Do Nintendo DS Games Go To Sleep If Not Used For Years?

R

R-a-c-h

Member
OP
Newcomer
Level 1
Joined
Mar 23, 2024
Messages
8
Trophies
0
Age
45
XP
41
Country
United Kingdom
Hi People,

I was sorting through my sons old Nintendo DS games and testing them as I was going along, everything was going fine until I came across a strange Hamsterz 2 game.

My son has the very first version of the DS, I put the Hamsterz game in, switched it on... but the game isn't recognised.

I cleaned the game, although it was already in good condition, put it back in and... it still wasn't recognised, I fiddled around with it tried several more times but it still wasn't recognised.

So then I decided that before throwing it out I would try the game in my daughters DS Lite, so I put in the cartridge, switched it on, it worked first time, switched and removed the game and put it back in a few times and every time the DS Lite recognised the game.

I then put the game back into my sons first version DS... and now it works, every time, despite taking it out and putting it back again lots of times it works every time.

So it seems the DS Lite console brought it back to life, is that just a coincidence or do the games go to sleep if they are not used in a few years or something?
 
Technicmaster0

Technicmaster0

Well-Known Member
Member
Level 13
Joined
Oct 22, 2011
Messages
4,414
Trophies
2
Website
www.flashkarten.tk
XP
3,533
Country
Gambia, The
R-a-c-h said:
Hi People,

I was sorting through my sons old Nintendo DS games and testing them as I was going along, everything was going fine until I came across a strange Hamsterz 2 game.

My son has the very first version of the DS, I put the Hamsterz game in, switched it on... but the game isn't recognised.

I cleaned the game, although it was already in good condition, put it back in and... it still wasn't recognised, I fiddled around with it tried several more times but it still wasn't recognised.

So then I decided that before throwing it out I would try the game in my daughters DS Lite, so I put in the cartridge, switched it on, it worked first time, switched and removed the game and put it back in a few times and every time the DS Lite recognised the game.

I then put the game back into my sons first version DS... and now it works, every time, despite taking it out and putting it back again lots of times it works every time.

So it seems the DS Lite console brought it back to life, is that just a coincidence or do the games go to sleep if they are not used in a few years or something?
Click to expand...
Maybe the contacts of the cartridge oxidated and you had to remove the oxidation layer before you could use them
 
K

Kwyjor

Well-Known Member
Member
Level 14
Joined
May 23, 2018
Messages
4,323
Trophies
1
XP
4,470
Country
Canada
R-a-c-h said:
is that just a coincidence or do the games go to sleep if they are not used in a few years or something?
Click to expand...
I can offer no explanation, but this is one of those things where you would expect a billion posts on the subject even if it was slightly uncommon. The DS is hardly obscure.
 
R

R-a-c-h

Member
OP
Newcomer
Level 1
Joined
Mar 23, 2024
Messages
8
Trophies
0
Age
45
XP
41
Country
United Kingdom
JaapDaniels said:
Could also be the DS cardridge conncector contacts being bend wrongly, had it a few times now.
Some games might need a new battery (for sram saves).
Click to expand...
That had crossed my mind as I remember changing a battery on a GBA game years ago so wondered whether the DS Lite may have booted the battery back to life,

I will check the pins in the game slots to see if there are any that look out of place
 
JaapDaniels

JaapDaniels

Well-Known Member
Member
Level 11
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
1,204
Trophies
1
Age
40
Website
github.com
XP
2,471
Country
Netherlands
R-a-c-h said:
That had crossed my mind as I remember changing a battery on a GBA game years ago so wondered whether the DS Lite may have booted the battery back to life,

I will check the pins in the game slots to see if there are any that look out of place
Click to expand...
Maybe @Technicmaster0 is right with: I don't think that any ds games used battery backed sram saves.
I don't know the DS cartridges from inside, i thought they used the same tech as most other cartridge consoles.
On the console side i'm sure however i've seen more than a few DSlite and normal DS consoles having a pin in the cartridge slot forced in a wrong position, i fixed 2 of these devices with a dentalhook.
 
