Replace the Battery in your Game Cartridge! **56k warning**

[mr_pikachu]

I'll admit I'm unfamiliar with most of this process and with the mechanics of DW3. But is it possible that because the battery was not soldered into the cartridge, the game itself is unable to draw power from it? That is, could the battery just be too loose after having slid it in? If that's the case, maybe there's a better way to secure it... not sure. You also may want to check to make sure the CR2032 3V model will work in this case.

Those are the only ideas I have. Other, more technically inclined people probably have other suggestions, but if it's not a battery problem then it would likely have to be something with the game itself. Let's hope it's the former.

[jubily_]

mr_pikachu, I’m really really thankful for your help!
Here’s what I did:

? -“But is it possible that because the battery was not soldered into the cartridge, the game itself is unable to draw power from it? That is, could the battery just be too loose after having slid it in? If that's the case, maybe there's a better way to secure it... not sure.”
Yeah, this is my suspicion too… I took a picture from the metallic structure of DWIII to show you (sorry by the bad quality of it…). It is different from the usual as you can see in the image above…

I’m sure it is connected to the two poles… one above, one down, cos this system compresses the battery against a metallic structure that is itself soldered to the base.

I really don’t know how to secure it better… the system already secures it… but this is the only possibility left…


√ -“You also may want to check to make sure the CR2032 3V model will work in this case.”
This was the model that I took from the cartridge… Of course it could be already changed by the person who had the game before me (it was bought in second hand)…
Truly, I don’t believe anyone could sell a game like this, unless it was damaged… Maybe the guy had already tried to replace battery, and he couldn’t!
Besides that, I noticed that the positive pole (+) was up (faced to me), and the negative pole (-) was faced to the chip base… which is contrary to your Pokémon batteries placement… It suggested me that the guy, who tried this before me, mistaken the position… But I already tried the two different ways, without success…



? - “but if it's not a battery problem then it would likely have to be something with the game itself. Let's hope it's the former.”
I thought that too, but would the game be playable if it was damaged? It could be, but this works fine! …except the savings… but is always a possibility…



√- Make a reset attempt (by trying the game without any battery, and then with the new battery... The game could have not noticed the new battery...)
I already tried it… didn’t work.


√- The new battery can be damaged (yeah, it actually happens once in a million!)
I took a battery from a pc, which is the same CR2032 3V model, to test with another battery, and it stills don’t work.



√ - I simply don't now how to save this... (It’s always a possibility)
“To save one's progress, the player must visit a Church (also known as a House of Healing in early North American versions) and talk to a priest or nun.” (wikipedia)
That’s what I do….


√ - wait one night with the new battery in, to… I honestly don’t know for what! Lol But I even tried this! Didn’t work…

Conclusion: I don’t know what else I can do… I think I tried it all! Uff… but it still don’t work.
Anyway, I must say that I really appreciate your help mr_pikachu! =)
Thank you!

[mr_pikachu]

Hrm. Well, I'm just sorry that I wasn't able to help you actually solve the problem. It's just not my area of expertise at all - I'm a novice with internal computer hardware, and in some respects this is on a higher level.

The one thing I will say is that it's highly unlikely that someone else tried to pull a battery switch before you. Most people wouldn't dream of attempting it, particularly without a guide like Master Kirby's. So the internal workings were probably unaltered when you got it, aside from the battery being out of power. (If you're still unsure, it may be worthwhile to try to find a picture of an open cartridge online for reference.)

Other than that, I'm afraid there's not much more I can offer. Master Kirby still drops by occasionally, so maybe you can catch him then. Or you can try to contact him through his website, or something. He has a lot more technical know-how than the rest of us; he's the one who started this whole thing, after all! So he may be able to offer some advanced insight. Or maybe you'll be able to figure out some alternative solution to your dilemma. However you proceed, though, I wish you the best of luck!

[Master Kirby]

Hi jubily_ , I’m glad you were able to find this forum! It isn’t very active any more, but I guess Search Engines will still find it.

That is interesting that the battery to your game is in a clip instead of being soldered to the board. Soldering the battery would maintain a better connection, but the clip would make it much easier to replace (or install) the battery.

