RickR Posted December 28, 2023 Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 There are a lot of reports out there about Evercade carts that stop working. I think it is factual, as Blaze will replace such carts in many cases. But I don't know how widespread the issue is, or if it is caused by a particular action or poor quality. What do you think? Has it happened to you? Some theoretical causes: Updates to the cart corrupt the cart. This implies that the original Evercade handheld may not cause this problem, as it doesn't connect to wifi and do updates. Removing the cart or turning off the Evercade while data is being saved corrupts the cart Physical deterioration. This implies a q-tip/alcohol cleaning can fix broken carts. Like I asked earlier -- please let us know if you have more info or if you've experienced the issue. How did the replacement process go for you? Justin, Cryptocoffee13, Sabertooth and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted December 28, 2023 Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 I haven't had this happen to me. I sure hope it doesn't! Cryptocoffee13, Sabertooth, DegasElite and 1 other 4 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 20 minutes ago, TrekMD said: I haven't had this happen to me. I sure hope it doesn't! I also have not seen this issue myself. Sabertooth, DegasElite and Cryptocoffee13 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptocoffee13 Posted December 29, 2023 Report Share Posted December 29, 2023 5 hours ago, RickR said: There are a lot of reports out there about Evercade carts that stop working. I think it is factual, as Blaze will replace such carts in many cases. But I don't know how widespread the issue is, or if it is caused by a particular action or poor quality. What do you think? Has it happened to you? Some theoretical causes: Updates to the cart corrupt the cart. This implies that the original Evercade handheld may not cause this problem, as it doesn't connect to wifi and do updates. Removing the cart or turning off the Evercade while data is being saved corrupts the cart Physical deterioration. This implies a q-tip/alcohol cleaning can fix broken carts. Like I asked earlier -- please let us know if you have more info or if you've experienced the issue. How did the replacement process go for you? I have heard people in some Evercade forums talk about this issue. Blaze generally takes care of this problem. Some people are also wondering how long these carts may last? I would think they should last a good while if protected, either in their original boxes or in a case of some kind. I have not had any issues at all with any carts. I also never ran into older carts not fitting into the EXP as some did. I have done all of the updates for the EXP and VS, and never lost any save data or had any inoperative games afterwards as some have reported. TrekMD, DegasElite and RickR 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 30 Author Report Share Posted January 30 Here is an update (and a lot of great info) from the Evercade official Facebook page: TrekMD, Smell Dawg and DegasElite 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eaglebeak54 Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 There have been a lot of posts (elsewhere) creating FUD regarding Blaze. The fact is, however, that many people including myself have updated their carts without issue; so the process works. Therefore the followup question with a couple of qualifiers is, "If the consoles and the carts are all of the same build quality and there has been no power outage or a cart/console is not on the brink of failure, what else is left to cause failure? The answer has to be on some level, "user error." When the screen goes black and a user thinks the update is done and pulls his cart, you have file corruption. When the update takes longer than expected and the user is in a hurry and pulls the cart to start over without a proper shutdown, you will likely have file corruption. Just because users can hot swap their carts on an Evercade (although it is still recommended to "Quit Game" first), does not mean it is safe to pull the cart when it is being written to. Sometimes we don't know and sometimes we don't think because we do things out of habit, but blaming Blaze as some have rushed to do should be reconsidering, as again "the process works." The only thing I could possibly find fault with Blaze on is that they need to assume that everyone knows nothing about updating software/firmware. A video showing how the process is done with all the other caveats about not turning off the device during updates, proper shutdown procedures, power requirements, etc., along with written instructions should be made available with a link. If a user fails to avail themselves of this information and the fault turns out to be theirs, I don't think they should be pointing a finger at Blaze. From a former PC tech's perspective this is just too obvious. I actually had a couple of clients who were just powering down their PCs by pressing the power button and then wondering why their PCs were acting up. For the well-initiated I could tell you a number of unbelievable stories and yet they'd all be true. I'm not being critical here at all. I'm simply pointing out that everyone is a novice about something and they need information and sometimes a bit of hand holding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted February 14 Author Report Share Posted February 14 While I agree with that on principle, I'm also an engineer and know dang well that if there is a way to screw it up, users will find it. Therefore, a system should be designed to be idiot-proof. Store updates on the console itself and do not re-flash carts, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eaglebeak54 Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 25 minutes ago, RickR said: While I agree with that on principle, I'm also an engineer and know dang well that if there is a way to screw it up, users will find it. Therefore, a system should be designed to be idiot-proof. Store updates on the console itself and do not re-flash carts, for example. Tell that to Microsoft, Apple, and Linux. 😉 And while I definitely agree with your sentiment, if you only store updates on the console, users will lose the ability to move their saved game states and high scores to other Evercade Consoles. Yes, doing so will definitely prevent such corruption, but you may upset a really large number of the client base who really like that feature. That's a war I'm not prepared to start. 😃 RickR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted February 14 Author Report Share Posted February 14 For sure. Who remembers those old motherboards that had TWO BIOS chips so that you could flash one, and if it failed, revert back to the other? I know, I know...added cost. Eaglebeak54 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted February 14 Author Report Share Posted February 14 Administer electrical shock if user tries to remove cartridge or turn off console too soon. 🙂 Eaglebeak54 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eaglebeak54 Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 On a more somber note, short of using an EverSD, which I do not own. I would hate to be an owner of what is now a legacy cart and have it fail on me. With no hope of replacement--Oh, the pain!!! 😧 RickR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 2 hours ago, RickR said: ...a system should be designed to be idiot-proof. Store updates on the console itself and do not re-flash carts, for example. No such thing exists. Believe me. There is an idiot out there that will prove you wrong! I see it EVERY DAY with patients who use medical devices that are supposed to be idiot-proof. Nope. I have stories I can share. Eaglebeak54 and RickR 2 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eaglebeak54 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 2 hours ago, TrekMD said: No such thing exists. Believe me. There is an idiot out there that will prove you wrong! I see it EVERY DAY with patients who use medical devices that are supposed to be idiot-proof. Nope. I have stories I can share. I guess it matters not our profession. We all have unbelievable stories we can tell. 😆 TrekMD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 (edited) 2 hours ago, Eaglebeak54 said: I guess it matters not our profession. We all have unbelievable stories we can tell. 😆 Yep. That be the truth! 😆 “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” ― Albert Einstein Edited February 15 by TrekMD Eaglebeak54 1 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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