Broken HU Cards :(

[thesteve]

There is no solder in the card, so bad idea

[NightWolve]

Bernie is an expert in the hair dryer trick. He's a freaking wizard with one.

Hah, got one in there for Bernie. Let's call it a "hair dryer bump for Bernie!" in the spirit of the wmac bumps!! I wonder if he regrets ever telling us about that unfortunate mishap now...

There is no solder in the card, so bad idea

And steve bringing in the facts. Yeah, somehow, I didn't think heating the thing up was going to do anything other than make it worse by melting the plastic, warping it, etc... Heh. Well, if it's completely dead, you won't make it worse, but you're not gonna fix it either.

[seieienbu]

I've got a Jackie Chan that no longer boots up.  I just wish it was a copy of Kieth Courage that broke instead.

[BigusSchmuck]

Bernie is an expert in the hair dryer trick. He's a freaking wizard with one.

Hah, got one in there for Bernie. Let's call it a "hair dryer bump for Bernie!" in the spirit of the wmac bumps!! I wonder if he regrets ever telling us about that unfortunate mishap now...

There is no solder in the card, so bad idea

And steve bringing in the facts. Yeah, somehow, I didn't think heating the thing up was going do anything other than make it worse by melting the plastic, warping it, etc... Heh. Well, if it's completely dead, you won't make it worse, but you're not gonna fix it either.

Mark it up to the Bernie Curse.

[Medic_wheat]

I LIVE AGAIN!  Thanks to alcohol .or in this case saki.

[imparanoic]

sometimes they are not dead, sometimes the connectors are dirty or corroded, some isopropyl alcohol with cotton buds will do the trick

but sometimes, they can be beyond repair, I believed  I left my pc genjin 2  hucard is the sun ( uk sun even in the summer is rarely strong) a day or so, next time I tried to play it, it was dead

[technozombie]

I had a Keith Courage that was toast. I don't have a whole bunch of games but I'm relieved the only one that died was KC.

[esteban]

I have PC Genjin 2 that has glitched graphics (never could fix it). So I purchased another. It worked last time I played it. Black Tiger also had a dead PC Grnjin2, if my memory seves me.

[Ravij]

Only problem I get with HuCards is some are badly made, and the 2 plastic layers are not perfectly aligned. This then causes the HuCard to not sit it the correct position and usually causes white screen on power up.

A sharp scalpel knife or some fine sandpaper on the sides of the HuCard will fix.

It's quite rare though - may be 2 or 3 cards out of 150 had this problem.

[thesteve]

ive got a PC gengen that has grafix glitches on some systems, but not others

[SuperGrafx]

So when HuCards spontaneously die, are there any advance warning signs?

I once remember my brother having trouble with his World Court Tennis game back in the day.  When it booted up, the music was super fast and the system would display garbled graphics.  Is that what typically occurs?

[thesteve]

nope
they either work or they dont
his was likely just dirty

[capnd77]

Got a splatterhouse that has distorted sound and plays briefly before freezing up.  Connectors are clean, guess I may as well and try this dryer trick..

[ishiyakazuo]

There is no solder in the card, so bad idea

You sure about that?  Epoxy "glop tops" often have dies soldered to the PCB under them.

I've got a couple of HuCards that are broken (and were given to me that way).  Now that PC Henshin Turbo is working, I kinda really want to play them though   I traced the signals and at least one pin doesn't appear to be working on this Bonk card, and not sure what's up with Splatterhouse (maybe nothing at all?)  I'd be interested to know more about this hairdryer trick, though.
I'm kind of wondering if the vias corrode over time.  I see that they've got them right on the connector, and the wear from insertion and removal seems to go right up to them (maybe even over them).  That's pretty sure to be a weak spot over time.

[thesteve]

The glop top chips are bonded, not soldered
Yes the vias could fail