23rd July 2015, 8:10 PM
There is no "zero insertion force" mechanism. Nintendo basically lied about it the same way they lied about the N64 being a 64 bit system. Their real reason for that whole mechanism was to make the NES seem more like a piece of your entertainment center and less like a "video game console" (basically, look more like your VCR and a lot less like the Atari).
A real zero insertion force system is more like the processor in your computer. You just "sit" the device directly on the pins (then you have to lock it down with a clip). There's no reason they couldn't make something that gripped the cartridge more lightly. After all, every OTHER cartridge based console managed to pull it off. I suspect it's just "wound too tight". If you look at the old mechanism, you'll see that after sliding it into place "lowering" the tray forces the pins into position. I suspect that "death grip" will lighten with repeated use.
For my part, I just do regular work on my NES every 5 years or so. I've found the biggest problem these days has nothing to do with the mechanism and everything to do with filthy cartridge pins. I've got two things for that. The first is a q-tip dipped in alcohol. This resolves the majority of such cases. If that doesn't work (usually owing to some especially stubborn stain on one or two pins) I resort to my circuit cleaning solution I picked up from Radio Shack several years ago. That stuff cuts through just about everything, except the actual circuit board itself :D.
A real zero insertion force system is more like the processor in your computer. You just "sit" the device directly on the pins (then you have to lock it down with a clip). There's no reason they couldn't make something that gripped the cartridge more lightly. After all, every OTHER cartridge based console managed to pull it off. I suspect it's just "wound too tight". If you look at the old mechanism, you'll see that after sliding it into place "lowering" the tray forces the pins into position. I suspect that "death grip" will lighten with repeated use.
For my part, I just do regular work on my NES every 5 years or so. I've found the biggest problem these days has nothing to do with the mechanism and everything to do with filthy cartridge pins. I've got two things for that. The first is a q-tip dipped in alcohol. This resolves the majority of such cases. If that doesn't work (usually owing to some especially stubborn stain on one or two pins) I resort to my circuit cleaning solution I picked up from Radio Shack several years ago. That stuff cuts through just about everything, except the actual circuit board itself :D.
"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)