SNES game freezing almost immediately. Any ideas?

[qwertymodo]

I recently purchased Secret of Evermore at a pawn shop. When I turn on the console, I see the "Square Presents:" splash screen and then when it fades to black, it just freezes at a black screen. After trying my best to clean the contacts and such (even opened the cartridge and cleaned inside), for whatever strange reason I decided to try pressing Reset while it was frozen and after it reset, it worked. I've played 80% of the game and it works fine, just every time I turn it on I have to reset it in order to get past the black screen. My save file is completely intact, and there were even save files still on it when I bought it, and I tested the SRAM battery with a multimeter and it reads at 3V, so I'm really stumped what might be going on. Any ideas other than the battery? I really don't want to pull the battery this far into the game if it might be anything else...

 

[m3rox]

Did you blow into your SNES's cartridge slot? On older consoles such as the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, N64, etc., it's sometimes necessary to blow into the cartridge/cartridge slot to clear away dust that may be preventing the console from reading the cartridge.

 

[qwertymodo]

I've disassembled and fully cleaned both the cartridge and the console, far more thoroughly than blowing into the slot. This is not a contact issue.

 

[Schlupi]

Bit rot? Data may just be corrupted or messed up from improper care or exposure to moisture, etc. one of the components on the board might be fried. Those are my best guesses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_rot

 

[qwertymodo]

Also, on the suggestion of some people on IRC, I've confirmed it is not a bootleg cart, and that it does contain a legit D411B CIC.