What about old gameboy and NES/SNES carts? Are they made differently, or also subject to whatever issue? The article really didn’t say, but idk if those older carts are the same sort of flash or whatever, I mean they are like 40 years old at this point.
Yes. Most original NES, SNES, and Gameboy cartridges have probably lost their saved data by now, but the batteries can be replaced relatively easily. If I remember right, they’re a standard type, like the ones used for watches or hearing aids.
I know that some my old NES games retained their data at least into the 2000s. Been a while since I pulled them out and checked.
Edit: I realize this article is talking about the game data, not save data. I don’t know what type of memory older games used for the ROM or if it needs periodic power. I think the batteries were only for the writeable save data.
There’s some variety, but it’s either a 1616, 2025, or 2032. I believe they’re all 3V.
The numbers represent the physical size. 1616 is 16mm in diameter and 1.6mm thick.
I didn’t realize this before looking it up just now, but they’re interchangeable, as long as you can get the battery to physically fit (and watch out for surprise voltage exceptions).
If they do, I doubt it has anything to do with the rom data, because my cartridges still seem to work. No way those batteries are still charged at this point.
I’m just not sure if they have the same re-write weakness. I assume they don’t, as we’d likely have heard more about it by now, but idk enough about how that stuff works/worked
Games in that era used mask ROM for the game data, so they don’t lose state over time as quickly as NAND flash does without power.
I say “as quickly” because I’m sure mask ROM still degrades eventually, but I’m not sure how long it takes.
The batteries in Game Boy carts were for keeping the save data SRAM powered. If that battery dies you’ll lose any data on the save RAM, but it doesn’t affect the mask ROM.
What about old gameboy and NES/SNES carts? Are they made differently, or also subject to whatever issue? The article really didn’t say, but idk if those older carts are the same sort of flash or whatever, I mean they are like 40 years old at this point.
Didn’t those have a battery in them?
Yes. Most original NES, SNES, and Gameboy cartridges have probably lost their saved data by now, but the batteries can be replaced relatively easily. If I remember right, they’re a standard type, like the ones used for watches or hearing aids.
I know that some my old NES games retained their data at least into the 2000s. Been a while since I pulled them out and checked.
Edit: I realize this article is talking about the game data, not save data. I don’t know what type of memory older games used for the ROM or if it needs periodic power. I think the batteries were only for the writeable save data.
There’s some variety, but it’s either a 1616, 2025, or 2032. I believe they’re all 3V.
The numbers represent the physical size. 1616 is 16mm in diameter and 1.6mm thick.
I didn’t realize this before looking it up just now, but they’re interchangeable, as long as you can get the battery to physically fit (and watch out for surprise voltage exceptions).
If they do, I doubt it has anything to do with the rom data, because my cartridges still seem to work. No way those batteries are still charged at this point.
I’m just not sure if they have the same re-write weakness. I assume they don’t, as we’d likely have heard more about it by now, but idk enough about how that stuff works/worked
Games in that era used mask ROM for the game data, so they don’t lose state over time as quickly as NAND flash does without power.
I say “as quickly” because I’m sure mask ROM still degrades eventually, but I’m not sure how long it takes.
The batteries in Game Boy carts were for keeping the save data SRAM powered. If that battery dies you’ll lose any data on the save RAM, but it doesn’t affect the mask ROM.
Cool good to know. I don’t have a system for some of them at the moment, so I can’t very well boot them all up to…. fix them?
Regardless, appreciate the info!