Astor Reinhardt | 199 Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 So a few weeks ago I got a loose copy of Landstalker on the Genesis. It was free since something inside was rattling around in there and the guy said "it doesn't work". I finally got a security bit to open the damn thing up (I misplaced my last one so I had to wait to get a new one) and the battery is completely separated from the board. I thought batteries only were needed to save...does this game actually need a battery to run? And replacing a battery...that means soldering...doesn't it? I haven't tested the game yet to see if it actually works or not because I'd have to dig out my Genesis. So no idea if it does work or not...just wanted to see how bad it was inside first and if the battery would be the issue. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,124 Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 (edited) Looks like the same battery and connectors the NES uses. Should just be used to save but there could be other issues since it looks like it rusted off. You would need to solder a new battery on. I would go over it with a toothbrush and 99% IPA although 90% is fine as well and then see if it plays again. If not you may need a multimeter to check traces. Edit: I'd also look at the other solder joints to make sure they were all making a connection Edited June 29, 2021 by a3quit4s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumez | 2,989 Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 No solder left at all in the holes for the battery in the PCB? That's really weird. It honestly looks like the battery was never attached. What does that PCB look like on the other side? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumez | 2,989 Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 (edited) 9 hours ago, Astor Reinhardt said: does this game actually need a battery to run That's very unlikely, especially on a simple PCB like that. The battery is definitely there to keep the save RAM running, but there is no way for the game to know whether the battery is working or not. It could check on whether any save data is corrupted or not, and it probably does, but the correct way to handle that is to initiate the data and then run as normal, not just refusing to run the game. If it did that, no games would ever run the first time you boot them up. More likely, as a3quit4s hints at, whatever happened to that battery likely also happened to other stuff in the cartridge. The battery looks like it might have leaked a little causing some corrosion, but from this picture the PCB looks surprisingly clean. But if the PCB has really come loose on its own, it's very likely some other components on the PCB did the same. Edited June 29, 2021 by Sumez 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki | 4,949 Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 (edited) Wow, love to see a close up of the board (both sides) especially in the area about where the battery would be then the tabs detached from that battery too. It almost looked like it was never attached but I can't see that happening, so maybe poorly attached, there's some clear rot there on the battery etc, just so weird. It's like maybe it was poorly attached, rotted and popped the pins off taking what little(no?) solder was there maybe just bent metal held it in place by sheer dumb luck. Whatever it is, you need a good cleaning, a magnifier to look at any line and see if something is cracked. Battery does not mean a game won't work, at least not one like that. I've seen pirates where the battery dies, the cheap chips used suicide out and it's a blank, had a GBA boot of DQMonsters3 that did it. EDIT - I just noticed something, not as familiar with Sega factory work as Nintendo, but looking at that PCB I see NO solder at all on the face of it, just very lean factory new-ish, looking holes on every chip, every part. We need to see the back, it's like stuff was minimally or not attached, just slotted which is screwy. Edited June 29, 2021 by Tanooki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Reinhardt | 199 Posted June 29, 2021 Author Share Posted June 29, 2021 Ok took a picture of the otherside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drxandy | 3,236 Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 No blobs at all! Very interesting. Any solder blobs in the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Reinhardt | 199 Posted June 29, 2021 Author Share Posted June 29, 2021 5 minutes ago, drxandy said: No blobs at all! Very interesting. Any solder blobs in the case? Nope. Just the two little tabs and the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drxandy | 3,236 Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 I think the factory forgot to solder the battery tabs on, so that's why it popped off hehe super cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Reinhardt | 199 Posted June 29, 2021 Author Share Posted June 29, 2021 1 minute ago, drxandy said: I think the factory forgot to solder the battery tabs on, so that's why it popped off hehe super cool Ok that's weird. So I just need to clean it a little and it should work...if all the little lines are fine? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drxandy | 3,236 Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 I would go for it, use some 90 isopropyl but down the line if you can solder or know someone who can I would replace that battery.. should be even easier since there's nothing to remove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki | 4,949 Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 Damn that's crazy, those look like original contact pads on the reverse prepared and all for solder blobs, but never got the solder blobs. The rest of the board now I can see the reverse, all the chips are properly secured with a light touch of solder so you didn't even realize it from the chip side at all...nice and clean. I'm now just concerned. That battery had some funk on the flat side there. Is there any potential here the battery over time worked for the old owner, but maybe stopped at some rate, or in the next (or beyond) owners hands, a point where the battery popped off the slots. At that rate it maybe lodged up against some contacts and shorted it, perhaps heated it in the short enough to scorch the battery and cause it to erode like that? That could explain it not working at all, the game could have been solder-less and the battery made it commit cartridge suicide due to electrical discharge over 2 points that shouldn't have bridged. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumez | 2,989 Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 (edited) Outside of just a good ol' dirty connector that's my best bet as well. Becuase the PCB otherwise seems clean, and the battery coming off like that just makes no sense. Like @drxandy said, it looks like a factory error - maybe @Hybrid is interested I'd at least try soldering on a new battery, but don't try reattaching that one. Get one with solder tabs already on it - soldering directly to a battery can be risky business, but just soldering too legs on to a PCB like that is probably the easiest job you could do even for an amateur. Edited June 30, 2021 by Sumez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid | 429 Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 Interesting just some quick observations With no solder on the board in the intended spots for the tabs, and the tab themselves being relatively straight it appears that the solder iron never came around to them, there's also something on one of the tabs (possibly both)which maybe something used to anchor them to the battery before they were soldered. The mark on the battery is not really corrosion but dirt mixed in with that material that is on the tab. So it does appear to be a factory error 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splain | 2,581 Editorials Team · Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 Oof, I need to play this game for my 2021 backlog, let me know if you're looking for someone to solder a new battery in exchange for a brief rental Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Reinhardt | 199 Posted June 30, 2021 Author Share Posted June 30, 2021 I did notice that one of the pins has a bit of...either the gold scratched off or something silver on top of said gold. Maybe that has something to do with it not working? Again I need to dig my damn Genesis out to see if this sucker even works but... How very very odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkchylde28 | 1,546 Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 If you've got a multimeter, you could always check to see if the original battery still has any charge on it, and if so, if it's anywhere near what the original voltage was supposed to be. If it does, you could always try inserting the cart in your system, then inserting the battery where it's supposed to go (making sure that the legs are spread enough to make what little contact they can) and booting the system up to see if the game actually comes up. If the original battery is dead, you can most likely do the same thing with a couple of AA batteries and a couple of pieces of wire to provide the right voltage and have it flowing to the correct contact points on the cart. Hope this is fixable for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,746 Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 21 hours ago, Tanooki said: That could explain it not working at all, the game could have been solder-less and the battery made it commit cartridge suicide due to electrical discharge over 2 points that shouldn't have bridged. Commit cartridge suicide, funny way of putting it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumez | 2,989 Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Not uncommon in the arcade world 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki | 4,949 Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 True enough, Capcom CPS2 says HI! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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