Reviving dead carts

Hello all.

I picked up a beautiful copy of Worms Armageddon for nintendo 64 today. I purchased it knowing the previous owner could not get it to work so I knew what I was getting and paid appropriately. The cart is in great shape physically but does not load. I have polished the pins but that is where it ends for me. Anyone out there have experience with bringing games back from the dead? I feel it may be a lost cause but thought I would reach out and at least ask. For what i paid im also fine using it as a place holder for now. Thanks!

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Comments

  • Pics for those able to help.  
  • CZroe (my twin brother) has repaired N64 cartridges. His desoldering station was handy when he had to desolder the ROM chips from a cracked board and transplant to a donor. I think he's done that a few times actually.



    These cracked connector edges probably happen by using a Gameshark and accidentally tripping over it.
  • If youre not getting anything to load at all, not even garbled graphics, theres probably a bad chip in there, most likely the rom chip. Aside from de- and re- soldering and playing the process of elimination game, I've gotten an old cart to work by reflowing the solder joints with a heat gun (but not too hot or you will fry it). I am by no means an expert with solder and chips so anyone please correct me if I'm wrong.
  • I will grab pics tomorrow but to my untrained eye everything looks clean and in tact. It is entirely possible I do not know what to look for though.
  • Besides broken traces, missing solder, or obvious leaks or corrosion, it will be very hard to diagnose visually. Too bad it's worms Armageddon and not superman...
  • Originally posted by: SDoren

    Besides broken traces, missing solder, or obvious leaks or corrosion, it will be very hard to diagnose visually. Too bad it's worms Armageddon and not superman...



    Sometimes what may be obvious to one may not be obvious to another. Pics would just confirm it is not something wrong visually.
  • I also bought several other games that either had swapped boards or bad boards. I got a copy of dk Jr Math with the wrong board, rtype 3 missing Rom chips on the board. I figured I can at least salvage the labels for someone else who may want an upgrade. I'd love to have a working worms though :-)
  • Lincoln has fixed carts before, I know hes done NES- not sure about n64 though
  • for n64 you can't dump and verify if the cart isn't working afaik. my approach would be pull the rom and put it on a known good donor board.



    is your dr jr math working? that'd be an easy one to sort out.
  • I read this as "reviving dead cats." I need to go get some sleep.
  • Originally posted by: huskyunit



    I read this as "reviving dead cats." I need to go get some sleep.



    Hahahaha I pictured you sleeping for 7 years and then woke up and made this post.

     
  • Pic added
  • possible broken traces near that resistor on the right side



    closer pics of board. both sides.
  • "cic-nus-7101a"



    A PAL CIC chip?!
  • I could swap the corresponding USA CIC (6102) and see if it boots...
  • I just wanted to say I keep scrolling past this topic and each time my eye catches it my brain goes: "Reviving dead cats?!"
  • Well I see I am not alone on the reviving dead cats bit. No feline necomancers were found this day. Pity.
  • I just revived a dead cat box.



    Litter Robot
  • No cats were harmed during the making of this post...

  • Originally posted by: Ichinisan



    I could swap the corresponding USA CIC (6102) and see if it boots...



    Did you take a look at the Mask ROM? It looks like the product code says "NUS-NWUP-0". That's the European version of Worms Armageddon. OP done got rekt.



    image
  • Originally posted by: Guntz

     
    Originally posted by: Ichinisan



    I could swap the corresponding USA CIC (6102) and see if it boots...



    Did you take a look at the Mask ROM? It looks like the product code says "NUS-NWUP-0". That's the European version of Worms Armageddon. OP done got rekt.



    image



    Figures. I tried to read that and couldn't make out anything from my phone.

     
  • Originally posted by: Ichinisan

    Originally posted by: Guntz

     
    Originally posted by: Ichinisan



    I could swap the corresponding USA CIC (6102) and see if it boots...



    Did you take a look at the Mask ROM? It looks like the product code says "NUS-NWUP-0". That's the European version of Worms Armageddon. OP done got rekt.



    image



    Figures. I tried to read that and couldn't make out anything from my phone.

     





    Looks like ive found some experts here. So this appears to be a pal version of the game? I can take better pics of the chipset and do some research on them.

    Thanks for getting me started in the right direction. Is thefe anyway to get this to play on a us system? Can the boot chip be changed out for an american version or would that not work?
  • I think you should be asking how you can get your money back, because you got scammed.



    The product code on the chip should match the label, which says "NUS-NADE". Changing out the CIC lockout chip won't change the fact the Mask ROM is the PAL version of the game. You would need a Passport adapter or something similar. Even then, if you paid the going rate for a USA Worms Armageddon, receiving a USA label and PAL ROM is essentially fraud.



    EDIT: Here's a scan of a real Worms Armageddon USA from Nintendo_64_Forever:



    https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1496/25459069742_bbf41cc77f_h.jpg
  • Originally posted by: Guntz

    I think you should be asking how you can get your money back, because you got scammed.



    The product code on the chip should match the label, which says "NUS-NADE". Changing out the CIC lockout chip won't change the fact the Mask ROM is the PAL version of the game. You would need a Passport adapter or something similar. Even then, if you paid the going rate for a USA Worms Armageddon, receiving a USA label and PAL ROM is essentially fraud.



    EDIT: Here's a scan of a real Worms Armageddon USA from Nintendo_64_Forever:



    https://farm2.staticflickr.com/14...





    Got ya. Thanks for all of the information.

    As far as getting scammed i would say i made out very well. I paid nearly nothing for a small lot including this of 10 or so dead games that i was planning to salvage for their shells as they had nice labels. I also got a dk jr math shell, mariokart 64 shell, starcraft 64 shell and rtype 3 shell. My current net investment is down to zero after finding new homes for 2 of them.

    I just wondered if it was possible to track down why this game wasnt working. Given the situation i may jist offer the shell for trade to someone who could use the upgrade.
  • Originally posted by: huskyunit



    I read this as "reviving dead cats." I need to go get some sleep.


    Originally posted by: Daria



    I just wanted to say I keep scrolling past this topic and each time my eye catches it my brain goes: "Reviving dead cats?!"

    Have you guys ever seen 'Re-Animator?'

     
  • Originally posted by: Guntz



    I think you should be asking how you can get your money back, because you got scammed.



    The product code on the chip should match the label, which says "NUS-NADE". Changing out the CIC lockout chip won't change the fact the Mask ROM is the PAL version of the game. You would need a Passport adapter or something similar. Even then, if you paid the going rate for a USA Worms Armageddon, receiving a USA label and PAL ROM is essentially fraud.



    EDIT: Here's a scan of a real Worms Armageddon USA from Nintendo_64_Forever:



    https://farm2.staticflickr.com/14...



    I guess it's also *possible* the person that sold it to OP is the one who originally got scammed.



    I don't think the CIC boot swap would help. I've booted PAL games on my USA N64 using a Dr. V64. The game runs, but the screen is scrambled.

     
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