N64 "burned" by pirate cartridge??

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Fisher
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N64 "burned" by pirate cartridge??

Post by Fisher »

Some time ago, I had a conversation with some guys and they told me they once had their N64 "burned" (or should I say "killed") by a pirate cartridge.
Back in the day I didn't care much about this (mis?)information.
Now a brazilian youtuber that I use to watch the videos told the same thing in this video (in portuguese).

I also talked to an old game store owner, and he has about 5 N64 that simply gives a black screen.
I tried to help him and let him borrow my know good jumper pak.
He also did a nice clean on the contacts of the cartridge and the jumper pak. Nothing worked.
Coincidently or not, all them were made by Playtronic.

I also got the software of my GameShark 64 overwritten by a pirate game not once, but twice! :evil:
Is this really true (that N64 pirates can kill your console) or there's something very strange about these N64 "deaths"?
Maybe the quality of Playtronic's N64 is an issue, any toughts?
Have anyone used N64 pirates a lot? What happened?
Thanks in advance.
Pokun
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Re: N64 "burned" by pirate cartridge??

Post by Pokun »

I don't know about this case but cartridges can definitely damage the hardware. Especially cheap bootlegs that are not properly made. Several of the Everdrives are apparently not translating the voltage correctly and could be bad for your systems in the long run.

Reminds me of the GameCube component adapter FPGA clone sold here. Version 2.0 killed a GameCube by shorting it when bumped because it was so flimsy (version 3.0 is supposedly made sturdier). Apparently he ignored peoples warnings when making it.
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Fisher
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Re: N64 "burned" by pirate cartridge??

Post by Fisher »

After many talking with people I think I figured out what probably caused this:
Like now, the pirates used to use out of spec components.

I friend told me he once had an N64 pirate that used 5V ICs and a 7805 regulator inside to power them.
I couldn't see the game's PCB, nor a picture, but with this information I tend to believe the pirates used 5V parts withouth proper level conversion on the console's BUS.

That seems to be the most plausible explanation theory, until I can finally confirm or deny it...
Pokun
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Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 5:49 am
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Re: N64 "burned" by pirate cartridge??

Post by Pokun »

That's what I thought. Modern Aliexpress multicarts often have this problem I heard. It's best to be cautious around cheap pirate carts anyway.
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