Portable SNES Project 2

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:14 pm

It's dead, folks. I checked everything that could possibly be wrong. I took my multimeter and checked for any possible short between two pins, I even took apart a cart and checked on the back of the system if every single wire connection was getting through. I tried fixing the problem in every way possible, and I'll have to face the unfortunate truth: It's not the cart slot.

Something is broken. Maybe I came too close to a chip with my soldering iron, or maybe i shorted something out, which then broke something before I repaired it. Whatever it may be, this super nintendo is dead. Can't blame me, the damn thing has 62 pins, which means that there are 124 solder joints where something can go wrong. Every single one of these 124 solder joints is now connected flawlessly, but the SNES is still dead.

What does this mean for the project? Well, the project is on hiatus. I have two more SNES, but they are earlier revisions with bigger boards. I'll probably practice relocating the cart slot on one of 'em, but this project is on hiatus till christmas.

However, as you may have read, i spent 30 bucks on a PSOne screen because it was such a good deal, well I successfully sold that to my father in form of an atari portable, so I'll at least have something to keep me busy while this project is on hiatus. Expect a thread.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:50 pm

Sure you already checked this, but it is easy to wire a cart slot in reverse or put in a game cart upside down or similar. Only other thing is are you using IDE cable - if you are, the cable can be fragile inside, I have had the cable registering sometimes but not other times as the cable inside has been stretched and snapped; hence why I don't use IDE cable - if you have, I suggest using normal general purpose wiring (eg from an old controller wiring) and try it again. Nothing to lose.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 3:49 am

no, I used rainbow ribbon wire which I stole from my old school. I opened a cartridge and checked if every single connection was getting through on the back, and it was. I used my multimeter to check if there were any shorts between two pins, and there weren't. I wired it right and I put in the cart right (it's wired to the top), hells I even put in the cart the wrong way just to be sure. I did everything I possibly could. I even checked if there was too high of a resistance between the slot and the board, negative.

I'm quite positive the cart slot wiring is now ok. I'll be fine, though. It's just 2 weeks and I can buy a new SNES. Should be quite bearable, especially since I have an atari to work on. Going to make that my fathers christmas present.