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Well last night I was playing Marvel Super Heroes with the extra RAM option enabled.

Halfway through my first fight, the game gave me a black screen with music still playing. I had to turn it off and on. After I turned it on, my Action Replay Cart was only showing me like 1/3 of it's menu. I had to reinsert it a few times to get the AR Cart to load.

The thing is, my AR Cart is always in. I don't take it in and out unless I have to. So I would think if it was inserted and the console has not been moved, it should keep it's connection. In the past, if for some reason the AR Cart was not in, there were times when I had to reinsert it a few times to get it to work. But once it was in and working, I was good. It wouldn't give me issues mid-game. That was not the case last night. What could cause it to lose it's connection while it was working?

Would it be worth cleaning the cartridge slot, or would the risk outdo the rewards? I heard how frail the Saturn cartridge slots are. I've cleaned Genesis and SNES cartridge slots many times, but those feel pretty durable with the thick pins. I'm kinda scared to tough the Saturn slot lol. The pins look so thin and tiny.

If it's, any help here are pics of my cartridge slot:

https://imgur.com/a/D5iPThp

If you see anything peculiar, let me know. Sorry, I know the lighting is bad, but that's the best I could do with my camera.

I can try to take pics of it outside under the sun if that would help.

Yes, the Saturn cart slot pins are very thin and frail compared to other cart slots. It's very easy to bend them out of wack. But like any cart slot, it may need to be cleaned on occasion. Just be very gentle with it since it isn't as robust as a Genesis or SNES cart slot. Never insert anything thicker than an official cart PCB thickness.

This happened to mine after years of being fine. An old RB thread saved me. Try pulling it just a tad out. So have it inserted, say 7/8 of the way. Fixed my issue.

Jagosaurus wrote:This happened to mine after years of being fine. An old RB thread saved me. Try pulling it just a tad out. So have it inserted, say 7/8 of the way. Fixed my issue.

Yep. Oddly that worked for me as well. Usually when I put a cartridge in, I give it another tap at the top to make sure it's in. I always did this with my Genesis and SNES. Yesterday, I just slid it in. I felt weird to not have the peace of mind of the cartridge being in all the way, but I guess that is required.

I also saw a YouTube video where he said you can unscrew the screws on the cartridge lots (like 7-8 times), which is supposed to help. I'm guessing this does the same exact thing (lifts the cartridge a little higher).

I'm glad Professor Abrasiave's Satiator (Sega Saturn "Flash Cart" to be released in the future), will use the VCD slot and not the RAM cartridge slot. Imagine if it had to be used in the cartridge slot? There would be a lot more complaints about this flimsy slot haha.

I hope the VCD doesn't have any issues of being flimsy and thin/weak.