Flickery Screen US SNES Mario World...?

[smouty]

I am curious to know what the usual issues are with Mario World being played on an out-of-region machine.

Err, flickering screen
I thought it was only PAL @60hz though.

[egparadigm]

Is it the same kind of flickering?

[stoofle]

Most of the screen was fine for me, it was just certain items that would flicker, or sometimes be missing altogether.

[randombs]

That sounds like graphical glitches to me, due to the cart not liking the console it's sitting in(e.g. 50/60Hz-related) or what you'd get with dirty/dodgy carts.

Looking at the photos, this seems to me like it could be the console but it if it's just Mario World doing it then I'm a bit stumped, unless Mario World does something funky with voltages, for example.

Colour me intrigued!

[smouty]

...but it if it's just Mario World doing it then I'm a bit stumped... Colour me intrigued!

If it only happens on a cart that is know to exhibit these glitches then it is pretty obvious what is wrong

[randombs]

...yes. Yes, it is

[egparadigm]

If it only happens on a cart that is know to exhibit these glitches then it is pretty obvious what is wrong

I still want to know if it the same kind o' flicker...

[randombs]

Me too. Could you film it?

[egparadigm]

I think I may have narrowed this down – and it might not be Mario World/the SNES after all.

I think this might be a loose scart/video issue. I decided to test the SNES on a different TV – at first nothing, but, after multiple attempts at the Cheese Bridge, eventually something happened. Not a flickery screen – instead the picture went yellow; wiggling resulted in a red screen.

I have just replicated the issue on the first TV and then got a third TV. With the game paused on the first screen and issue present, I moved the scart over to the third TV and, sure enough, no problem!

I guess this was a case of "have you tried turning it off and on again" – check the obvious things first, people!

[smouty]

First rule of help club - don't talk about help club.
Second rule - never trust the person requesting help to tell you the whole story

[randombs]

You tw*t

"I think I may have narrowed this down" is one of the funniest things I've read this year!

[egparadigm]

Cheers.

I wrote that bit before I tested with the third TV, and because it was an intermittent fault, the first test didn't convince me.

[egparadigm]

And if it makes me appear any less stupid: I did not know the scart was loose – I imagine I tested reseating the cable at the beginning; this fault could only be established by testing on a second TV, since the scart was pushed all the way in. It must also bear some relation to the console, given it still only seems to happen on some particular levels. The wiggle option only works on sets 2 and 3 – on my actual TV it only makes the problem worse/different (vertical scrolling).

[randombs]

Oh no, I'm sure everyone's been there. Especially me! Troubleshooting is always an adventure

I remember when the Sky installation guy came round and he was wondering why the set top box wouldn't display then he saw he hadn't plugged the scart in! He gave me a look that said 'whoops' and I laughed and said it happens to the best of us.

You said the screen went yellow then red so I guess you're playing in RGB. RGB uses another pin on the scart for syncing the picture and maybe this pin is one of the loose ones. It could well be that the tv's scart socket isn't tight enough if the scart connector's pins themselves aren't loose.

Try bending the scart pins slightly so they'll make a tighter connection. If your scart is the cheaper type(or a DIY cable) you could google to find what pins are needed and just bend those. It's only about six I think.

[speedlolita]

Or go buy an Official RGB cable. :drool:

But yeah, I thought this may have been a SCART cable issue but perhaps something related to voltage rather than not being plugged in properly. Glad you found the issue.