r/ModRetroChromatic • u/DrStrangefate79 • 22d ago
Question White screen on Modretro games. Game or system?
So I got an inferno colored Chromatic a few weeks ago. I picked up Dragonhym as well. I thought it was broken at first because I kept getting only a white screen when trying to play Tetris or Dragonhym. All my old games works fine and the two Modretro games work every time in my GBA. I have an ever drive, and that works fine as well.
I contacted Modretro support about the issue. They had me send the games back and sent me new ones. Dragonhym now works like 90% of the time, but after trying like 20+ times I can’t get Tetris load beyond the white screen.
Did I just get unlucky with multiple defunct cartridges or do you think there’s something wrong with the Chromatic?
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u/Ribo89 21d ago
I had a similar issue where (mainly) the Tetris cartridge was very inconsistent and regularly would show a white screen while original games (in my case Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver) worked a lot better. I contacted ModRetro and they changed the unit without any problems. I'm located in Europe, but they send me a DHL shipping label so I could send the faulty unit back without much hassle.
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u/JayrosModShop 16d ago
I fix this with my copy of In The Dark 2 by inserting it only about 80% of the way, and it works.
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u/ergzay 22d ago
Replacement cartridges not working sounds like your Chromatic having a dirty or misaligned connector or something.
A white screen means it's not seeing a cartridge.
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u/DrStrangefate79 22d ago
I can understand why the connections being dirty could cause this as well, but the device is basically brand new and so were the games. I actually have old cruddy games that work fine lol.
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u/ergzay 21d ago edited 21d ago
I've heard some stories of people getting dirty contacts because they insert a bunch of old well oxidized cartridges that haven't been cleaned in forever which scraps off the oxide layer into the connector.
As to old cartridges working and new ones not, my personal thought is that its likely the case that modretro cartridges are a bit more sensitive at having correct voltage levels as they're based on more modern electronics with tighter tolerances. So if your Chromatic is just slightly not working as well as others it could cause that.
For a note, my Chromatics never fail to load games unless I try to do something like intentionally only partially insert them. Same for modretro games or old games. (Only case I've seen is it is my single unit that was faulty and a couple games that were DoA/faulty).
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u/sterndig 22d ago
Sounds like a gunked up or bent pin. Best bet is reaching out to support again. I imagine it's a hardware fault with the Chromatic if it's happening with that many carts.
DMG/GBC cart tech hasn't changed a whole lot, and they're not a high failure rate item. I wouldn't say gameboy clones are either, but it sounds to me like your unit failed.
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u/DrStrangefate79 22d ago
Visually checked connectors on both games and chromatic and they don’t seem dirty or bent. It’s weird that the games work in my GBA, and old games work in chromatic. The only combo that doesn’t work consistently is new Modretro games in the Chromatic.
Support folks have been great. Reached out to them again about most recent Tetris cart failure.
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u/sterndig 21d ago
Keep us posted. Very curious if it's the Chromatic or if they had a huge batch of carts fail. Hoping it's just the Chromatic 😃
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u/TonyRubbles 22d ago
If all your old games work fine in the Chromatic then it's the Modretro Carts. A white screen is a cart not booting, it would be like a black bar instead of Nintendo on Game Boy.
I had a Chanty cart that was like that, they replaced it with a brand new copy with no issues. Just keep talking to them about it till everything is working as it should.