NES Grey Screen

[fvgazi]

Previously I had a problem where my NES just started the automatic reset and blinking red light. This happened regardless of a cart being in or not. I had replaced the 72 pin connector about a year before and it was working flawlessly until this new problem happened.

I found out I would have to mod the lockout chip and just remove pin 4. I did that just fine and now when it boots I get a grey screen with or without a cart inside. 1 out of every 20 times I try with a cart I will get the NES to boot the game and it works perfect (I was able to play 2+ hrs without any problem).

Do you think I didn't put the 72 pin connector on good enough? I had to push the carts in really snug to get them to work. I had also cleaned the pins on the motherboard when reassembling it as well (they were filthy).

[Hobie-wan]

It needs another clean or to have the pins bent.

[christoph]

Try adjusting the tension on the 6 screws that hold the 72pin and cart holder mechanism

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Almost guaranteed your problem is that you haven't disable the CIC lockout chip!

For the North American NES 'toaster' Nintendo installed a lockout chip not present in the Japanese Famicom. It worked by sending a reset signal every one second unless a command was given by another lockout chip found in every licensed NES game to tell it not to do so.

Problem was, any interference at all would cause the signal to stop and make the chip continuously reset the system. Eventually pirate games would circumvent it by literally "zapping" it with an electrical charge.

I suggest you do one step more and disable it completely. Doing so is very easy; simply rob it of power by cutting pin 4.

follow this guy's tut on how to do it.

http://www.tylerwillis.com/2006/04/28/d ... ommentary/

Use a knife, a small pair of wire cutters, whatever, just make sure pin 4 is the only pin you cut. You want to disable the lockout chip, not destroy it.

Disabling the lockout chip has absolutely no negatives and won't harm your NES at all. Replacing the 72 pin connector is good and all, but like the towel trick to fix the RROD on a broken 360, it's not a direct solution.

Once you have your lockout chip disabled, put your NES back together. Remember that the spring loaded cartridge jacket needs to be screwed in somewhat loosely for the spring mechanism to work. If you screw it down too tightly, it won't move.

Once everything is back together on the NES, make sure you clean your games. Dirty games are not good for cartridge connectors!

[emwearz]

Almost guaranteed your problem is that you haven't disable the CIC lockout chip!

For the North American NES 'toaster' Nintendo installed a lockout chip not present in the Japanese Famicom. It worked by sending a reset signal every one second unless a command was given by another lockout chip found in every licensed NES game to tell it not to do so.

Problem was, any interference at all would cause the signal to stop and make the chip continuously reset the system. Eventually pirate games would circumvent it by literally "zapping" it with an electrical charge.

I suggest you do one step more and disable it completely. Doing so is very easy; simply rob it of power by cutting pin 4.

follow this guy's tut on how to do it.

He all ready said he did this.
http://www.tylerwillis.com/2006/04/28/d ... ommentary/

Use a knife, a small pair of wire cutters, whatever, just make sure pin 4 is the only pin you cut. You want to disable the lockout chip, not destroy it.

Disabling the lockout chip has absolutely no negatives and won't harm your NES at all. Replacing the 72 pin connector is good and all, but like the towel trick to fix the RROD on a broken 360, it's not a direct solution.

Once you have your lockout chip disabled, put your NES back together. Remember that the spring loaded cartridge jacket needs to be screwed in somewhat loosely for the spring mechanism to work. If you screw it down too tightly, it won't move.

Once everything is back together on the NES, make sure you clean your games. Dirty games are not good for cartridge connectors!

The OP says he did this all ready.

[fvgazi]

Yeah, the problem came after I disabled it. I will try doing some cleaning again and readjusting. I'm tending to go more along the lines that the 72 pin connector isn't set right just because with a slight adjustment the games work flawlessly.

Thanks for the input, guys!

**update**
After a bit of cleaning, bending, and readjusting, I still get the grey screen. It's a little easier to get the games working though. I just have to push the carts in pretty hard.

[KDub]

I've seen some guides mention that you should ground that 4th pin. Did you do that?
Some say it doesn't matter either way...but it could be the issue.

[fvgazi]

That's possible. I didn't ground it. I'll try again soon, but I have some dragon warrior to play.