Hacking QPC does not work on SuperCard miniSD

xen0s

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Hello everyone :)
I have had my supercard miniSD for around 6 years now and never had a problem with it. It is 100% genuine. I have not used it for quite some time, maybe 1 or 2 years, but today a friend of mine wanted to burrow it with my gba. I did not have the software on my pc so I downloaded the newest version of the software and firmware - 1,85. Upgraded withou any problems, the tests show OK (after and before the upgrade). But when I put games into it, the QPC save method does not work. I know very well how to do it ( save in game, thurn off, waith a couple of seconds, turn on, go to saver, and backup to sd the save file) and if my memory serves me right, it used to work with almost any game I tried it with (I may not be right, not too sure). I tried many different settings in the software, but never got it to work. I had old patched games with saves, which I used to play years ago, tried with them too, the QPC method did not work again. I blamed it on the firmware and reverted to 1.84 again all tests passed flawlessly, QPC still does not work. I suspect that the battery might be dead, but when i turn the gba on, I can see that the last game is still in the RAM (but IF I try to start it, it goes into white screen and nothing else happens), and that does not make sense if the battery is dead. The normal save with the L+R+select+A works fine, but I really want to get the QPC to work again. Maybe I dont remember correctly and it did not work for most games, but I am quite sure it worked for some so if this is the case please tell me a game that should work with it. Im testing with final fantasy I and II dawn of souls, casue I can get very fast to a point at which I can save. Or maybe I am getting the options wrong but still Im pretty sure save + saver patch should alow QPC savin method ( cause there is no other way).
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to be descriptive. Hope someone can help me.
 

raulpica

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If the QPC doesn't work, it might be because the onboard battery is dry. Try changing it. It might keep the last game because it isn't ENTIRELY dry, but the voltage has seriously lowered anyway.

You can be sure of this by doing the QPC so quickly (don't wait a couple of seconds, just do it so quickly that the power doesn't go out entirely) that the save won't be lost.

Give it a try.
 

xen0s

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How can I charge it ? Just leave the gba on ? I guess I can replace it, I have done it before with some games.

Ok, I tried doing the QPC very quickly, I did even wait for the LCD to go completely blank, and yes it did work fine, but Im sure that procedure is not healthy for the GBA at all. Thanks for the suggestion. Now should I try to recharge the battery by leaving the gba with the SC on, or should I get a new battery and replace it ?
 

DanTheManMS

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I don't think you can recharge the battery on the Supercard. I'd just go with the suggestion of turning it back on instantly, without waiting 2-3 seconds in between, as that's worked for me all this time. If you're really paranoid, use the built-in restart patch so you can use a button combo to return to the SC Menu rather than physically turning it off and on again.
 
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raulpica

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Now should I try to recharge the battery by leaving the gba with the SC on, or should I get a new battery and replace it ?
Good, then it was the battery as I thought.

If you're confident with soldering, go for a new battery. Otherwise, do as DanTheManMS said. Better than nothing ;)
 

xen0s

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The thing is that it is ungodly hard to find the exact battery. I went to every watchmaker shop and every electronics supply store in the city, but they did not have it. Not only that they said that it is quite expensive. There was one place which said it could import very similar battery from Germany at a price of 12$, and that is not even the SAME battery. For now Im sticking with the button combination save for the games that work with it T_T. Was there anyway to have the button combination save but no reset option (to improve compatibility) ?
Thanks to all for the help.
 

DanTheManMS

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I don't believe so, though there is something that does the exact opposite (fast restarting but no button combo save) -- see http://www.pocketheaven.com/ph/wiki/index.php?title=SupercardGBASlowdowns
 

raulpica

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The thing is that it is ungodly hard to find the exact battery. I went to every watchmaker shop and every electronics supply store in the city, but they did not have it. Not only that they said that it is quite expensive. There was one place which said it could import very similar battery from Germany at a price of 12$, and that is not even the SAME battery. For now Im sticking with the button combination save for the games that work with it T_T. Was there anyway to have the button combination save but no reset option (to improve compatibility) ?
Thanks to all for the help.
What's the battery number? I'll look onto some datasheets, I'm sure there's a more common model out there, which won't have soldering pads, though (you'll have to do with wires).
 

xen0s

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LIR 2013, I found the padless version but it is the one that should be imported from Germany and coasts 12$ so I will just work with the normal save method for now. Thank you all for the help.
 

raulpica

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LIR 2013, I found the padless version but it is the one that should be imported from Germany and coasts 12$ so I will just work with the normal save method for now. Thank you all for the help.
Just buy a CR2013. They're cheap as dirt, and perfectly compatible ;) You can find them pretty much everywhere (computer shops, electronic shops, hardware shops) too :P
 

ItsMeFacu

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Hello everyone :)
I have had my supercard miniSD for around 6 years now and never had a problem with it. It is 100% genuine. I have not used it for quite some time, maybe 1 or 2 years, but today a friend of mine wanted to burrow it with my gba. I did not have the software on my pc so I downloaded the newest version of the software and firmware - 1,85. Upgraded withou any problems, the tests show OK (after and before the upgrade). But when I put games into it, the QPC save method does not work. I know very well how to do it ( save in game, thurn off, waith a couple of seconds, turn on, go to saver, and backup to sd the save file) and if my memory serves me right, it used to work with almost any game I tried it with (I may not be right, not too sure). I tried many different settings in the software, but never got it to work. I had old patched games with saves, which I used to play years ago, tried with them too, the QPC method did not work again. I blamed it on the firmware and reverted to 1.84 again all tests passed flawlessly, QPC still does not work. I suspect that the battery might be dead, but when i turn the gba on, I can see that the last game is still in the RAM (but IF I try to start it, it goes into white screen and nothing else happens), and that does not make sense if the battery is dead. The normal save with the L+R+select+A works fine, but I really want to get the QPC to work again. Maybe I dont remember correctly and it did not work for most games, but I am quite sure it worked for some so if this is the case please tell me a game that should work with it. Im testing with final fantasy I and II dawn of souls, casue I can get very fast to a point at which I can save. Or maybe I am getting the options wrong but still Im pretty sure save + saver patch should alow QPC savin method ( cause there is no other way).
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to be descriptive. Hope someone can help me.
I have a problem where you save with the QPC. You save in-game, turn off, turn on, go to Saver and save. The problem is, if I saved a game with QPC, and then, when finished playing, turn the GBA off and wait a long time, the save disappears. I have no idea what the reason could be, if someone can helpp it'd be EPIC
 

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