backing up saves on older systems nes/snes/genesis ect..

[Soviet Conscript]

I use emulators mainly for the ability to use save states but lately i just can't stomach playing good old snes or nes games sitting at the computer. i would love to lay down on the couch and play the games on my origional system on the big TV but i'm just to paranoid about loseing my saves. now in the old days i never really had a save erased on me and i know i can always change the battery in the cart before i decide to play but i just can't help being paranoid. as i play mostly RPG's i can't help fearing getting to the end of a game only to find the next time i play my files are gone.

now i've found memory cards for the newer systems pretty reliable and for those of us that are extra paranoid you can always save your game on 2 diffrent cards or use a dex drive.

but what abut older systems? i would rather not disconnect my computer and lug it over to the TV every time i want to play a game through the emulator. and thats if i bought a new video card and figured out how to make it work. redecorating so things are closer is also something i can't do for a few reasons. so any suggestions? any sort of retro dex drive devices out there? i've also heard of people running emulators through modified PS2's and xboxes that have hard drives. its not the origional equipment but at least i could play the games on my tv while laying down. and i trust saves on a HD more then a battery backup. i'm assumeing its more reliable but if someone knows otherwise please say so.

[LocalH]

As far as I know, the most simple way to backup SRAM would be to get a cart copier for the desired system (such as the Super Magic Drive for the Genesis, which I have). I'm not so familiar with NES copiers, but I'd imagine that most major SNES and Genesis copiers can easily handle SRAM. The only other way I can think of would be to take the cart apart, obtain the pinout of the SRAM chip, and read it directly using some custom hardware.

I'm not sure if all of the copiers can restore to in-cart SRAM. If not, they usually have their own battery-backed SRAM, so you could dump your carts and then run the ROM images. This way, the game would write to the copier's SRAM, which could then be backed up and restored at will, so you would first download the SRAM for the desired game, then download and run the ROM. When you're done playing, you would power-cycle the system to get back to the copier's menu, and then backup the SRAM contents.

Alternately, I believe the Tototek SNES and Genesis flashcarts support SRAM, but as I don't own either, I can't vouch for whether or not you can backup and restore their SRAM. In that case, however, you wouldn't be able to dump your own carts, so you'd either have to have someone dump them for you, or download copies of the exact games you own. I won't go any further down that road, as that's technically illegal (although arguably moral, as you do own a legitimate copy of the games).

[Kitsune Sniper]

I think I remember finding a dongle that let you save the SRAM of GBC games at Wal-Mart a few years back... and there's some Chinese thingies that let you do that with GBA games, as well.

[roushimsx]

Another vote for copiers, but it's a pretty pricey solution. I use a Super Wildcard DX2 for my SNES and love it to pieces, but seriously...for the price they go for anymore (and considering you're talking about multiple systems), you may be better off putting together a small HTPC with retrosystem emulation in mind and a couple of usb or parallel port controller adaptors.

but yea, I love my DX2. Played through Tales of Phantasia on it (hell, the only reason I bought the 64mb model was in case the game got translated) along with a shittonmegafuckpileload of other games. Also, the state saving support was most helpful.

[LocalH]

Well, for SNES and Genesis together, one could track down a Double Pro Fighter or similar dual-system copier.

But copiers are definitely the route to go if you want the authentic hardware experience. As close as emulation is (especially with NES emulation nowadays handling even the NTSC artifacts), it's still not quite the same experience.

[Melf]

Modded Xbox = as close as you can get to the best of both worlds.

[rbudrick]

Get a hold of Kevin Horton and by a CopyNES from him. It will back up NES saves, though it is very feature rich and can be a bit difficult for the beginner at first to use. For SNES, go to tototek.com and buy a Game Doctor SF7 and a SNES flash cart.

-Rob

[TisLord]

The snes actually had an external backup unit from innavtor Ibelive you would plug it into the snes and then your game into that. It took batteries or an ac adapter. I had one back in the day.

[TisLord]

Wrong Name But I found It...

http://www.nesworld.com/archives/nakiplus.htm

I would always save to the game and save to this...just in case.

[idrougge]

One solution would be to tell a psychiatrist about your paranoia. Relax, it's just a game, and battery backup works fine.

[roushimsx]

Modded Xbox = as close as you can get to the best of both worlds.

God yes, especially now that someone has ported Mednafen over to it for quality PCE/PCECD lovin.

[kentuckyfried]

Copiers don't have to be a pricey solution, you should be able to get a decent copier somewhere from someone for around 40$

[Soviet Conscript]

One solution would be to tell a psychiatrist about your paranoia. Relax, it's just a game, and battery backup works fine.

*sigh* theres always someone like this in the crowd. yhea battery backup isn't terrible but if i'm going to invest 40+ hours into something. i would rather not chance loseing the save near the end and i think alot of people can agree with me on that.

but thanks for all the suggestions. some intresting options. got me looking into HTPC's now to, didn't really know much about those.

[shadowkn55]

Copiers don't have to be a pricey solution, you should be able to get a decent copier somewhere from someone for around 40$

$40 is a bit of wishful thinking if you are looking for a reliable and sturdy copier.

I recommend getting the Doctor SF7 (Professor SF2) from Tototek. The 32mbit version starts at $55 plus shipping from Hong Kong. They also offer a variety of ram upgrades. AFAIK, getting a 96mbit SF7 will allow you to play Star Ocean in english on real hardware. More importantly, the SF7 can download your saves onto floppy and let you reupload them into cart if you change the battery or get a new cart.

The older models can be had for less but I don't recommend them. They don't work as well and also have memory restrictions. I have the SF7 myself and have personally verified that it can download and upload saves from cart.

The snes actually had an external backup unit from innavtor Ibelive you would plug it into the snes and then your game into that. It took batteries or an ac adapter. I had one back in the day.

I think the device you might be thinking of is the Naki Game Saver. It's more of a save state device like emulators have. I can't really see why a company would release a device whose only purpose was to backup game saves.