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Released on June 23, 1996, Model NUS-001, 64-bit gaming console

111 Questions View all

My Nintendo 64 turns on, but there's no picture.

I have an old PAL Nintendo 64 that I wanted to play the other day. Unfortunately, it wouldn't work. The machine itself turns on and the red light lights up as usual, but I can't get any picture on the screen.

I've tried different cables including an old SNES cable (that worked some years ago) and a GameCube s-video cable.

I have a fairly new TV, but I'm certain I've configured it correctly. My SNES works just fine on it.

Any help would be appreciated!

Update:

It works! I've tried:

  • Removing the Expansion Pack (original) and putting it back in.
  • To blow on the cartridge and on the machine (not recommended).
  • Different games.
  • Different AV cables (that work on my SNES).
  • Cleaning the connectors on a cartridge with both dry Q-tips and with isopropyl alcohol.

When I started the machine I didn't see or hear anything. The screen didn't even flicker. I retried the steps some time later and magically it worked. I've listed all the solutions I've tried, as I don't know which one solved my problem.

Thanks for all the help!

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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20 Comments

Kinda wished I hadnt of smashed mine now D:

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I have a similar problem actually. I turn mine on and the screen either stays black or it gradually fades to a shade of green. (Similar to link's hat in ocarina of time which is ironic cause that's the first game I tried to play when I noticed this problem after getting my system out of storage. Do you think its humidity? East coast summers are humid but it was in one of those mass storage units.)

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mine had the same problem as moppskaft but the expansion pack resolved my problem

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I have a problem sorta like this but the picture won't appear when I have a gameshark and game in my system

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What an Expansion pack?

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No picture could mean the game is not loading up. In that case, it's best to clean the contacts of the game cartridge. I use isopropyl alcohol.

If it's not the game, make sure to clean the AV plug or buy a replacement cable. Note that the N64 does not support RGB SCART.

N64 units are pretty tough. I bought one from a stand drenched in rain water and still managed to get it working. Hopefully, you can get your system working. Good luck!

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5 Comments:

I have a game that has this problem where I can hear the sound but no picture. I've cleaned it but still nothing do you know what to do?

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blow into it and it should work

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Juan, if that's not working, try cleaning your N64's cartridge slot. Some of my older N64 games (Dinosaur Hunter, Shadows of the Empire, etc) were not working. They would freeze mid-game and even after I cleaned the cartridges with alcohol wipes and got them looking brand new they still had the same problem. I then figured it was probably a problem with my N64. Sure enough, after I cleaned out the cartridge slot in the system (pressing an alcohol wipe down into the slot and rubbing it back and forth, then letting the slot dry for a few minutes) it was finally working and in tip top shape. Those games that were freezing mid-game are now working with no problems at all.

Maybe this info will help. I hope

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thanks that was good I've never went out before of anykind

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thanks that was good I've never went out before of anykindthe same here I don't read very good nor speel;ing is no good

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Sometimes that happens to me. Seems to be the game or connections with the console and cartridge. If I keep trying to get it to work (by reseating the game) it usually works. Notice I did not say "resetting" earlier. Try a different game, see if that one works.

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4 Comments:

I have an N64 dated back to the 90s that was stored away for all these years. Now with the Covid matter I opened it up with all remotes and games. I can hear the background music but the screen is black. My television is LG and dates back to 2010. Can you help me fix this? Any suggestions?

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Curious as to how many "teeth" the av cable had because mine has two on top three on bottom and the connections on the console have six

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@jordan smith I'm wondering the same, I have issues and noticed only 5 "teeth" myself.

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Mine has 5 too so it might be design or a common problem. It looks like the teeth could just get pushed into the shell of the cable and not be exposed.

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Hey moppskaft, not sure if you are still working on your N64 but i dug up some info that could be worthwhile to check out. First of, there seem to be a lot of people with the same issues as you are having. It looks like you have already done all of the most common errors like faulty cables and dirty connections. So what i found is this video http://www.booads.com/videos-re-how-do-i... that shows how that person fixed his with an identical issue. Of course not sure if it will work for you but give it a try. Can't hurt :) there are also a few forums that discuss this problem as well they are at http://gametz.com/Welcome.html this site explains the hardware http://n64.icequake.net/ So I hope this helped you somewhat, if not get back with us on here and let us know so we can continue to get your legacy console going again:) Good luck

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The 64 worked on my brothers tv, but not mine, no sound or picture

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The same thing happened to me it's because of the new tv's, Put your expansion pack in the n64 then try it again.

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The first two steps of this guide show what Matt is talking about. Tell us if it works!

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Take out the expansion pack and the put ti back in.

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thank you whoever you are. I have a sticker over the black box in the expansion pack so I couldn't remove it. I did push it down and it moved a tiny bit. good enough to restore sound and video. well done. Now I can sell a working unit. it did work last night actually and i was testing it before I sold it and it suddenly stopped working. well done

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My issue was expansion pack.... I just jiggled it and worked...... should there be an eject button to remove it?

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Have no clue why that worked, but it did. Thanks Dwane! I'm now able to use my old N64 with my HDTV. Some people here are saying that the N64 isn't compatible with modern HDTVs, so I wanted to clarify how I have it hooked up. My TV had no available analog AV input, so I connected the N64's RCA AV cables to one of the inputs on my VCR/DVD recorder combo, which is connected to my HDTV via HDMI. Works perfectly.