  • Like
Reactions: anotherthing and Technicmaster0
impeeza

impeeza

¡Kabito!
Member
Level 27
Joined
Apr 5, 2011
Messages
6,433
Trophies
3
Age
46
Location
At my chair.
XP
19,132
Country
Colombia
There is a software to "revive" some cartridge which uses a type of ROM what fade with the time due the class of Memory used what if you don't apply voltage to them in some time they erase.

There are a example for the 3DS, I don't know if the DS have the same problem:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/corrupted-cartridge-fixer-release.628539/

But by example even the main NAND chip of the WiiU have it and so many consoles are dying because that.
 
Last edited by impeeza,

Site & Scene News

Go to forum More news

Popular threads in this forum

Emulation  Tomodachi Collection Cheat Codes (For Delta)

Hardware Misc Others Project  3D Printing DS cart shells?

Misc  DSiWare in 2024

EZ-Flash Parallel doesn't works on DSi XL

So what IS the best DS Flashcart?

DS ML Shell

What's the battery in the DSOne SDHC?

EZ-Falsh Parallel Sleep mode???

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • Jayro @ Jayro:
    Eventhough the New 3DS XL is more powerful, I still feel like the DS Lite was a more polished system. It's a real shame that it never got an XL variant keeping the GBA slot. You'd have to go on AliExpress and buy an ML shell to give a DS phat the unofficial "DS Lite" treatment, and that's the best we'll ever get I'm afraid.
     +1
  • Jayro @ Jayro:
    The phat model had amazingly loud speakers tho.
     +1
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    @Jayro, I don't see whats so special about the DS ML, its just a DS lite in a phat shell. At least the phat model had louder speakers, whereas the lite has a much better screen.
     +1
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    They probably said "Hey, why not we combine the two together and make a 'new' DS to sell".
  • Veho @ Veho:
    It's a DS Lite in a slightly bigger DS Lite shell.
     +1
  • Veho @ Veho:
    It's not a Nintendo / iQue official product, it's a 3rd party custom.
     +1
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Nothing special about it other than it's more comfortable than the Lite
    for people with beefy hands.
     +1
  • Jayro @ Jayro:
    I have yaoi anime hands, very lorge but slender.
  • Jayro @ Jayro:
    I'm Slenderman.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    I have hands.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    king-shark-hand.gif
    +1
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    imagine not having hands, cringe
     +1
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    ESPECIALLY for things I do to myself :sad:.. :tpi::rofl2: Or others :shy::blush::evil:
     +1
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    @SylverReZ if you could find a v5 DS ML you would have the best of both worlds since the v5 units had the same backlight brightness levels as the DS Lite unlockable with flashme
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    but that's a long shot
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    i think only the red mario kart edition phat was v5
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    A woman with no arms and no legs was sitting on a beach. A man comes along and the woman says, "I've never been hugged before." So the man feels bad and hugs her. She says "Well i've also never been kissed before." So he gives her a kiss on the cheek. She says "Well I've also never been fucked before." So the man picks her up, and throws her in the ocean and says "Now you're fucked."
     +1
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    :O:ohnoes::lol::rofl::rofl2:
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    lmao
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    anyways, we need to re-normalize physical media

    if i didn't want my games to be permanent, then i'd rent them
     +1
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Agreed, that why I try to buy all my games on disc, Xbox anyways. Switch games (which I pirate tbh) don't matter much, I stay offline 24/7 anyways.
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    I don't pirate them, I Use Them :mellow:. Like I do @BigOnYa 's couch :tpi::evil::rofl2:
     +1
  • cearp @ cearp:
    @BakerMan - you can still "own" digital media, arguably easier and better than physical since you can make copies and backups, as much as you like.

    The issue is DRM
  • cearp @ cearp:
    You can buy drm free games / music / ebooks, and if you keep backups of your data (like documents and family photos etc), then you shouldn't lose the game. but with a disk, your toddler could put it in the toaster and there goes your $60

    :rofl2:
  • cearp @ cearp:
    still, I agree physical media is nice to have. just pointing out the issue is drm
    cearp @ cearp: still, I agree physical media is nice to have. just pointing out the issue is drm