My Sega Genesis haul had silent cutscenes until I poked around inside

I grabbed a bunch of Sega Genesis games from a thrift store, and when I popped in one of the RPGs, the music played but the cutscene voices were totally mute. I figured my TV or cords were messed up, so I swapped cables and even tried another Genesis I have, same issue. It hit me that maybe the game cartridge itself had a problem, not the system. I opened up the cart carefully with a small screwdriver and saw the board looked fine, no obvious breaks. On a hunch, I gently rubbed the edge connector with a pencil eraser, which I heard can help with dirty contacts. After putting it back together and testing, the voices came through clear as day. It was just some oxidation blocking the sound data from reading right. Now I keep an eraser handy for all my old cart finds, it's a cheap fix that really does the job.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_caleb1mo ago

Been there. That eraser trick is a game saver.

harper_martin911mo ago

Switched to using a kneaded eraser lately.

faith_ward281mo ago

My friend's switch to a kneaded eraser saved her drawing from a big smudge last month.