This was such a useful guide, thanks for sharing! I did the same thing for F-Zero Maximum Velocity and it worked perfectly!

Awesome video as always 👍🏻❤️

It’s really nice to know that this can be done but for instance if someone’s battery die and can solder it’s so much easier to just swap the battery with a new one than to do this whole process lol the solder joints are big and easy to work with

That's dope! Thanks for the tutorial :D

Awesome channel. I've already changed the display on a gba sp thanks to you

Looks at the list, a sense of relief knowing that Riviera The Promised Land doesn't use batteries. I spent so much time 100% completing the collections.

I thought you had cat hair on the lense for a second and it was actually on my screen so I feel your pain haha

I followed this (Kind of) but did the opposite. Using the FERAM chip from an E11 cartridge (Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2007) on the PCB from an E06 cartridge (Warioland 4). It works!

Awesome I cant believe you put tho dirty flux games in your gba but really nicely done..

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

Don't worry, I cleaned it ;)

Just a question here regarding GBA Flash type saves: So similar to how you change the SRAM and FRAM chips (well the game ROM chips in this case) around by soldering, is it also possible to replace the Flash chip from a 64KB to a 128KB one. In addition to putting it on a bootleg cartridge that has Flash save on it (like my Mother 3 cartridge). I wish to have a cartridge of the Japanese version of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 with all 38 e-Reader levels, while I do have ways to put the rom on my bootlegs I get a message saying the save file is corrupted, and patches to make it batteryless on the rom itself (meaning so save chip required either) corrupts the graphics for me on that game.

Bruh! I found a working GBA and games in the trash. It all works! One of those games was Metroid fusion. I will try this out, thanks for the video.

@SuperLuigiGuy64

4 жыл бұрын

@@xiii9354 Dumpster diving, you can find lots of awesome treasures. You'd be surprised the things people throw away. 🤣

I had no idea you could do that.

I've been looking to do this with my gameboy and gameboy color games, specifically pokemon, but I have yet to find an 100% compatible f-ram chip. The solutions I've seen don't have a clear guide on what chip to use, and some say stuff about lifting pins because of different voltages which doesn't sound right to me. Have you had any experience with GB/GBC games?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/e4J8yMSdpJuZoNo.html

just did this with a y-11, worked great.

Hey, I've got a question if you don't mind hearing me out. Is there a solution for when a GBA cart with FRAM can't save? I just recently got a cart of Final Fantasy V with this problem. I'd hoped to see a save battery when I opened it up, since those seem simple enough to replace, but of course it didn't have one. I was wondering if a fix is still on the table, or if I'm better off just getting another cart (especially since I have no experience with this sort of thing).

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

probably a broken solder joint then

@markdayrit3416

4 жыл бұрын

I had the same issue with a WarioWare Twisted that I just got, it wouldn’t save. Turns out that Makho was right. Before I went with swapping an FRAM chip, I resoldered the joints on the pcb. Try reflowing the pins in case you have a dead joint, worked for me.

Can i do this without hot air gun?

Hello Makho. I have a question. So I currently have a midnight trace gba flashcart from funnyplaying. I want the cart itself as it's a golden color and I have a shiny gold rom in there. The base game is fire red. So it beautiful to me and I want to keep the golden cart. However, I have to patch the rom in order for it to save properly on the cart (since it's a fram chip and not flash) I was wondering, if you knew by any chance, if I can take off the flash chip from a spare authentic fire red cartridge would I be able to place it on the flash cart and remove the fram chip? Both chips are similar in size and have the same amount of pins. It looks like it would fit perfectly. But I want to know if the flash cart would even be able to interface with the flash save chip. Would it be a waste of time to remove the fram chip and install the flash save chip?

@makho

9 ай бұрын

That's not how this works

Yay! Special cat ending!

Could this work with any game that uses battery saves? Like castlvian circle of the moon?

@makho

3 жыл бұрын

should work with any GBA games that use a battery for saves

Are the SRAM pcb’s interchangeable? Basically I’ve got an AGB-E06-10 board with a ton of corrosion that I want to transplant my Metroid rom from. Would an AGB-E06-20 PCB be compatible?

@makho

3 ай бұрын

I don't know but if you want an educated guess, it should be compatible. There's likely a difference in the passives but if you just swap the MROM, that's probably irrelevant. The pinout on basically all the MROM chips in these carts is the same so swapping the MROM chips works more often than not.

Oh and can you use tape to put the chips back on too or do you really have to flux and solder. I want to try and do it with my Japanese copy of Wario Land 4 (Wario Land Advance) as that game uses a battery.

@makho

3 жыл бұрын

you have to solder

No cats were harmed in this video

I was saving my pokemon game and exactly during the saving, my gameboy battery went off and then my saving got deleted! How to bring it back?!!! Help please!

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

It's gone. Sorry.

