What is wrong with my SNES?

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Videogamer555
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What is wrong with my SNES?

Post by Videogamer555 »

This isn't a question about developing home-brew games. I have a problem with my real SNES hardware, and am hoping someone here might be able to tell me what's wrong.

It seems that any games that allow for 2 players (even if they don't require 2 players), won't respond to any input from controller_1 if a second controller isn't plugged in. I can't even press the start button at the title screen of these games to make it display the main menu. All 1-player games seem to work fine though.

I don't remember this being an issue before (games that allow a 2-player mode, not responding to controller-1 input if controller-2 isn't also plugged in), but I also haven't usually run the system with only one controller plugged in. I've done it that way this time, because I can't find my second controller at the moment.
Is this a common issue with SNES systems?
SlayerOfSmurfs
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Re: What is wrong with my SNES?

Post by SlayerOfSmurfs »

That's a weird one. I like to keep my clutter down, so I only ever have the 2nd pad plugged in when I'm playing a game with someone else, and I've never encountered this.
Maybe the controller port is physically damaged or being interfered with somehow. Maybe if something on the 2nd player port were always being pulled high or low, the game might think it's getting constant input from 2P and be ignoring or overriding 1P as a result, but plugging a controller in "unsticks" it? If you have a security bit screwdriver, you might try opening the system and re-seating the mobo-gamepad cable to see if that helps, and checking any solder joints in the area. Giving the ports as good of a clean as you can may help as well.
That's all I can really think of, hopefully that gets you up and running or at least narrows things down a little!
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Jarhmander
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Re: What is wrong with my SNES?

Post by Jarhmander »

Maybe, maybe the pull-up resistor on the data line of the 2nd controler is burnt/broken, and the controler data is indeterminate? I don't see why that would happen, but it could certainly read illegal controler values (left+right up+down etc) but only if the 2nd controler is absent. Many games freak out when "illegal" inputs are read. A 1 player game that never read/use the 2nd controler wouldn't see those.
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Memblers
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Re: What is wrong with my SNES?

Post by Memblers »

Any chance the controllers and console are from different regions (PAL/NTSC)? If so, that could be normal.
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