I had read your first post and had a list of ideas to test, but it seems you have already tested them. (proper polarity, test for a good battery, Check that the clips hold the battery tightly)

Is your game an official version, or pirated? The cartridge you show that has the clip looks different than normal GBC circuit boards. Here is a link to a picture of an official game. http://www.woodus.com/den/gallery/gr...art/dw3gbc.jpg

I also have Dragon Warrior III, and mine has a full sized circuit board and battery that is attached through the standard soldered tabs.

How long have you had the game? Is it in your native language? In this case, it may be that there is actually no problem with the cartridge. You mentioned that you have tried to save by talking to a priest in a Church? I think you might be trying to save in the wrong place.

I have probably played for 20+ hours on my game and I have never saved in a church. If you want to save the game, you need to talk to a woman in the house in the upper left hand corner of the first town (the same house where you recruit people to join your team). If you enter the house, she is on the first floor at the back of the room. Later in the game you also can save by talking to a man standing next to the king in a castle (or maybe you need to talk to the king himself...I forget which). You can also make a temporary save by pressing START (outside of battle) and following the directions. This Log Save will be deleted when you resume the game.

Try talking to the woman near the back wall of the bottom floor of the house in the upper left hand corner of the first town. You may actually have a working game. Let us know if that works.

Good Luck!

[jubily_]

“The one thing I will say is that it's highly unlikely that someone else tried to pull a battery switch before you.”

Mr_pikachu, you were right! I noticed the battery is written in Japanese (or can it be Chinese?… it could be bought in a Chinese store… – we have thousands in here!)
Anyway, I agree with you, and I really think the battery is the original one!

Once again, thank you very much for your help mr_pikachu!

“Hi jubily_ , I’m glad you were able to find this forum! It isn’t very active any more, but I guess Search Engines will still find it.”
I must say, this is the BEST tutorial I’ve found for replacing batteries!! (I only found one other…)
It’s amazingly done! =D

I was just giving up from my game, when I looked at the forum today!
Thank you very much for helping me on this Master Kirby!


So, let us begin:

- “That is interesting that the battery to your game is in a clip instead of being soldered to the board. Soldering the battery would maintain a better connection, but the clip would make it much easier to replace (or install) the battery.”

Well, the clip itself is soldered to the board, and it really seems to provide a good connection between the battery and the board… But the problem must be something about it…



- “I had read your first post and had a list of ideas to test, but it seems you have already tested them.
.proper polarity – this battery system seems to be the opposite of yours, but I tested the two sides already…
.test for a good battery – I bought a new one to replace the old, but it really could be damaged (it can happen), so I tested with the battery from the computer (which is the same)… it didn’t work
.Check that the clips hold the battery tightly – they really does! I even have to force a little the battery to release it from the metallic structure!

- “Is your game an official version, or pirated? The cartridge you show that has the clip looks different than normal GBC circuit boards. Here is a link to a picture of an official game. http://www.woodus.com/den/gallery/gr...art/dw3gbc.jpg. I also have Dragon Warrior III, and mine has a full sized circuit board and battery that is attached through the standard soldered tabs.”

Well, the battery seemed original (Japanese), and the game was bought in second hand (could it be a copy ?? O_O; )…
I scanned it to show you, it is a bit different from your original game… My version may be the European version.

Well, another thing that intrigued me, was a little stick with numbers glued to the board… It occurred me that the game could possibly be damaged and the owner took it for repair (it is one of those sticks used to identify something… you can see it in the image)
Or maybe, this is really a copy… (but it came in an official package…at least it looks like one)

- “How long have you had the game? Is it in your native language? In this case, it may be that there is actually no problem with the cartridge.
I bought the game two weeks ago, it is in English (I’m from Portugal).

-“You mentioned that you have tried to save by talking to a priest in a Church? I think you might be trying to save in the wrong place.”
Yeah… actually I said Church but it isn’t… lol
The Church is only for healing, and is located in the right of the map. I saved with the nun, where you said.
And I tried to save in the emulator (Just to be sure!), and it worked, so I’m saving the game properly, lol!

I really don’t know what’s left to do…!
But I do appreciate all your efforts and support! =D
If you have another idea, please let me know!
Thank you very very much!

