Gaming Have you guys heard about 3ds carts dying?

[vincentx77]

There was a video posted by YouTuber Spawn Wave discussing how 3DS games made during a certain period have an abnormally high failure rate.



While initially it looked like European copies of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were the primary victims ( https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/pokemon-fans-say-nintendo-3ds-games-dying/ ), it’s starting to look like any early copy can be affected. There are Reddit posts going back awhile showing people already discovering dead Persona Q carts ( https://www.reddit.com/r/3DS/commen...urce=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf ).

Is this something that you guys have experienced, or am I pearl clutching for nothing? Also, if I’ve posted this in the wrong place, it was accidental. Please feel free to move it where it belongs.

 

[VinsCool]

Not exactly the same way but I do have a dead 3ds cart, Super Smash Bros. for 3ds.

It inexplicably stopped working out of nowhere, 2 years ago I think.

The most strange out of this was that I was able to get the save data out of it, as well as dumping a CIA, that would reveal being mismatching any known dumps, but still install fine, and then fail to boot, just like the cart itself, lol

 

[ProfessorWednesday]

Yes, my copy of Persona Q shows as being inserted, but the game cart does not play. I'm really hoping there's a software fix for it but we'll have to wait until they know for sure what's going wrong anyway

 

[ghjfdtg]

Sounds like Datel Powersaves bricks. It's known that specially CARD2 games can brick using this device.

 

[Kwyjor]

Remember that famous copy of Smash Bros that was glitched and turned everything into tomatoes?

 

[Hayato213]

Powersaves can brick cart as far as I know, had a friend that his Pokemon X died on him from constant use.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Remember that famous copy of Smash Bros that was glitched and turned everything into tomatoes?

It literally says in the first 15 seconds that it's a problem with the console and not the cart.

 

[Bedel]

I saw this video yesterday and tried my ORAS game. It doesn't show up. Other games work fine, and I've never used powersaves with this game (I have it, but I've only used it to install the OOT exploit). I hope this has some kind of soft solution...

 

[vincentx77]

I've got a day one edition of Persona Q, so this had me concerned. I'm fortunate. When I checked my copy, I found that it still plays. My saves are even still there. It just sucks to think that might not always be true.

 

[Deleted User]

my copy of omega ruby is hanging on by a thread, takes 15-20 tries before the 3ds even reads he game, but launches fine when it does

i don't have a powersaves and never even owned one

 

[KleinesSinchen]

The video in the first post mentioned a reflow might solve the problem – which would be bad soldering/loose connection in this case.

Was this ever investigated (I do not want to search the web for now and go through various threads)? If not the chip itself failed (which might be the case for flash memory at some point) the problem is not that big.

Anybody having a not responding 3DS cart could at least attempt a reflow (or ask somebody to try it). Not much to lose if the cart is already defective.

I've got a day one edition of Persona Q, so this had me concerned. I'm fortunate. When I checked my copy, I found that it still plays. My saves are even still there. It just sucks to think that might not always be true.

So… backup your save data as well as the game. If the cart fails at some point you will still have the game.
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my copy of omega ruby is hanging on by a thread, takes 15-20 tries before the 3ds even reads he game, but launches fine when it does

i don't have a powersaves and never even owned one

I doubt Powersaves is to blame for this topic anyway. According to the video there were a lot of Pokemon games that failed after years of being not in use.

 

[JaapDaniels]

The video in the first post mentioned a reflow might solve the problem – which would be bad soldering/loose connection in this case.

Was this ever investigated (I do not want to search the web for now and go through various threads)? If not the chip itself failed (which might be the case for flash memory at some point) the problem is not that big.

Anybody having a not responding 3DS cart could at least attempt a reflow (or ask somebody to try it). Not much to lose if the cart is already defective.


So… backup your save data as well as the game. If the cart fails at some point you will still have the game.
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I doubt Powersaves is to blame for this topic anyway. According to the video there were a lot of Pokemon games that failed after years of being not in use.

could it be there's encryption used like on cps2? i mean a low battery/power supply could make such a rom unreadable in such case, and it's quite possible that power supply, battery or caps fail over time.

 

[duwen]

RetroRGB posted a write up of this issue accompanied by a video from Voultar showing a potential fix restoring the cart:

It makes sense that these small “cartridges” with surface-mount components and tiny pins might have the solder mask worn through over time. Unlike the larger game cartridges from the 80’s and 90’s, there’s a lot more potential for these to flex, causing the thin layer of solder on the main chip’s pins to slowly loose their connection.

 

[Deleted User]

I doubt Powersaves is to blame for this topic anyway. According to the video there were a lot of Pokemon games that failed after years of being not in use.

i was just mentioning it because there were a few posts before mine that immediately jumped to blaming powersaves for it, and either way i use my game 3-4 times a year so i doubt it's entirely just from lack of use

 

[FAST6191]

Creep or fatigue causing fun on pins... somewhat new for this sort of thing but if it is going to be surface mount and almost in the perfect point for failure it (if you bent it where would it ultimately snap?) then stands to reason.
Do we have any homebrew that might try to read individual pins* or does the 3ds (or maybe handler on the cart itself?) handle it at firmware level first of all to make such things tricky?

*could sometimes do it as a read address, expected vs got and what it likely read instead.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

i was just mentioning it because there were a few posts before mine that immediately jumped to blaming powersaves for it, and either way i use my game 3-4 times a year so i doubt it's entirely just from lack of use

Yeah, the conclusion "Power Saves brick" surprised me. That would not explain why it happens to so many copies of exactly the mentioned three games (and there are more CARD2 games) and also after being not in use.

 

[1B51004]

I used to have Mario and Luigi: Dream Team and was about to beat the... second to final boss, i think? One day, planning to do just that, my game cart didn't work. Tried blowing in the holes and the cart itself, cleaning it with isopropyl alcohol, nothing. eventually, i either threw it away or sold it off, most likely the former.
My copy of MK7 is starting to die off too I think. Sometimes it needs a wiping or two before it starts to work.
I will say this however, it may be where they're keeping it. I know my ds games are kept in a little container that's absolutely RIDDLED with dirt and stuff, which I may need to clean out soon.. I asked my mom for a storage case, but she usually forgets about it.

 

[duwen]

If it really is due to the flexing of the cart loosening surface mount components, then it makes a lot of sense; the games in question are all more likely to suffer mistreatment from youngsters, be stored poorly, have their protective cases lost or discarded, be traded in loose to suffer the same abuse from the next owner.

Lesson to be learnt: treat your games better and keep them in the protective case they're originally sold in.

 

[Crazynoob458]

to me never as most of the time its pokemon omega ruby inserted in the slot and nothing else
sometimes its my dstt, kirby or my korean mario and luigi partners in time cartridges but most of the time i have pokemon omega ruby inserted
im planning to dump my games in case of failure

 

[JK_]

Creep or fatigue causing fun on pins....

I'm not sure that's the problem. It might just be shitty joints from the factory if that is the case. I have a bro that works at a game shop. They had someone return a brand new, unopened launch copy of Persona Q recently because the game couldn't be played past the opening after you name the MC. I checked my own and found it wasn't working anymore either. I got a dump of that one and mine, and they both crash Citra too. It's at different spots on each dump, but it's consistently the same spot for each. I'd have to get my stuff out to try to resolder the chip legs, but it's not like it's doing me any good as it is. Atlus wanted me to completely destroy it anyway.