akaviolence wrote:
A few of the traces going between pins on the the bottom side were scratched up enough to see copper, same with the big cap. So i'm not sure it was a shop repair unless the tech was really bad at it. Anyway, it does work now with the switch repaired. Maybe that wasn't the original problem as it was really easy to diagnose and repair.
Somebody may have been attempting to isolate interference between the CPU and PPU to clean up the video signal, went part of the way and then gave up. Maybe somebody wanted to use a CopyNES in it.
Perhaps somebody tried using a CPU from an earlier NES or aq Famicom to see if it would make a difference doing operation-X, or just for kicks; I recall reading somewhere that somebody wanted to put a FC CPU and PPU in a toploader NES for no good reason other than to do it. Heck, the original CPU could have been shorted by accident, and when replaced, the tech socketed it (common practice).
There are a myriad of potential reasons: Just smile and accept it. I'd rather have a socketed PPU, but a socketed CPU allows for you to quickly add a CopyNES with no de-soldering required.