Knuckles Chaotix Weird Saving Issue

[evilernLe]

I recently decided to play through Knuckles Chaotix again, but I'm having some weird issues with the saving.

Normally, I would say it's just a bad battery (which it probably still is in this case), but it's not doing stuff that's consistent with a bad battery in my experience.

When I started the game, a save file from about 13 years ago was still present, so I figured everything was good to go. After that, I started a new game.

I played for about an hour or so, saved my progress and quit for a bit. Later on in the night, my old save file was completely deleted and the new one existed, but the levels completed were completely different than the ones I had previously done??

On a side note, the audio in the game seems really messed up (i.e., it's playing weird static on occasion). Maybe the cart is just bad...?

[A Black Falcon]

Knuckles Chaotix doesn't use a battery, it uses an FRAM chip, like Sonic 3 and the Japanese version of Virtua Racing Deluxe for the 32X (the US and European versions of that game do not have saving). That is, it doesn't use battery-backed memory for saving. So it could be a bad chip or a bad cart, but it's not a battery.

[jb143]

Just an idea, but you may need to clean the contacts. Corrosion on them is much more likely than a chip going bad. It would also explain why the old game was still there but isn't saving right now.

[evilernLe]

Oh wow, that's interesting. I didn't know any 32x games used flash memory for saving.


I'll try cleaning the contacts later on and see if that changes anything.

On a side note, I actually like this game quite a bit compared to when I played it originally. It's a fun game with some really great graphics. The buddy/ring system is pretty fun, but there are moments when the game would be better served with a single character.


Thanks for the suggestions.

[Rickstilwell1]

Wait, Sonic 3 doesn't have a save battery? I always thought it did because I had a copy of Sonic 3 that didn't save anymore. I wonder if there is a way to replace the FRAM chips when they go bad?

Along with this question, do any of the Genesis games actually use batteries or are most of them FRAM too?

[A Black Falcon]

I only learned that Knuckles Chaotix was FRAM earlier this year, and yeah, it surprised me too. I'd heard of FRAM because it was known to be used in Sonic 3 on the Genesis, but I'd never heard of any other games that use it... but now I know of three. Are there more? I'm not sure...

Wait, Sonic 3 doesn't have a save battery? I always thought it did because I had a copy of Sonic 3 that didn't save anymore. I wonder if there is a way to replace the FRAM chips when they go bad?

Along with this question, do any of the Genesis games actually use batteries or are most of them FRAM too?

The three games I listed are the only ones that I know use FRAM chips. It was obviously only something Sega used late in the Genesis's life -- all of those three titles were 1994 or 1995 releases. So yeah, anyone looked in their other 1994 or beyond Sega-published Genesis games with saving to see if they have batteries or not?

I've said it before elsewhere, but this is something I'd love to be proven wrong about. It's also something that emulation will not help with, FRAM and SRAM (SRAM is battery save) are identical, as far as the system is concerned. You basically need to take the carts apart to tell...

However, while most Genesis games with saving do have batteries, there are a few others that do have flash memory saving -- there are some some games that use EEPROM chips. These are a bit easier to tell apart, EEPROM is different from a hardware standpoint so through emulation a list of games that used EEPROMs has been put together. Here's the list:


http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5965

Genesis
--
On-Cart FRAM: Sonic the Hedgehog 3

On-Cart EEPROM: NBA Jam, NBA Jam T.E., Blockbuster World Video Game Championship II (NBA Jam T.E. portion), Charles Barkley's Shut Up and Jam! 2, College Slam, Unnecessary Roughness '95, NFL Quarterback Club, NFL Quarterback Club '95, Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball, Rings of Power, NHLPA Hockey '93, Wonder Boy in Monster World, Evander 'Real Deal' Holyfield's Boxing, Greatest Heavyweights of the Ring, Sports Talk Baseball, Mega Man: The Wily Wars (Genesis, JP/EU release only, only the second release ([alt] rom) of the Japanese version uses EEPROM; the original Japanese version uses SRAM. The European version uses EEPROM only.), (The following games were only released in PAL territories) Micro Machines 2, Micro Machines Turbo Tournament '96, Micro Machines Military, Brian Lara Cricket '96, Shane Warne Cricket.

All other US/EU-released games with on-cart saving have SRAM, as far as I know. I'd love to be proven wrong and have it shown that more titles used FRAM than just Sonic 3! As for Japan-only titles, I have no information that any of them use anything other than SRAM, so I will assume that that is what they all use, barring any information to the contrary.

Sega 32X
--
On-Cart EEPROM: NBA Jam T.E., NFL Quarterback Club

On-Cart FRAM: Knuckles Chaotix, Virtua Racing Deluxe (Japanese version only, US and European versions do not have any kind of saving)

All other games with saving have batteries as far as I know.