I got this interesting device from a nintendo technician. It seems N64 units broke so infrequently it was never used except when regularly tested for functionality. I has a light that blinks with the error code. It supposedly can link with a diagnostic device, but it that device remains to be seen and might not have been implemented.
Neat. You're right though...I don't think I've ever seen a broken N64...those things are built like tanks.
Yeah thats cool I never saw a n64 that was broken except for a stuck reset button (easy fix) or a fried board from people modifying stuff on them Good find!
N64s are nearly indestructable. A person I used to know had one several years ago, and left it about 2 inches from a 120w light bulb without knowing it. He ended up smelling the plastic melting a little while later and removed the half-liquified system. The exterior case had almost completly caved in on itself, and had actualy fused with the internal components. But low and behold, the damn thing still worked like a charm. Now the controllers are another story entirly...
your telling me, its almost impossible to find one where either a button not broken, or in most cases the analouge stick is extremely loose.
When I talk about n64s I mean the boards being frid by people making them into portables they are destructible if you make it into a portable and solder the controoller board directly to the main board with too much heat it is easy to fry it.
The 3M 3429 connector on the test cart seems to be commonly used for JTAG interfaces. Could it be that the cable interface was used for reprogramming the test cart rather than extracting data from it?
I would love to have one for the N64 if it tested controllers out. I use a game that I know what each button does but I still have to set up the game every time when people trade controllers in.
There was an amateur test program released to do just that in one of the Dextrose POM contests. You would have to use a backup unit (or get someone to burn the game to a flash cartridge) to use it though... Shiggsy
I used to use a Datel memory expansion. Damn thing crashed so often, only remedy was to take the top off and point a fan at it! Instead of crashing after 30 mins, it would run forever!!! My friends found this highly amusing! Datel said that, despite returning it twice, my 3 were a freak occurence, as they know they work fine... in fact, they believe Nintendo's product to be inferior, as it crashed on them after 2 hours! Got a Nintendo one, my lid remains on to this day. Thanks for the help, Datel!!
