Do you still have those old systems? I pulled mine out of storage a couple years back, and they're still fun as hell. Got to play (get my ass kicked by) my old game saves from in some cases 30 years ago, and it's great fun.
The only old system that doesn't work is my NES, and I found one of those hardware emulators that takes the old cartridges. Not perfect, but works well enough for the games I have.
If you have the Frontloader NES, the typical failure point is the 72 pin connector that connects the cartridge to the board. It's actually a pretty easy fix with the appropriate screwdrivers, the easily available part, and some time. Then get yourself an Everdrive N8 (pro if you so desire to play massive homebrew titles) and load the games you have to that and never change carts again.
I don't think it's the ZIF connector. As I recall the typical failure mode associated with those is the flashing screen when you turn the system on, which mind doesn't do. What mine does is the game plays, you can hear the audio and things display on the screen; but the display itself is scrambled.
I had multiple things associated with the ZIF connector, the blinking screen bit is more in line with the lockout chip failing to communicate between cart and board over the connector. scrambled graphics depends on connection of the other pins involved in the series of pins.
Did you ever use something like a Game Genie with your NES? These due to their nature of the design, were pretty stiff and caused damage to the ZIF connector and basically made it so that you had to use it to start your games Even if you didn't want to use it.
Best advice, if it's been sitting in storage for a long period of time, it's a good idea to open it up and clean it up from the inside anyway, at least you can get a good look at the connector pins that way,(check for dirt or corosion) as well as check the condition of the caps of the board. (another failure point of these older systems) And while you are in there, do the lock out chip pin snip to stop blinking screen.
No game genie. It never worked quite right after I cleaned the connector, which is why I suspect I fried something. I kinda think I didn't let it dry out before I turned it on and shorted something out.
It stopped working probably about 20 years ago, so I doubt the cause of failure was capacitors or dust. And I think I took it apart about 10 years ago trying to locate evidence of damage (eg. burn marks on pins, blown capacitors) and didn't seen anything immediately obvious.
Do you still have those old systems? I pulled mine out of storage a couple years back, and they're still fun as hell. Got to play (get my ass kicked by) my old game saves from in some cases 30 years ago, and it's great fun.
The only old system that doesn't work is my NES, and I found one of those hardware emulators that takes the old cartridges. Not perfect, but works well enough for the games I have.
If you have the Frontloader NES, the typical failure point is the 72 pin connector that connects the cartridge to the board. It's actually a pretty easy fix with the appropriate screwdrivers, the easily available part, and some time. Then get yourself an Everdrive N8 (pro if you so desire to play massive homebrew titles) and load the games you have to that and never change carts again.
I don't think it's the ZIF connector. As I recall the typical failure mode associated with those is the flashing screen when you turn the system on, which mind doesn't do. What mine does is the game plays, you can hear the audio and things display on the screen; but the display itself is scrambled.
I had multiple things associated with the ZIF connector, the blinking screen bit is more in line with the lockout chip failing to communicate between cart and board over the connector. scrambled graphics depends on connection of the other pins involved in the series of pins. Did you ever use something like a Game Genie with your NES? These due to their nature of the design, were pretty stiff and caused damage to the ZIF connector and basically made it so that you had to use it to start your games Even if you didn't want to use it. Best advice, if it's been sitting in storage for a long period of time, it's a good idea to open it up and clean it up from the inside anyway, at least you can get a good look at the connector pins that way,(check for dirt or corosion) as well as check the condition of the caps of the board. (another failure point of these older systems) And while you are in there, do the lock out chip pin snip to stop blinking screen.
No game genie. It never worked quite right after I cleaned the connector, which is why I suspect I fried something. I kinda think I didn't let it dry out before I turned it on and shorted something out.
It stopped working probably about 20 years ago, so I doubt the cause of failure was capacitors or dust. And I think I took it apart about 10 years ago trying to locate evidence of damage (eg. burn marks on pins, blown capacitors) and didn't seen anything immediately obvious.