Mega Man X SNES game not working-Need help.

[sargenpiepa]

After not using the system at all for around a year, I dug out my old Super Nintendo to play some older games. Super Mario World works fine on it, but my Contra III and Mega Man X don't. When I load up MMX, one of two things happens: a) it'll go to the Capcom logo, working perfectly, fade, then nothing; or b) if I press start while the logo is up, it skips straight to the menu. Nothing is displayed, and it doesn't respond to any buttons, but I can hear background music for the menu. I have tried blowing into the case and system, using compressed air, and using a wet Q-Tip.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[Limewater]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

It sounds like your game just needs a proper cleaning. There's a great thread on the topic here:

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a

Short answer: Try cleaning the contacts with a q-tip dipped in 70% isopropyl alcohol. Allow the cart try dry thoroughly, then try it again.

If you want to try something different, make sure you read the entire thread I linked. There is some advice on there that isn't so great, but it's usually cleared up within a post or two.

Have a nice day!

[sargenpiepa]

Hey sorry to sound needy, but I could use some more aid. I dunked the swab in 70% Isophopyl alcohol like it said, swabbed the protruding "game" part in the exterior of the cartridge, an let it dry. After giving it around 10 minutes to dry, I put it in, to no avail. The exact same things happened, no progress.

[Flake]

What other games do you have to test? It might help if we knew what kind of games work and which ones don't. If there is a common problem, it might be part of your SNES' chipset.

[Hobie-wan]

Those games might be really really dirty and need to be opened so that one can really get at the pins and clean them properly. I've gotten games that obviously lived in a garage for a while and were pretty green from corrosion. They needed a really good clean before they would work and just using a q-tip in the end wasn't going to be good enough.

[Limewater]

Make sure you're being very thorough. You kind of want to scrub a little up and down along the contacts with the q-tip when you're cleaning the game.

You may also want to try cleaning the contacts in the system itself. I think better descriptions of the process have been given elsewhere, but the general idea is to get a few layers of thin cardboard, like from a cereal box, folded in half so that the non-label side is facing out, and put some rubbing alcohol on that, then insert it into the cart slot a few times and let that dry.

You said that Super Mario World worked. Does it still work? Your MMX or Contra carts may have dirtied the system when you put them in the first time.

I suggest concentrating on cleaning for a little while longer. Compared to anything else that might be wrong, it's by far the simplest and cheapest to fix (except for something silly like just not inserting the cart correctly).

*EDIT* Hobie is right. You may need to open the carts, but you likely don't have a gamebit tool to take them apart right now. Try cleaning them again without opening them first, imo.

[sargenpiepa]

Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and StarFox worked immediately.
Donkey Kong Country, Doom, and Mortal Kombat worked after blowing into them.
Mega Man X and Contra III didn't work at all.
P.S. After reading suggestions I will clean a little more thoroughly. I don't have anything to open up the cartridges, but the cart slot or whatever on the actual SNES looked pretty bad. I Q-tip the outside, maybe try the cardboard.

[Hobie-wan]

Donkey Kong Country, Doom, and Mortal Kombat worked after blowing into them.

NO NO NO NO NO

Don't blow into them. The spit and humidity from your breath will just corrode them worse. If you blew into them in the past, then they're definitely going to be gunked up and the system probably is too.

[Breetai]

Q-tip and alcohol cleaner. Vinegar works if you don't have alcohol. I've used it, but I don't know if it's actually a good idea or not. Stick with alcohol cleaner.

Worst case, you might have to find the correct screw driver bit to open up the carts and FULLY clean them.

[sargenpiepa]

I cleaned the cartridge connectors thoroughly with the same alcohol, even attempting to clean the slot on the actual system. After giving it a couple hours, no progress, unfortunately. It currently isn't within my abilities to open up a cartridge, I'm thinking this may just be a lost attempt.