N64 - no signal

Nephew

I bought an n64 off ebay, played it for a few hours and it was perfect, powered it off and ever since I get no signal on the tv but the red light comes on when I power it on. The av cable works fine on my gamecube so it's not that. Does anyone know what it might be.

CiDeRmAn

Not to point out the basics, but did you do the old "blow on the cart edge connnector" thing?
Sometimes my carts need it before it'll work.
The other thing is, is the AV channel flickering at all?
Many tvs will say if no signal is being recieved, or they will continue to display the channel number in the corner, if a signal is going through these will often be absent.

Retr0gamer

Would the AV cable that you are using be a true RGB scart cable? If it's the yellow, red and white cable it whould workbut Nintendo stupidly took out proper RGB scart support from PAL N64 machines meaning you'll get a black screen and only sound.

CiDeRmAn

But he was getting a picture on it, and now nothing...
Could it be mischievous pixies?

Nephew

Guys, thanks for replying. I completely forgot about this thread. I tested the old blow trick last night and I'm still getting a black screen, no flickering or anything when connected to the N64.

Yeah, Ciderman. I played it for a few hours just after I got it with the same av cable from my gamecube and it worked then but it hasn't worked with the N64 since.

About a year ago I took an old N64 out of storage and got this problem - Power light but no AV.

Stercus Accidit

Once you are on the right chanel, turn it on and off to see if it changes, when putting in a cart, put it in, don't shove it down but do put it down all the way, and then pull it up 1mm.

Thats the best way to get the carts to read.

Nephew

Thanks, Stercus. Pulling the carts up by a couple of mm seems to work.

Stoner

Ahh nephew, you should have just taken the working one from me for free.

Rob2D

Y'know this happened to me a few weeks back. It was getting worse over the years until finally I just got the black screen. I might try that cart trick and see if it works!

landsleaving

I managed to get a friends N64 working again after the black screen problem by hoovering out the cart slot, and removing any larger pieces of dust *very* gently with a peeling knife.* It could just be a buildup of dust so take a good look inside, his was very dusty and had a few tiny bits of paper there weirdly enough.

*Attempt at your own risk. landaleaving is not accountable for any damage incurred in using this method.

Nephew

Stoner wrote: »

Ahh nephew, you should have just taken the working one from me for free.

I'm still waiting on the ps3!

OwaynOTT

So what lead should be used?

The one that connects straight to the console and has the 3 colour connectors, or connect these three yokes to a scart adapter.

Is there any other leads that would work? How about just a scart lead?

Retr0gamer

There's a secret to getting N64 games that are a bit old working. You have to insert the carts gently into the console, don't force it. Then don't take it out until you've beaten it because it's a pain in the hole getting it working again.

Dr Bob

Retr0gamer wrote: »

There's a secret to getting N64 games that are a bit old working. You have to insert the carts gently into the console, don't force it. Then don't take it out until you've beaten it because it's a pain in the hole getting it working again.

Jebus! what is it with nintendo and fiddley cartridge slots that demand you sacrifice a goat to them before they work . I've a 30+ year old VCS that works everything I've thrown at it , first time , even a half destroyed pitfall cartridge!

OwaynOTT

I'm beginning to hate the n64. The snes works perfect every time but that other yoke is as finnicky.
And Killer Instinct isnt as good as I recall, its so slow.