Genesis Cart video issue

[strangenova]

So I've never had this problem before but Ive got a genesis game that starts and plays just fine but randomly the video and sound will cut out and come back in. It's rather frequent and random too.

I cleaned the pins and it looks clean and nice, so I don't think that's the issue. My genesis and av cables are fine as well, I played other games before and after this one tonight and they were fine.

[Ziggy587]

When the AV cuts out, does your TV go to no signal? Or does the screen just go black?

If this happens for no other games, then it's safe to assume the problem isn't with the console, AV cables or power supply. What game is it?

[strangenova]

It goes to no signal, it'll go black and the icon in the corner will pop up to say I'm on av which only happens when nothing is on. The game is elemental master.

[Ziggy587]

It seems strange to me. A problem like this, I would assume it was a problem with the console or cables rather than the cart. The game doesn't freeze or require a reset? The TV just loses the signal than it comes back on, and the game resumes playing like nothing happened? I can't understand how that's a problem on the cart side. It seems to me like if it was the cart, the video would not come back or the game would lock up and require a reset or something of that nature.

Of course, I could be wrong. I'm assuming that cart doesn't have save data. A Genesis cart without backup memory is a pretty simple thing, there's only three components and the board itself. It wouldn't be hard to rule out everything on the cart just through process of elimination.

Do you have (or have access to) another Genesis console to test this cart out on?

[ElkinFencer10]

This may be a stupid suggestion, but could it be the AV port on the TV that's going bad? Happened to one of my old CRTs a few years back; two of the three composite ports work fine, but one just randomly crapped out, and when it started to die, it would do basically what you're describing - randomly cut to No Signal.

[strangenova]

That's correct, it doesn't freeze, lock up, or require a reset. It's seems that the game is still running just without an audio or video signal. Also no save data for the cart, there isn't a battery on the board.

I do have a second genesis I can use and a set of rf cables to try as well. I'll try that tonight, if it doesn't solve my issue then I will take a video of the issue in action.

[strangenova]

This may be a stupid suggestion, but could it be the AV port on the TV that's going bad? Happened to one of my old CRTs a few years back; two of the three composite ports work fine, but one just randomly crapped out, and when it started to die, it would do basically what you're describing - randomly cut to No Signal.

I'm using an HDTV and I can see that being a possibility, if not for the fact that my other genesis games are fine. No signal loss on any other game I've noticed.

[strangenova]

Update: I was going to be trying different cables and consoles today to narrow the problem, but I hooked up my main genesis setup and the game plays fine, I just made it through five levels without an incident. I believe this means the problem is with my av cable getting bad connection, it's weird that it didn't mess up on any other games I played last night though.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions, I'll continue playing and report back if any malfunctions do occur

[Ziggy587]

That's the problem with intermittent issues, you can't rule things in or out solely based on WHEN it happens. For example, it could be the AV cables but the problem just so happen to only occur when you were playing that one game, and it decided to be nice when you were playing other games.

Also, this might be noteworthy. You mentioned you're using an HDTV. There isn't one standard resolution that all Genesis games put out. It could be that the one game you're having issues with puts out a different resolution and your TV is having issues with that particular resolution. It's just a guess, but it this would at least explain why you were having issues with one game but not with others.

[strangenova]

Also, this might be noteworthy. You mentioned you're using an HDTV. There isn't one standard resolution that all Genesis games put out. It could be that the one game you're having issues with puts out a different resolution and your TV is having issues with that particular resolution. It's just a guess, but it this would at least explain why you were having issues with one game but not with others.

That's an interesting fact that I did not know. What's the cause of the different resolution outputs?