Hello! Can you link a link to Amazon to buy good tweezers like the one you used in this video? Please 🙏

@makho

2 жыл бұрын

at the time, I was just using some generic tweezers from ebay/aliexpress but I've started using some engineer titanium tweezers and I highly recommend those instead. They're a bit pricey up front but if it's something you'll use frequently, I highly recommend it: retrogamerepairshop.com/products/ptn-01-03-titanium-tweezers-series otherwise, just run a search for tweezers and you should find some that are only a couple bucks. They work but the tips bend stupid easy.

Hey makho, you said you paid a dollar or two for the japanese Mega Man carts. Where do you got them from? On ebay they are like not really cheap.

@makho

2 жыл бұрын

auction site

Is that a Wanhao Duplicator i3/Monoprice Maker Select metal plate?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

Uhh, who's asking? Yes lol

hey makho, is it possible to replace the mrom with a chip that you flashed yourself, and that way play a rom hack on an original cartridge?

@makho

3 жыл бұрын

Not on GBA. You can do that on GBC though because the memory mapper (MBC chip) is separate. On GBA it is a custom part that is integrated.

@ClipOrDeath

3 жыл бұрын

i see, thank you. what about bootleg gba carts, how do they work? do some of them use programmable rom with integrated mbc?

Any chance to do this with Pokemon Emerald,or Ruby/Sapphire?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

Please read the description.

For some reason, Metroid: Zero Mission, which came out in 2004, has copies that use SRAM instead of FRAM. The reason I know this is because my brother's copy of Zero Mission is an SRAM model, while my copy of Zero Mission is an FRAM model. To this day, I still don't understand why a game was released 3 years after the GBA's initial release has copies that use SRAM instead of FRAM. It's been several years since I checked the labels, but I don't believe that the SRAM version and the FRAM version of Zero Mission are different revisions of the game.

What tip did you use to reattach the chip?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

I used a hakko t18-c2. It might not be the best tip (t18-k tips look like they might fare better) but it worked for me.

Hey I am trying to save a Pokémon Emerald cart that won't boot, that a dog used as a chew toy ( I can see the bite marks) after looking at the cart carefully I am pretty sure it's the SRAM chip. there is a crack in it that is barely visible. My cart reader could load the rom onto my computer as well. do you know if there is an FRAM or SRAM chip I can buy that is compatible? Thanks! EDIT: I noticed a lot of these carts have 28 pin SRAM or FRAM chips, Pokémon Emerald has 32 pins.

@makho

3 жыл бұрын

emerald doesn't use SRAM or FRAM so this won't work

@TheHawk425

3 жыл бұрын

@@makho thanks for the reply, I just bought a cheap Japanese ruby cart and I'm gonna use the chip from that hopefully they're compatible. Cheers, love your vids btw.

@VideoGameJNPoop

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheHawk425 The reason why it won't work is because Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald use Flash to save, the battery is for the RTC (Real Time Clock) data, this is the same for the Japan-only Mega Man Battle Network 4.5 (Rockman.EXE 4.5) too, battery for clock, flash for saving. So if the battery runs out but your save is still there, it's just the Clock that won't work until replaced.

@miregoji2959

Жыл бұрын

@@TheHawk425 ruby isn’t sram or fram

Dude, props for the Eva Micro faceplate. Where'd you pick it up?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, they are really fucking cool. I got a whole set of them, actually. They were listed on aliexpress a while ago but apparently they are no longer available. Which is definitely a shame because these sticker wear pretty quick when you carry a Micro on you daily.

@8bittoaster

4 жыл бұрын

I've been messing around with my SP. Installed a rear case light. Getting Evangelion inserts printed on arcade translite. Put a video up the other day. Work in progress, need to install a switch for the light. Difficult getting parts locally and near impossible to order due to the China lock down. I have plans for a second unit (no pun intended) done up in red and black for a SEELE colour scheme. Been following your work. Keep it up.

What is the heat tolerance of these old FRAM chips and their pins? Is it well below the solder melting point?

@makho

2 жыл бұрын

if they couldn't stand the heat required to solder the chip, how would anyone use them?

@flamespear86

2 жыл бұрын

@@makho No idea. Just because something is pretty standard process doesn't mean it's necessarily good for the components. I don't know enough about the manufacturing process. I know silicon is heat resistant and that's pretty much it. This is the first time I've seen this method for removing chips so that's why I asked. Before I only knew about using an iron to do it.

@makho

2 жыл бұрын

@@flamespear86 I mean, a proper hot air rework station is a lot better than just a heat gun, that's for sure. But they are fundamentally the same thing (albeit no temp control on of those options).

What heat gun are you using, what’s the temperature?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

there is no temp control, it's a heat gun on "high"

can you also make EZ-Flash Omega without the battery?

@makho

3 жыл бұрын

the battery is only for RTC on the omega.

