Troubleshooting Tips

I will update these with common issues that I come across as more people build and test games.

Issue: Red power LED on NES does not turn on

Firstly - are you putting the cartridge in the correct way? (Really only possible if you're testing with the console opened up and the cartridge without a shell)

If it's not that, then you likely have a short circuit somewhere on the cartridge. And/or, you put a part in upside down or backwards. Every part, other than resistors and capacitors (other than the 22uF cap), MUST be placed in the correct orientation.

Issue: Flashing screen

Well, this can be pretty much anything from a misplaced or missing part, a misprogrammed ROM chip, or most commonly a misprogrammed ATTINY13 (the CIC clone). Also, if this is a newly created cartridge with an ATTINY13 to clone the CIC chip, make sure you press the reset button five to ten times to get the ATTINY13 to recognize the correct region of the console.