In Hardware

I got a top loader for 10 dollars at a resale shop..
Although, that is where my luck ran out.
It came as just the console, no connections or anything. So, I take it home and I try to fire up my Star Tropics cart, and I get a grey screen. no problem, I have seen that on my good top loader that I have had for years. I cleaned the cart, and shoved it in the system a few times to try to clean the system. Dry, and now I get a black screen.

Cosmetically the system is in great shape, and there doesn't seem to be anything going on..I am thinking/hoping it is just a set of dirty connectors. I was wondering what the best way to clean a top loader is?

I was hoping that mabye you guys could help me out. Is there anything else I can do to try to get this thing back to life?
Please let me know.

I'd say, take the whole toploader apart and clean it thoroughly.

manuel's suggestion is likely the best, if that's possible. I suppose an alternative would be to use one of those pink Eliminator deals to clean it up. If you do opt to disassemble it, I suggest rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush to clean the connector in the console. Then shove a junk game in there, one you have a few copies of, and take it out and shove it in a few more times to clear any residue from the alcohol.

You could also replace the connector completely, but a thorough cleaning is always a good idea as well.

When I cleaned out the system I'm currently using, I found, no joke, a dead moth inside. Now, that wasn't keeping it from working, but still...

Thanks for the adVice thus far. Here's where I am at.

I used a game that was saturated in 'cleaning solution' (alchohol/water) and put it in and took it out of the system ten times. Dried. and still no go.

I did decide to open up the system, oddly enough I only needed a phillips head screw driver. Odd, because my other top loader uses a special bit to open it up. So, things are fishy...
The system was pretty gunked up on the inside and I cleaned it very well, but I still get the same result. So I started to do some testing using the new top loader vs. my old proven and working top loader.

With the working top loader I put Star Tropics in and it boots like I expect.
With the new top loader I put Star Tropics in and I see a black screen. (not snow on tv, it actually is sending a signal)

With no game in my working system shows a grey screen where the grey is like the classic NES grey.
With no game in the nonworking system I see a much whiter image, maybe pinkish (but that could be my eyes playing with me)

The working system with Star Tropics in, I hold down reset and push POWer, I get the same grey screen. When I let go of reset it goes to the title screen.
The nonworking system isystem with Star Tropics in, I hold down reset and push POWer, I get the whiter/pink screen. When I let go of reset it goes to the black screen again.

Right.....I cleaned the connector with a toothbrush and the solution. I am almost ready to give up on it...


Does anyboyd know where I can find good pictures of the inside of a top loader to compare because there is osmething I am wondering about the connector. I would check on my working top loader but I don't have the special bit to open.

Any other ideas? thank you.

I googled for a while, but I couldn't find an image.

But if you are giving up on it, I'd gladly take it off your hands

Does anybody know if there is an online guide for getting rid of the RF mod on the top loader and adding like the headphone jack piece?



Not quite yet, but I'll keep you on the list for people who want a broken top loader.

is this a long list?

also, in regards to the video mod, I found this:

you're the list.

thanks for the link

Thanks for all the adVice so far, I really appreciate it.

And now I have made some progress.
I cleaned out the connector best I could (in, out, and around) then I plugged Gotcha! in.
I didn't get a black screen but a flickering title screen.
If I press reset it would hold whichever image it was on, and I was able to catch 4 different screens: blank grey, garbled text and graphics, garbled just text, and a perfect title screen. I think it resets the game really fast and that may have been why I just saw a black screen when I was booting up Star Tropics, because Star Tropics starts with black and fades into a tropical scene. Gotcha just has the title screen right away.

So it's like somebody is pressing the reset button a million times, and not letting me do anything. Any thoughts?

just a thought, but is the reset button stuck on the inside of the console? maybe the button itself is messed up. if you were desparate to get it working you could try to find a pinout for that CPU and cut the trace that runs to the reset button (usually all a reset circuit is, is just grounding a pin on the CPU) which would disable it, then you could wire up a new switch with a little soldering.

I've never done anything like that with the NES, so I wouldn't be sure how to go about doing it, nor have I ever seen the inside of a top loader. but this is a possible solution.

I'll look around that. However, the reset button works as it should when I press it, or press and hold it. So, I'm not sure on that. I am going to to put on the shieldings and certain parts to see if I can try to ground something that maybe isn't.....I'm hoping.

Did you try using a game genie, I remember hearing from another post that the GG helps make better contact w/ the game and the console.

I don't think the Genie works with a top loader...

You need the for it to work without physically changing or really jamming it in.

But I will give it a shot. I'll let you know.

A Game Genie adaptor, a Game Genie and a game on top? How high is that constructtion? Isn't that very unstable?