4th June 2004, 4:51 PM
Okay, let me recommend a flat style screwdriver for the task, a very SMALL one. Also, one other little thing you may need to do, depending on your NES. You may have to push in the cart, lower the tray, and then pull the cart out as far as you can when it's in the "down" position. A few NES systems need to do this even after realigning the pins. Anyway, you only MAY have to do that. Other than that, everything should work just fine. The NES doesn't have any security screws, just normal phillips head screws. You will need to take off the top of the system, then the really heavy duty RF shield (try turning on the NES with that thing off when it's just NEXT to a TV :D), and finally unscrew the actual cart mount. It all should come off easy, just keep track of the screws. Also, when you unscrew the mount for the carts, you'll need to sorta wiggle it around a bit to get it to slide off. (Notice the metal bar on the cart tray, that thing just snaps right off and on, just go ahead and pull that off so it doesn't get in the way when you're doing all this. In fact, it's not even needed by the NES, and I mean at ALL. The little plastic bits on the side that hold the bar straighten out the cart just fine.) Finally, you'll see the connector pins, which actually loop around and use another set of pins to link to the BUS. Just pop that right off the motherboard (easy thing to do, and replacing it is also easy) and you can hold it in your hand so you can very easily see what you are doing. Anyway, after doing the whole straightening bit (just make sure you only wedge up those pins a little, just enough to get them up to the level of the plastic between the pins should do it, ya don't want to break them or anything, also make SURE you don't make any of the pins touch each other, for obvious reasons, but that should be easy enough to avoid, just a warning), just put it all back. Again, the cart tray will be a little tricky, but everything else should be easy enough to put back so long as you keep track of all the screws. Oh yes, while you're in there, use a little compressed air to dust the thing off. Anyway, once you get it all put back in place, plug it in and test it out. Actually, you may just want to plug only the tray and pins back into place so you can test it BEFORE you put it all back together.
Anyway, if you did it all just fine, and there wasn't any corrosion on the pins, then you should now have a fully working NES! Now you don't have to search for a new style NES that lacks A/V just to play your games! (Though, that controller is pretty nice. I use a top loading NES style controller with my original front loader for the best experience.)
Anyway, if you did it all just fine, and there wasn't any corrosion on the pins, then you should now have a fully working NES! Now you don't have to search for a new style NES that lacks A/V just to play your games! (Though, that controller is pretty nice. I use a top loading NES style controller with my original front loader for the best experience.)
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)