Broken SNES Games

[darthmunky]

Does anyone know how to fix SNES games that just don't work? Or at least know what the problem is? Like if nothing happens when the console is turned on.

[Ack]

A couple of things. First off, are you certain the contacts on the cartridge and in the SNES are clean? If not, using some rubbing alcohol(at least 70%, though personally I use 90%) on a q-tip to give the contacts a scrub down may work.

Also, are they seating properly. This has slowly become a problem with my SNES, so I have to adjust a little and reset the console if the game hasn't been inserted properly. Can you rock the cartridge back and forth when it's plugged into the SNES? That may be the issue.

Hopefully that's all you need to do. If not, it may be the SNES itself. If you have any spare cables, you should try those as well, just to make sure. And double checking your connections isn't a bad idea.

[darthmunky]

They have been cleaned, and they seem to fit in the console properly. No movement of the cartridge. Plus, all my other games work, it's just a select few that don't. And I have tested them on three other Super Nintendos. So I'm assuming it's a problem with the game itself but I don't know how to go about fixing it.

[MrPopo]

If it's only a few games I would suspect the connector needs to be cleaned. I've found that a few of my SNES games that didn't do anything when I turned on the system would work after a cleaning.

[darthmunky]

I'll try a few more things & report back

[darthmunky]

Okay, I have one game that won't work. Secret of Mana! I have gone through all the precautions listed. The game does sound like there might be something moving inside the cart if I shake it. What should I do?

[Hobie-wan]

Sounds like it needs to be opened up to take a look at this point. The cart might have been dropped. It could just be a bit of plastic that broke inside, or some of the board or a component could be busted. Spot welds could have popped and the battery could be floating bridging contacts creating havoc.

[darthmunky]

Alright, I just opened this bad boy and took some photos, Click to enlarge then click again to enlarge even larger:

Side A


Side B

[jfe2]

Those contacts on Side A look gnarly! I would try to use something like a game cleaning paste to clean that. I had some NES games that looked like that and didn't work at all either. I used the cleaning paste from this site, http://www.nintendorepairhut.com/repair ... plies.html, and it seemed to have done the trick. I thought I had them clean using alchohol, but this stuff gets all the copper buildup off. Someone on here probably knows better than I do though, I'm a bit of a newb when it comes to this stuff.

[Hobie-wan]

On the back view, the first pin for the chip form the top left. The solder joind looks a bit funky, but it could just be a bunch of leftover flux. I'll pull out my SoM and look when I can in a bit. The contacts do look like they could use a bit more cleaning, but they don't look bad. The silver parts of the edge connector just mean this cart had been used a lot over its lifetime and the golden coating has worn off.