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Post by Sarge on Jul 20, 2020 13:15:28 GMT -5
Might it be possible to put a bodge wire in to fix the contact? But yeah, I've done this to a cart, too, and it sucks when it happens. I nuked a Deja Vu cart that I didn't desolder the ROM chip well enough, although I think I could probably resuscitate it with a bunch of jumper wires.
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Post by Ex on Jul 20, 2020 14:19:45 GMT -5
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. I applaud your noble effort, regardless of the outcome.
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Post by Sarge on Jul 20, 2020 16:34:45 GMT -5
That being said, hang on to the game - the ROM chips may still be fine, and you might be able to swap it to another board in a pinch.
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dreamgazer
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Posts: 27
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Post by dreamgazer on Jul 20, 2020 19:45:32 GMT -5
That being said, hang on to the game - the ROM chips may still be fine, and you might be able to swap it to another board in a pinch. I plan on doing exactly this. At the very least, I learned a lot from this little project. Maybe I'll pick up the next busted Blue that pops up on eBay.
I came so incredibly close to getting it to work.
Also, fun fact. Its actually cheaper to buy some shovelware game and x-fer the SRAM chip than to outright buy another chip.
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Post by Xeogred on Jul 21, 2020 13:39:33 GMT -5
I'm finally going to chime in here. I took a few electronics courses years ago in college. This is my solution...
Throw all your Pokemon games away. Step away from them. And never look back.
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Post by Ex on Jul 23, 2020 10:39:56 GMT -5
Throw all your Pokemon games away. Step away from them. And never look back. There is one Pokemon release I'm still kinda interested in trying eventually: I think that the Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei games provide the "capture monsters, use those monsters to fight other monsters" concept, but in a more interesting context, with considerably more challenge. ( Megami Tensei predates Pokemon for the record.) But on the other hand, MT/SMT are not relaxing and simple games like Pokemon is. So yeah, I understand that MT/SMT aren't meant for the same demographic. However, if the reader has ever been interested in the underlying monster collecting/battling concept of Pokemon, but were turned away by Pokemon's childish demeanor and ingratiating cuteness, then consider playing the Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei releases. The MT/SMT releases are dark and serious, difficult and rewarding games... what I would haughtily call Pokemon for adults. Keep in mind, I do not mean to endorse the Persona variants in this statement. Persona is a different experience for a different demographic.
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dreamgazer
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Posts: 27
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Post by dreamgazer on Jul 26, 2020 10:16:08 GMT -5
One final update:
I actually did get a successful installation of an SRAM chip using a bodge wire as Sarge suggested. The issue persisted. Then, I replaced the SRAM power control chip. Issue persisted. I give up. I have done everything I possibly can at this point and the issue remains. The save holds for a second or two and goes dark after the capacitance of the cart runs out. There is probably a bad connection somewhere on the PCB that I cannot see.
On an even worse note, I replaced my save battery for my Zelda GBC games. I am in the middle of a play through of Oracle of Ages right now and I just finished Seasons. The battery replacement itself went swimmingly. Ages and Seasons both would save with no issue and no data was lost during the x-fer.
However, for seemingly no F#@$ing reason, the saves on my Seasons just up and vanished 3 days after the replacement. Multi meter says that things should be working fine, but I guess the game itself doesn't agree. It still saves, but now I lost all my progress and can't even have a true playthrough of ages because I lost all my secrets. FML.
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Post by Ex on Jul 26, 2020 10:57:36 GMT -5
These are my best guesses of what went wrong, based on the limited information presented, and what I recollect of your earlier posts: The heat gun you are using is either too hot, or you are holding it too close for too long, to desolder points with. I never use a heat gun when desoldering. I always use a fine tip solder gun to dismantle solder points in a surgical fashion. I've read enough anecdotal heat gun related horror stories, about people damaging integrated chips, micro-components, circuit pathways, and melting silicon in PCBs, to never use a heat gun period. Not all coin/button/cell batteries are equal. Sometimes cheap batteries do not discharge consistently and evenly. Depending on the application, some people buy cheap cell batteries in bulk, from online sellers. Like Chinese wholesellers on eBay, and are okay with the questionable quality. Because for non-critical electronic purposes like TV remotes or pedometers, you might as well use a questionable battery because it's cheap. Or maybe one would sell those cheap batteries piecemeal for a profit to unwary domestic patrons. So for more critical applications, like keychain automobile remotes, or battery back-ups in electronic gaming cartridges, I only use the highest quality, most reliable batteries I can find, from a domestic seller with high feedback ratings. The last three times I've bought cell batteries, I've bought name brand stuff from Amazon themselves as the seller. You get exactly what you pay for with batteries. Static is the enemy. If you aren't consistently careful while working with PCBs and their related components, you can easily discharge static from yourself into that PCB. If that happens, it's likely you're gonna fry something in that PCB. Attics are no place to store sensitive electronics. Attics get very hot, they get very cold, and depending on where you live, they can get very humid. Cartridges do not fair well in such an environment for an extended period of time. PCBs and their related components aren't designed to exist in the temperature and humidity extremes that attics harbor. I wager that one or more of the above possibilities, are what caused your troubles with both of these cartridges.
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dreamgazer
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Post by dreamgazer on Jul 26, 2020 13:05:43 GMT -5
These are my best guesses... I ditched the heat gun after my first bad experience. I actually got my hands on a butane solder iron recently and it has made soldering so much easier. The thing heats up in seconds.
It seems like my OoS is saving still, though I replaced the battery again just to be safe. Considering that the save held fine for a few days, I'd be inclined to believe a faulty battery might be the perpetrator..
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Post by Sarge on Jul 26, 2020 16:01:34 GMT -5
Frustrations over battery saves are what partially prompted me to start running with flash carts instead. Just owning the cart is enough for me, and I'll play via something with a more permanent saving solution. If you don't want to dump too much money into one, the EverDrive GB X3 is quite cheap, and has no batteries, although you'll have to remember to press the bump on the back of the cart to reset it so that it saves the game to the SD card.
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