this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025
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If you crack open the battery-driven memory carts, the battery itself is usually pretty easy to replace. Losing your game saves sucks though. I lost my Link save which was a kick to the nostalgia. That’s when you boot up the ROM save on your computer or Steam Deck like I do lol.
You don't lose your data if you replace the battery faster than the electrons can move.
The article is about 3DS carts.
It mentions other carts and their resilience too.
Which emulator do you use on the Deck? I don't like retroarchs ui, and the other emulators I've tried need a cursor, which is fine but I'd ideally use something else.
I use Emudeck. It works well and it was easy to setup.
I think Bazzite suggests using Emudeck, should also work in SteamOS
I think Batocera uses EmulationStation, which is what Emudeck installs?
I have to look into that. I haven't tried it yet.
Thanks
Neither of those are actual emulators, just unified front ends for ROM management/emulation. Emudeck is essentially an installer and (in)sane config preset tool, emulation station is the frontend you use to boot the ROMs you want to play, in place of opening an individual emulator.
For emulation station you still need to install the emulators to a location it can see them.
Emudeck does that for you, with the exception of citra and the Nintendo Switch emulators.
You can replace the battery while the game is running to preserve the save. Need to have a few customized pieces though.
That sounds sketch asf. Just dump the save file with a flasher. That RAM chip is writeable from the cart pins or it wouldn't work as save data. Cheap flashers come in at ~$25. Dump, solder, reupload.
Why? The battery is just a current, and while the gameboy is on, it’s supplying the current instead.
What you’re suggesting is far more work and steps, and any transfer can corrupt.
There’s no way this can go wrong unless you turn the power off or disconnect the cartridges pins from the mount. Which can happen while using the transfers as well….
You don’t even need a computer, just the cart and a gameboy, and a screwdriver. It’s funny what people think is easier while including a dozen unnecessary extra steps that introduce issues at each step. And costs money.
IIRC from various board schematics at a previous job, typically you have the battery connected into the relevant voltage supply with a diode. So when that Vcc line for your memory module or real time clock is powered externally, the battery just sits idle since there's no voltage drop across the diode to get current flowing from the battery.
It works well because it's analog and fast and solid state. And yeah as long as you don't bump other parts or break something, if you swapped the battery on a powered system it should be fine.
How exactly are you going to get at the battery while the cartridge is inside the Game Boy, with the PCB facing inwards?
If you claim this is doable, let alone easy, I'd like to see a video of it.
As I said customized, you take your gameboy apart if needed, but usually that’s not even needed.
Edit
Don't worry buddy. A coworker flipped out on me once for replacing a cmos battery while a machine was on. 🤷
There's a bit of difference doing it on a gameboy, and doing it in a running PC with spinning fans and such.
If you know how to replace a CMOS battery, you know how to disable a fan. And even if you don't, it's not gonna bite your finger off 😂
Fair point. I was more concerned about dropping it in, and then catapulting a small metal disc into some very expensive electronics.
Lots of electronics instructions tell you to leave it on, so you don’t lose your data when removing the CMOS, no one reads documentation or want to educate themselves on how batteries and circuits work.
IIRC this was scheduled maintenance in documentation for some MBs. Literally "every x years replace the battery while machine is running to avoid data loss" or some such. I could just be crazy though.
Yeah that's nice and all, and I get it, but the original person is referring to it being a HELL of a lot easier to just plug the cartridge into a USB adapter and dump the file to a PC. You know, instead of modifying their Gameboy or cartridges like that. But sure, if that's "easier" for you, cool. Most people don't want to go that far and aren't comfortable and "plug and play' is in fact easier.
You don’t have to modify anything… it just makes it easier. I even clarified that in the comment you responded too….
What’s more plug and play then replacing a battery? Adding extra steps and dumps is what makes it more work and isn’t anymore “plug and play”
It’s not easier to add more steps, and the battery is replaced the same way in both methods?
Why do you think doing less steps is MORE work?
You're removing a panel from the cartridge. That's literally more complicated than plug and play. You also need to make sure not to be a dumbass and connect and pins while removing the battery so you don't short anything. Fairly easy? Yes. Easier than PLUGGING IT IN LOKE NORMAL? No.
How else would you replace the battery?
You seem to be ignoring a large part of the conversation here lol. You understand that after dumping the rom the person is saying you STILL need to to replace the battery, yeah?
How’s it sketchy? It’s no different than doing it dead, and it removes plenty of other steps.
Flashers cost money, corrupt, lots of people want to stay true and that creates an avenue for cheating and other stuff that isn’t true to original.
Or yknow. The 3ds you presumably own to play these games. Takes about 20 minutes and an sd card to go from stock to clicking a button and backing up the save file (or whole game). No need to open carts or buy more products.
Or you can just run some software on your 3ds and have it done instantly, without opening any cartridges or buying any products. Need help getting it running? Here you go.
How does that replace the battery?
The person I responded to is talking about gameboy carts that have a cmos that needs to be replaced once in a while.
So those programs aren’t even for what the person wants.
Thread's about the 3ds. For GBA you need DS homebrew and a Phat/Lite console. For GB you need a custom device or an n64 with transfer pak and flashcart.
This is part of why physical copies are not preservationist, by the way. Turning that physical copy into a preservable, emulated-accurately ROM is the end point. The only value physical copies have are as collectible knickknacks (which hey! Collectible knickknacks rule!)
Post is, thread isn’t dude…
I’ve got no time for someone who can’t even read context before bloviating about some irrelevant tangent.
Also, it’s incredibly obvious you are upvoting your comments with an alt, I suggest you stop that before yo get reported.
Mmmm delicious meaningful Lemmy karma slurp slurp slurp, gotta spin up some bots for that delicious lemmy karma
It's incredibly obvious you're a moron, stop that before you get reported.
Fucking loser.