Cartridge repair - Contra Hard Corps

I recently traded for a CIB copy of Contra Hard Corps on the Sega Genesis. Unfortunately for me, when I try to boot up the game, all I get is a red screen after the Genesis license screen.

Naturally, I made sure to clean the contacts, and they're now nice and shiny. Not that they were particularly dirty in the first place.

I opened up the cart and found what seemed to be some sort of liquid on the board, which was surprising because the cart looks pristine from the outside. The board is very simple: a single rom chip, a resistor, and a capacitor. Sure enough, it looked like the capacitor was bad, with evidence of liquid underneath. It was a 47uf, 16v capacitor, which I happened to have a few extra of. So I replace it and...still a red screen.

Image of cartridge board, post cap replacement:

At this point, the only trick left in my bag would be a rom chip transplant to a donor Genesis cartridge. But then comes the question: What kind of Genesis donor cartridge would work for Contra: Hard Corps?

Any and all input is appreciated as always.

 

Did you check for cold solder joints? Or damaged traces on the board? Check those before considering moving the ROM chip.

If you have to change board, any game of equal size has a likely chance of having the same ROM pinout and possibly the exact same PCB.

 

Yeah, no bad traces that I could see. I checked carefully. I'll check the solder joints carefully, as I took a look but can't say 100% for sure that they're all good.

On the board swap, good to know. So since it's a 16mb game, likely any 16mb game would do the trick, should it come to that?

 

Read out the cart with a cart reader.

 

I no has cart reader : /

 

Well... If you're up for it, you could build one?
http://www.brunofreitas.com/node/31

 

I don't quite remember which signal is usually the culprit but sometimes pulling a 1K resistor high on that signal can bring the cart to life. At least that's how I fixed my Sega Genesis Moonwalker cart.

 

Are you thinking of /CE or /OE maybe? Or something else.

Yes, another 16mbit game board probably will be pin compatible with the MaskROM you have. Be sure to test the "donor" board with its original MaskROM to rule out the new board as a problem if it doesn't work after being moved. If it doesn't work after moving it could be an issue with the MaskROm itself. Sadly they are not immune to failure.

 

i would check under the chip itself for any damage to the traces or board

 

You checked the traces with a multimeter?

 

Check the traces with a continuity test on a multi-meter. Get one that outputs sound unless you already have one.
Super useful for checking good connections