Is it possible...?

[NickBoudin]

That I could have fried my motherboard of my 64 just doing cart relocation? N64 powers on, led comes on, but no image on screen... The AV cables are good tested them with a good 64, also all my soldering looks good. I cant figure out why I cant get an image!

I did nothing to this mobo except take off both front and back cartrige slots, and used the normal front one for relocation. Could removing the back one make a difference?



Thanks,

Nick

[blaze3927]

Checklist:
soldered to the pins not the holes
cart plugged in the right way
jumper/expansion pack inserted
give every slot a good Blowjob
reset your power adapter
double check all the connections
triple check all the connections
leave your n64 for a day then try again

[Kyo]

just for the record, yes that is entirely possible and plausible, however, it is more likely that a connection is wrong or any of the other points on the checklist above apply. Try going through all the connections with a multimeter, making sure everything is in order

[eagle5953]

When this happened to me, it wasn't fried. I had some error in my cart slot relocation, because when I desoldered everything and tried again, it worked. Check your connections first.

No, removing the back (bottom) slot will not cause a problem, but you need to make sure you soldered to the inside holes, not the outside ones to which the cart slot was initially connected.

[NickBoudin]

Eagle, isnt the slot originaly put into the inside 2 rows of holes? All of my connections look good, looking at all my solder points with a magnifying glass nothing is touching and everything is soldered. I've tried 3 expansion packs so far letting the N64 "register them" for about 10 seconds each time.

I've tried removing the game and putting it in, in different locations incase a wire is loose somewhere, and I got nothin'.

I'm new to the multimeter. I have one, and last night I was using it and I'm not sure what settings will tell me if my connection is good or not.

Any help on that would be cool, thanks.


Nick

[eagle5953]

Eagle, isnt the slot originaly put into the inside 2 rows of holes?

I checked, and I stand corrected. The cartridge slot is originally connected to the inside rows and must be connected to the outside rows for relocation, not the other way around.

When I did mine, because I was using solid wire, I ran each into the inner hole and then out to the outer one, soldering both. This holds the wire tightly in place, avoiding shorts. However, this is why I thought it was supposed to connect to the inner holes.

[NickBoudin]

So you're saying you bridged the inner holes with the outter holes and then from those 2 points went to the cart slot?

Sorry I'm just trying to troubleshoot any errors I may have made. I've resoldered this about 4 times already and I'm still stumped.

I have 3 different expansion packs, also.

[eagle5953]

Yes, that's what I did, but it's certainly not necessary. If you soldered to the outer holes and there's no bridging, I see no reason why it shouldn't work. The LED lighting up is a good sign, though.

Is the cart slot on the same side as it initially was, or did you move it to the back? If it's on the back, it'd be easy to screw up what side was connected to what.

[NickBoudin]

Nope, the cart slot is the correct direction. But the thing is, is that it's a cart slot from a different 64. I dont think that'd make a difference. Not sure though. 3/4 of the way soldering for the 5th time. Lets see how it'll do.

[NickBoudin]

Now when I flip the power switch, the 64 turns on fine without a game. When I put a game in the power supply buzzes and then shuts the 64 off...

[Kyo]

then you've shorted out something on the cart slot

[NickBoudin]

Still no luck any suggestions on making my connecions more accurate?

[limpport]

Make sure the cart slot is soldered in the correct direction. There are more pins on one side of it than the other, so make sure it is the same as the board.

[NickBoudin]

It's in the right direction. I've re-wired it for the 6th time with some 22 guage wire to see if maybe the thicker wire would be better/easier. All wired up, and still no luck.

Here's some pic's


Notice none of the conections are bridged.


The basic layout..


Not pretty, but as far as my magnifying glass and I can see. No bridged connections.


The bottom side.


A small battle wound. Dosent look like the circut is broken, but I put a bit of solder in for good measure.


What do you all think? Time for a new 64?

[thewise1]

That looks like it's bridged, which it shouldn't be.