Ninja Combat - Garbled Graphics

landsharkzero

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So I opened up a brand new Ninja Combat today(NOS), and certain characters or weapons look garbled. I have two systems and tried it in both systems. Very weird. Has anybody seen this before with this game?
 

HeavyMachineGoob

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It's probably suffering from other early cartridges I've encountered have, dead mask ROM(s). It's annoying trying to figure out which ROM is failing. An easier option is to test against the discrete mapping logic used in those older cartridges. If that isn't the problem, then it's one or more mask ROMs.
 

F4U57

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Indeed, mine is suffering from the same fate, it's an MVS though, I'm assuming you're referring to AES.

Weapons and characters are garbled but the rest of the game is fine, sound can be a little off to depending at times.

I'd appreciate any info on this one too, as I've cleaned the contacts and it still persists.
 

landsharkzero

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Indeed, mine is suffering from the same fate, it's an MVS though, I'm assuming you're referring to AES.

Weapons and characters are garbled but the rest of the game is fine, sound can be a little off to depending at times.

I'd appreciate any info on this one too, as I've cleaned the contacts and it still persists.

Yes. It is the AES version
 

Kid Panda

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I had the same thing happen to my Super Spy AES cart, is there anyway that you can get a refund or replacement?
 

RabbitTroop

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I had the same thing happen to my Super Spy AES cart, is there anyway that you can get a refund or replacement?

Just because it's NOS, doesn't mean the cart pins aren't corroded. This sounds like a connection problem to me. Do you have contact cleaner (preferably something like DeOxit D5) you can use on your pins? Even if it just sat in a box for two decades, air can cause corrosion on those pins.

It's always possible it's a chip that went south, but I'd try and give it a good cleaning first with a true contact cleaner (alcohol will only remove dirt, not corrosion) and give it a go.

Example: I got a Fight Fever MVS cart from a member here recently, and before I even plugged it into my Neo I gave it a good cleaning. I started with rubbing alcohol which took a bit of dirt off, but overall not bad. I then went at it with DeOxit and that fucking thing was coming back BLACK. Really black. It took about 10 cotton swabs per side to clean the corrosion off. That's corrosion that the rubbing alcohol wouldn't even budge.

You need to make sure you're cleaning your carts the right way. I have a feeling you can get this cart working like a champ with some good contact cleaner.
 
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greeneye8181

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How do you guys feel about bit rot? Is it a real phenomena?
 

RabbitTroop

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How do you guys feel about bit rot? Is it a real phenomena?

The PROMs SNK used back in the day were pretty good quality. It's not impossible, but it's also not super common. Chips fail, and it's always possible data can be lost due to bad components, but especially if you're having intermittent problems like sometimes the sound goes garbled, sometimes it's fine... That's connectivity.

I've had dozens of NG games over the year have issues with sound and garbled graphics. DeOxit has been able to fix all but two, one was a copy of Ironclad that I needed James to do an EPROM replace on (EPROMs are much more fragile and prone to data loss), and the other was due to a corroded trace past the edge that once repaired worked fine.

Again, it's not impossible, but I've never had a PROM die on me and need to be replaced, and I've been collecting beat up old MVS carts since 1996 and have had hundreds of games go through my hands. It's just not that common of a thing to happen and corrosion is much more likely to be the culprit.
 

HeavyMachineGoob

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There exist SNK repaired cartridges, it's always possible for the ROM chips to die.

I had a Magician Lord that had sudden graphic errors. No way that's a connectivity issue. I let Big Bear have it and I got another copy. My CIB Magician Lord has two manuals now.
 

sylphia

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For the garbled graphics problem, I would start by double-checking the soldering of the maskroms. I fixed 2 mvs carts last week with this problem.
 

Xian Xi

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On the 1st gen games it's usually the TTL chips that die first.
 

F4U57

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You need to make sure you're cleaning your carts the right way.

How do you go about cleaning your contacts?

