Hacking GBA expansion cart: do I ever need to change the battery?

[badbob001]

On my DSlite, the "TTDS GBA & Explorer 2 in 1" slot2 card suddenly stopped working as GBA Exploader is telling me 'slot2 expansion pack not found'. I boot without my slot1 supercard to get to the main menu and it does doesn't show anything in slot2. I opened up the slot2 card and notice a battery. So do I need to periodically change the battery (it has been many years)? Would seems strange for a dead batter make the slot2 card dead as well. Can I just order a new battery or find something at radioshack?

Thanks.

 

[WigWrm]

The battery that you are referring to is used to provide voltage to the SRAM module on your cart so that it can retain your saved games. If the battery runs dry then the card should still be functional albeit not having the ability to save to the cart.

This could be a cart contact problem. You may want to purchase some isopropyl alcohol and use some cotton swabs to clean over the contacts on your slot 2 card. If this does not remedy the problem then you are looking at either a problem with one of the circuitry components on the card or perhaps the battery.

It's strange to me that the battery would be used for anything but SRAM but it may be used to provide power to other IC's on your card. You could purchase a new battery via radioshack or an online retailer. The current battery is most likely soldered onto a contact on your card. You would have to desolder the current connection and resolder the new battery in place. This is not a complicated process, however it may be daunting for a first timer.

Some Helpful Hints:
If you can check the battery with a volt meter you can verify whether or not it needs replaced. If the battery is good, then either the contacts are dirty, or some other component on your card has failed.

Let us know what happens.

 

[Rayder]

Yes, the battery will eventually die and will need to be changed at some point, but that usually only affects its ability to save your games, not cause it to go completely undetected.

Most likely it's just a bad connection between your 3in1 and GBA slot, especially if your getting a "slot2 expansion pack not found" message. Shut your DS off and plug and unplug the 3in1 a few times to sort of scrub the contacts and see if it goes back to working. That usually works for me.

 

[badbob001]

Yes, the battery will eventually die and will need to be changed at some point, but that usually only affects its ability to save your games, not cause it to go completely undetected.

Most likely it's just a bad connection between your 3in1 and GBA slot, especially if your getting a "slot2 expansion pack not found" message. Shut your DS off and plug and unplug the 3in1 a few times to sort of scrub the contacts and see if it goes back to working. That usually works for me.

Thank you! I tried cleaning the contacts with alcohol and even did the whole blowing thing but it didn't work. But then I popped in and out a few times and now it's fine! This is one of the things that normally just works and I never really checked to see how it worked. Am I right when I guess that all the saves of the current gba game gets stored in the battery-powered sram and gets automatically(?) written to file the next file gba exploader is run and a *different* game is selected? Maybe they should have also added a large capacitort so even if the battery is dead, only can quickly reboot and get back into the loader to dump the sram to file.