[Amani2]

BATTERIES WITH TABS (a slightly modified procedure).

Thank you for this wonderful website. It is the best tutorial for replacing battery saves for old games that I have seen. As with a few other posters, I registered specifically to thank you. Even years after you posted this, people are still using it! I just got BR2032 batteries from digikey with tabs, like you suggested, and now my Link's Awakening and Oracle of Ages will have battery life for many years. I have yet to start Oracle of Ages, but now I don't have to worry about losing my save data. I bought the game used and I didn't want to risk being in the middle of my adventure and having to start all over.

Here's a little review of what I had to do since I used the BR2032 batteries with tabs from digikey (part number P223-ND at digikey.com). Your procedure had to be modified a bit.

1) I actually bought a security screwdriver to make opening the game easier. The one on amazon is a great brand (very sturdy), and was cheap. (I used the "3.8mm Security Bit to Open Games NES Snes N64 Tool" by Classic Game Source http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._ya_oh_product).

2) When prying off the old battery, loosening up the solder with a soldering gun worked well. I would definitely put on SAFETY GOGGLES though! When my dad pried it up, we almost had a chunk of solder thrown into our eyes.

3) I had to cut the tabs slightly on the battery to make it fit, since the BR2032 battery itself is quite a bit larger than the original one they had in there. And the tabs ran into the other circuitry, which is not good.

4) I positioned the battery so it was slightly turned, but the tabs were still on the battery contacts (this was so I could access the old solder underneath, and it also helped the battery fit a bit better). I then used a clamp to hold the battery onto the circuit board.

5) I then melted the old solder and added just a tiny bit of new solder.

6) TA-DA!! Done and pretty easy. I didn't come close to messing up the board and short circuiting something, but you really don't need much solder. When it was manufactured there was actually quite a bit on there to start with. So be careful with that part! :-).

My Oracle of Ages game has a clear case, so I can actually see the large, yellow-rimmed battery. Luckily, my soldering was pretty good so I'm not embarrassed that people can see everything.

Thanks again and I hope others continue to use this website!

[brownj001]

Hi guys,

First, kudos for documenting this so well. Kind of obvious, if people are still reading it and talking about it years later!

I am finding some of these older games at garage sales, etc. and want to resell them so new players can enjoy them. Finding them a good home, as it were. But I want to fully test them as well and I have run across this problem now.

One of the earlier posts asked who might be able to help in Australia, if someone was not comfortable doing the soldering. Anyone with a background in electronics should be able to do this easily. It occurs to me that in the sad event someone does not have any friends or family with such skills (e.g. tech geeks), you could always approach a professional. I am thinking any jewelery repair or electronics repair place could do this in 5 minutes flat. They replace batteries all the time. Although ask how much before they accept the job as they may have a flat rate ($5-10) or may even ask for extra for the unusual request. But if you are desperate... maybe worth a try. It seemed obvious to me (tech geek) but I wanted to mention it.

Again, major kudos Master Kirby! I suspect you have helped rescue many a cartridge from oblivion.

[King Dusk]

To be honest, I joined here to post in this thread, though, when I'm done, I'll probably check the rest of the site out.

But, I have a spare DL2032 watch battery lying around, fully charged, and I read in a few places that CR2025 and CR2032 are interchangeable, and another says it's ok to use a DL2025. My mind wants to assume it's ok to use the DL2032 since it's saying it is. I just figured it would be smart to ask a few people who seem to know what they're doing.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[xXTheBlackHaloXx]

I apologize if I do not end up making many other posts aside from this one on this forum, because I mainly made this account to express my gratitude to all who contributed on this thread.

You all have helped restore my Gold version, and you have my thanks for your transcendent tutorial - very clear, good visual aids, and one of the few of it's topic on the web.

This project didn't take much time to complete at all, and it was well worth it. Not only for the finished product alone, but the fun, and interesting experience.

Kudos, Master Kirby, your contribution has most certainly not gone unnoticed.

[AllHail Master Kirby]

I too signed up to in order to thank Master Kirby and all that replied with helpful information.

