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[Ozle]

I always give them a good wash in warm soapy water

[AndrewisFTTW]

So this story has a happy ending. A friend of mine stopped by last night and got my N64 working. He lifted up the cartridge, blew into it NES style and put it back in. Problem solved. Apparently when the game isn't working the signal isn't sent at all to the TV. Who knew? Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get lost in Ocarina of Time.

I told you this back in the first page!!!!

Why don't people ever listen!?!?

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHG!!!!!!!!

And we wonder why tech support people ask us to do the stupidest things.

4) Try a different game -- it may be the cartridge

 I at least assumed you had tried the blow-into-the-cartridge-trick.

I salute your earlier identification of the source of the problem, but since we are in the forum we are in, I have to point out the edge case where your solution doesn't work but mine does: all the cartridges AndrewisFTTW has haven't seen any recent use and as such need to be blown into to function.

I know this is not recommended, but blowing into the N64 itself sometimes creates miracles. The recommended cleaning method is to use a cotton swab dipped in drying alcohol to clean the cartridge connectors.

I did the "blow into the console" trick last night. It worked nicely.

[GeoLib]

I believe that blowing into the cartridge is actually likely to damage it. It moves the grit around, which might make it work, but also scrapes at the connections.

[sudgy]

I believe that blowing into the cartridge is actually likely to damage it. It moves the grit around, which might make it work, but also scrapes at the connections.

Have you ever had a NES, SNES, N64, or handheld system that was made by Nintendo?  Because those things don't work without blowing in them.

[ashersky]

Does anyone play Disney Infinity?

[GeoLib]

I believe that blowing into the cartridge is actually likely to damage it. It moves the grit around, which might make it work, but also scrapes at the connections.

Have you ever had a NES, SNES, N64, or handheld system that was made by Nintendo?  Because those things don't work without blowing in them.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-cartridges-really-help

[WalrusMcFishSr]

Does anyone play Disney Infinity?

Is that that thing where you can plug in those figurines to play as various characters? I played that over at my cousin's, it was pretty fun

[ashersky]

Does anyone play Disney Infinity?

Is that that thing where you can plug in those figurines to play as various characters? I played that over at my cousin's, it was pretty fun

Yeah.  Toy Box mode is sort of like Disney Minecraft, and there are adventures specific to the figurines.  My daughter is a big fan now, but I thought maybe there was a following.  It took some doing to get the Frozen characters.

Seems cool.

[AndrewisFTTW]

I believe that blowing into the cartridge is actually likely to damage it. It moves the grit around, which might make it work, but also scrapes at the connections.

Have you ever had a NES, SNES, N64, or handheld system that was made by Nintendo?  Because those things don't work without blowing in them.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-cartridges-really-help

That article pretty much says "it doesn't do anything, but maybe it does! But it doesn't. Unless it does."

[GeoLib]

I believe that blowing into the cartridge is actually likely to damage it. It moves the grit around, which might make it work, but also scrapes at the connections.

Have you ever had a NES, SNES, N64, or handheld system that was made by Nintendo?  Because those things don't work without blowing in them.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-cartridges-really-help

That article pretty much says "it doesn't do anything, but maybe it does! But it doesn't. Unless it does."

My reading was more: "It's hard to tell if it does anything, but if anything it probably damages the cartridge."

[AndrewisFTTW]

I believe that blowing into the cartridge is actually likely to damage it. It moves the grit around, which might make it work, but also scrapes at the connections.

Have you ever had a NES, SNES, N64, or handheld system that was made by Nintendo?  Because those things don't work without blowing in them.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-cartridges-really-help

That article pretty much says "it doesn't do anything, but maybe it does! But it doesn't. Unless it does."

My reading was more: "It's hard to tell if it does anything, but if anything it probably damages the cartridge."

I think it said it could possibly cause long term damage by way of mold and corrosion but could also possibly have short term benefits. I guess there's nothing definitive about it.

[AndrewisFTTW]

I'm re-learning the part of gaming where you want to throw your controller across the room because you can't get past one specific part. Ten years ago I would've done it. I'm barely restraining myself right now.

[Davio]

Yes, no emulator save points makes it so much more annoying and rewarding.

[Kuildeous]

I can certainly see how blowing into the cartridge could have harmed the cartridge in the long run.

But it felt like a gust of wind did help. Maybe it was confirmation bias. After all, if it was a panacea, then it should have worked the first time. I remember blowing into the Atari and Odyssey cartridges a few times before they work. So while rearranging the dust may have helped, it wasn't always a quick fix. In that case, the alcohol solution might have been better after all. Oh well.

Not that matter, since my childhood consoles are all long gone, destroyed in a flood.

[pacovf]

Yes, no emulator save points makes it so much more annoying and rewarding.

Depends on the k... game.

[AndrewisFTTW]

Speaking of old school Nintendo stuff, I found my old Game Boy Pocket at my parents' house yesterday. And yes, that is Pokemon: Red Version in there. When my mom took me to the mall and bought it for me, I didn't lift my head up for the rest of the day. Probably for the rest of the week.



I also found my brother's Game Boy Advance SP that he gave to me.

Game Boy Pocket games:

-Pokemon Red
-Zelda: Link's Awakening
-Kirby's Dream Land
-Harvest Moon

Game Boy Advance games:

-Golden Sun
-Golden Sun: The Lost Age
-Ballistic Ecks vs Sever
-Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords
-Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
-F-Zero Maximum Velocity