NES Bootup trick (Stop blowing on carts!)

Digital Idiot

Digital Idiot

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Just a neat little trick I picked up at a used store in Austin to make NES games boot up almost 100% of the time:

When you get the blinky screen on your NES, turn it off, pop up the cartridge, and instead of taking it out to blow on it, just gently nudge the top left or top right corner of the cart. Nudge it towards the back of NES, and to the left or right (depending on which corner you are nudging).

It won't move too much, maybe a millimeter or two, but it always does the trick for booting up my NES carts.

Of course always clean your NES carts as well!

(Sorry if this is common knowledge, didn't see it posted)
 
A new 72 pin connector plus disabling the NES lockout chip is a zillion times more effective than any pin bending or cart nudging method.

Heck, a thorough cleaning of an old 72 pin connector after disassembling it from the system plus disabling the NES lockout chip is a thousand times more effective than any pin bending or cart nudging method.

A Game Genie worked well for me throughout most of the 90s, but even that stopped working well around 2001, and I had to install a new 72 pin connector. Haven't had a problem since.
 
Awesome vid Tsukento! That looks like a much smarter way to do it. I've always popped up the cart, given it a nudge on the corner and then popped it back down. The video method seems like it saves time because you are doing it while the NES is in the reset loop and can see the effects right away.

[quote name='Chuplayer']A new 72 pin connector plus disabling the NES lockout chip is a zillion times more effective than any pin bending or cart nudging method.

Heck, a thorough cleaning of an old 72 pin connector after disassembling it from the system plus disabling the NES lockout chip is a thousand times more effective than any pin bending or cart nudging method.

A Game Genie worked well for me throughout most of the 90s, but even that stopped working well around 2001, and I had to install a new 72 pin connector. Haven't had a problem since.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I have a new 72 pin from ebay in my NES, but I have a few carts, namely Tecmo Bowl and Life Force, that still have problems booting.

I never tried disabling the lockout chip, I thought it was only useful for booting imports or unlicensed carts like those 7000 in 1's from Hong Kong... Does disabling the lockout really increase the compatibility with normal USA carts that do have the unlock chip in them?

Just bought 7 NES games and a Game Genie from a trading forum yesterday, so I look forward to nudging, cleaning, and testing next week. :)

Is it crazy that I fully open my cartridges and take out the PCB to clean it?
 
[quote name='Digital Idiot']Awesome vid Tsukento! That looks like a much smarter way to do it. I've always popped up the cart, given it a nudge on the corner and then popped it back down. The video method seems like it saves time because you are doing it while the NES is in the reset loop and can see the effects right away.



Yeah I have a new 72 pin from ebay in my NES, but I have a few carts, namely Tecmo Bowl and Life Force, that still have problems booting.

I never tried disabling the lockout chip, I thought it was only useful for booting imports or unlicensed carts like those 7000 in 1's from Hong Kong... Does disabling the lockout really increase the compatibility with normal USA carts that do have the unlock chip in them?

Just bought 7 NES games and a Game Genie from a trading forum yesterday, so I look forward to nudging, cleaning, and testing next week. :)

Is it crazy that I fully open my cartridges and take out the PCB to clean it?[/QUOTE]

I don't think it's crazy because I do that myself. I go one step further and use pledge furniture polish on the cart and label. You should give that a try if you don't already do it, they come out beautiful!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I never tried disabling the lockout chip, I thought it was only useful for booting imports or unlicensed carts like those 7000 in 1's from Hong Kong... Does disabling the lockout really increase the compatibility with normal USA carts that do have the unlock chip in them?
Click to expand...

The lockout chip causes all sorts of problems when it's not connecting properly. It can make games more difficult to start up because if the connection isn't good between the lockout chip pins, none of the other pins matter. It can sometimes desync mid-game, too.

[quote name='Digital Idiot']Yeah I have a new 72 pin from ebay in my NES, but I have a few carts, namely Tecmo Bowl and Life Force, that still have problems booting.

Is it crazy that I fully open my cartridges and take out the PCB to clean it?[/QUOTE]

Not at all. I use an old can of Radio Shack Cleaner/Degreaser. I guess they still make it and sell it. I should get some more. I'm running low.

If your Tecmo Bowl and Life Force carts are operating poorly, maybe there are problems with those carts.
 
[quote name='Tsukento'][youtube]8Qu2DhvpydI[/youtube][/QUOTE]

That girl is cute, but... buy a fucking 72-pin connector already.
 
[quote name='Chuplayer']That girl is cute, but... buy a fucking 72-pin connector already.[/QUOTE]


She is super cute. She probably has to fight off the dudes with Triforce itself.

Anyway, I thought the wiggle thing was commonly known. I used either that or the Game Genie trick to get games to work.
 
[quote name='Chuplayer']That girl is cute, but... buy a fucking 72-pin connector already.[/QUOTE]


Does Nintendo still send 72-pin connectors out for free if you call? Or did they stop that a few years ago?
 
[quote name='waxHead']Does Nintendo still send 72-pin connectors out for free if you call? Or did they stop that a few years ago?[/QUOTE]

I think they stopped that way back in 2001. I got a connector from MCM Electronics in 2002, and it's still working fine.

I got a bunch a few months ago from an ebay seller who was also selling NES controller clones. I haven't tried the connectors since I don't really need to, but the controllers were excellent.
 
[quote name='Chuplayer']I think they stopped that way back in 2001. I got a connector from MCM Electronics in 2002, and it's still working fine.

