FX Pak Pro Chrono Trigger Issue

[MtOlympus]

Hello friends, Reddit suggested I post here. I'm sorry to bother with such an elementary question.

FX Pak Pro, newest firmware, original SNES.

When I try to run Chrono Trigger, the intro music plays, but there is no picture. When the music ends, the ROM is unresponsive.

Just trying to use the standard SNES version.

I've tried different ROMs and reinstalling firmware. Every other ROM on the SD card works perfectly.

I'm just stumped on this one. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[nuu]

Did you try a no-intro dump?

Check the rom's hash with the datomatic:
https://datomatic.no-intro.org/index.php?page=show_record&s=49&n=0435 Japanese version
https://datomatic.no-intro.org/index.php?page=show_record&s=49&n=0437 USA version

[MtOlympus]

I checked... my ROM matches the trusted dump. This is just the strangest thing ever...

[Richardragon87]

It may be the fact your In game hooks are turned on, sometimes when a game jams in some weird way be it if it sticks on a static screen and the music plays or the screen plays music when the screen blackout and doesn't respond it may have something to do with the button inputs that let you get back to the game menu by inputting them.

The best way to determine this is playing Kamen Rider and see if you can get past the intro screen as you'll notice nothing will respond until the in game hooks are turned off and hopefully this will resolve Chrono Triggers one too.

[MtOlympus]

It may be the fact your In game hooks are turned on, sometimes when a game jams in some weird way be it if it sticks on a static screen and the music plays or the screen plays music when the screen blackout and doesn't respond it may have something to do with the button inputs that let you get back to the game menu by inputting them.

The best way to determine this is playing Kamen Rider and see if you can get past the intro screen as you'll notice nothing will respond until the in game hooks are turned off and hopefully this will resolve Chrono Triggers one too.

Thanks for the tip! Unfortunately, it made no difference whether the hooks were off or on. And I was able to run Kamen Rider perfectly.

The only other option I could think of is trying another SD card. Is that worth trying, even if every single ROM runs perfectly?

EDIT: After playing the ROM on PC today, I realized the music that plays on the SNES is NOT the opening theme music with the clock ticking, but rather the music that plays during the opening cutscene after the balloons pop and the waves crash. Not sure if that matters...

[nuu]

You hear the intro sounds instead of the title screen music without pressing any buttons? That's strange.

What about the auto region patch setting? Try turning that off as well.

[MtOlympus]

You hear the intro sounds instead of the title screen music without pressing any buttons? That's strange.

What about the auto region patch setting? Try turning that off as well.

Auto Region patch off made no difference, unfortunately.

[nuu]

I tried Chrono Trigger on my SD2SNES and it works like normal.

What about cheats? Turn that off as well.
Try going back to an earlier version of the OS.
This is a long-shot but, does Super Mario Kart work correctly?

If it won't work no matter what, it might be defective and you should contact the seller.

[MtOlympus]

I tried Chrono Trigger on my SD2SNES and it works like normal.

What about cheats? Turn that off as well.
Try going back to an earlier version of the OS.
This is a long-shot but, does Super Mario Kart work correctly?

If it won't work no matter what, it might be defective and you should contact the seller.

Cheats are disabled. Same result on or off.

Same result on earlier firmware.

Super Mario Kart works great.

At this point, it's either the cartridge or my SNES. The return window is still open with Amazon. I could do an exchange and then I'll know for sure.

Thanks for your help.

[MtOlympus]

So... update.

I got my replacement FXPak today. Exact same issue.

So, tried different memory cards, different ROMs, and different FXPaks. I guess the problem is the SNES?

I'm not sure why a SNES would fail on one thing but play everything else perfectly. Is it worth taking the SNES apart and cleaning it, or should I just let this one go?

[nuu]

I have no idea what breaks this one game. Maybe some hardware part that is essential for this game to start correctly is broken, but not essential enough for most other games to mostly work. It's not a very common problem.

Yes carefully cleaning it with alcohol is always a good idea. You could also try having it recapped, and try another AC-adapter. If you don't want to spend too much time and money on it, I would just look for a new SFC or SNES and sell this as junk to someone that can repair it or use it for parts.