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No.... N64 run on either 240p or 480i depending on the game, let me also add that most all the N64 games are 240p and won't play on most newer TVs and is only properly viewable on SDTV CRT's. 480i is full reselution SDTV signal and is viewable on any SDTV and HDTV. I ran into this problem when I was trying to circuit-bend my sega genisis which runs on 240p and had to stick a digital pass through between the TV and sega. Digital pass throughs (DPT) are fairly easy to obtain for low cost. Radioshack sells a DPT called a RF Modulator and I believe it goes for 35-50. That will fix your problem with the N64's resolution.

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i would try using an older model t.v. to attempt to see if it works because i have the same problem with my N64 and i believe it should work but make sure it's not a digital t.v.Because i have tried those and they didn't work so try it and see if it works if it does i need to know before i take my old t.v. out of storage to try it.so let me know so i don't screw up.Have the best of luck with the probable solution.I would advise a 2003 model or older.

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Is your pin clean??????? I own a video game store and specialize in nintendo.. use a worn out paper fingernail file.. in 2 years I have never had a customer bring a console back. It works in 10 seconds.. clean games with lysol toilet bowl cleaner without bleach . Use a q tip with a small amount then use 91% alcohol to clean the lysol residue.. I never have games come back. Never blow on games!!!! The game store ms

Update

Never, never, never blow on games or inside your pin. When you blow on gamesĀ it makes the copper pins inside the game tarnish. The tarnish is what keeps the games from working. The game store ms.

Update

NEVER and I mean never ever blow on games. The reason games dont work is that the copper pins in the game tarnish due to humidity. When u blow on games it makes it worse. Ive heard all kind of secret cleaning methods. Now let me tell you the 2 that work every time. To clean a pin in consoles use a worn out paper fingernail file, it takes 10 seconds. If a system turns on this trick will work. Now for the 2nd cleaning trick is for cartridge games a qtip and lysol toilet bowl cleaner without bleach then a qtip and 91% alcohol. These 2 cleaning methods work and work all the time.. in 2 years I have never had a console or games brought back to my store not working.. michael the game store ms

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Untrue. The moisture in your breath is not enough to corrode the pins. In 30 years, I have yet to see this happen and I work on vintage games for a living.

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Awe boom! Thank you for the tip! Got er goin!

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The worn out nail file trick worked for me! Thank you very much!

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Sometimes alcohol is not enough to clean the cartridge or the slot.

For those who still have the problem with the black screen with the led on, you can try this :

Take the finest sand paper/glass paper you can find (I took a P600, but you can try with P800 and higher if you are scared with this method) and rub gently in a up and down pattern to remove the fine layer of rust on the game cartridge and/or the cartridge slot of the console. And remove the particles with a q-tip and alcohol.

It worked fine for me until now, with my Megadrive, Snes and Nintendo 64.

I hope this would help someone.

Cheers

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This worked for me! Thank you!

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Hi all, bought my sister a 64 for Christmas. We had the same problem with the red light and nothing on screen. We played around with our tvc's aspect ratio, changing from 16:9 to 4:3 and the games starting working!!! If you have an option for "original" aspect ratio that should work too :)

Good luck!

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Well I have a 64 console but I got hdtv for a 64 but I get on screen no signal try other part on the TV but still get nothing is working

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Fixed!!!

I was having the same problem today. I got a 64 from Craigslist and it wasnt working. Tried 3 tvs (2 hdtv's & 1 analog) using the red/white/yellow cord. The red light was coming on the system but the tv screen was totally blank. But turns out all I had to do was rub Isopropyl Alcohol inside the game (007 Goldeneye) w a Qtip and put it back in and it worked! It worked on the analog and Vizio 32" hdtv. Looked better in HD. I got a good amountof black and green out of the game.

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out of curiosity,were your red,white and yellow ports side by side or separated? my red and white are together,but no yellow.only yellow my tv has is half green/yellow.i get sound,no picture.

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Just bought my first n64 console..... first ever Nintendo (excluding game boy and modern day wii) and same problem...... but in reading this I located expansion pack, jiggled it, and bingo picture appeared. Thanks for all comments above

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If none of the pin tip tricks work for you, try applying a gentle pressure to the AV connector up or down. VERY slight, then power on your N64. If this works, the problem is likely a bad connection in the cable or the N64. If you replace the N64 cable and the problem persists, you'll have to follow a guide available here to repair the connectors inside the N64.

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We have a Nintendo 64 and had no picture on the TV when we turned it on.

Sony TV

Insert AC Adaptor into the Nintendo 64 (Retro-bit.Power Super Retro 64 AC Adaptor cost $39.95 (AUD)

Insert the AV Cable into the Nintendo 64 (Tomee AV Cable - Compatible with GC/ N64/SNES) $14.95 (AUD).

We put the N64 game into the console before we turned it on.

The Nintendo 64 red light came on.

On the TV select:

Video 2/Components (This is where is says the TV choices of TV, HDMI 1, HDMI 2 etc)

Put the Red AV cable into red hole

Yellow AV cable into green hole

White AV cable into blue hole

It worked - The games are playing on the screen.

Good luck

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