Hardware Weird problem with ELINK

[movezig]

I was just playing Fire Emblem 6 today on my ELINK cart. Suddenly, the game froze and made the most abhorrent screeching noise I have ever heard. I promptly turned off the game.

When I loaded up the game again, my save data was completely gone.

I still have a savestate, but it's from about ten chapters ago. For those of you who don't play Fire Emblem, that's pretty far back.

Is there a way to retreive my data? If not, is there a way to ensure this kind of screw-up doesn't happen again?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

nope. you only get that from either a dirty gba rom or you upgraded the installer program rather than sticking to the english one that came with the CD and turned on some cheat mode or something with zero cheats.

save data doesn't come off the flashcart, all the info is blank if you try.

 

[movezig]

I actually got the white version that didn't come with a CD.

I tried reinstalling the software. Now, whenever I connect the cart, I get the message "Connect Elink time over,please repower the GBA." What do I do in this instance?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

charge it for 8 hours or you will be recharging the thing every month instead of every 3 months. If it keeps asking even after charging, you probably got a dead battery, in which case you will need to replace it.

I posted the cd contents a while back here, I don't know if it is still up or not:
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=112580

 

[movezig]

Wow, I must be a massive noob... how do I charge this? Do I use the USB cable?

EDIT: Found out in that link. I'll just leave it to charge then. I bought it several months back. Do you think I'll be charging it every month now?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

just charge it overnight once in a while, you should be fine. just plug it into your computer or a hub with power. you don't need the DS to be attached to the cart to charge, only to transfer games.

 

[move_zig]

I tried charging it. I still get the error message.

The weird part is that the data on all the rest of my games is intact. Is the cart really broken?

EDIT: It's working with version 5.5 of the software. Is my cart all right then?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Some people find the latest version doesn't work and use the older version instead that seem to work for them.

 

[move_zig]

I tried out my cart today. It works fine and holds a save, and works with the latest version of the software. I think it's alright, just needed a battery recharge.

Thank you very much for your help.