N64 Red Screen

[dj505]

Red screen when booting a Nintendo 64 game?
Completely normal, at least for me. Just clean the contacts of the cartridge and the connector in the console itself.

The screen went red in the middle of me playing the game, but after resetting and turning it off and on again the screen remained black, not red. I did end up using a thin piece of cardboard from a cereal box with tape on the end (sticky side facing out) to clean the connector inside the n64, but nothing happened. A fair-sized piece of paper was stuck inside, but nothing happened even after I got it out.

 

[JaapDaniels]

has anything moved since when you played the game?
red screen usually means short circuit on consoles.
is there any chance you used something to clean or drop water?

 

[dj505]

has anything moved since when you played the game?
red screen usually means short circuit on consoles.
is there any chance you used something to clean or drop water?

I don't believe so... I don't have a gamebit to take it apart (planning on making one myself with a dremel and a flathead screwdriver) to check. Would re-soldering a few connections until I fixed it help? How would I fix a short-circuit other than the obvious? If it did short-circuit then it would smell like burnt electronics (a very particular smell) but last I checked it seems fine.

EDIT: I didn't drop water or anything on it... I don't take risks with liquid around any electronics. Would air freshener or any air-borne cleaner short circuit it?

 

[JaapDaniels]

no if there's a small short circuit, you just see a burned pattern inside. it depends where a short circuit is on the board, if it's around the graphics ic, you will most likely not see a thing from outside. though i never heard of such a defect with an n64, the discription is about the same as with my snes.
then again first things first, clean all contacts with alcohol it's the best cleaner for electronics by far (92% is enough)
have you tried another cable to your tv? this is cheap to buy (it's the same one as the snes had and gc as for european n64's)
next try if the powersupply is still giving the right voltage.
if those are not your problem, only the you should check the inside.

 

[dj505]

I used the AV cables from my Gamecube (they do work with my gamecube and are N64-compatible) but those did nothing. I haven't done anything with the power supply, and I don't have a multimeter to check anything with. My N64 is NTSC, along with the TV (it worked previously on the same TV).

 

[JaapDaniels]

ellectronics never will live forever, each time a circuit shuts and torn on again it get's a little more damaged, but since it's wierd to hear from nintendo these things, they're sollid normally, but again you don't need to do anything wrong and still it burns inside. have you got anything useing the same voltage and max. the same amps? since this should work to check the power supply. i have pal around here, but that shouldn't matter, i don't think your tv is dammaged since i don't see how this could be in this way, but you could try using your gc on it.

 

[JaapDaniels]

do you have a repair cafe in your neighborhood?

 

[dj505]

do you have a repair cafe in your neighborhood?

I don't believe so. The only thing I can think of is maybe there's a fuse blolwn in the console... But I don't even know it there's a fuse inside.

 

[JaapDaniels]

i don't think there's a fuse but it's more likely in the power supply. then again, a fuse won't make your screen turn red, it'll blank or turn black but not red.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

i think there's a fuse but it's more likely in the power supply. then again, a fuse won't make your screen turn red, it'll blank or turn black but not red.

More likely just not turn on if it's in the power supply

 

[JaapDaniels]

i don't remember anything but your tv telling you the n64 works, so the only way to see is a black screen as far as i know. that means it's not turned on at all.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

i don't remember anything but your tv telling you the n64 works, so the only way to see is a black screen as far as i know. that means it's not turned on at all.

I guess that would depend on the type of TV, then, as newer TVs would produce a "No Signal" error if the console wasn't powered up But yeah, I suppose you would get either a black or blue screen with most CRTs. N64s have a power LED to tell you if the console is on, right? Is that turning on for you? (dj505)

 

[dj505]

i don't remember anything but your tv telling you the n64 works, so the only way to see is a black screen as far as i know. that means it's not turned on at all.

The red light turns on and there's an extremely small 'pop' of the speakers turning on when I slide the power switch.

 

[dj505]

I guess that would depend on the type of TV, then, as newer TVs would produce a "No Signal" error if the console wasn't powered up But yeah, I suppose you would get either a black or blue screen with most CRTs. N64s have a power LED to tell you if the console is on, right? Is that turning on for you? (dj505)

Yeah, the red light does turn on. After a moment (about a minute) it displays the message "No Signal" on the TV.

 

[dj505]

Switched the ram expansion pack to a jumper pay and it works for most games that don't need the expansion pack! It's in black and white though. I'm on an LG smart TV. On my other TV I changed AV mode from colorstream to video but I don't know what to do on this TV.

Edit: it's in colour now!

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Switched the ram expansion pack to a jumper pay and it works for most games that don't need the expansion pack! It's in black and white though. I'm on an LG smart TV. On my other TV I changed AV mode from colorstream to video but I don't know what to do on this TV.

Edit: it's in colour now!

Interesting! So it may just be a faulty expansion pack?

 

[dj505]

Interesting! So it may just be a faulty expansion pack?

Likely is. I could probably get one cheap on the internet or at a used game store.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Likely is. I could probably get one cheap on the internet or at a used game store.

Oh, yep, it definitely is. I just looked up the symptoms of a faulty Expansion Pak and what I came up with was either "nothing- black screen," or "seizure-inducing red lines." So yeah, that's that. You could probably pick up a cheap one on Amazon or eBay

 

[dj505]

Oh, yep, it definitely is. I just looked up the symptoms of a faulty Expansion Pak and what I came up with was either "nothing- black screen," or "seizure-inducing red lines." So yeah, that's that. You could probably pick up a cheap one on Amazon or eBay

Alright! Thanks!

EDIT: They're $30 on Amazon and an average of $28 on eBay. Holy crap.

 

[Deleted User]

Alright! Thanks!

EDIT: They're $30 on Amazon and an average of $28 on eBay. Holy crap.

I hope you're not talking in USD, because then they're worth more,,,
rip dj505,,,,