Questions tagged [battery]
For questions on batteries and battery technology in retrocomputing hardware
17 questions
21
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4
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Why are the Nintendo 64 memory cards' batteries *soldered* on?
After recently learning that it has a battery inside of it, I unscrewed my Controller Pak (N64 memory card) to put in a new battery. The old one says "98" on it, referring to 1998. So it's ...
- 211
29
votes
3
answers
22k
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Why do Game Boy Colors not want nickel-cadmium batteries?
This is a page from the manual for the Game Boy Color:
There is no explanation as to why this is, or how this can be, but it claims that one must not use rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries.
Why is ...
- 291
9
votes
1
answer
2k
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What's the point of the CPS-2 suicide battery?
The CPS-2 arcade board contains a suicide battery that will force the board to kill itself when it runs below a certain power threshold.
Supposedly this was created to mitigate piracy of the games, ...
- 4,081
16
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1
answer
2k
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Why did the Rumble Pak for the Nintendo 64 require batteries when it actually apparently doesn't?
After watching this video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyJsOoQKRjQ
I'm wondering what the whole deal was with the batteries. Apparently, you can resolder the circuit board inside the ...
- 161
3
votes
1
answer
338
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Did the RTC in certain cartridges get power over the GBA bus?
Some GBA games, like Pokemon Ruby, contained an internal RTC with a small button battery to power it. When the cartridges were inserted and the GBA was powered on, did the RTC continue to run on the ...
- 2,050
2
votes
1
answer
264
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Can I change laptop's RTC and backup battery with generic Ni-MH?
I got old Toshiba 100CS for a good price.
After some inspection, I noticed that AutoResume backup battery and RTC battery are already gone bad, and seems can't hold charge. I've checked eBay for ...
- 163
4
votes
2
answers
2k
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How to work around the PRAM battery for a "Titanium" Powerbook G4
Years ago I was the original owner of a "Titanium" PowerBook G4. Eventually, the unit bricked itself and refused to power on. Some quick research at the time led me to believe the PRAM battery was ...
- 10.4k
4
votes
2
answers
486
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Can you replace an Apple IIgs battery with regular AA alkalines?
I have a IIgs that I clipped the battery out of a few years back. I'm thinking I want to replace a battery in there, but before I spend money on a product like this one, I'm trying to figure out if I ...
- 17.3k
4
votes
2
answers
930
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How to replace battery for old AT mainboard?
On my 286 board, the CMOS battery is missing – as with most boards of that age. I see no other battery connector on the board. However I would love to fit a battery in there, so that I do not have to ...
- 1,274
5
votes
1
answer
248
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What are best techniques for repairing a chemically damaged PCB?
I have rescued many retro computers from the hazards of leaky batteries, and occasionally replaced capacitors that were suspicious. Except for one still unusable Mac SE/30, all my repairs were done ...
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13
votes
2
answers
525
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What is stored in IIgs BRAM?
What is stored in the IIgs BRAM? I'm going to replace my BRAM battery in a ROM 03 IIgs and that got me thinking about what is stored in BRAM. I know that date and time are stored, but not if all the ...
- 2,512
13
votes
3
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499
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Dealing with old laptop batteries?
So, I inherited this old Epson Equity LT... It's a laptop with internal Ni-Cd batteries. No battery quick disconnect, but apparently they're at least somewhat removable as the manual says that you ...
- 946
11
votes
3
answers
6k
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Restore corroded AT motherboard with dead CMOS battery
I have acquired a nice MS-DOS PC from EET Computer (I couldn't find any information about them).
It actually works, but I have two errors on boot:
Floppy disk drive controller failure;
CMOS Battery ...
- 2,667
17
votes
4
answers
1k
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Appropriate battery replacement for my A3000
I know the interwebs are full of information relating to the replacement of batteries for various computers, and the Amiga's are no different. But before I do anything rash, I wanted to ask for some ...
- 10.4k
18
votes
1
answer
4k
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Game cartridge save-game battery lifetime
Some cartridges on older consoles (like on the SNES) had battery save in them, so you can turn off the console, come back some time later and continue where you left off.
These use an actual battery ...
- 1,103
9
votes
1
answer
443
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Powerbook (140, 170) battery dimensions/components/specs for reverse engineering
I have a PowerBook 140 that — apart from a dead screen requiring the inevitable capacitor replacement — seems to work well. It has no battery, though, and any available battery will likely have 25+ ...
- 22k
4
votes
1
answer
215
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How do I replace the battery on my Palm Zire 21?
My Zire 21 PDA's battery won't hold a charge for more than a few minutes. How do I replace it?
- 8,736