free, I've been pretty lucky recently, sounds like you had a bit of luck too 😁