NES Blue Screen

[scott]

Hey guys. my frontload NES took a crap on me a month ago and I'm just now finding time to ask questions.

I was going to play Castlevania on it and all it gave me was a solid blue screen. So I tried other carts and the same thing happened. The worst part is, I changed the pins on it last year and it was running like a champ. And I never leave a cart in the console either, cause I'm worried about it depressing the pins for extended periods.

I thought it might be the lock out chip. But I tried Battle Kid, which supposedly bypasses the chip and it blue screened as well.

Any one know what I should look try/do before I go tearing it down for the 3rd time?

[matt]

I sold you a lemon!

[scott]

Jerk!

I'm pondering saving up for a top-loader. I guess they have much fewer playability issues but there is so much nostalgia for me with the old grey brick.

[turf]

Is it the same blue screen every time?  I've had that happen on occasion when something is dirty. Before you give up and buy a new one, take it apart and give it a good cleaning. It could be the games are just a little dusty. Sometimes you have to keep alcohol and qtips on hand and ready to go.

[scott]

Yup, same solid blue screen every time. I'll try that, is there a solid way to clean the actual contacts inside the NES?

[turf]

Yup, same solid blue screen every time. I'll try that, is there a solid way to clean the actual contacts inside the NES?

I put a little 91% alcohol on a toothbrush and go to town. Sometimes qtips leave little fuzziness.
Hit wit some canned air. Then the toothbrush, then some more air. I've heard of people boiling the connector in water, but I haven't tried that.

[scott]

K. I'll get me a cheap toothbrush and tear it all down and see what happens. thanks

[ffxik]

I have limited success with the alcohol and toothbrush method.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  I use this stuff.  It's pricey but works really well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hosa-D5S-6-Caig-DeoxIT-Electrical-Contact-Cleaner-Spray-Removes-Oxidation-NEW-/290996385271?pt=US_Pro_Audio_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43c0bc75f7

[teck]

I fix these at work all the time....  Most of the time it boils down to a connectivity issue....  Seeing as I fix a dozen of these a week at work, I take the shortcut method by replacing the 72 pin connectors and removing the circuit that bypasses the security lockout and can get the whole thing done in 5 minutes....  I would say if you feel like there is a loose fit then the 72 pin connector is the primary problem to look at....  Some people try to lightly bend the connectors back into place, but I'm lazy and new pins are cheap enough....  It would be hard to explain without a diagram, but a youtube video can show how to disable the lockout....  Its the 4th pin on the chip closest to the ports on the backside of the system along the bottom of the board....  I can post photos if you'd like next time I do one....  Alcohol is definitely great for cleaning, but there is also something called Brasso that is excellent as well....  I usually clean the contacts on a board that connects to the 72 pin adapter before putting a new one on with that stuff....  It works great for cleaning cartridge pins as well....  I would use a Q-tip and clean with alcohol first, then with Brasso for maximum effectiveness....  If you've got any other questions regarding, then feel free to ask....

[burningdoom]

I read somewhere that each color that the NES flashes, is some sort of error code indicating what exactly the problem is. I'm sure there's a chart on what color means what somewhere online.

[turf]

I read somewhere that each color that the NES flashes, is some sort of error code indicating what exactly the problem is. I'm sure there's a chart on what color means what somewhere online.

I'm pretty sure you have to count the number of flashes too. The color and number of flashes is what tells the error code.

[scott]

Well. I cleaned the contacts on the 72 pin connector and I bent the pins to make better contact.

The pins smell of burnt circuits but I didn't see any abnormalities or scorching. So I put it all back together after I cleaned it and I'm still getting a solid blue screen... sigh.

The pin look super clean and I just put this set in like 2 years ago. And the system hasn't had a ton of play time on these pins. So I dunno what else to do, other than maybe that lockout bypass.

[thecrypticodor]

The lockout chip won't cause the game not to come on at all. It only solves that occasional problem of the game starting normally but then reseting over and over.

It doesn't surprise me that bending the connectors wouldn't work. Once you start bending the connectors it's hard to have them line up exactly at the same angle where they all would make good solid contact with the cartridge pins.
I'd  recommend getting a new 72 pin connector you can get one on ebay in $7-8 USD range. Even if it doesn't fix your problem you'd still have it for your next NES.

What you can try doing as a last ditch effort to save that old 72 connector is take a piece of sandpaper fold it over something like a credit card and insert it in and out of the connector. (not side to side) If there's something like a bit of rust or corrosion that's causing a connectivity issue that will make short work of it.

[teck]

The lockout chip won't cause the game not to come on at all. It only solves that occasional problem of the game starting normally but then reseting over and over.

It doesn't surprise me that bending the connectors wouldn't work. Once you start bending the connectors it's hard to have them line up exactly at the same angle where they all would make good solid contact with the cartridge pins.
I'd  recommend getting a new 72 pin connector you can get one on ebay in $7-8 USD range. Even if it doesn't fix your problem you'd still have it for your next NES.

What you can try doing as a last ditch effort to save that old 72 connector is take a piece of sandpaper fold it over something like a credit card and insert it in and out of the connector. (not side to side) If there's something like a bit of rust or corrosion that's causing a connectivity issue that will make short work of it.

This is not necessarily true....  In bad cases a lockout pin can indirectly cause blue screens....  I have had many, many blue screens fixed at work by only disabling the the chip sometimes....  Not all times, but sometimes....  That's why I always do a new 72 pin at the same time these days because that seems to take care of 95% of our NES systems without other work....  It's just faster in the long run for us and customers appreciate the brand new pin set in ever NES we sell....

[thecrypticodor]

This is not necessarily true....  In bad cases a lockout pin can indirectly cause blue screens....  I have had many, many blue screens fixed at work by only disabling the the chip sometimes....  Not all times, but sometimes.... 

What the 10nes chip does is when it doesn't detect the companion chip on the cartridges pcb it power cycles the cpu at every cycle. If all the other connections necessary for the game to run and not the ones assigned to the lock out chip are made than it would cause the game to start but then constantly reset again and again.

I suppose it's possible that an issue like the one the op described can be caused by the 10nes. The only reason I can think of is if the 10nes chip itself has actually gone bad, but it's a lot more likely that his pin connectors is at fault. Since all he has to do is to disable it is to snip a leg off of the chip he can certainly try it if he wants.