powersupply
Offline
Michigan

Recently obtained an EMS 64 flash cart, and I can't get any farther in LSDJ than the ram test screen. It fails the test and suggests cleaning the pins and replacing the battery, and I have done both.

Screen I get:

A look at the board:

A direct link to the board image in case you want to zoom in: http://i.imgur.com/vWPkgMX.jpg?1

I've cleaned the pins and replaced the battery. I tested both the old and new battery and found that they were both fine. I tried flashing other games onto it, and the saves on those games don't work either. Any suggestions?

Last edited by powersupply (Feb 3, 2016 6:04 pm)

herr_prof
Offline
Unsubscribe

Clean the gameboy? Cart doesnt look that bad.

powersupply
Offline
Michigan
herr_prof wrote:

Clean the gameboy? Cart doesnt look that bad.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I have 2 other carts that work just fine with my gameboy, so I don't think that's the issue.

Shifty Pixlz
Offline
New Zealand

Have you tried wiping the cart and starting again?

catskull
Offline
NUMBSKULL

Do you have another gameboy you could try it on?

powersupply
Offline
Michigan
Shifty Pixlz wrote:

Have you tried wiping the cart and starting again?

Just did that, didn't fix anything.

catskull wrote:

Do you have another gameboy you could try it on?

Yep, same problem on a game boy color.

katsumbhong
Offline
Taichung, Taiwan
powersupply wrote:
Shifty Pixlz wrote:

Have you tried wiping the cart and starting again?

Just did that, didn't fix anything.

catskull wrote:

Do you have another gameboy you could try it on?

Yep, same problem on a game boy color.

You might have to wipe it multiple times to clear everything out... completely.

catskull
Offline
NUMBSKULL

You could try completely erasing the sram using my tutorial here: http://catskull.net/erase-an-ems-64-usb … -cart.html

I sort of doubt it will work, but at this point you likely just have a dead cart.

BennVenn
Offline
Australia

The RAM test in LSDJ simply writes data and reads it back, bank by bank, and across banks to verify the RAM size. If you get that error, it means there is a physical issue with the RAM, the board or the bank controller on the cart.

A flat battery will not invoke the 'Failed' response, only initiate a new RAM check/format. When in the gameboy the RAM is powered by the GB.

A dirty /CS pin on the cart edge could trigger the 'Failed' response but it is very unlikely, especially if you have cleaned it.

As catskull says, you likely have a dead cart...

powersupply
Offline
Michigan
catskull wrote:

You could try completely erasing the sram using my tutorial here: http://catskull.net/erase-an-ems-64-usb … -cart.html

I sort of doubt it will work, but at this point you likely just have a dead cart.

I don't know how, but I think this worked! I wrote the blank ROM onto the cart and then wrote LSDJ back on, and it passed the test! Thank you very much!

BennVenn wrote:

The RAM test in LSDJ simply writes data and reads it back, bank by bank, and across banks to verify the RAM size. If you get that error, it means there is a physical issue with the RAM, the board or the bank controller on the cart.

A flat battery will not invoke the 'Failed' response, only initiate a new RAM check/format. When in the gameboy the RAM is powered by the GB.

A dirty /CS pin on the cart edge could trigger the 'Failed' response but it is very unlikely, especially if you have cleaned it.

As catskull says, you likely have a dead cart...

Looks like I lucked out! Thanks for the support!

Shifty Pixlz
Offline
New Zealand
powersupply wrote:

I think this worked!

Sweet!

catskull
Offline
NUMBSKULL

Hahaha what a trip. I sort of doubt my rom did anything, probably just reflashing LSDJ.

BennVenn
Offline
Australia

Bizaar! any chance you dumped the ROM/RAM before u re-flashed?

powersupply
Offline
Michigan
catskull wrote:

Hahaha what a trip. I sort of doubt my rom did anything, probably just reflashing LSDJ.

I think it did though, because I actually did try reflashing lsdj multiple times, and with multiple versions! :0


BennVenn wrote:

Bizaar! any chance you dumped the ROM/RAM before u re-flashed?

Didn't dump the rom, but as I mentioned above, I'm pretty sure it was a normal version of LSDJ since I tried reflashing before. You're in luck for the RAM, though. I actually did make a backup before I did anything, so this is the sav file that came shipped with the cart (which didn't work). Not sure if the RAM will be of any significance though, I tried wiping that a few times which didn't seem to change anything. Here it is anyway though.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-a_ry … sp=sharing