Gaming Replacing Flash Memory in Pokemon B/W

[BanjoDude98]

Hi everyone!

This marks my first post on gbatemp. I've lurked for years but never signed up, finally having a reason to, as somebody here is more likely to know than anywhere else XD

I recently came into possession of a bunch of broken/damaged DS Pokémon cartridges, all having varying issues that prevented them from booting. I've fixed a number of them so far (typically broken traces or requiring a reflow), but have an authentic copy of Pokémon Black that is proving to be stubborn. When the game is booted, it comes up with an error message saying "The save data could not be loaded. Please turn off your system and try again.". This is before the title screen ever appears, so the Select+up+b option is not possible.

After checking all of the traces to ensure continuity and reflowing all of the chips, I have come to the conclusion that the flash memory is damaged.

I am wondering if anyone around here has any experience replacing flash memory or knows of replacement parts? I'm not sure if it would be as simple as purchasing from somewhere like AliExpress a 4Mbit 8-pin flash memory and swapping that in.

I wrote down the numbers on the back of the chip but couldn't find anything that matches it. The most I could find is it was produced by ST Microelectronics, with another logo saying "e3". What was written on the chip:

4SPE4QV6
9YLH? VS (? = 8 or B)
MYS 2094

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

 

[Russ T. Shackle Ford]

My personal copy of White has had this issue for probably 6 years after being caught in the laundry. In all my searching I haven't come up with any available flash memory chip I'm confident I could simply replace it with, or any simple way to recover my save from it.

 

[FAST6191]

Not all numbers on chips are the same as what is used internally (if they are small they are often less detailed than the full one) but if you are good enough to check traces and reflow things then you probably knew as much. Still if you can find the broad series the chip belongs to then other things in the line might be compatible (sometimes you get alternatives designed to handle lots of writes, high temperatures... but otherwise be pin and protocol compatible. Otherwise if others reckon searching over the years yielded nothing then I am not going to doubt it.

Option 2. Cannibalise a cheap game with the same chip. Pokemon makes this a bit harder as such things usually mean bigger save.
Poking http://www.advanscene.com/ 's advanced search for DS games with "Flash - 4 Mbit" yields

