Bad Tengen Carts? + Is V-V (JP MD) region locked?

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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Leandro
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Re: Bad Tengen Carts? + Is V-V (JP MD) region locked?

Post by Leandro »

What a game. I have the Grindstormer cart but only ever played the V-V mode. So many great memories of the 2-all
Unadan360
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Re: Bad Tengen Carts? + Is V-V (JP MD) region locked?

Post by Unadan360 »

My old Genesis Grind Stormer cart is beginning to barely ever boot up any more. Occasionally it will work right after I clean it with rubbing alcohol. Most of the time I just get a white screen when I load it up on my Genesis. I think I may take some Brasso to the contacts tomorrow and give it a good cleaning. Intermittently working/not working like I'm describing - does that sound like an issue with the cartridge contacts?
neorichieb1971
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Re: Bad Tengen Carts? + Is V-V (JP MD) region locked?

Post by neorichieb1971 »

I have a Gauntlet IV and a Paperboy by Tengen that lock up and after investigating found a youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoYOfdjrC6I

I'm taking my Gauntlet IV to work tomorrow to see if the traces on the PCB can be revived. If not i'm buying a donor cart and switching the chip to a better PCB.

I get the Sega License screen for a second and it drops to a black screen. Paperboy did it as well but I just cleaned that one and it worked.

There is another guy who put his game PCB in the oven for 8 mins at 200c and it worked. But for how long I don't know.
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BIL
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Re: Bad Tengen Carts? + Is V-V (JP MD) region locked?

Post by BIL »

I watched those vids with interest when you linked 'em earlier, ta. :smile: So it seems the issue is with the boards, not the ROMs.

I've still not found any mention of Japanese carts behaving similarly... I'd guess they weren't from the same manufacturer, offhand. I would almost open up one of mine to check the board for telltale manufacturer marks, but I can't be arsed figuring out how to do that without mutilating the back sticker. Might try picking up a cheaper NTSCJ Tengen cart to check, if there exists such a thing. :mrgreen:
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Re: Bad Tengen Carts? + Is V-V (JP MD) region locked?

Post by neorichieb1971 »

BIL wrote:I watched those vids with interest when you linked 'em earlier, ta. :smile: So it seems the issue is with the boards, not the ROMs.

I've still not found any mention of Japanese carts behaving similarly... I'd guess they weren't from the same manufacturer, offhand. I would almost open up one of mine to check the board for telltale manufacturer marks, but I can't be arsed figuring out how to do that without mutilating the back sticker. Might try picking up a cheaper NTSCJ Tengen cart to check, if there exists such a thing. :mrgreen:

I opened my Gauntlet IV and strangely none of the markings matched. Certainly did not have Tengen or anything like that on it.

A guy at work knows a bit about PCB's so I'm taking it to him tomorrow to see if he can see what the problem is and if it needs a donor for the ROM or not. I think he will use a multi meter to see if the traces pass current. If it fails his tests I will ask him to use a donor PCB. However, looking at the video the PCB's don't look anything alike. The resistor on the Mickey game is not aligned with the Grind stormer cartridge. I hope it all works out. Whatever I find out I'll post it here.
This industry has become 2 dimensional as it transcended into a 3D world.
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