Which games used the same PCB as pokemon emerald?

@makho

3 жыл бұрын

pokemon ruby and pokemon sapphire

Hello Makho ! Love your work, I know I'm a bit late, but could this be possible for GBC/GB games ? Do you plan on making it ? :D Thank youuu

@makho

2 жыл бұрын

MBC1 and MBC5 games you can do the same thing with. MBC3 is a bit more complicated.

@sardouche9112

2 жыл бұрын

@@makho Ok thanks ! I will do some researches :)

What was the metal plate for?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

protect my desk from excess heat from the heat gun. I was worried that the silicone mat would not be sufficient. The plate has ridges that make it effectively thicker.

How / where did you find those Megaman carts, and for so little? I'm trying to find a blue one like you use in the video, but to no avail. :)

@makho

Жыл бұрын

If I share my sources, they stop being so inexpensive. That being said, you're also commenting on a three year old video and the pricing was wildly different three years ago.

@MathiasEek

Жыл бұрын

@@makho True, but it was worth a shot 😂

This doesnt work on games that uses the battery for sonething else right?, like pokemon saphire

@makho

3 жыл бұрын

you can't have batteryless RTC, that's not how that works.

Any idea how to fix lifted rom chip pads?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

bodge wire from the leg of the MROM chip to wherever the pad was supposed to go.

Will the flux left under the chip not corrode?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

it shouldn't but just in case, that's why I cleaned it.

Can we use this for ez flash 4?

@makho

3 жыл бұрын

likely no but you'd have to try it yourself to be sure. If nothing else, I imagine the chip I used would not work but another may.

Can gameboy sram be swapped with fram too?

@makho

2 жыл бұрын

not the way I did here but yes MBC5 (and MBC1) games can be swapped. MBC3 can be modified to take FRAM too but it's not 1:1 like the rest.

Can this be done with pokemon ruby?

@makho

5 ай бұрын

Pokemon Ruby already has non-volatile saves. The battery is for RTC.

Nice

Tried this with chip quik, much more difficult....

Him says “u know me imma f with it” me: LIKE

How long does a FRAM save last for?

@makho

4 жыл бұрын

Until the chip fails. The data sheet says something around 100 years.

@ianeckhoff1992

3 жыл бұрын

Over a century.

@Prauwlet213

3 жыл бұрын

@@makho well, then that's basically eternity, because no-one in this section will be alive, and all gbas and gba games would have rotted away unless they brought them back. I

What is flux?

@kraio-sfu

Жыл бұрын

It basically creates a barrier between the solder and the air, so that the solder doesn’t oxidize too quickly. It helps the solder flow more easily

My Japanese English Patched repro of Metroid Fusion doesn't have a battery, so I'm fine, however I have Mega Man Zero and that uses a battery, though It's not dead yet, but I could replace it with FRAM in future though.

@VideoGameJNPoop

2 жыл бұрын

Update: I realize that that bootleg/fake carts can also have a unique way of saving, so my Metroid Fusion cart uses SRAM, only the rom has been modified more to make it batteryless (thus why it freezes for a bit before continuing while saving the actual game, so if I put a different game/rom in the cart unpatched it won't keep the save). My Mega Man Zero is a bootleg cart too. So I'm not sure if there are different types of FRAM chips for the bootleg carts. My Mother 3 repro has flash save luckily.

@reznor6507

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameJNPoop So do the FRAM chips eventually die?

@VideoGameJNPoop

2 жыл бұрын

@@reznor6507 FRAM chips never die, the chips in the bootleg carts are usually SRAM (with the exception of Mother 3 Repros and insideGadgets carts you can buy on that website), only the roms have been modified to use batteryless saves, without FRAM or even Flash or Eeprom, don't know how to do this properly though.

@reznor6507

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameJNPoop I have 2 copies of Metroid fusion one with a battery and one with a chip. Is that chip in Fusion a FRAM?

@VideoGameJNPoop

2 жыл бұрын

@@reznor6507 Yes it is, the no battery one is FRAM.

👍

1500w heat gun is scary for that tiny pcb.

@makho

2 жыл бұрын

It worked, didn't it? A hot air station is a much better tool to use. Something something do as I say not as I do.

That Evangelion GB Micro is sick

In my opinion it's much easier just to replace the battery, but good job nonetheless.

@makho

3 жыл бұрын

I mean, this is a one-time thing. I'll never have to replace a battery in this cart again. But yes, normally, you are correct that it's much easier to swap in a battery.

@Falcon-um7vo

Жыл бұрын

@@makho Unless the FRAM chip goes bad (just received a copy of Fusion with FRAM and it won't save--had to return to seller). The batteries can last decades, so that's practically a one-time thing as well.

Also, why make Mega Man/Rockman games use batteries, I’m a fan of Mega Man/Rockman. Nooooooo.