Is this cartridge beveled?

[shmupsrocks]

I've read that a cartridge should be beveled to prevent it from damaging the console and that counterfeits are not usually beveled. Is this Genesis/MD Magic Girl cartridge beveled?

[bobrocks95]

I couldn't say for sure with that angle, though I'd love to hear from anyone who has beveled PCBs themselves (if that's safe to do) since I have a good number of Chinese N64/GBA carts that probably aren't.

[shmupsrocks]

So the edges should be kind of soft or rounded for it to be beveled?

[TooBeaucoup]

This is an official Genesis cart. It should come to a bit of a point and look slightly like a triangle at that tip

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Many of the Mega Drive/Genesis repro carts sold on Etsy aren't beveled to begin with.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[shmupsrocks]

This Magic Girl cartridge should be legit but it isn't beveled I guess because it's a fairly modern release.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

This Magic Girl cartridge should be legit but it isn't beveled I guess because it's a fairly modern release.

This would be my guess as well, it's an unlicensed game and likely the outfit that produced the carts for them didn't know the specs of MD cartridges normally include a bevelled edge.

[shmupsrocks]

I believe 1985 Alternativo did an unlicensed one:

The print run was halted because Super Fighter Team had the localization rights for GamTec games at the time.

https://169.45.167.69/forum/showthread. ... l-releases

But this is the subsequent Super Fighter Team release.

[brirec]

I couldn't say for sure with that angle, though I'd love to hear from anyone who has beveled PCBs themselves (if that's safe to do) since I have a good number of Chinese N64/GBA carts that probably aren't.

I beveled my OG Mega Everdrive myself with some sandpaper, it wasn't a super clean job but it works just fine. Just don't sand the contacts or you'll damage whatever finish they might have, and don't breathe in the fiberglass dust from sanding the PCB.

[ASDR]

The kind of bevel seems to wary a lot between carts. Like the EA MD carts I have look slightly different than the Sega ones? Each PCB manufacturer does it different? The only ED clone I own is for the Master System, didn't have any bevel. I just beveled it myself. I guess it doesn't really matter that much, as long as there's no hard edge it's probably taking the worst strain off the pins in the slot. I'm also not sure if there was ever any actual factual analysis of this issue beyond "it's probably bad for your slot". For what it's worth, I had the slot in my 1CHIP02 SFC go from perfectly working to super wonky over the course of a few years while there was nothing but an SD2SNES in there. The bevel of that one looks also different and the PCB looks slightly thicker than an official cart. Who knows, maybe the thickness of the PCB wore the pins out, so maybe also watch out for that?

[shmupsrocks]

Interesting. What are best practices for plugging in a cartridge? Maybe just be gentle and insert straight in without any angle?

[ASDR]

Interesting. What are best practices for plugging in a cartridge? Maybe just be gentle and insert straight in without any angle?

Hm, is there a system where you can wedge the cart into the slot at a bad angle? All the handhelds and consoles I can think of have a reasonable amount of plastic guiding the cart in. I mean these things were made with kids and non-technical users in mind, would be a pretty big fail if you could damage the slot if you don't do it perfectly.

[shmupsrocks]

Good point. I've been playing with arcade stuff too long.
So maybe just insert slowly then.

[ASDR]

I always wonder if it's a good idea to keep a cart in the system. Right now I have something in every console and handheld. I figure it helps with preventing dust from entering, but I have no idea if it's actually a good idea. I want to see something like those multimeter reviews where a robot twists then selector switch back and forth all day long but for carts. Does the bevel or PCB thickness or leaving the cart in really matter or is all just superstition and anecdotes?

[bobrocks95]

I always wonder if it's a good idea to keep a cart in the system. Right now I have something in every console and handheld. I figure it helps with preventing dust from entering, but I have no idea if it's actually a good idea. I want to see something like those multimeter reviews where a robot twists then selector switch back and forth all day long but for carts. Does the bevel or PCB thickness or leaving the cart in really matter or is all just superstition and anecdotes?

You can refurbish most cart connectors by bending the pins back in place to tighten them back up.

Overly thick PCBs can definitely cause problems though. The NES Game Genie did a lot of damage (really thick to contact the pins without bending the cart slot down) and the Chinese Saturn Action Replay carts do too.

[ASDR]

You can refurbish most cart connectors by bending the pins back in place to tighten them back up.

Did that once, it's really tricky to find the correct spot where the pins actually deform and not to bend them too much and do it evenly :/ One could probably build a tool that makes all of this real easy and precise.

quote=bobrocks95 post_id=1546829 time=1707229241 user_id=10768]
Overly thick PCBs can definitely cause problems though. The NES Game Genie did a lot of damage (really thick to contact the pins without bending the cart slot down) and the Chinese Saturn Action Replay carts do too.
[/quote]

The Saturn slot is notoriously unreliable and the AR carts can do damage. Never cared about that since I'll never a have anything but an AR cart in my Saturn's slot, makes no real difference if other carts won't work.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I left my NES Game Genie in my NES console for a good while. Proceeded to power it up one day and got the dreaded "blinking red led" issue -- took out the Game Genie and inserted a random NES cart and same situation occurred. I still haven't gotten it fixed to this very day.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~