Horrible reset/humming noise/screen flashing/flickering glitch possibly fixed by turning off sound (vintage P1, Gen1)

[Legend X]

I bought a vintage P1 Tamagotchi on eBay.

The batteries were extremely hard to replace as the screws were very hard to turn. There seemed to be some residue on the battery contacts, but I wiped them with a Q-tip. I had to secure the battery cover with scotch tape, but it works.

The sound was kind of weird when doing actions, and there was a faint line flickering when I pressed buttons.

The next day when I tried playing a game, the Tamagotchi glitched really bad. It had lines going up and down the screen, the icons were lighting up and turning off rapidly, and there was a weird humming noise.

I kept trying to make the Tamagotchi work normally, but it kept glitching and resetting whenever I tried doing any actions.

I then pressed the A and C buttons to turn the sound off, and tried again. Seems to work prefectly now. So far no trace of flickering or lines on the screen.

I wonder why turning the sound off would stop these major glitches? Is it possible the sound system was interfering with the circuit board since it's from 1997?

 

[user 218042]

Hmmm Could you send a video by chance? I have never heard of any glitches similar to this.

 

[Legend X]

Hmmm Could you send a video by chance? I have never heard of any glitches similar to this.

Unfortunately I didn't record a video or take any photos of the glitches. I was just trying to get the device to work.

I don't want to try to induce or trigger it again by turning on the sound, as that will reset the tamagotchi. But if it ever happens again, I can try to record it.

I wonder if anyone else knows what this can be or if they ever heard of something similar. The weird glitches made it seem haunted.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

If I had to guess, I would say this might be due to age - capacitors in electronic devices don't last forever.

 

[TamogotchiDUDE]

I have a P1 remake is it the remake or straight from 1997 taken care of to this day if it is 1997 your tama will probably die(the device)

 

[user 218042]

I have a P1 remake is it the remake or straight from 1997 taken care of to this day if it is 1997 your tama will probably die(the device)

According to them, it is a vintage (1996)