[FIXED]Busted SNES cartridge? What to do? (Super Metroid)

[izarate]

FIXED: Super Metroid defaults to 00 Energy files when the battery is dead. If you have a cartridge that exhibits the same behavior, replace the battery and then clear all the files. A cleared file should say NO DATA instead of 00 Energy.



Original post:
Today I bought a Super Metroid cart at the flea market but there is something wrong with it: when you start the game Samus has 00 energy, thus she dies in the moment she appears.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=020T9bby-IM

I thought "what the..." and proceed to open the cart. There was the lousiest battery replacement job I've seen. After cleaning the mess, the cart still has the bug.

So, the question is: has someone ever seen something like this? what could I do?


EDIT:
I also bought Uniracers and it acts strange too: In a SNS-001 rev. SHVC-CPU-01 the game plays fine but in a SNS-001 rev. SNS-CPU-GMP-02 and rev. SNS-CPU-RGB-01 the game just shows garbled graphics. The game's PCB looks fine and I cleaned the contacts before testing so that's not it.

In my brother's SNES SNS-001 rev. SHVC-CPU-01:


In my SNES SNS-001 rev. SNS-CPU-RGB-01:




By the way, the same guy gave me a NES Advantage and a Mad Catz Fighter Pad for the SNES because they didn't work, but I was able to repair them pretty easily so I guess we're even. In the worst case I plan to use the cart shell with a Tototek flash card but I'd still like to have a functional cartridge.

[SkiDragon]

I don't know what the problem could be, but the effect you described is hilarious.

[WizDawg]

Do these games have and SRAM chip in them? Maybe it's corrupt?

[izarate]

Do these games have and SRAM chip in them? Maybe it's corrupt?

Yes, both have SRAM. Would a corrupt SRAM affect the game in that way? I would think that it doesn't, that it would just prevent me from saving my progress, but I'm not 100% sure. I removed the batteries to clear the SRAM, but that didn't help.

I already tried replacing the capacitors in the Super Metroid cart. I couldn't find axial capacitors like those used originally but I bought some polyester capacitors that had the same values and the cart seems to work just fine, except for the mentioned bug.

I think that the ROM itself is damaged somehow, but I beleive that it was working fine before since the battery was replaced. Why would someone replace it if they experienced this bug previously?



Now, for the Uniracers cartridge I've found new info that seems to give some sense to the situation: after the Game Genie was introduced Nintendo modified the SNES so that it would give less current to the cartridge slot to prevent the Game Genie from working. My SNES SNS-CPU-RGB-01 and SNS-CPU-GMP-02 are of the late revisions. My best guess is that there is some "leak" in the Uniracers cart and that's why it works fine in my brother's SNES (original) and not in mine (late revision).

I think that the issue is just present in this particular cart since I borrowed another Uniracers and it works fine with my SNES.




Does anyone have any other idea or info that might help? Maybe a website or anything? I know that I could buy another cart (and I plan to do so) but this is really intriguing and I'd like to know what is causing it.

[WizDawg]

I have a similar problem with Super Mario All Stars/Super Mario World combo cartridge. I picked it up at a garage sale a couple weeks ago for a buck. The lady said it had a problem with it.... garbled graphics. I thought to myself just needs a good cleaning. Took it home, cleaned it up, and yes there are garbled graphics on the screen.

Title screen comes up ok.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1.../allstars1.jpg

The menu screen appears and it's all messed up.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1.../allstars2.jpg

Funny thing is you can play a game that has no saved game. However when save your game and power off system and try to play game again it won't start, just a black screen. I checked battery on cart and it's fine. Also some games play fine, no garbled graphics, but others let you play game but they have garbled graphics. (Sorry I have no video recorder). SO I was thinking it had to do with 64K SRAM chip somehow. I know SRAM stands for Saved Ram but maybe it works with the ROM is some way (switching data?) The only way to test for sure is to replace. I was thinking about doing this. I have a spare Wayne Gretzky cartridge that has a 64K SRAM chip in it too.

Have you seen the video somebody posted about the messed up Super Mario Kart cartridge? That also has a SRAM chip.

[Bratwurst]

How long did you wait before replacing the battery in the Super Metroid cart? Maybe not long enough for the SRAM to clear out, but that's just a guess. You could try swapping the SRAM from another, cheaper game that uses the same component. Failing that, check all solder joints on the game rom and other chips on the circuit board to see if any need to be re-flowed.

Certainly an interesting phenomenon. Have you tried loading the game in a game genie with an infinite health code or something along those lines?