Adopt-A-Bot!

Adopt, don't shop! We here believe that every retro game system has a long history behind it, and preserving is key to generations of fun to come! I'm Max and I want to give each system a name, a face, and a new home!

[dorkfail-deactivated20241107]

[retroadoptions]

Hey, I’m wondering, can you also restore N64 consoles? My brother has one and it worked just fine when he played on it, but ever since I started playing on it it’s kept crashing and freezing. It’s happened three times now.

I've not restored one! I've always wanted to get an N64 of my own, but the stars just haven't been aligning.

That said, N64s are actually really easy to work on! It's primarily plastic and, frankly, an ungodly amount of screws. The actual motherboard is relatively small. It's mostly a matter of properly sorting said screws lol.

Out of curiosity- is it the game crashing, or the system? Like, are you seeing skips in the gameplay, freezing/crashing, or is the console itself letting out the screams of the damned? If it's the former, it may be the cartridge reader itself- it slots into place on the motherboard and when dust gets involved, it likes to throw a tantrum. If it's the latter, my best guess would either be the dust/dirt hindering things, or perhaps something spilled into the motherboard at some point. Which isn't inherently an ending for the N64- a solid scrubbing with ipa could d'ya just fine.

[immaaxolotl-deactivated20251125]

Okay, thanks! My brother and I will try cleaning it of dust and the like. Here’s to hoping it works!

[retroadoptions]

Pressurized air in a can is always a good option! It clears dust really well, and is usually available near the car parts in stores or your local drugstore. As for the inner bits, a solid toothbrush with ipa does wonders!

[retroadoptions]

Hey, I’m wondering, can you also restore N64 consoles? My brother has one and it worked just fine when he played on it, but ever since I started playing on it it’s kept crashing and freezing. It’s happened three times now.

I've not restored one! I've always wanted to get an N64 of my own, but the stars just haven't been aligning.

That said, N64s are actually really easy to work on! It's primarily plastic and, frankly, an ungodly amount of screws. The actual motherboard is relatively small. It's mostly a matter of properly sorting said screws lol.

Out of curiosity- is it the game crashing, or the system? Like, are you seeing skips in the gameplay, freezing/crashing, or is the console itself letting out the screams of the damned? If it's the former, it may be the cartridge reader itself- it slots into place on the motherboard and when dust gets involved, it likes to throw a tantrum. If it's the latter, my best guess would either be the dust/dirt hindering things, or perhaps something spilled into the motherboard at some point. Which isn't inherently an ending for the N64- a solid scrubbing with ipa could d'ya just fine.

[retroadoptions]

Without further ado, I bring you Alfie’s little brother, Teddy! Teddy has a bit of a beauty mark along the top right of his disk top, but after a quick clean he’s already running leagues better! It’s gonna take a little more finagling to get him at a pace where he can be adopted, but I have high hopes!

[retroadoptions]

After copious testing (and me being absolute shit at Croc) I am proud to announce that Teddy is ready for adoption! Coming with him will be a Letter of Adoption with his name, place of origin, explanation of any work I’ve done, and just a general thank you! Be sure to check him out if you’re looking for a Playstation with a lot of gettup and go to ‘em!

[mandareeboo]

Last chance!!!! Teddy’s going off the webs by the end of the week- his price is smaller than ever, and he’s looking for a home!!!

[retroadoptions]

Sorry, everybody. After a long listing, I’ve taken Teddy down to find a local buyer for him. Maybe next time!

[retroadoptions]

Without further ado, I bring you Alfie’s little brother, Teddy! Teddy has a bit of a beauty mark along the top right of his disk top, but after a quick clean he’s already running leagues better! It’s gonna take a little more finagling to get him at a pace where he can be adopted, but I have high hopes!

[retroadoptions]

After copious testing (and me being absolute shit at Croc) I am proud to announce that Teddy is ready for adoption! Coming with him will be a Letter of Adoption with his name, place of origin, explanation of any work I’ve done, and just a general thank you! Be sure to check him out if you’re looking for a Playstation with a lot of gettup and go to ‘em!

