Card slot problem or ?

[Lost Monkey]

I have a non-working TG16 that has been sitting in a box for years...

When I bought it, it would seem to work for a little while and then stop, and nothing I could do would get it to work again... It was always the same thing on boot - a solid coloured screen, usually light blue or dark green.

I decided to pull it out of hibernation and do some troubleshooting. I grabbed 2 HuCards off the shelf (Bomberman 93 and Bloody Wolf).

Bomberman 93 loads up and plays with no issues.
Bloody Wolf will boot up to a garbled startup screen and become unresponsive after that.

Looking at the contacts, it seems that Bloody Wolf must be thinner, as the contacts hardly move when the card is inserted, but the Bomberman 93 card causes the contacts to bend all the way as it is inserted and then stop about half way in their positions.

So, I gave it a good cleaning.  No difference.

So I grabbed a big mitt full of games to test.  With interesting results.

The first picture is of the games that boot up without issue.  The 2nd is of the games that either will not boot at all or may boot to a garbled title screen.

[Lost Monkey]

Now, all the games that work on it are TTI releases.

All the games that do not (except Bonk III) are NEC releases.

It is most likely just the card slot (and thickness of the cards), but do any of you guys think there might be something else going on here?

Is it possible there was some hardware check on the NEC released cards that was removed on the TTI cards?  If so, that would indicate a failure somewhere else in my machine...

[thesteve]

dont think the TG16 does any hardware check
put a piece of paper on the back of a no boot, and see if it works

[Lost Monkey]

I've tried different thicknesses of tape with 3 different hueys and none of them will load properly.

Has there been any discussion of bending the pins back a bit to add some tension?  I haven't been able to find it if there is...  I want to try it but I haven't found a tool small enough to catch only the end of the pin and none of the surrounding plastic.

[thesteve]

i think it has been discussed, but rarely needed.
try a sewing needle

[ProfessorProfessorson]

The pins in the system may also just happen to need a extensive cleaning. It could be that one in particular is just throwing things off for you because maybe is has some oxidization on it or something.

[thesteve]

a good cleaning has worked wonders for most, if not all here

[esteban]

I have pondered your dilemma for a long time.

I have determined, via divine inspiration, that the HuCARDs are faulty.

Send Bonk 3 and Bomberman '93 to me and I'll tell you if they function properly in my TG-16.

You're welcome.

[Drakon]

Haha man you really make me laugh

I have pondered your dilemma for a long time.

I have determined, via divine inspiration, that the HuCARDs are faulty.

Send Bonk 3 and Bomberman '93 to me and I'll tell you if they function properly in my TG-16.

You're welcome.

[Lost Monkey]

I have pondered your dilemma for a long time.

I have determined, via divine inspiration, that the HuCARDs are faulty.

Send Bonk 3 and Bomberman '93 to me and I'll tell you if they function properly in my TG-16.

You're welcome.

Aww shit - I already sent them off to another forum member.

[Lost Monkey]

Necro alert...

I am reviving this 13 year old thread because I recently dug this broken console out and started trying to fix what ailed it.

To review - it would load and work fine with many HuCards, but not all.   There was a definite pattern as to which cards would work and which would not.   

Most of the ones which did work were TTI releases.  This is still the case.  Devil's Crush was one of the only NEC releases that would work on it.

Since things have changed a lot in the last 13 years, I decided to try something that I could not try back in 2012.  I now have an Super HD System 3 (or whatever the fuck it is called) and figured that if this console worked with that, it would be the card slot that is the problem and I could replace it.

With the SHDS3, graphics were glitchy and games would sometimes crash after a short time.  This led me to think maybe a ram issue.

I also confirmed that it would load the CD Stupid Card, and with the TGCD would load games, but they would be glitchy - missing graphics, crashing.  Again - could be ram or ?

Here is what I have done so far:

• removed an s-video mod I had put in as a "practice run" - after taking this out, things got glitchier
• replaced the main RAM IC102, and this did nothing.
• replaced the VRAM chips with parts sourced from an old memory board IC110 and IC114 - no change.
• when replacing IC114, I found that two of the traces leading to it were broken - fixed and no better.
• replaced the crystal
• replaced the Hu6270 - no change.
• went over the whole board - toning out for continuity
• gave it a thorough scrub in an ultrasonic bath to clean up the board

At this point, it is still the same, with the glitchy graphics etc, and loading TTI releases (Devil's Crush and TV Sports Hockey load as well).

If I play Air Zonk, the game doesn't display any backgrounds and most sprites are the wrong colours, with the exception of the purple guys in the first level and the first boss. 

New Adventure Island does display backgrounds and again most sprites are wrong colours. Sound seems to be normal.

I have a Hu6260 here - wondering if I should change it?  I could also change all the caps, but they all look good. 

[Lost Monkey]

EDIT to the above - I just checked again - I don't have a Huc6260, I have a Hu6280.