48
votes
Why are the Nintendo 64 memory cards' batteries *soldered* on?
It's cheaper and possibly more reliable than providing a connector. These are disposable consumer products designed to be sold at the lowest price and highest margin.
Your question assumes devices ...
- 11.8k
36
votes
Why do Game Boy Colors not want nickel-cadmium batteries?
I suspect more "don't disappoint the users" than "harm to the device".
From the Wikipedia AA article, not only is the nominal voltage lower (1.2V vs. 1.5V for both alkaline and ...
26
votes
Why are the Nintendo 64 memory cards' batteries *soldered* on?
Replacing the battery wipes the memory card, losing all your savegames.
Note that if you had a battery clip, there is a potential risk that the battery terminals might become oxidised or be jolted ...
- 1,005
22
votes
Accepted
Game cartridge save-game battery lifetime
Yes, they can deplete. More modern games (starting with the Nintendo 64, for instance) used EEPROM (similar to flash memory) so don't have this issue, but in the days of the SNES this was too ...
- 1,742
22
votes
Why do Game Boy Colors not want nickel-cadmium batteries?
Two simple reasons.
Different battery chemistries have different voltage and safety.
Standard alkaline batteries are nominally rated for 1.5V, but they can have more than 1.6V when brand new and are ...
- 28.3k
16
votes
Accepted
What's the point of the CPS-2 suicide battery?
This was an anti-piracy measure. If a "bootlegger" wanted to duplicate the board, they would only have access to encrypted ROMs, thus making it impossible to reproduce the arcade board with ...
- 60.1k
16
votes
Why did the Rumble Pak for the Nintendo 64 require batteries when it actually apparently doesn't?
According to Willis82 at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/nintendo_64_forever/rumble-pak-mod-t6706.html
Nintendo actually did this to kiosk rumble packs so shop owners wouldn't have to change ...
- 3,247
14
votes
Why are the Nintendo 64 memory cards' batteries *soldered* on?
I doubt you'll find any actual reference here but things that look to be silly from an engineering viewpoint often make more sense from a financial one. N64 memory cards are mass-market consumer ...
- 3,029
13
votes
Accepted
Restore corroded AT motherboard with dead CMOS battery
Disclaimer: This answer is not known to be accurate.
From the information you've provided so far it's tricky to give complete advice, but here's a start:
Removing corrosion
The low CMOS battery ...
- 18.5k
9
votes
Accepted
What is stored in IIgs BRAM?
What is stored in the IIgs PRAM?
Basicly everything you can set via the Control Panel
I'm going to replace my PRAM battery in a ROM 03 IIgs and that got me thinking about what is stored in PRAM. I ...
- 213k
8
votes
Dealing with old laptop batteries?
Ni-Cd cells like the ones used in the last century have one strong advantage over the Li-based battery cells we use today: They simply die silently.
As long as they are not leaking and contaminate ...
- 33k
8
votes
Accepted
Appropriate battery replacement for my A3000
Don't wait, just clip it. Come back when you're done. You look dangerously close to getting the goop on the motherboard which is effectively malignant cancer for electronics.
Now that you've clipped ...
- 15.8k
8
votes
Why are the Nintendo 64 memory cards' batteries *soldered* on?
The N64 has an interesting design choice that influences the way the peripherals were designed. Memory cards were attached to the controller, not the console. This means that during normal use, a ...
- 929
7
votes
Why do Game Boy Colors not want nickel-cadmium batteries?
Most likely reason I think is that when NiCd batteries discharge, they stay at almost 1.2V for most of their discharge cycle then go from 1.2 to 0 volts very quickly, so the low batt warning is ...
- 565
7
votes
Appropriate battery replacement for my A3000
On all my retro computers, I tend to replace the on-board batteries with cables and a double AA battery holder like this that I can store off-PCB (typically, I fix it somewhere within the computer ...
- 33k
7
votes
Restore corroded AT motherboard with dead CMOS battery
wizzwizz4 has a good answer about cleaning up the corrosive chemicals to stop the damage getting any worse, so I won't duplicate that information. But here are a few more suggestions. My experience is ...
- 5,271
6
votes
Accepted
How to replace battery for old AT mainboard?
If the board does not have an external battery connector, you can try connecting an external battery pack (for example, a 3 x AA holder containing alkaline batteries) to the original internal ...
- 6,925
6
votes
Dealing with old laptop batteries?
The battery probably isn't a part of the power-filtering system. If you aren't sure if you'll be able to use the laptop without it, just disassemble the laptop, remove the battery and power on the ...
- 1,017
5
votes
Accepted
What are best techniques for repairing a chemically damaged PCB?
Restoring to an as-new look is likely not possible with the damage described. Most western PCBs used for computers use solder mask (the green stuff) over the traces - if corrosion happened UNDER the ...
- 5,660
5
votes
How to work around the PRAM battery for a "Titanium" Powerbook G4
The PRAM battery for a Titanium Powerbook G4 is rechargeable, it might
not need replacing (though will certainly go flat on the shelf).
The cells are rechargeable lithium/vanadium pentoxide 3V coin ...
- 2,160
4
votes
Can you replace an Apple IIgs battery with regular AA alkalines?
You can replace with alkaline batteries, but will need a diode to prevent them being charged. Charging alkaline batteries, even very slowly, is risky and can cause them to leak.
If the original ...
- 15.1k
4
votes
Can I change laptop's RTC and backup battery with generic Ni-MH?
These NiMH batteries usually have very simple charging circuitry and replacing them with generic 3 or 6 x 1.2V NiMH cells in series will almost certainly be fine. I remember there were even (3.6V) ...
- 1,475
4
votes
How do I replace the battery on my Palm Zire 21?
iFixit has a (user-contributed) guide on this subject. The Zire battery appears to be a standard 3.7volt 600mAh Lithium-Ion unit, probably originating from cell phones. Amazon shows several non-OEM ...
- 41
4
votes
Accepted
Dealing with old laptop batteries?
I have 3 of these laptops, and can assure you that they will run OK without the NiCd battery installed, although you may need to replace the lithium CMOS battery if that hasn't been replaced. You can ...
- 56
4
votes
Restore corroded AT motherboard with dead CMOS battery
The fluid leaking from the battery has likely spread out across the board in a general radius away from the battery. In photo 1 you can see the exposed copper trace above the slots is corroded at ...
- 3,639
3
votes
How to replace battery for old AT mainboard?
It is not uncommon to find a 4-pin battery connector on an AT-compatible motherboard, even if the board had a rechargeable battery on-board. Such boards would also usually have a jumper to enable/...
- 11.4k
2
votes
Appropriate battery replacement for my A3000
Even if the battery powered memory loses its contents, you don't really risk losing the ability to boot.
The settings that are stored in the memory for the on-board SCSI controller are all ...
- 3,716
2
votes
Powerbook (140, 170) battery dimensions/components/specs for reverse engineering
You might be able to find the precise dimensions in the Developer Note that came out around the time of the release; this is what would also have pinouts and specs for RAM expansion and so on.
You'll ...
- 712
2
votes
How to work around the PRAM battery for a "Titanium" Powerbook G4
I'd look to an electronic parts distributor to source a replacement. If the battery is the same as the one in @user23333's comment (Lithium-ion rechargeable 3032 3.7 V with solder tabs) then what you'...
- 9,290
1
vote
Did the RTC in certain cartridges get power over the GBA bus?
To answer this with absolute certainty, you'd have to examine each cartridge on its own, particularly those that weren't made by Nintendo. I'm not sure anyone has ever done that, but people have ...
- 9,820
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible