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?

  • Spunky Monkey@lemm.eeEnglish
    7·
    3 months ago

    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.

    • f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4English
      9·
      3 months ago

      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.