[mandareeboo]

Last chance!!!! Teddy’s going off the webs by the end of the week- his price is smaller than ever, and he’s looking for a home!!!

[retroadoptions]

Without further ado, I bring you Alfie’s little brother, Teddy! Teddy has a bit of a beauty mark along the top right of his disk top, but after a quick clean he’s already running leagues better! It’s gonna take a little more finagling to get him at a pace where he can be adopted, but I have high hopes!

[retroadoptions]

After copious testing (and me being absolute shit at Croc) I am proud to announce that Teddy is ready for adoption! Coming with him will be a Letter of Adoption with his name, place of origin, explanation of any work I’ve done, and just a general thank you! Be sure to check him out if you’re looking for a Playstation with a lot of gettup and go to ‘em!

[mandareeboo]

Guys I might be shit at Croc

[mandareeboo]

If you had to sit in front of a ps1 for a few hours to check it for glitches, which game would you get? I’m torn between Oddworld and 101 Dalmatians. Or something else entirely! Suggestions welcome, but I’d like to request they have some sort of cutscene for that check too.

[retroadoptions]

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think Teddy might actually be ready to go out! I’m gonna spend a couple more hours testing him tomorrow, but he plays Croc well, the cutscenes aren’t glitching or stuttering, there’s no volume peaks. I’m flabbergasted by how well he’s come along already!

As for Alfie... well, I think Alfie needs a new motherboard. I tried putting in a new optical drive (I have a few hanging around thnx to mis-ordering for Itti and Bitti lol) and it didn’t do anything. Sound plays but the screen is white. 

I’m still juggling how long I should be testing these consoles, tbh. I’m a bit shite at Croc, so I’m not really progressing, but I put a solid two hours into Teddy by now and he’s running like a champ!

[mandareeboo]

My old PS1 is the only system I have ever owned that has not failed, broken or needed repairs since I have gotten it. Decades of service. Hundreds of hours of Digimon World 2. A dozen play throughs of FF9 and Legend of the Dragoon.

The PS1 is built like a BRICK, man. And chances are good that if it does slow down, it just needs a new optical drive. You can swap those puppies out in, like, seven minutes.

[retroadoptions]

Without further ado, I bring you Alfie’s little brother, Teddy! Teddy has a bit of a beauty mark along the top right of his disk top, but after a quick clean he’s already running leagues better! It’s gonna take a little more finagling to get him at a pace where he can be adopted, but I have high hopes!

[retroadoptions]

Our newest friend, Alfie!!! He and his brother, Teddy, came to me all the way from Florida to get themselves a new home! Teddy needs a bit of sprucing before he’s ready to go on-stage (a bit camera shy, I think ;)) but Alfie is working amazing so far! I’m gonna have to do some more testing, a little TLC, but with a bit of luck and love this nice fella will be ready for adoption soon enough!

[retroadoptions]

Nothing quite like the realization that you snagged two playstations on sale, cleaned them up, and went to test them when you noticed…. you don’t have the proper cables to do it. 😅

[retroadoptions]

Cords will be in next week! I appreciate the patience in waiting to see how these adoptees will roll lol.

[retroadoptions]

Cords came in this morning! Like I thought, Itti is gonna need a new diskdrive- even a good cleaning can’t make her move. Bitti is yet to be determined! They spin just fine, and I got the feeling the console was trying to read the games and just… couldn’t.

Then I remembered- Bitti is a Japanese import! I was trying to use a US game. Not my most professional move, I admit. I’m going to have a Japanese game come in to see how that rolls before scrapping their diskdrive too.

[mandareeboo]

I gotta admit, I’m fully stumped on Itti and Bitti. I’ve bought two new optical drives for them and tested them, and they still can’t load anything. One will show me the menu and let me page through it, but it doesn’t spin. The other spins but doesn’t go to menu. I’ve checked over both motherboards and they LOOK fine on a cosmetic level, but I can only assume there’s some sort of technical error in them.

Any suggestions? I tried to find replacement motherboards but these systems have a weird set-up that’s hard to find. Most playstations are built for the side plug-in with optical but mine is all along the bottom. 

