Mega Drive Game does not boot

[pedro]

I there guys i just got some mega drive games from a friend and some of then just dont boot, they are all im 5* condition inside and outside, what could cause this problem? bad capacitor?

http://i51.tinypic.com/2re46lk.jpg

[Cyantist]

More details are needed. Pic of the reverse side of the pcb. Does the screen flicker? What colour is the screen when turned on? Is their any sound?

For what you can do now@ Throrough cleaning of the cartridge port. Get a microfibre (glasses cloth) cloth and wrap a credit card in it. Dampen it with isopropynol and push it into the port then clean the cloth. rinse and repeat to get the port nice and clean.

Clean the cart with a Q-Tip/cotton bud and isopropynol.

[pedro]

as the mega drive and cartridge are compleatly clean i clean all my consoles often, the cartidge i have cleanned it but the buttom of the pins have that black shade that doesnt comes out.

As for the game there is no sound, no flickering nothing just a black screen, tried on 2 consoles one non-tmss and one with tmss on the tmss console i see the tmss screen and after that nothing. i cant take i picture of the back of the pcb right now but il add it the first change i get

[pedro]

Back PCB picture.

http://i53.tinypic.com/s6iz2t.jpg

[MottZilla]

Did you check to see if the capacitor has any signs of defect? If you are skilled you could always remove the MaskROM (desolder it) and try to read it in a EPROM programmer or transplant it to another PCB of a working game. But that's quite a bit of trouble so maybe you'd just want to try replacing the cap anyway. If the cap looks deformed or anything (check the top) it may be a sign that it failed.

Also are the games the same region as your console? Some games with region lockouts don't have a message or anything, they just hang.

[pedro]

the game region is not the problem, as for the capacitor its preaty much in good shape nothing unusual, as for removing the rom i was going to use this cart for a repro i just want to know if its in good condition to do it.

just a question if i just close the circuit of the cap with a wire there any risk of doing that?

[MottZilla]

If you bypass the cap then the purpose of the cap is lost. If you're just going to use it to put another game on it, just try it out. If it doesn't work you can always desolder your EPROM or whatever you put in its place.

[APE]

"If I bypass this spark plug with a wire will my car start up?"

Is an equivalent idea.