dreamgazer
HRG Experienced
Nostalgia Addict
Posts: 27
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Post by dreamgazer on Jul 15, 2020 12:44:12 GMT -5
I recently replaced the save battery for a copy of Pokemon Blue after many years of being abandoned in my attic. I have a good connection to the board according to my multi-meter (~3.3 volts across the two terminals). Strangely enough, the saves just aren't holding. I will start a game, save it, and it will disappear after a few minutes.
If I turn my GB off and on again the save holds, but anything longer than a few minutes seems to terminate the save file. I did some searching and wasn't able to find anything on the topic.
Not the greatest solder job in the world but it definitely is making contact.
Edit: Update, there seems to be a correlation between removing the cart from the game boy and the save terminating. I re-soldered the joints the ensure a proper connection and the issue persists.
Update 2: I doubled checked with my multi meter to make sure I hadn't damaged the board. I can confirm that voltage is flowing is flowing from the battery to the pins of the chips, indicating the board isn't compromised. Furthermore, I cleaned all of the contacts for the pins. I have decided to stick the cart in my Gamecube GBA player, and am going to let it sit for a while to see if there is just some static nonsense corrupting the memory. I'll report back to see if this fixes the issue.
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Post by Sarge on Jul 15, 2020 14:01:04 GMT -5
That is quite curious. I wonder if there's something wrong with the SRAM chip itself? If the battery shows more than 3V, it should be fine.
I've only beaten one Pokemon game, and this one is it. I didn't even know about the cartoon at the time, I just saw it in Nintendo Power and said, "Ooh, Game Boy RPG!" I definitely see why folks still like the games, even if it's probably a little too grindy for me these days if you want to try to get into high-level competitive play.
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dreamgazer
HRG Experienced
Nostalgia Addict
Posts: 27
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Post by dreamgazer on Jul 15, 2020 14:18:29 GMT -5
That is quite curious. I wonder if there's something wrong with the SRAM chip itself? If the battery shows more than 3V, it should be fine. I've only beaten one Pokemon game, and this one is it. I didn't even know about the cartoon at the time, I just saw it in Nintendo Power and said, "Ooh, Game Boy RPG!" I definitely see why folks still like the games, even if it's probably a little too grindy for me these days if you want to try to get into high-level competitive play. Hahaha the gen 1 games are so broken that high-level play isn't really a thing. They've aged well in some senses but poorly in others.
I think that I can confirm static is the issue. After letting the game sit in my Game Cube for ~20 minutes, I can get the save to hold after pulling the cart out for a short time. The saves are still wiping, but its getting a bit less frequent. Hopefully this problem will go away on its own. I'll keep updating for clueless people from the future experiencing similar issues.
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Post by anayo on Jul 15, 2020 20:29:32 GMT -5
That is quite curious. I wonder if there's something wrong with the SRAM chip itself? If the battery shows more than 3V, it should be fine. I've only beaten one Pokemon game, and this one is it. I didn't even know about the cartoon at the time, I just saw it in Nintendo Power and said, "Ooh, Game Boy RPG!" I definitely see why folks still like the games, even if it's probably a little too grindy for me these days if you want to try to get into high-level competitive play. Hahaha the gen 1 games are so broken that high-level play isn't really a thing. They've aged well in some senses but poorly in others.
I think that I can confirm static is the issue. After letting the game sit in my Game Cube for ~20 minutes, I can get the save to hold after pulling the cart out for a short time. The saves are still wiping, but its getting a bit less frequent. Hopefully this problem will go away on its own. I'll keep updating for clueless people from the future experiencing similar issues.
Yes please update. I want to know the answer to this unsolved mystery.
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dreamgazer
HRG Experienced
Nostalgia Addict
Posts: 27
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Post by dreamgazer on Jul 15, 2020 20:42:50 GMT -5
Hahaha the gen 1 games are so broken that high-level play isn't really a thing. They've aged well in some senses but poorly in others.
I think that I can confirm static is the issue. After letting the game sit in my Game Cube for ~20 minutes, I can get the save to hold after pulling the cart out for a short time. The saves are still wiping, but its getting a bit less frequent. Hopefully this problem will go away on its own. I'll keep updating for clueless people from the future experiencing similar issues.
Yes please update. I want to know the answer to this unsolved mystery. I retract my statement about the static; I think that SRAM is compromised after more thinking and poking around. I ordered a replacement GM76C256CLLFW70 SRAM chip on ebay and a heat gun. I'm shooting a video about the troubleshooting/repair process and will make sure to post it here once all is said and done.
I've never soldered with a heat gun before so I'm a little worried, but worst comes to worst I'll just have to solder each individual pin with my iron. (Which I'm afraid I might have to do; 90s Nintendo solder melts at a higher temperature.)
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Post by Ex on Jul 15, 2020 21:35:06 GMT -5
dreamgazerI would replace that battery with another new battery, before worrying about the SRAM chip being corrupted. I know you're getting ~3 volts across the terminals. But it's still possible the battery isn't discharging the appropriate amount of milliamps correctly. (I've had issues with CR2025s before.) If you put another new battery in, and you still have this issue, then I'd worry about PCB damage or SRAM chip corruption.
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Post by Sarge on Jul 15, 2020 21:53:45 GMT -5
Ex might be right on that front. Battery first, SRAM second. I probably should have said that earlier. Hopefully the SRAM chip isn't too expensive, though.
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dreamgazer
HRG Experienced
Nostalgia Addict
Posts: 27
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Post by dreamgazer on Jul 16, 2020 15:47:45 GMT -5
dreamgazer I would replace that battery with another new battery, before worrying about the SRAM chip being corrupted. I know you're getting ~3 volts across the terminals. But it's still possible the battery isn't discharging the appropriate amount of milliamps correctly. (I've had issues with CR2025s before.) If you put another new battery in, and you still have this issue, then I'd worry about PCB damage or SRAM chip corruption. Swapped the battery out and re-flowed the solder for all the pins, issue still persists.
Now begins the fun part.... I ordered this SRAM from ebay, should be compatible w/ Pokemon Blue. Its the same part but I worry the dimensions might not be identical... Its hard to tell the dimensions from the picture alone.
I am tempted to do an FRAM upgrade with the FM28V020 chip but I am worried there might be compatibility issues, as there is no 5V variant of the FM28V020... I have heard rumors of successful FRAM upgrades using this chip but don't feel like spending any more money on this project unless I know it will work.
(Screencaps of ebay links to chips for people in the future)
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Post by Sarge on Jul 16, 2020 20:24:49 GMT -5
That's still super curious. I hope you get it figured out! It just feels like it has to be a disconnect somewhere so that the SRAM chip is no longer getting power from the battery.
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dreamgazer
HRG Experienced
Nostalgia Addict
Posts: 27
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Post by dreamgazer on Jul 20, 2020 13:04:11 GMT -5
Update: I actually replaced the SRAM and it (kind of) worked. I butchered a shovelware baseball game to steal its SRAM and x-fered it over to Pokemon Blue. Unfortunately, the heat gun I used also fried THAT chip, and when I went to take it off the board it took one of the contacts with it. Rip, Pokemon Blue.
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