N64 freezing, now won't start up!

So I picked up a boxed copy of Banjo-Kazooie today (woo!) and I started playing it. After around 10 mins of play, the game froze. I've never heard of N64 games suddenly freezing, but whatever. I restarted the game and this time it froze during the opening cutscene. I tried to restart the game again, but now the console doesn't start at all! I get the red light, but that's it! I have heard that the expansion pak can go bad and cause issues like this, but this is a genuine Nintendo one, they're suppose to be far better quality! I've tried re-seating the expansion pak, but no dice. Any idea what's wrong with this console?

 

I guess you don't have the jumper pak?

 

^^ test console with that in place of the 4m expansion card! :friendly_wink:
.....
failing that, maintain the console, clean the cartridge contact teeth with a clean filter tip and surgical spirit! (don't rub too hard, just enough to remove traces of dirt/oxide) do both the game and jumper/expansion card!
...
as for the cartridge sockets, a lens/glasses cloth folded over the edge of a donor cartridge, or better still, a thin piece of plastic NO longer/wider than the cartridges (game/jumper/4m expansion) and with a bit of surgical spirit (STRINGENT) insert/remove the socket cleaning item a few times til the shit is visible on the cloth....
then when cloth stops getting shtted up, use a clean cloth to remove traces of spirit, let console sit for five minutes and reassemble! (there's porn-tube vids on cartridge/socket maintenance)
if all that still fails, maybe it's an electronic issue? (others can assist, out my depth!)
....
all the best!

 

Check expansion pak, check contacts, check power... usual, really. Crashing N64s back in the day was usually an overheating issue, largely due to third party expansion paks.

Have you tried any other games in it?

 

Don't think he can now... Could be failing power supply though that would be my next guess.

 

I had a jumper pak, no idea where it's gotten to though!

I'd just done a full clean and refurb on this console a few months ago, so dirty contacts shouldn't be the issue.

I've tried other games, same result. Do you think I should try locating a jumper pak?

 

I'd try a jumper pak for sure.

 

Does it only do this with Banjo Kazooie? Does it go back to normal after the N64 rests for a period of time?

 

Okay, I'll grab a jumper pak off eBay.

Well, at this stage NONE of my games are outputting an image anymore. Letting the N64 cool down doesn't seem to make a difference. I would think it's not an overheating issue as I've played N64 games for FAR longer than I played B-K today just a few months ago.

 

Okay, so the jumper pak arrived today. B-K now starts up, but it still freezes during the opening cut scene. I've tried playing some other games and they don't freeze (left Donkey Kong 64 running for over an hour) Weirdly enough, the expansion pak is working again. Any clues what's going on here guys?!

 

Maybe the slot is just dirty, clean it again.

 

Ah ha! That did the trick! A bit odd that the connector got so dirty after only a few months (especially when you consider I clean all games I buy) and that BK seemed to be the only game that had issues. Thanks for the tip HEX, it's Banjo time!

 

Glad it's working for you mate! Have fun!

 

Arugh! B-K froze again!! Frustratingly enough, when I was almost finished Mad Monster Mansion (I HATE the way saving works in this game!). I noticed the Expansion Pak was kinda warm (even the memory expansion cover was warm). Gonna try running the console with just the Jumper Pak, seem if it freezes again.

 

And here I am! Where's the party?

 

The console always runs hot. There's no fans in the 64, so it's normal. Unless you haven't got it ventilated well, then that might be your issue.

My friend's 64 was next to a projector, and if you've been around a projector before those things can be used as heaters. The 64 got so hot we got a black screen when loading a level. So it could just be your system getting too hot. I doubt there's something wrong with your system. Is it just Banjo that's fucking up? How long can you play other games?

 

It's been cancelled due to freezing conditions.

My N64 is quite well ventilated, it's on a wire shelf up high. It's near my plasma though, which does put out a fair bit of heat. Though I played though Conker's Bad Fur Day a few months ago and didn't have any issues. I'm not getting a black screen like you mentioned, the audio cuts out and the image freezes.

 

This happened when I had my V64 with bad ROM dumps, like the sound jumbles up then it freezes. Well have you used canned air on the slots, all of them?

 

Datel expansion paks used to make my N64 freeze... not immediately, though! I had to take the top off the N64 and point a desk fan at the heatsink to keep it running!

The fix was to get a Nintendo expansion pak... so unless the pak is bad, I wouldn't have thought the pak was causing an overheating issue. Maybe the console?

 

ARUGH! B-K froze again, even when using the just a jumper pak! I might take some canned air to the connecter, see if that helps.