Replacing SNES save battery without loosing save

[MrPete1985]

So I have been digging around and found my old SNES and games.  So I wanted to replace the batteries in my games but if possible I wanted to see if there was a way I could keep my save.  My first go with Super Metroid did not work but my next 2 attempts with Donkey Kong Country and Legend of Zelda both worked without any issues.

 

Some shots of the Super Metroid PCB

 

And check and make sure the game is still saving

 

For my first attempt I decided to try powering the SRAM directly, to do this I cut off the end of a mini USB cable and stripped the red (+5v) and black (ground) wires.

 

Then I checked the data sheet and wired the USB cable onto the chip to give it a 5v supply

http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/108057/LG/GM76C88AL-15.html

 

And installed the new battery

 

unfortunately the save was lost but I still have a few more ideas.  Next up I tried Donkey Kong Country but no pictures of that so instead here are some pics from Legend of Zelda.  First gotta check and make sure the game still has a save.

 

OK next take lets take it apart.

 

Next using the same USB cable from Super Metroid this time I soldered so that the whole board has power.  I soldered to the capacitor right by the 5 volt pin.

 

Now that the board has power from the USB cable I can remove the battery

 

Then install a new battery

 

Then disconnect the USB cable from the PCB

 

Now plug it back into the SNES and my save is still on the cart

 

A few things to consider temperature increase the resistance so let the board cool down after soldering the USB cable onto the board before you remove the battery.and let the battery cool down before removing the USB cable.

[qwertywarrior]

pfft console peasant

 

 

jkjk

never knew they had batteries

[Str_Mape]

never knew they had batteries

Yep same with some of the gameboy games, picked up some of the older pokemon games a few weeks ago and had to replace the battery in two of them.

[WanderingFool]

Cool fix...I would try this if I hadn't just packed away all my SNES games and stored them.  This got me thinking though, after getting out the PCB, could you not just plug it into the SNES and turn in on (bypassing the need to solder)

[applebook]

Cool effort, bro 

 

Just another reason why ROMS and emulation are musts! 

[MrPete1985]

Cool fix...I would try this if I hadn't just packed away all my SNES games and stored them.  This got me thinking though, after getting out the PCB, could you not just plug it into the SNES and turn in on (bypassing the need to solder)

I would not trust having it in the SNES to stay powered, sometimes when you rock the cart back and forst the game will crash so I would be worried about the cart loosing power as well.

 

pfft console peasant

 

 

jkjk

never knew they had batteries

The memory used in SNES game are volitile memory so if it looses power then you loose your game save.

 

Cool effort, bro 

 

Just another reason why ROMS and emulation are musts! 

Don't get me wrong I love my ROMS and emulators but every once in a while I like to play on the original hardware.

[Albatross]

This is extremely helpful. I had to deal with lost saves when I replaced my batteries (Lost Sims City and Zelda saves....no!). Thanks for posting this, I'm definitely going to use it the next time I open up my games.

 

*will also pass onto other people.

[Goliath002]

mmmmmmmmmm.............

 

why dont you try chaning the battery while the game is still running?

I believe if you do that you can change the batterty and not loosing any data

 

example:

 

open the cartridge, plug it on the console, load the game file, then remove the battery while the game is still running, then put the new battery and save again

[MrPete1985]

mmmmmmmmmm.............

 

why dont you try chaning the battery while the game is still running?

I believe if you do that you can change the batterty and not loosing any data

 

example:

 

open the cartridge, plug it on the console, load the game file, then remove the battery while the game is still running, then put the new battery and save again

A couple of reasons, first when rocking the PCB back and forth the the game crashes because there is not good contact on the pins so if the VCC or ground pins stop making good contact then you can still loose your save and also if you are soldering over the cart connector then there is the risk that a stray drop of solder will fall into the cart connector and make a permanent bridge and it could render your SNES useless.  I know some SNES systems have removable cart connectors but some do not.