Final Fantasy III (SNES) Weird graphical issues

[Soldier Blue]

I'm getting a white flashing screen and also unable to progress past about 45 min into the game. I've cleaned contacts and all my other games work great. Any thoughts and is this fixable???

Pictures:


Board:

http://s21.postimg.org/gys99q8jb/20150402_003137.jpg

http://s14.postimg.org/omgocgi7l/20150402_003149.jpg

In game:

http://s13.postimg.org/rdz9gg62v/20150402_012528.jpg

http://s16.postimg.org/5w3vptut1/20150402_012850.jpg

http://s2.postimg.org/7ot67cl95/20150402_013928.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/h84g2optz/20150402_013950.jpg

^
That one is the part where I can progress no further. I go down to exist the town, but the game will essentially crash on me.

[Hobie-wan]

There could be a problem with one of the ROM chips. Either a manufacturing defect or damage from being dropped or static zapped. I suppose it could be some sort of very odd glitch if you have Everyone at just the right level, a specific number of hit points, and x widgets, y doohickeys, and z thingamabobs in your inventory or something. Like that crazy video where doing a very specific set of things in Super Mario World let the guy make a pong program.

[Soldier Blue]

Is it possible to actually fix a ROM chip, or am I basically just f-ed?

[Hobie-wan]

If the ROM is hosed, you can only replace it.

But someone else have an idea?

[Ziggy]

The only way to really know for sure if the ROM chips are the problem is to swap them and see if the problem still exists. I suppose you could use a cart dumper and then compare the ROM to a known good dump of the game, but if there were any differences you couldn't be sure if it was the cart dumper or its software (if any) that was the cause, or the ROM chip itself. You can't pull the ROMs and read them in an EPROM programmer because of their non-standard pinout, unless you had some sort of adapter for it (which I've been thinking about looking in to).

If you have a way get the save data off the cart, you could put it on a flash cart and see if the game still locks up in the same spot. That could tell you if it's a bug in the game or the save file or something. If you don't have a flash cart, the save file is small enough to email to some one that does.

[Soldier Blue]

Okay thanks for responding guys. I do have to apologize as I'm not too tech savvy on this issue, so please bear with me. Anyway, Ziggy you mentioned try getting a cart dumper and a flash cart. Where would be a good place to buy those? You also mentioned emailing the save data to someone else, and I'm just wondering how in the world to do that?

[Anapan]

My thought is bit-rot (due to the clean looking contacts and interior. Rom chips have the ability to accumulate wear internally, and can also age). If that is the case, it's harsh, but your next step is recovering the save-game. There are multiple methods of backing up a save file, but since you're only 45 mins. into the game the question is if you want to recover the data with a pricey device or abandon it for a new cart.

Tototek has a coppier still (I think). If not, their forum has multiple sellers if you're willing to pay the right price. Last time I asked there was even a Wonderswan dumper/flashcart combo available, tho I couldn't make a deal for a reasonable price. Back in the day the SNES flashcarts and dumpers were abundant and competing - that's why all the ROMS are available in different flavors (SFC, SMC, FIG, headerless, header conversion programs for dos, etc.).
Another possible option is the Retron 5. It's built on the work of other coppiers - it dumps the rom and savegame reliably to use it's emulation cores, and should be able to recover your save onto flash media using it's menu system. Again not cheap, but a very useful device to own.

Not that that is the main problem, just a thought.

[Ziggy]

Could be bit rot, but look at all the FC/NES mask ROMs that are still fine. It would be unlikely, but possible. I'm not sure how easy it is to damage the mask ROMs with static shock, but some one could have done that will cleaning the cart or something. But like I was saying, swapping the mask ROMs out is the best way to tell for sure.

Yeah, I'm not sure if you'd wanna invest in a cart dumper or something just for this. The Tototek one is still available, and it's not a lot, but you need a parallel port to use it (which newer computers wont have).

If you don't already own any of the mentioned devices, your best bet would be to see if you can send the cart out to some one that has such devices and/or could repair the cart for you if need be. That is, unless you don't mind spending the money on something. If you bought the Tototek SNES cart programmer, you could use it to read/write save data from most of your SNES carts, so that might be worth the investment to you. But like Anapan said, 45 minutes isn't too far into the game, starting over wouldn't be so bad.

[jeffro11]

Honestly it looks like a pin isn't making perfect contact. Hell it could even be the MAD1-1 chip addressing the wrong banks for whatever reason. I suggest the same as Ziggy. Dump the cart if possible... Who on here even has a cart dumper??

[ninjainspandex]

can a Retron 5 be used to dump roms?