Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliability

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StevieGoodwin
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Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliability

Post by StevieGoodwin »

Lately, I've been looking up SNES videos on YouTube and i seen many broken SNES videos such as them glitching, freezing or crashing.
What could cause CPU or PPU failure?
I have two SHVC-CPU-01 consoles working.
One is a 1/1/1 model and the other is a 2/1/3 model.
All work great but i'm worried about the chips failing in them.
Is the SHVC 1/1/1 and 2/1/3 model a bad version to have.
Even though the ver. 1 cpu is known for a DMA bug that causes the SNES to crash, It never crashed on me. Please let me know. And yes i'm using the correct power supply which i'm using the SNS-002 Power adpater.
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dougeff
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by dougeff »

At $35 per console, it's not expensive enough to worry about.

If it fails, buy another.
nesdoug.com -- blog/tutorial on programming for the NES
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tokumaru
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by tokumaru »

dougeff wrote:If it fails, buy another.
Not a very good long-term strategy. Consoles and cartridges used to be dirty cheap 15 or so years ago, but things already changed quite a bit. Here in Brazil, consoles are becoming very prohibitive, you can hardly find a console in decent condition (not only SNES, but also NES, SMS, Genesis, etc.) for less than US$100, and earning US$100 in Brazil is much harder than in the US! Importing is out of the question, due to the insane shipping costs and import taxes.
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Sumez
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by Sumez »

Yeah, you won't find a SNES for $35 here anymore either. Maybe 5 years ago, but now they are probably $80 or more, and still rising.

If a genuine SNES console stops working, by all means buy a new one, but never throw the old one out. Depending on what issues it suffer, repairs may be either very easy or at least doable, or in a worst case scenario it should be kept for spare parts.
Ths is classic hardware that I'm all for preserving in as large amounts as possible.
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Zepper
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by Zepper »

tokumaru wrote:
dougeff wrote:If it fails, buy another.
Not a very good long-term strategy. Consoles and cartridges used to be dirty cheap 15 or so years ago, but things already changed quite a bit. Here in Brazil, consoles are becoming very prohibitive, you can hardly find a console in decent condition (not only SNES, but also NES, SMS, Genesis, etc.) for less than US$100, and earning US$100 in Brazil is much harder than in the US! Importing is out of the question, due to the insane shipping costs and import taxes.
Let's say... 10 years ago? Well, I bought some gems on MercadoLivre by a very very good price, like R$20 for a sealed copy of... Space Invaders, or around R$60 for a sealed Tetris & Dr.Mario cart, or a SMW2: Yoshi's Island cart-only NEW. Today, everything's MUCH more expensive, unfortunately. Heh, all those sealed ones were OPENED 8-) 8-) but well preserved here. I have a few sealed games, like PSX Mega Man 8 (Greatest Hits).
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FrankenGraphics
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by FrankenGraphics »

Super NT certainly isn't a cheaper option, but it exists:
https://www.analogue.co/pages/super-nt/



I wouldn't worry until something actually happens, though. Then i'd keep or sell it for spare parts, or get another unit that's broken in some other way and combine them.

Keep them dry, avoid extreme temperatures, have a look if the electrolytic caps are starting to bulge once every decade or so. Don't leave it on for days.
93143
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by 93143 »

StevieGoodwin wrote:Even though the ver. 1 cpu is known for a DMA bug that causes the SNES to crash, It never crashed on me.
The DMA bug is a hardware bug triggered by a specific circumstance, not a general reliability issue. If a regular DMA transfer ends right before an HDMA transfer, a race condition or something can lock up the CPU. I'm not sure if there are any games where this actually occurs; it's mostly an issue for homebrewers who might want to use both DMA and HDMA at the same time. The ability to do this could be very useful, but you can't exactly release a game that only works on some units; your options are to (a) detect rev.1 CPUs and have the game perform worse or drop features to avoid triggering the bug, or (b) just write the game so the bug doesn't happen, which typically means keeping your DMA restricted to VBlank or other periods where you know HDMA isn't running.

On the subject of reliability, it seems that some S-CPUs are starting to go bad nowadays. Back in the day they were very reliable, but they're getting older. Other stuff can go bad too, but aside from leaky caps (which are easy to replace), the CPU seems to be the most common failure. In fact I personally have an old SNES that does weird stuff like loading the wrong map and collision data in F-Zero or the wrong background graphics in Yoshi's Island, failing to draw the map or spawn powerups in Super Metroid, that sort of thing. I haven't had it diagnosed, but the CPU seems to be a likely candidate.

I figure if you can replace your car's inline 4 with a V12 and call it the same car, you can replace an S-CPU with a new chip that does the exact same thing and call it the same SNES. Unfortunately it's probably not reasonable to attempt a production run of S-CPUs for this purpose, but perhaps an FPGA version might be feasible...
Pokun
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by Pokun »

SNES is still one of the cheapest and most numerous systems though, both hardware and software. Here in Japan Super Famicom is dirt cheap and you can get one on ebay even with controllers and cables for less than $10 (of course shipping might be a lot more depending on where you live). I got a PAL SNES (since my childhood), an 1CHIP SFC and a non-1CHIP SFC. And I'm thinking of one day hunt for a 1/1/1 SFC.

Only problem with SFC might be that US carts won't fit without an adapter, and it's not easy to mod the case without destroying the aesthetics. Also it can't use a SNES adapter or it will become BBQ.
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dougeff
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by dougeff »

Only problem with SFC might be that US carts won't fit without an adapter
Maybe get an everdrive?
nesdoug.com -- blog/tutorial on programming for the NES
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by tepples »

dougeff wrote:
Only problem with SFC might be that US carts won't fit without an adapter
Maybe get an everdrive?
Plus a Retrode to dump your original carts, right?
Pokun
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by Pokun »

Yes of course! I prefer an SD2SNES over Super Everdrive though. Also I don't personally have any US carts so it's not really a problem for me.
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tokumaru
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by tokumaru »

Aren't there adapters to get around the difference in cartridge shape between JP and US releases?
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Dwedit
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by Dwedit »

You break off a plastic tab inside a SNES and you play Japanese games.
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by tepples »

But depending on where you live, a U.S. Super NES can be a lot more expensive than a Super Famicom.

(And I get the impression that Pokun thinks using an adapter in the Super Famicom hurts the aesthetics.)
Pokun
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Re: Is the SNES a realible console? So worried about reliabi

Post by Pokun »

Yeah if you live outside USA a US SNES will be very expensive, and as I find them unattractive I don't see myself getting one anytime soon. SFC cart slot is same shape as PAL SNES so you can't just break tabs. I did mention using an adapter was one way, sawing up the cart slot into a square shape is what hurts the aesthetics. I think an adapter would be the preferable way, and I'd probably do it that way if I get an US cart someday for some reason. The problem with using an adapter is it introduces an extra cart connector problem (unless it's newly produced).

One reason I prefer the SD2SNES over the Everdrive is the 3.3 V translation problem. Another is the fantastic compatibility.
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