I would also like to mention(and I'm sure you might be amused by)
I am 17 and I managed to get a Gameboy Colour emulator working on my phone which i used only for Pokemon because I was keen to revisit those great memories of being a pokemaster . My friend started to play Pokemon on the emulator with me and after a couple of weeks we decided to buy gameboys and play Pokemon for real. I managed to get a purple transparent one for $17AUD along with Pokemon Pinball, 4 game cases and a hardcase. The other one(which my friend will be using once it has arrived) was $28AUD with F1 Race & Killer Instinct. Both with including postage. My friend still had his Pokemon games sitting around so we decided to use his. I started playing silver lastnight and got up to the part where you battle your rival for the first time and decided to make sure that it would save(prior to reading this post)...It didn't give me the option to load when I restarted so today I googled around and found this thread.

So I told my friend about the game not saving and that I found a guide that explains how to replace the battery that is used to keep the save file alive. We both agreed that I would buy 3 of the CR2032's off ebay(which I did today for $10AUD, free postage) and replace the battery in Silver and any other Pokemon games that cant hold a save.

I look forward to attempting this soon....I might first try just squeezing the battery in between the contacts and if I'm not confident it will hold, I'll solder the battery in place.

Also...can anyone tell me whether its more fun to play the special edition Pikachu version or a regular Gold or Silver version?. I read on Wikipedia that you can only choose Pikachu as a starter and that it follows you around all the time, not to mention that you "cant get certain Pokemon unless Pikachu has a certain happiness level".

[ethman14]

I couldn't believe this when I saw it! This is exactly what I've been looking for. I never thought I'd find a step-by-step instructional forum on how to fix my old games, and I used this on my old silver game correctly! Now I'm just hoping I can find one of those devices that records the battery data or whatnot on my comp. My only question is: where could I find one of those devices if there is one, and how long does the battery hold out now that I've replaced it??? Thanks again, you bring honor to all of us retro pokèmaniacs everywhere =D

[Kobra]

Now I'm just hoping I can find one of those devices that records the battery data or whatnot on my comp. My only question is: where could I find one of those devices

There's a device for Gameboy called "MegaMemory" which can backup and restore the save memory on a GB cart. It plugs into your GB, and stores the data on its own internal flash memory. It can store a LOT! (I think I could store 40 or so complete saves from Pokemon blue and silver)

You can still get it from Amazon US or UK, or even ebay:

http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Gameboy...1&sr=8-6-spell

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...A1NACT5VNKO7TC


Can anyone advise me: I see a lot of old carts available on ebay, and the desciption usually says "in full working order" : do you generally think they are, or has the battery typically run-out and they haven't actually checked?

[6arm79]

I know you said that using a larger battery should lengthen the lifespan of it. My question is, how long would a 2025 be expected to last, and how long would the larger size extend that by? (without taking any risks) I also heard that Yellow version has a different size battery than the other Gen I & II games. Will a 2032 (was that it?) work in it?

Does the size of battery that will work and the lifespan expected of it vary from game to game? I also have Dragon Warrior I & II and Dragon Warrior III (GBC) and may need to replace their batteries.

I also heard that Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald used an internal battery to keep track of time, and that it can run out. Can it be safely changed without losing save data? What does that involve?

Thanks!

[Bunni1337]

HEY. For those for you who are a "for dummies" kind of person, and all this saudering, ripping cartridges ect is not for you, there is an alternative thats rather cheaper than buying batteries and replacing them.

GBC Mega Memory Card, fixed all my problems. I still eventually intend to replace the batteries in all my games, but once you remove the battery your game save goes bye bye. Get this to prevent that and be able to reload your save. Never lose it all ever again!

http://www.amazon.com/MEGA-MEMORY-CA...y+Card+gameboy


Totally saved my butt (and saved files) until I can afford to replace my batteries in Gold Silver and Crystal (my Red,Blue & yellow are still going strong!! ) Works with GB, GBC,GBA and GBSP!! Its FLASH so no worry of having to replace its battery! haha



And Thanks sooooooooooooooo much for this thread existing. I just made an account because of this thread to come say thanks and add that tid bit of info. Thanks a million Master Kirby and hitmonchan99 (I changed one battery without saudering thanks to you! ) Thanks a bunch, until today i didnt eve know they had battries in cartridges... lol