Sega Saturn RAM/Memory carts question

[Artlover]

And it doesn't hurt that the DC is a vampire. If you turn it off and forget to unplug the VMU, it'll happily suck the VMU batteries dry.

1006070[/snapback]

Yup, I stopped bothering to buy batteries for my VMU's because of this. Sorry, just cant get in the habit of having to remove the VMU when turning off the system. Nor should I really have to in my opinion. That's just bad hardware design.

[JB]

And it doesn't hurt that the DC is a vampire. If you turn it off and forget to unplug the VMU, it'll happily suck the VMU batteries dry.

1006070[/snapback]

Yup, I stopped bothering to buy batteries for my VMU's because of this. Sorry, just cant get in the habit of having to remove the VMU when turning off the system. Nor should I really have to in my opinion. That's just bad hardware design.

1006096[/snapback]

Pretty much.

I just unplug the gamepad. It's easy enough to do.

[shadow460]

I thought unplugging the pads would stop the batteries from dying, too, but it didn't.

I'm in the same boat with Artlover--I just removed the batteries from both of my VMU's.

The DC nags me about the date when its own internal battery dies, and I hate that. I've seen NiCD batteries hold a minimal charge for years. It's not enough to do much--except maybe run a clock, but it is there. Still, as fast as that battery dies, you'd think they were using it to power Big Ben.

 

It wouldn't be so bad, though, if the VMU used a normal sized battery like a triple A or something. Those little flat ones, though are really expensive. To buy batteries for one VMU is about $7.

Wanna talk about the pads, though, they ain't the greatest as it is. Now if Sega had taken the analog stick and a from the DC pad and put that in the NiGHTS pad along with a rumble motor, they'd have an awesome controller. A VMU could be plugged into the controller's output port, and the wire run from that to the console as normal.

I guess the DC pads do get the job done, though. They're better than most of Sony's controllers, IMO.

[JB]

Wanna talk about the pads, though, they ain't the greatest as it is.  Now if Sega had taken the analog stick and a from the DC pad and put that in the NiGHTS pad along with a rumble motor, they'd have an awesome controller.  A VMU could be plugged into the controller's output port, and the wire run from that to the console as normal.

Yeah. The DC pad is like someone held up a Nights controller at a meeting and said "Okay gentlemen, we have gamepad perfection right here. Now how can we screw it up?"

 

I guess the DC pads do get the job done, though.  They're better than most of Sony's controllers, IMO.

Yes, but a muddy stick balanced on a porcupine's nose is better than most of Sony's controllers, so it's not exactly saying much.

[+Cafeman]

BUMP of an older topic, but I need some advice.

 

I have a Action Replay 4M+ cart that I've had for over a decade. It has the 4Meg RAM, plus it allows playing imports, and it also has memory to save games. The problem is, the cart is bombing out on me. Often the Saturn doesn't recognize it and we have to try 20 times to boot-up; then while playing a 4Meg fighting game (MSHvsSF) sometimes the RAM seems to glitch and the game crashes.

 

I always liked the cart but I guess it is too old now - what is a suggested replacement and where on earth do I find one as inexpensively as possible?

[Royalshin]

If you unplug the Sega Saturn it will drain fast. Otherwise you need to leave it pluged in like my Saturn.

 

When saving the Saturn will inform you of enough room.

 

All memory for the Saturn is flash not battery.

 

About VMU on your Dreamcast. Remember it is that of a N64 but with more features. So it is bound to be a little adnormal.

 

It has the 4Meg RAM, plus it allows playing imports, and it also has memory to save games. The problem is, the cart is bombing out on me. Often the Saturn doesn't recognize it and we have to try 20 times to boot-up

 

This is a 3rd party or unofficial product. It is not heavily built for life and such a device was never meant to be.

 

The Saturn cart slot is also wide kinda like unvirgin St. Maria. So like myself you need to.

 

A. Deal with it being so wide

 

B. Open it up and get something to pull the prongs together on both sides to make it read better.

 

C. Get a adapter that is wider and put it over the back.

 

I suggest B personally but I often use A.

[+Cafeman]

Update: I scanned the net some more. It seems this is a common problem with the Saturn cart slot. Some have opened it up and tried to squeeze together the pins to get better contact. I saw a suggestion to push the cart in with on side a bit higher than the other and it actually worked the first time. So I guess I have to find the sweet spot. The cart is fine.

[shadow460]

If you unplug the Sega Saturn it will drain fast. Otherwise you need to leave it pluged in like my Saturn.

 

When saving the Saturn will inform you of enough room.

 

All memory for the Saturn is flash not battery.

 

About VMU on your Dreamcast. Remember it is that of a N64 but with more features. So it is bound to be a little adnormal.

