VGRestore Ep44: Fixing an N64 Console & Cartridge

[@aaronpierce3199]

yay thanks for taking the boatload of stuff im a bit nervous to watch lol

[@aaronpierce3199]

i apologize for the n64 trouble but on the bright side the next time a shortage happens you have kinda an idea of what to do:)

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

This is very true, now I know one more point of failure on the n64 for next time. Thanks for the projects.

[@aaronpierce3199]

@@PunkNDisorderlyGamer yup. When's the SNES vids? just curious.

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Aaron Pierce sometime this week, realistically Saturday.

[@emmettturner9452]

My probe slipped and shorted pins 1 & 2 on the AMP-NUS chip which suddenly restored audio on a Pikachu console I was working on. I had already swapped the AMP-NUS chip and the audio output caps so I’m pretty sure shocking the cap connected to pin 2 made it work. Pin 1 was only 12v and the cap was rated 25v so I didn’t even hurt it. It’s been over a year now and the console is still working. Dude… BitBuilt and other portablization communities have documented the N64 to an extreme degree. Every board variant, pinout of even the proprietary digital video bus, and much more.

[@twoodall88]

Great finds on those repairs. Well done!

[@mattgorillazify]

Glad to see you got it fixed! A possible reason you were getting so many shorts while testing with the console powered on is that the multimeters continuity mode is basically a voltage detector, one probe sends the voltage, one probe detects it. That also accounts for lack of continuity when the probes are reversed.

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Yes perhaps👍

[@furukawanagisa7935]

Thanks for the inspiration. I finally got a soldering iron and im trying to fix up some broken stuff i got.

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Nice.👍

[@_SixthDay_]

Changing the caps gave the n64 a longer shelf life so it was probably best to change them anyway lol. Awesome job.

[@MonsieurHonHon]

Great vid as usual! Just wanted to let you know that I started electronics repair at my local trade school recently, I chose to do that in part because of your great content. Youve kept me interested and even blew my mind a couple times(Specifically when you did the rom swap for SMRPG and the character chip swap for I think Dragon quest?). Soon ill be able to comment with actual insight lol. Cheers. Keep up the good work.

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Great, I hope everything works out. 👍

[@DonsDetail]

Great step by step breakdown of your commentary!!! Feb 2024

[@SuperLuigiGuy64]

Nice soldering

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Thanks

[@Arcade_Mania]

great work 😊

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Thanks

[@CristianLopez-nz1xf]

Great video brother!!!!

[@mr.flex3019]

Nice vid as always thanks 😊

[@fishing9308]

Nice nice please More

[@price5560]

Question: Does working on these boards on CARPET pose a risk to the boards similar to how you can fry PC components ?

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

I don’t work or the carpet so I can’t say for sure, but I wouldn’t recommend working on carpet for the simple fact I wouldn’t want any flux, melted solder blobs, or other solvents staining or burning my carpet.

[@DistortedChrist]

For anyone else in the future seeing this comment, do not work on electronic components over carpet without an anti static strap. Almost all of these components use very low voltage logic and you could easily fry them with static discharge!

[@danielsantana540]

Great vid

[@Meggolor]

Nice! I got an N64 somewhat recently that wouldn’t power on. I knew why as soon as soon as I opened it and removed the shielding: some idiot apparently tried fixing it before and there were a bunch of bridged pins on the GPU chip... -_- I don’t have a hot air rework station yet and I figured that chip is probably fried, so since the shell was in pretty good shape, I got a different motherboard for it. Probably not the most cost-effective thing I could’ve done, but I don’t have the tools to try and fix that. I might still try to fix that motherboard at some point, but I’m really not optimistic about that chip and I’m still a novice at this sort of thing. Also, interesting tidbit about that Kirby 64 cart: I have a Japanese copy of that game and it has a save battery in it! I thought it was interesting how the North American version uses some kind of flash/memory save instead. Fortunately, the one I got works perfectly and didn’t need repairs, but I got it for pretty cheap, so it was a good test cart and a good game to boot.

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Cool, yeah I can’t save them all either. Japanese games sometimes have different board revisions.

[@emmettturner9452]

Yeah, the vast majority of single-ROM N64 game paks use the same board that optionally accepts EEPROM save chips (4k or 16k). A bunch of games have single ROM and dual-ROM variants but in general you can swap the ROMs from any game that doesn’t use SRAM, FlashRAM, or some other crazy setup, like a built-in modem.

[@arlingtontrains7]

You do some amazing work sir, keep it up!, curious can you fix a red ring of death on a Xbox 360?

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

@@arlingtontrains7 never tried, I don’t really touch disc based consoles. I wouldn’t even know where to start on red ring Xbox. Thanks for the comment.

