Grey N64 Zelda OOT Won't Save Game
Hello, as the title says I have a grey Zelda OOT cart that won't save my game. Put in a new battery with tabs, measured 3.24 VDC. Positive lead on top and negative on bottom. Checked all the solder joints on PCB and don't notice any bad solder connections. Even tried putting PCB in plastic case without the shields. Still doesn't work. The PCB looks to be in good shape, no damaged components. Has anyone else had this problem and fixed what was wrong? Or know what the problem is? Thanks for any help!
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Also, are you saving the game by getting up to a playable point and telling it to save?
The only other option would be to replace the SRAM chip. They do sometimes go bad.
Did you install the battery with correct polarity? Sometimes PCBs aren't marked specifically, so you'd either have to note which way the battery is facing or look at how the circuit is set up (usually + goes to the SRAM and various traces, - goes to the big ground plating surrounding the PCB).
Also, are you saving the game by getting up to a playable point and telling it to save?
The only other option would be to replace the SRAM chip. They do sometimes go bad.
The battery has positive on top and negative on the bottom if you know what I mean. is that correct? Don't know what you mean by a playable point. Can you buy sram? I'll check it out and post results. Thanks!
I'm not sure if that board even has diodes on it, but if it does then it wouldn't hurt to check. Yes, you can buy sram.
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What I meant by playable point is as soon as you can walk around with link, save the game. I know some games do actually make a save file as soon as the game begins, but it's always a better idea to ensure the game saves your progress specifically.
Did you install the battery with correct polarity? Sometimes PCBs aren't marked specifically, so you'd either have to note which way the battery is facing or look at how the circuit is set up (usually + goes to the SRAM and various traces, - goes to the big ground plating surrounding the PCB).
Also, are you saving the game by getting up to a playable point and telling it to save?
The only other option would be to replace the SRAM chip. They do sometimes go bad.
Here are pictures of the pcb. Which chip is what? Sorry not that familiar with this. Thanks
Here are pictures of the pcb. Which chip is what? Sorry not that familiar with this. Thanks
try reading the numbers on the chips and googling them. that or compare to your donor and make an educated guess(as long as you pick a 'big' chip and assuming either SRAM or PCB was the problem theres a 50/50 shot one of your boards will work).
edit: also looks like there is flux or water damage/corrosion on your board so you may wanna give it a scrub with a soft toothbrush and high% iso alch. dry completely and see if that makes any difference
An educated guess should determine that the chip marked with the game's Nintendo product code "NUS-CZLE" is the ROM chip. SRAM, even if it's custom, is still a general purpose part and will have a generic number/letter code. In this case it's LH52V246A.
Thank you for the reply. My skill is limited, how do I tell what or which on is bad?
There isn't really a way to test the individual parts. I guess maybe a logic probe might help but that would only be able to check for dead signals. SRAM can also develop stuck bits which have to be tested for with an EPROM programmer (requires desoldering). The problem here though is N64 SRAM is a custom part and contains extra logic to make it work well with the also custom Mask ROM for the game. It's just a lot easier to move the Ocarina of Time ROM to a new board.