 

It has the 4Meg RAM, plus it allows playing imports, and it also has memory to save games. The problem is, the cart is bombing out on me. Often the Saturn doesn't recognize it and we have to try 20 times to boot-up

 

This is a 3rd party or unofficial product. It is not heavily built for life and such a device was never meant to be.

 

The Saturn cart slot is also wide kinda like unvirgin St. Maria. So like myself you need to.

 

A. Deal with it being so wide

 

B. Open it up and get something to pull the prongs together on both sides to make it read better.

 

C. Get a adapter that is wider and put it over the back.

 

I suggest B personally but I often use A.

 

Check your info, dude.

 

The Saturn does indeed have battery backed memory, and if that battery is dead it can interfere with cartridge saves. It's not supposed to cause problems, but sometimes it does.

 

The Saturn's cartridge port has tin contacts in it, which are weaker than normal. Bending them is not recommended. I've even had problems with first party carts like the Backup cart and the NetLink. To solve them, clean the carts you use, and then clean the port with a credit card, paper towel, and rubbing alcohol. I have no trouble even with my Game Shark nowdays, but I keep the carts and the port clean.

 

The Saturn drains its backup battery faster if the system is not plugged into the wall. The Dreamcast will not recharge its internal battery unless the unit is turned on. Unlike the Saturn, the DCs internal battery will lose its charge over a period of about three weeks. This is due to the different chemistry of the batteries.

 

Last suggestion: Figure out which cart you use the most and leave it plugged in to the Saturn.

[Royalshin]

The Saturn does indeed have battery backed memory, and if that battery is dead it can interfere with cartridge saves. It's not supposed to cause problems, but sometimes it does.

 

There is not one game that I have up to date that automatically saves the system and causes malfunction to the Memory Card or it's saved data. However I will admit pulling the cart out or placing it back in if it is loose might cause a problem since the slot is very ifi.

 

Bending them is not recommended

 

Your going to take some sorta small tool or metal stick and carefully pull them foward a bit. People have been doing this all over the net for sometime now. I doubt anybody is going pull that hard on it.

 

It is like bending the NES prongs on systems for some reason have all the prongs pressed inwards deep. Sega would'nt be that cheap to make a product. Again I only suggest it for which I have not done since I go for preservation. About cleaning it with a credit card ( which I am guessing a tissue paper of some sort and some damp water ). Personally you don't have to clean it unless you dirty games/memory.

 

It is kinda funny. The Dreamcast has a battery but no built in save station....propertory.

Edited January 10, 2009 by Royalshin

[shadow460]

Evidently you don't own too many Saturn games, then.

All of its games that support saving your progress have the option of saving to the system. Many early ones save directly to the system without asking you if you want it on the cartridge, and they will all auto save to the system memory if no cartridge is detected. You simply have to have a working battery in the system.

 

I think most of the games that can use the Backup cart have a logo on their cases. Some may not have the logo but still be compatible. Still, though, if the cart isn't detected and the system battery is dead, your game save will vanish as soon as you turn the power off.

 

I recommend cleaning the cartridge port mainly because the dust door does not seal up against the case very well. That and the different material used in the contacts.

 

The Dreamcast's internal battery simply keeps the time, date, and a few system settings. So, for that matter, does the PS2's internal battery (yep, it has a clock in there). I don't know why Sony was able to get the PS2 to keep its settings for months with no external power. I assume their battery is a lithium ion cell and that the PS2 charges it when the plug is in the wall, not just when it's being played.

 

@Cafeman: that sweet spot should be right where the cart bottoms out in the slot. If it's not and you've cleaned everything up, it's time to open the Action Replay and check for physical damage to it. Faulty soldering almost always shows the same symptoms of dirty contacts, except that cleaning does no good. Clean the system and the cart first, though, as I'd imagine a decade of dust wont do the system or the AR any good. If that's not it, either one of the ICs on the cart is bad or a solder pad may have lifted. Faulty soldering is very difficult to repair on surface mount boards like what you will find in the AR, but it's not impossible.

 

I've gone from major problems in my own Saturn to carts working on the first try almost every single time just with proper care and storage of the carts and by keeping a good battery in the system. I know that might not make as much sense as the idea of the port being "too wide" or "ruined by a Game Shark", but that's how I've kept mine going.

 

Watch me try to boot it up and this will be the one time it won't recognize the cart.

[+remowilliams]

I know that might not make as much sense as the idea of the port being "too wide" or "ruined by a Game Shark"

I'll tell you this - the Gameshark PCB is thicker and wider than the OEM products, and is also not edge beveled. Enough so in fact, that on the 'virgin' cart slot I have here the Sega 1MB/4MB carts are able to be inserted/removed with ease, while the Gameshark has to be removed with a ridiculous amount of two handed force.

[Jess Ragan]

BUMP of an older topic, but I need some advice.

