I recently got a few n64 dev carts. They should play in a retail n64, correct? Also, I was told they are NTSC region. Is there anyway to confirm that other than them working on a NTSC console? Basically, I cannot get the carts to run. I get a blank screen or nothing at all. Hopefully I haven't messed them up trying to run them. (and yes, there are supposed to be games on them, these aren't blanks)
i'm not surprised. i noticed that it was very hard to get them booting, moreover to dump them. Wash them carefully. In the future the n64 proto 'll certainly all be broken afaik.
Actually...I remember getting like 8 carts in 1 go once....tried them....and maybe 2 of them booted, and I tried them all several times. A year later I try them again (not remembering which 2 worked), and lo and behold...they all booted and had games on them. Just goes to show =) Shiggsy
uhm, what? these carts are built like tanks. furthermore, the flash memory inside will retain the data for decades. depends on how you define future, but by the time the last n64 proto stops working, you'll long be dead. i'm afraid washing them isnt a good idea, either. testing these on a pal system couldnt hurt, but chances are you bought carts with corrupt or no data on them.
I gently cleaned the contacts before I used them and even took one apart to see if anything was missing physically. I don't have a PAL system and am not sure where to find one cheap or that someone would let me use. (that and I am very short on cash at the moment so I don't want to buy one right now if possible) They came from the UK to the US but were stated very clearly as NTSC, US carts. I even double checked with the seller before buying. To give the seller the benefit of the doubt, is it possible that something customs did, such as x-raying, would corrupt the data? Otherwise I'm going to see about getting a refund. It's a long shot but who knows. Thanks for the response guys. Let me know if you think of anything else. And I'll let you know if they suddenly work, as was the case with shiggsy. (and if anyone really cares to hear about it) That's what I figured, but I thought I would ask here for suggestions before concluding that I had just thrown some cash away.
That's a good idea. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to do that with. I'm waiting to see what the seller has to say about it. If the data was corrupted in some way, it may still be possible for someone to erase them and use as blanks, right? That way they may still have resale value if I cannot get them to work or get a refund.
Clean the contacts carefully. Get a nice clean N64, with a ram pak in it. Try inserting the cartridge a few times to ensure contact, then trun it on. Repeat a few times. Worst case, you can try to have them dumped.
Alright, I cleaned the contacts with rubbing alcohol and q-tips again. I've been trying them with my own personal n64 that I have owned since launch, but I tried to clean the inside contacts on that as well. Maybe because it's a first generation 64 it has something slightly different that these carts don't like. I've tried without and with the ram expansion pak. And turned the system on without a game between times to clear the ram since I know sometimes that's a problem when you first switch the pak. I have another 64 but it's all torn apart to build a portable one, and isn't currently all wired so that's no good. I might buy another one tomorrow if I can find one at this local place. They are usually only like $15-20 for one so it's worth a shot. (My friends all got rid of theirs) I talked to the seller, he said that he used a converter and played them on his PAL system since they would not work on his PAL alone. So he assumed they were NTSC. Maybe I could just get some sort of universal adapter for this and try that? Is the "N64 Passport" converter any good? If not, anyone have any suggestions for what kind to get or are they all about the same? Sorry about all the questions guys, but I really do apprieciate the help. Hopefully if and when I finally get these to play they are worth all the trouble. I try to sound educated on this forum... but in a case like this, I've never used them before and get kinda noobish on everyone. In any case, many thanks to everyone for the suggestions.
yeah, try the n64 passport adapter. im not sure if theres a ntsc version of that, though. afaik, it was designed to play ntsc games on pal consoles, no idea if it works vice versa. some of rares protocarts need a dongle, or so i heard. you can determine the region of the carts by opening them up and checking if the cic inside is a pal or ntsc one. if they're pal, try switching them with cics from regular ntsc carts. i have several spare pal n64 units here. i could send one over, but i doubt thats the problem given the fact that the seller needed an adaptor to play them.
alright one is a 7101 CIC chip which I looked up as being the standard PAL which explains why there was no output with this one. the other is 6102 which is the standard NTSC and I have only been getting a black screen so maybe a different n64 or something is needed. (or it's blank/corrupt, but the seller has very good feedback and lots of it so I'll try some more before I conclude that) will switching the cic's damage the info potentially on the carts?
Idea: Could be bollocks, but worth a shot Perhaps the game is pal, and it simply had the tabs in the wrong place for a pal N64? (Therefore he needed a pass-through, i.e. import adaptor) And seconded on going for a passport 3 adaptor. Works for me.
as long as you dont insert the chip backwards, break the pcb or do something similar stupid: no. theres no way a regular n64 can rewrite the data on the flashcart. worst case scenario: the game has a region protection and displays a "this game is not designed for your blablah..." message, meaning it will only run on pal systems.
well if anyone is still following this thread... here's an update I did swap out the CIC's (which was easy as cake since the "tall" dev carts have a "harness" in the board so you can pop them in and out without soldering) Still got a black screen. I have tried them on 3 n64 systems now. Wouldn't swapping the CIC's essentially do the same thing as the adapter, by substituting one chip for the other? Or maybe I am missing something. Anyone here have a universal adapter they are looking to get rid off fairly cheap? I would post a WTB, but I doubt this will even "fix" anything. I think these carts are blank or corrupt regardless but it might be worth a shot if someone here thinks that'll be any different.
Well like I said before (the last time you said that) I don't have the funds to buy one atm, so unless you are going to mail me a backup unit to dump them with??
