Looking to ROM dump just a handful of games, so I’m trying not to spend hundreds on a Sanni or Retrode. I saw this on AliExpress for $15.
I’ve personally had good luck with Alibaba and Aliexpress, but I recognize that this could just straight not work. There’s no documentation, but it claims the game data will show up like files on a USB flash drive.
Anybody know where this design came from?
I think any n64 cartridge has long since had the battery inside the cartridge die, which is what kept the game save info stored. So there won't be any saved game in there any more.
https://howchoo.com/nintendo/nintendo-64-cartridge-save-battery-change/
If that was the case they could've replaced the battery since and still have a save on that cartridge that needs backing up
I don't believe it works like that. When you change the battery, the save is gone. In other words, I think it has to have a continuous charge to keep the save.
It works like a computer CMOS battery if I'm not mistaken.
Can you not have a new save after replacing it?
You are correct.
One can solder in a temporary "helper battery" (or 3V power supply) to the same traces but in a different spot, to keep the SRAM alive while the real battery is replaced.
Some later games (GBA-era) use Flash memory and the battery is just for the clock.