 

I have a Action Replay 4M+ cart that I've had for over a decade. It has the 4Meg RAM, plus it allows playing imports, and it also has memory to save games. The problem is, the cart is bombing out on me. Often the Saturn doesn't recognize it and we have to try 20 times to boot-up; then while playing a 4Meg fighting game (MSHvsSF) sometimes the RAM seems to glitch and the game crashes.

 

I always liked the cart but I guess it is too old now - what is a suggested replacement and where on earth do I find one as inexpensively as possible?

 

It's probably your Saturn, not your cartridge. I've heard the cart ports on the Saturn are frail and subject to failure after extended periods of use.

[+remowilliams]

I took the dremel to the Gameshark and gave that damn PCB a nice dual beveled edge. Now it goes in and out of the system like a regular cart and not something that needs to be hammered in, and acts like it's super glued when trying to remove.

[shadow460]

Good idea, remo. I may try that on my own Game Shark.

[Eltigro]

This is one of the few threads that I read in its entirety.

 

I have had many battery issues and finally just decided to forget about ever saving games for either system. I worked on a city in Sim City for my Saturn all day. Turned it off, came back to it a week later, and had no city. I've bought many CR2032 batteries for both the Saturn and DC VMU's and it seems like just wasting money. I need a save cartridge for my Saturn and a better way of doing things for my DC I guess.

[+Cafeman]

@Eltigro - I made it a practice to save certain save files onto a backup cart for that very reason, but I evidently forgot to do it for NiGHTS. I had a save file with some really high scores from games I got over 100 links in some stages. Gone as of yesterday. Oh well.

 

For the DC though , the VMU of course doesn't lose its saves when the battery goes dead so I never really minded that.

[shadow460]

Backup, backup, backup. That's the primary purpose of my Game Shark. Also, keep the Saturn plugged in if you can't back your saves up to a cart. Once you get them backed up to a memory cart, get a second one and back them up to that by transferring them to the system RAM and the to the second cart.

 

It's possible to back up save files from a Game Shark directly to a PC, and it's also possible to send save files from the internal RAM to your email with a NetLink and a working land line. It may be possible to make a null modem connection with the NetLink.

 

As for arcade style games like Virtual On and Virtua Cop, I just leave the saves on the system. If I lose them, I can re finish the games or I can copy an old file from my Backup cart to restore the lost progress. Otherwise, they're no big deal. Neither is the NiGHTS A-Life...all you need for that game are the scores.

[Eltigro]

That's just it. I don't have a backup cart and need to get one. One city on Sim City pretty much takes up the entire system memory.

 

After that loss, I just stuck to Darius Gaiden, Daytona, and Virtua Cop. More arcade, less worry about losing saves.

[davyK]

That's just it. I don't have a backup cart and need to get one. One city on Sim City pretty much takes up the entire system memory.

 

After that loss, I just stuck to Darius Gaiden, Daytona, and Virtua Cop. More arcade, less worry about losing saves.

 

I've had a few Saturns over the years, 2 PALs and one white Japanese model.

 

The Saturn's achilles heel definitely seems to be the cartridge slot. I use an AR cartridge to disable the region lock and sometimes it takes a couple of goes to get it going. Its no massive deal.

 

The Saturn's onboard memory lasts quite a while in my experience - around a year for each battery - but I don't usually rely on it. I'm lucky enough to have 2 official backup cartridges and I can't think of any game I have that doesn't support it. Some games will save to the system memory but if you subsequently copy the file to the backup cartridge then the game will detect it on the cartridge and update to cartridge instead of system.

 

I have heard tales of the Sega cartridges failing but mine have never let me down. I use the enormous backup memory on the AR cartridge to backup system memory and my Sega cartridge from time to time.

 

re the connector on the AR cartridge - I understand that its original purpose is to allow firmware upgrades and cheat code management using a PC but it now has a more interesting application....

 

There is a 2D shmup kit for the Saturn called Dezaemon 2 (think the original was on the SNES). This is a great product and is pretty comprehensive - allowing to build all manner of quality shmups. The problem is it can at times take up an entire cartidge to save a game you have built.

 

There is a website that features software you can download and burn to CD that allows the saving of Dezaemon saves to a PC. This has opened up a small community that uses this to share games. The only limitation is that your Saturn needs to be modded to run backup games in order to run the special software.

 

http://thesaturnjunkyard.blogspot.com/2007...mup-galore.html

Edited January 13, 2009 by davyK

[davyK]

In the previous post I'm quite wrong (for some reason I can't edit it to correct it).

 

The link in my previous post gives you access to an image you burn that creates a CD with 100-odd games built using Dezaemon 2. It also has software that lets you copy games from the CD to a standard backup cartridge (not an AR) which you can then load and play using the Dezaemon 2 disc. You can get 2 games onto a cartridge it seems.

 

I can remember reading somewhere about a connection with the AR's comms port and homebrew and got mixed up!! It was used as a tool to help develop this CD.

Edited January 14, 2009 by davyK