[retroadoptions]

I have a Gameboy Advance SP that I made a project of putting a new shell and buttons on for my birthday, but I’ve been having some trouble with the volume switch. I have to hold it down to get audio out of it most of the time, which means the problems in the slider. I’ve drizzled IPA down there a couple of times but no luck. Any advice, or should I bite the bullet and try my hand at desoldering the cover and trying to work from there? Love whatcha do.

Congratulations on the birthday, and the shell! I love working on gameboy advances- they're small enough to not be cumbersome, but not too small to make it hard to fiddle with!

I'm not expert, of course, but it does sound like some sort of internal problem with your volume switch. Pushing it down (to me) implies something that used to connect on its own isn't doing it naturally anymore, so you have to force it to. The IPA is good for loosening things up, but it can't reconnect lost friends in the tech. I'd see about fiddling with the insides, if you're comfortable doing so, or replacing the volume switch entirely.

That said, always look for a third opinion on these things! There's a whole world of great info videos and such on the internet at your fingertips.

[mandareeboo]

I tried to clean the fan on my PS4 pro yesterday. Could only get the top cover off. Didn't have the right tool to get the rest off so I just kinda had to use a q-tip on each fan blade and hope for the best. Between that and the little y screws on Switch controllers, I am pretty sure game companies just don't want anyone ever doing their own repairs.

Oh, they don't. Legitimately. A lot of systems come with special "warranty stickers" that can void shit if you try to fiddle with them at all. It's mostly to try and ward off modders, I think, as well as pool a little extra money. This system, in this case, was an old one my neighbors just want to use to watch movies. Doesn't even have a way to download games. They didn't mind that sticker going as long as I could clean it.

Also!!!! All nintendo systems (that I'm aware of) have y screws. They're technically called "triwings" and if you ever purchase a nintendo system part or shell chances are good you'll get a cheap plastic screwdriver built for it in the mail as a bonus. I spent the extra for a little metal one bc I want to do this as a hobby.

[thedouglastrap]

Fun note: At least in the US, even if they have a warranty sticker, they cannot void your warranty if you remove them, it is illegal for them to do so per the FTC. Just pretend you didn’t see the sticker and proceed onwards!

[mandareeboo]

Ooooh, fuck YES. Fight the system.

[retroadoptions]

Ya’ll, I have sad news. After doing some extensive testing on Hunter, I’ve found that the poor boy is having some graphical glitches I can only assume relates to his motherboard. A solid scrubbing with rubbing alcohol didn’t prove to be of any affect. So, Hunter will be staying with me, retired in his golden years. 

But I don’t plan to give up! I loved every second of working with Hunter, and fully intend to keep working on getting other old consoles and loving them up. I’m always happy to hear from you guys about your adopted mechanical whizgigs, or you could send me some cash at [email protected] to paypal to help me snag more future friends! 

[retroadoptions]

You know, I got so caught up in my excitement, I forgot to get the boring money stuff out of the way! Anyway, If you guys want to see my handle a specific kind of game system or lot, or simply have specific kinds of cases you want on potential adoptees, my paypal is [email protected]!

[retroadoptions]

Nothing quite like the realization that you snagged two playstations on sale, cleaned them up, and went to test them when you noticed…. you don’t have the proper cables to do it. 😅

[retroadoptions]

Cords will be in next week! I appreciate the patience in waiting to see how these adoptees will roll lol.

[retroadoptions]

Cords came in this morning! Like I thought, Itti is gonna need a new diskdrive- even a good cleaning can’t make her move. Bitti is yet to be determined! They spin just fine, and I got the feeling the console was trying to read the games and just... couldn’t.

Then I remembered- Bitti is a Japanese import! I was trying to use a US game. Not my most professional move, I admit. I’m going to have a Japanese game come in to see how that rolls before scrapping their diskdrive too.

[retroadoptions]

Nothing quite like the realization that you snagged two playstations on sale, cleaned them up, and went to test them when you noticed…. you don’t have the proper cables to do it. 😅

[retroadoptions]

Cords will be in next week! I appreciate the patience in waiting to see how these adoptees will roll lol.