 	z119  	Pokemon - Black Version 2 (DSi Enhanced) [b] 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	z118  	Pokemon - White Version 2 (DSi Enhanced) [b] 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	z039  	Karada Support Kenkyuujo - Tounyoubyou Hen 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	64 Mbit
	6640  	Pokemon Diamond (v06) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	6634  	Pokemon Diamond (v05) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	6597  	Pokemon - Edicion Negra 2 (DSi Enhanced) 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6596  	Pokemon - Edicion Blanca 2 (DSi Enhanced) 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6544  	Pokemon - Versione Nera 2 (DSi Enhanced) 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6543  	Pokemon - Versione Bianca 2 (DSi Enhanced) 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6526  	Mario vs. Donkey Kong - Mini-Land Mayhem! (v02)(DSi Enhanced) 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	256 Mbit
	6499  	Pokemon - Weisse Edition 2 (DSi Enhanced) 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6150  	Pokemon - White Version 2 (DSi Enhanced)(Europe) 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6149  	Pokemon - Black Version 2 (DSi Enhanced)(Europe) 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6111  	Pokemon - Schwarze Edition 2 (DSi Enhanced) 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6110  	Pokemon - Version Noire 2 (DSi Enhanced) 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6109  	Pokemon - Version Blanche 2 (DSi Enhanced) 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6043  	Pokemon - White 2 (v01)(DSi Enhanced) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	6042  	Pokemon - Black 2 (v01)(DSi Enhanced) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	4096 Mbit
	5913  	Power Pro Kun Pocket 14 (DSi Enhanced) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	5913  	Power Pro Kun Pocket 14 (DSi Enhanced) [b] 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	5683  	Pokemon - Black Version (DSi Enhanced) 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5682  	Pokemon - White Version (DSi Enhanced) 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5599  	Pokemon - Versione Nera (DSi Enhanced) 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5598  	Pokemon - Versione Bianca (DSi Enhanced) 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5597  	Pokemon - Edicion Negra (DSi Enhanced) 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5596  	Pokemon - Edicion Blanca (DSi Enhanced) 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5589  	Pokemon - Schwarze Edition (DSi Enhanced) 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5588  	Pokemon - Weisse Edition (DSi Enhanced) 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5587  	Pokemon - Version Noire (DSi Enhanced) 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5586  	Pokemon - Version Blanche (DSi Enhanced) 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5585  	Pokemon - Black Version (DSi Enhanced)(Europe) 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5584  	Pokemon - White Version (DSi Enhanced)(Europe) 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5547  	Mario vs. Donkey Kong - Mini-Land Mayhem (DSi Enhanced)(Encrypted) 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	256 Mbit
	5547  	Mario vs. Donkey Kong - Mini-Land Mayhem (DSi Enhanced)(Fixed) 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	256 Mbit
	5386  	Mario vs. Donkey Kong - Totsugeki! Mini-Land (DSi Enhanced) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	256 Mbit
	5325  	Mario vs. Donkey Kong - Mini-Land Mayhem! (v01)(DSi Enhanced) 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	256 Mbit
	5216  	Pokemon - Black (DSi Enhanced) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5215  	Pokemon - White (DSi Enhanced) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	5163  	1000 Cooking Recipes from Elle a Table (DSi Enhanced) 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	5012  	Pokemon Pearl (v05) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	4998  	Pokemon - Platinum Version (v01) 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4930  	Pokemon Pearl (v06) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	4926  	Picross 3D [b] 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	4926  	Picross 3D 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	4901  	America's Test Kitchen - Let's Get Cooking [b] 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	4901  	America's Test Kitchen - Let's Get Cooking 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	2048 Mbit
	4851  	Pokemon - Versione Oro HeartGold 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4841  	Pokemon - Versione Argento SoulSilver 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4840  	Pokemon - SoulSilver Version (v10) 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4839  	Pokemon - HeartGold Version (v10) 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4833  	Pokemon - Edicion Plata SoulSilver [b] 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4833  	Pokemon - Edicion Plata SoulSilver 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4832  	Pokemon - Edicion Oro HeartGold [b] 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4832  	Pokemon - Edicion Oro HeartGold 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4828  	Pokemon - Silberne Edition SoulSilver [b] 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4828  	Pokemon - Silberne Edition SoulSilver 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4827  	Pokemon - Goldene Edition HeartGold [b] 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4827  	Pokemon - Goldene Edition HeartGold 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4791  	Pokemon Version Argent - SoulSilver [b] 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4791  	Pokemon Version Argent - SoulSilver 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4788  	Pokemon - SoulSilver Version [b] 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4788  	Pokemon - SoulSilver Version 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4787  	Pokemon - HeartGold Version [b] 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4787  	Pokemon - HeartGold Version 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4786  	Pokemon Version Or - HeartGold [b] 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4786  	Pokemon Version Or - HeartGold 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4753  	Picross 3D 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	4701  	Pokemon - HeartGold 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4698  	Pokemon - SoulSilver 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4169  	Pokemon - SoulSilver [b] 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4169  	Pokemon - SoulSilver 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4168  	Pokemon - HeartGold [b] 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	4168  	Pokemon - HeartGold 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3942  	Pokemon Pt - Giratina 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3942  	Pokemon Pt - Giratina [b] 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3847  	Personal Trainer - Walking [b] 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	3847  	Personal Trainer - Walking 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	3831  	Walk with Me! (v01) 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	3797  	Pokemon - Platinum Version (v10) 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3794  	Pokemon - Versione Platino [b] 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3794  	Pokemon - Versione Platino 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3787  	Pokemon - Edicion Platino [b] 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3787  	Pokemon - Edicion Platino 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3784  	Pokemon - Version Platine [b] 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3784  	Pokemon - Version Platine 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3783  	Pokemon - Platin Edition [b] 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3783  	Pokemon - Platin Edition 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3604  	Disgaea DS [b] 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	3604  	Disgaea DS 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	3541  	Pokemon Platinum Version [b] 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3541  	Pokemon Platinum Version 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	3499  	Rittai Picross [b] 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	256 Mbit
	3499  	Rittai Picross 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	256 Mbit
	3339  	Taiheiyou no Arashi DS - Senkan Yamato, Akatsuki ni Shutsugeki Su! [b] 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	3339  	Taiheiyou no Arashi DS - Senkan Yamato, Akatsuki ni Shutsugeki Su! 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2999  	Aruite Wakaru - Seikatsu Rhythm DS [b] 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2999  	Aruite Wakaru - Seikatsu Rhythm DS 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2705  	Disgaea DS [b] 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2705  	Disgaea DS 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2641  	Pokemon Platinum [b] 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	2641  	Pokemon Platinum 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	2401  	Makai Senki Disgaea - Makai no Ouji to Akai Tsuki 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2217  	Wi-Fi Baken Yosouryoku Training - Umania - 2007 Nendo Ban 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2207  	Zelda ui Chonsol - Monghwan ui Moraesigye 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2146  	DS Bimoji Training 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2077  	MagicQ DS 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	2017  	Pokemon DP Dialga [b] 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2017  	Pokemon DP Dialga 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	2014  	Pokemon DP Palkia 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1942  	Saraitneun Yeongeoro Ganghaejineun Siljeon DS Yeongeo Sammaegyeong 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	1566  	Chungjeon! Hanguginui Sangsingnyeok DS 	Korea 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1556  	Practice English 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	1514  	Legend of Zelda - Phantom Hourglass, The 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	1456  	Legend of Zelda - Phantom Hourglass, The 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1328  	Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary (v01) 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	128 Mbit
	1286  	Pokemon Pearl Version (v13) 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1284  	Pokemon Diamond Version (v13) 	Europe 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1282  	Pokemon Versione Diamante (v05) 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1279  	Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	128 Mbit
	1251  	Pokemon Version Diamant (v05) 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1250  	Pokemon Version Perle (v05) 	France 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1249  	Pokemon Versione Perla (v05) 	Italy 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1248  	Pokemon Edicion Diamante (v05) 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1247  	Pokemon Edicion Perla (v05) 	Spain 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1243  	Pokemon Diamant-Edition (v05) 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1242  	Pokemon Perl-Edition (v05) 	Germany 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1158  	Zelda no Densetsu - Mugen no Sunadokei 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1016  	Pokemon Pearl (v05) 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	1015  	Pokemon Diamond (v05) 	USA 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	512 Mbit
	0973  	Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training - Motto Eigo Zuke 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	0577  	Pokemon Diamond 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit
	0576  	Pokemon Pearl 	Japan 	Flash - 4 Mbit 	1024 Mbit

