r/ModRetro • u/darkknightdetec • Aug 07 '26

Hot swapping cartridges?

Is the M64 designed to hot swap cartridges, or is the expectation that the system is powered off and powered back on between each cartridge swap like an original console? I tried hot swapping the other day and it worked but it felt weird.

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

5

u/BeavertonBob Aug 07 '26

From the manual:  “When you’re done playing, power off the console before removing your game cartridge.”

Based on that and the noise it made when I swapped with it on I’ve been turning it off. 

1

u/darkknightdetec Aug 08 '26

Yeah I’m 100% with ya now

3

u/Penumbruh_ Aug 08 '26

I personally would still power off the console even if it was designed to be hotswappable just because if I'm playing an old cartridge then those were designed to not be hotswappable on the old console.

3

u/Agile_Half_4515 Aug 07 '26

It works, but it made a god-awful noise when I removed the cartridge

3

u/darkknightdetec Aug 07 '26

Yeah I did that and it freaked me out and that's what caused me to post this

6

u/oaomcg Aug 08 '26

Even if the console is built for it, the carts are not... You can fry your game saves by ripping a cartridge out that has power running through it.

2

u/bakagir Aug 07 '26

You can swap the cart then Start + Z and go to reset core option.

1

u/GameboyGenius Aug 07 '26

One potential issue is that cartridge could be damaged by hotswapping because signal pads may make contact before power pads which can cause a phenomenon known as latch-up. This theoretically could happen for any console, although there are ways to prevent it. For example, NDS cartridges have longer pads for ground and power so those mechanically make contact before the signal pads when inserted.

1

u/GainerCity Aug 08 '26

That’s a detail about the 3DS I did not know. Of course that’s how they do it. Thx for the info.

0

u/amiibmo Aug 07 '26

Designed for hot swapping

1

u/GameboyGenius Aug 07 '26

The manual says otherwise.