I recently picked up a small can of DeOxit D5 but haven't used it yet. I'm assuming spray a little into a cap or small container and then rub at them with the cotton swabs?

It comes with an attachable tube nozzle but I don't think spraying it directly onto the contacts is the preferred method.

Just a few points regarding cleaning the contacts would be appreciated.
 

Xian Xi

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Even though I know they sell it in a liquid form, I always buy the aerosol version to support my local electronics supply store. What I do is attach the nozzle and then spray it into an empty liter bottle and then transfer that into an eyedropper. Then all I have to do is put 2-3 drops onto a qtip(cotton swab) and rub it onto the cart edge.
 

RabbitTroop

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Even though I know they sell it in a liquid form, I always buy the aerosol version to support my local electronics supply store. What I do is attach the nozzle and then spray it into an empty liter bottle and then transfer that into an eyedropper. Then all I have to do is put 2-3 drops onto a qtip(cotton swab) and rub it onto the cart edge.

Yep, that's the best way to do it. Just get the DeOxit onto a cotton swab and then rub it over the contacts. They also sell the dropper bottles, and I find this one particularly good for carts, but you pay more for the convenience. Spraying D5 into something, then using a cotton swab would do the trick, though :)

My method is pretty simple to clean a MVS cart:

Step 1: Use rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab until the contacts come back clean. This is to remove the surface dirt so I don't have to worry about wasting contact cleaner that is way more expensive than rubbing alcohol.

Step 2: Either apply DeOxit to the cart pins in a thin strip, if you're using the oiler bottle, or directly to a cotton swab and then rub it over the contacts, working one side at a time, until the swab comes back up clean (pink).

Step 3: Give the pins a nice puff of compressed air, and use a cotton swab to catch any stray liquid. There's always a little hiding somewhere.

Then it's into the Neo.
 
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F4U57

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Perfect, thanks guys. I think I've got a big task on my hands, ha ha.

Also, I'm assuming the same can be done on the JAMMA edge connector.

How would you go about cleaning the MVS slots and the JAMMA harness?
 

landsharkzero

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I had the same thing happen to my Super Spy AES cart, is there anyway that you can get a refund or replacement?

So I emailed the place where I got it from, and they told me they will send me a replacement cart, and they do not need the defective one back. That is awesome.
 

RabbitTroop

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So I emailed the place where I got it from, and they told me they will send me a replacement cart, and they do not need the defective one back. That is awesome.

Now that's good customer service. Good on them.
 

Neorebel

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I've used an artgum eraser on my contacts with good results, but probably DeOxit is best IMO. A Magic Eraser sponge might be too harsh, right?
 

RabbitTroop

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Magic erasers are basically Brillo pads. I wouldn't use anything that harsh. Erasers work by rubbing the corrosion off the contacts with friction. It does a decent job, but makes a mess. I have used art gums to varied success, but nothing beats using a cleaner and deoxidizing solution. Your best bet, if you're not going to get Deoxit, would be to clean the cart with alcohol then rub the pins with a soft eraser until they shine. Blow out the eraser mess with compressed air, then a final clean with alcohol. It's not the best, and it won't slow and protect from further corrosion like Deoxit, but it will be cleaner.
 

GadgetUK

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Magic erasers are basically Brillo pads. I wouldn't use anything that harsh. Erasers work by rubbing the corrosion off the contacts with friction. It does a decent job, but makes a mess. I have used art gums to varied success, but nothing beats using a cleaner and deoxidizing solution. Your best bet, if you're not going to get Deoxit, would be to clean the cart with alcohol then rub the pins with a soft eraser until they shine. Blow out the eraser mess with compressed air, then a final clean with alcohol. It's not the best, and it won't slow and protect from further corrosion like Deoxit, but it will be cleaner.
I know lol - There are a few people on YouTube (mentioning no names) that need to stop cleaning AES and arcade sticks using magic erasers!!!
 
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