Phantasy star 2 save issues

[iggytheroach]

So after scouring Google for a bit and finding little to no help, I figured I would pitch an effort to the bright people here. I bought a copy of phantasy star 2 online and upon arrival I found that the save files could not be manipulated. Erasing didn't work, writing new in an open slot didn't work, overwriting another slot wouldn't take either. So I figure it's the battery. Simple enough, two solder points, I'm not brilliant with soldering yet, but hey, 2 points I can make work. So I solder in the new battery...... And now the save files not only can't be manipulated, they're corrupted as well, probably from the lack of power while I swapped batteries. Is there a way to factory default the cartridge? Clear out everything? Maybe the battery is just screwy? Any suggestions?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

If you have the battery completely disconnected for about 10+ min that should erase the save files completely. Nearly all the games I've applied new batteries to, end up losing whatever save files were on them to begin with during just for the fact that I disconnected the battery in the first place to replace it.

 

So, try taking the battery out completely. Then power it up without the battery to see if there are any save files left on it at that point. If not, then go ahead and solder in the replacement battery and you should be good to go.

[iggytheroach]

I had come across that as a possible solution based off something else, sadly I get the same message without the battery, and it has some vestige of the old save even without the battery, which, given my reasonably limited knowledge on this, makes very little sense. Will continue testing and come back with further results.

[iggytheroach]

After more testing, it seems to be that part of the issue was the "Genesis" I was using. Generally to do a quick test of a cartridge when I get it I use the AT games console. It's small easy to grab and quick to set up given my game room. It also may have some issues with the saves on phantasy star 2.. because once I hauled out the model 1 for further testing, all the weirdness stopped. Save files seem normal again, put the new battery back in, and preliminary results are good.