Most of those are on the rare, good game and pricier side. Still America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking, Personal Trainer - Walking (didn't know about this, might have to see what goes as far as the pedometer addons), and Picross 3d seem readily available for fairly cheap.

 

[BanjoDude98]

Thanks a lot for the quick response. I'll keep my eye open for any cheap copies of the above games, but I'll probably set my sights on finding replacement parts, as it doesn't look like such a thing has been done before (also I wouldn't want to destroy other games, even if for test purposes). I imagine if I find a 4mbit flash memory that has the same 2 pins that are to connect to ground and the remaining 6 pins for the proper functions (supply, clock, etc.), there's a good chance it will work.

I'll keep this thread updated with my findings. Since I'm new here, does this forum have topics close automatically if no new posts are made within such an amount of time?​

 

[FAST6191]

While I don't have such reservations about cannibalising another game (not the full version but generally there are things with historical significance that you probably don't want to destroy, there are things valuable for doing what they do, things that get more valuable when restored and there are things that are mass market junk which will not be of great note) if you want to take that position then that is fine, and one you will likely find many others taking. I suppose there is also a reason why most of the valuable games for any given console are utter trash that nobody really wants to play, save for maybe ironically.

No autolock around here -- the thing about ROMS and the carts they come on is that they are the same now as the day they were made, and will be the same in 20 years too (or 200 for that matter). To that end if you find a protocol compatible chip, even a pin compatible one or one you can lift a few legs on (or spin it upside down and deadbug it) to throw some jumper/bodge wires around for to achieve compatibility*, then we want to hear about it. I don't know how much I would wager on there being another random chip that is protocol level compatible like you imagine there (it is possible I guess, see XD flash NAND replacements for the xbox 360, but it would not be my fourth course of never, never mind and earlier one).
Bump it to say bump, bump it to add nothing of any value (negative findings do count as value -- if you have gone through the spec sheets for the flash memory company, or whatever entity owns that brand now, and found it was a custom line the likes of which nobody made anything for* that is info worth knowing. You might also care to run through how you checked as not everybody knows electronics diagnostics and repair and that is also valuable, even if it is just a cynical ploy to not say bump but still say bump) or otherwise don't add to the conversation and you might attract the ire of the mods but they will tend to recognise a good faith effort there so don't worry there.

*the rare combo asterisk today. Electronics companies as are lazy as any programmer so it is fairly common the same thing gets done time after time, maybe with a minor physical tweak like changing the locations of a few legs of a chip and you then get to make a breakout board, cut a trace, or throw a jumper wire around but leaving the internal protocols (expensive and hard to develop/build for) the same. There are also only a handful of flash memory companies in the end with most companies using the product of a small selection, you normally see this mostly in SSD discussions but it applies elsewhere. I can't imagine Nintendo paid good money to have custom flash chips for game saves (custom onboard encryption for consoles maybe but not basic saves on something as old and insecure as the DS -- that would not even be lipstick on a pig) or was even a big enough customer to warrant it like you see in something like automotive electronics.

 

[austinburk]

The chip you need is an ST 45PE40V6 (maybe also known as M45PE40V6).

  Type   Total Size  Page Size  Chip/Example      Game/Example
  EEPROM 0.5K bytes   16 bytes  ST M95040-W       (eg. Metroid Demo)
  EEPROM   8K bytes   32 bytes  ST M95640-W       (eg. Super Mario DS)
  EEPROM  64K bytes  128 bytes  ST M95512-W       (eg. Downhill Jam)
  FLASH  256K bytes  256 bytes  ST M45PE20        (eg. Skateland)
  FLASH  256K bytes             Sanyo LE25FW203T  (eg. Mariokart)
  FLASH  512K bytes  256 bytes  ST M25PE40?       (eg. which/any games?)
  FLASH  512K bytes             ST 45PE40V6       (eg. DS Zelda, NTR-AZEP-0)
  FLASH 1024K bytes             ST 45PE80V6       (eg. Spirit Tracks, NTR-BKIP)
  FLASH 8192K bytes             MX25L6445EZNI-10G (Art Academy only, TWL-VAAV)
  FRAM     8K bytes   No limit  ?                 (eg. which/any games?)
  FRAM    32K bytes   No limit  Ramtron FM25L256? (eg. which/any games?)