I got a bunch a few months ago from an ebay seller who was also selling NES controller clones. I haven't tried the connectors since I don't really need to, but the controllers were excellent.[/QUOTE]


Good to know, thanks for the info. I remember when I first started posting here in 2004 that some CAGs were able to get free connectors by calling Nintendo, but IIRC, it didn't last long.

I really need to replace the one in mine, but I rarely play it. Probably should just buy one anyway, in case I'm looking for something to do on a rainy day :cool:
 
Wow, I figured that out ages ago when the usual methods weren't working for me, the whole cart has a millimeter or two of clearance all the way around. I have the black box cleaning kit since I did borrow and rent a lot of games at the time so that helped a little. A few years back when I was rebuilding my collection I went ahead and bought a new connector which worked great, I think I bought it on Ebay. No amount of cleaning or adjusting will work if the contacts just aren't in the right place anymore.
 
[quote name='Chuplayer']I think they stopped that way back in 2001. I got a connector from MCM Electronics in 2002, and it's still working fine.
[/QUOTE]

Woot MCM. I used to buy CR2032 battery holders there to solder into my dying carts. That way you can just pop out the battery easily when it dies again.

They don't seem to sell a lot of game repair type parts anymore though. Pretty sure I got my game bits and tri-wing screwdriver from them too.

I'm going to open up my NES when I get my latest batch of carts in and ground the lockout chip's pin 4 to 13 or 14 like this guy did here (since that's directly across from pin 4):

connect_gnd.jpg


Are you guys desoldering pin4 and trying to bend it out of the pcb, or just clipping it from the pcb and grounding the remains of the pin? I don't have an IC desolderer, so looking for the easiest but least damaging to the chip. (who knows, maybe one day I might want to restore pin4)
 
Opened up and grounded pin4 on the NES last night. What a difference! My Tecmo Bowl and Life Force carts boot up like a champ now. In fact everything I popped in last night seemed to boot faster than ever before.

I don't know why I never did this before. Great mod. Thanks guys.
 
What's the point of playing NES games if you don't blow on them and invent a bunch of superstitous habits to get your games to work!?
 
[quote name='dubbfoolio']What's the point of playing NES games if you don't blow on them and invent a bunch of superstitous habits to get your games to work!?[/QUOTE]

NES Blowjobs turn me on.
 
[quote name='Digital Idiot']Woot MCM. I used to buy CR2032 battery holders there to solder into my dying carts. That way you can just pop out the battery easily when it dies again.

They don't seem to sell a lot of game repair type parts anymore though. Pretty sure I got my game bits and tri-wing screwdriver from them too.[/quote]

I got my gamebits and tri-wings from them, too :)

I'm going to open up my NES when I get my latest batch of carts in and ground the lockout chip's pin 4 to 13 or 14 like this guy did here (since that's directly across from pin 4):

connect_gnd.jpg


Are you guys desoldering pin4 and trying to bend it out of the pcb, or just clipping it from the pcb and grounding the remains of the pin? I don't have an IC desolderer, so looking for the easiest but least damaging to the chip. (who knows, maybe one day I might want to restore pin4)
Click to expand...

I just clipped the pin and left it floating. No need to desolder, no need to ground. The hard part is clipping only that pin if you've got tools that are just barely small enough to do it and are too lazy to desolder the pin and lift it out.

You shouldn't need a particular IC desolderer for the job if you want to go the soldering route. Simply suck the solder out with an average solder sucking tool and yank the pin out.

I wouldn't even bother trying to ground the pin. It's not a bad idea, but it's more work than it needs to be. Of course, if you ever have the crazy urge to restore the lockout chip, then this is probably your cleanest option.

Anyway, you already did it, so congrats.
 
[quote name='GuilewasNK']She is super cute. She probably has to fight off the dudes with Triforce itself.[/QUOTE]

But...but....she Canadian! Didnt you hear the way she said out (rhymes with boot)
 
[quote name='dubbfoolio']What's the point of playing NES games if you don't blow on them and invent a bunch of superstitous habits to get your games to work!?[/QUOTE]

Hahahah... Amen. I wonder if there was any scientific reason for this working.
 
[quote name='hostyl1']But...but....she Canadian! Didnt you hear the way she said out (rhymes with boot)[/QUOTE]
The fact that she's a girl, plays games and isn't the kind of girl gamer that's all attention whorish about it is probably gonna be more of a focus than how she pronounces some words. :p

That and she is cute.
 
[quote name='Tsukento']The fact that she's a girl, plays games and isn't the kind of girl gamer that's all attention whorish about it is probably gonna be more of a focus than how she pronounces some words. :p

That and she is cute.[/QUOTE]

My Jailbait alarm is totally going off, though.
 
[quote name='hostyl1']But...but....she Canadian! Didnt you hear the way she said out (rhymes with boot)[/QUOTE]
Damn, I was just about to post that. :p

Number 3 always worked for me (I would either snap it as I was pressing the cart down, or pull it out a bit after pressing it down.)
 
[quote name='dubbfoolio']What's the point of playing NES games if you don't blow on them and invent a bunch of superstitous habits to get your games to work!?[/QUOTE]


also, hitting the nes. lots of hitting and yelling, then cursing when you can't pull the game out because your hands are sweaty/greasy from dinner.


Nowadays, I clean every game I get with rubbing alcohol (they say not to do this, but you only need to do it once every 10 years or so) and I replaced the pin connector. Clean games + clean connector = nes working forever.
 
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