[@HumbleNetworkYT]

Great to see an N64 being brought back to life with new capacitors. I hope to get a set of gamebit screwdrivers for when it's time to replace the SRAM battery in my Smash Bros. cart, which is the only thing I had to worry about my Pikachu N64 besides cleaning the connectors and replacing a faulty Nyko Expansion Pak. It is important to note that disassembling Pikachu N64s are somewhat different, as you need to disconnect the power/cheek lights from the motherboard when removing the top cover. Donor boards are still possible (I suspect my console to use NUS-CPU-09 or 09-1), although you will need to desolder the red LED and solder the cheek connectors. You may also encounter green cartridge trays as well, although my console has a grey one. My console's serial number: NS294840559

[@Tele3C]

nice video 👋

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Thank you 👍

[@wilsvgaddiction4456]

Nice job. I actually like working on N64s now. You ever mess with PS2?

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Ps2 slims I don’t mind usually they need a laser replacement or a potentiometer tweak.

[@brandonburks4451]

@@PunkNDisorderlyGamer I have three that probably fall into this category. Would love to see a vid on this!

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

If I get some in I will be sure to make a video on ps2s

[@manuelgow7573]

hello, what temperature do you use in your soldering iron?

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

300-315 Celsius for normal work. If I’m heating a ground plane or a large solder point I’ll increase to 375+

[@josephnealescratchcards]

nice fix on video

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Joseph Neale thanks👍

[@joniguzman7217]

Whats the link for the pcbs boards for ,64 games?

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

www.tapatalk.com/groups/nintendo_64_forever/n64-cartridge-board-scan-picture-repository-comple-t2750.html

[@joniguzman7217]

Thanks bro 😁

[@Steveburto]

I read the comments and see everybody is grabbing their irons. Let the finger burning commence! When you burn a hole in the dinner table cloth, just tell people you smoke, they'll understand. I've always kept my N64 hooked up and guests would be like WOW! Then they would play it and the terrible frame rate would punch them right in their nostalgia googles.

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Haha I’m not held responsible for any burns to hands or setting your tablecloths on fire.

[@joniguzman7217]

The cic chip whats its funcion bro?

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

CIC is a lockout chip by Nintendo that prevented piracy at the time. It handshakes with the CIC in the console and allows games to load. In the case of the N64 each region got several different style lockout chips.

[@teamskyway206]

I recently bought an N64 from a friend and some of the games work and some just to a black screen or some games will work for a little bit than go to a black screen I was wondering what I should do And what is the actual problem I’m not a tech savvy person can someone help me out plz

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Clean the games out and try cleaning the cartridge slot as well. Put some alcohol into the cartridge slot and insert a cartridge several times, see if that helps.

[@witnesszer0]

what solder sucker is that nice work

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Hakko FR-301

[@leex187]

I’ve had all the consoles in my life but the Nintendo 64 never owned it and I always wondered what it was like

[@74bobby]

3rd. Watching Now while I comment.

[@74bobby]

Bro theres a Pawn shop Shop not to far from where I live that sells N64 sports Games for a Buck.I buy them to use the Backs for Japanese Games.

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

I buy certain sports games when I see them because I know they have PCBs I need to repair the more sought after games.

[@74bobby]

@@PunkNDisorderlyGamer Good Job on that Board Swap My friend.

[@emmettturner9452]

Lead-free AKA Pb-feee AKA RoHS AKA Reduction of Hazardous Substances-compliant has been the industry standard for over 15 years now. They started transitioning several years before that. It’s we electronics hobbyist and repair guys that continue using lead-based solder… for good reason. The big players only do it for California and EU compliance and to curry favor with Green Peace and similar orgs. I mean, the lead in this stuff wouldn’t end up in a landfill to contaminate ground water if the stuff didn’t break to end up there in the first place and yet switching to lead-free is what cost Microsoft BILLIONS and sent millions of failed XBOX 360 consoles into the trash.

[@price5560]

Ur a god

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

That’s quiet generous of you. I see you’re scrolling through the videos I hope you’re enjoying yourself. Consider a Sub🙏

[@dictatorofthecheese]

Hi so is there any chance I could send you my DK64 and my Kobe Bryant Courtside? I bought the Kobe Bryant game because it uses the same type EEPROM that DK64 has. My DK64 will not save whatsoever. DK64 is my childhood so I bought the Kobe Bryant game to do a transplant of its eeprom 16k into the DK64 since it uses the same eeprom and some redditors mentioned its possible. Im not a techy person and I don't trust myself to do it on my own. It requires fine hands. Which unfortunately I have tremors in my hands so I will most likely screw it up. If you could replace the DK64 eeprom 16k or do the transplant I'd be so grateful!! Thank you!! -Brian

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Dictator of the Cheese! Send me your email.

[@dictatorofthecheese]

@@PunkNDisorderlyGamerHow would I send you my email? Through here? Or through discord or something? Thank you for your reply 🙏 -Brian

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

Dictator of the Cheese! I’ll message you on reddit my email.

[@danielsantana540]

I own over 50 Snes games and recently the only one that gave me problems was Terminator 2 the arcade game . it would. Not boot up despite cleaning it really good. And it would show squares /colors here and there or jus no picture. I returned it and got a refund and got a new copy of T 2 the arcade game and it worked fine

[@joeyblackard6346]

Today I became a victim of my 20 year old n64 having its first possible issue and this looks really complex for me to try. My wife has never played Mario 64 :(

[@danielsantana540]

Great vid