Anybody tried one of these RPi based N64 cart dumpers off Aliexpress?

ch00f@lemmy.world to RetroGaming@lemmy.world – 110 points –

Looking to ROM dump just a handful of games, so I’m trying not to spend hundreds on a Sanni or Retrode. I saw this on AliExpress for $15.

I’ve personally had good luck with Alibaba and Aliexpress, but I recognize that this could just straight not work. There’s no documentation, but it claims the game data will show up like files on a USB flash drive.

Anybody know where this design came from?

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A sketchy USB device from Alibaba with 0 documentation is significantly less safe than grabbing a ROM, which are widely available and have known file hashes. The security risk alone from a no name USB device is probably not worth it unless there's a save file you reeeeeeeeally care about, as another user mentioned.

N64 cartridges rely on a battery inside it to keep the storage alive, and all those batteries are likely all dead now, so there will be no stored game in there any more

I have a super Mario world cart that has retained its save data. 20 years old now…pretty nuts

My OG Legend of Zelda cart (NES) still has working saves on it with the original battery...

My only game that’s had its save battery die is my copy of Final Fantasy for the NES. All my other games save just fine!

Cool to know there are some that are still hanging on! If you care about keeping the saves into the future you should do something about it now, because the battery dying is a question of when not if

Stop making me sad. I have hundreds of hours poured into VPW2 customizations on a cart that hasn't been powered up in 20 years at least. In my heart, that save is still alive.

~Don't~ ~take~ ~this~ ~from~ ~me~ ~dammit.~

Sorry =x

BUT! With modern emulator editor hacks you could have the fun of rebuilding it all without pouring all the hours into it again!

Nope! All of my NES, SNES, and N64 games have retained my saves. N64 games are going to take a while before they stop saving.

(Okay one game I have died—Final Fantasy for the NES.)

Speak for yourself, all my saves seem fine (for now!)

Why dump roms when you can just download them faster and free

Could be to get their save that's on the cartridge backed up?

I think any n64 cartridge has long since had the battery inside the cartridge die, which is what kept the game save info stored. So there won't be any saved game in there any more.

https://howchoo.com/nintendo/nintendo-64-cartridge-save-battery-change/

If that was the case they could've replaced the battery since and still have a save on that cartridge that needs backing up

I don't believe it works like that. When you change the battery, the save is gone. In other words, I think it has to have a continuous charge to keep the save.

It works like a computer CMOS battery if I'm not mistaken.

You are correct.

One can solder in a temporary "helper battery" (or 3V power supply) to the same traces but in a different spot, to keep the SRAM alive while the real battery is replaced.

Some later games (GBA-era) use Flash memory and the battery is just for the clock.

Call it a hobby. Having the data from the physical cart brings me joy. Also, I’m looking to rebuild my collection from childhood for when the Analogue3D finally comes out.

The binary blob is essentially just a number stored in a fancy configuration of electrons, OP. In the best case scenario, this device is just e-waste.

I really can't stand it when people feel the need to denigrate other people's hobbies.

what's denigrating about calling the game a number? Is the hobby collecting devices from China? Why not figure out how an N64 works and dump it yourself if that's your hobby?

I'm not against the idea, homey. I just wouldn't plug this device into my computer. Grab an Arduino or JTAG cable.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V0CPjHO_3Yo

lol. downvotes for being against pointless consumerism. classic. bring em on.

You haven't realized by now this website is mostly filled with neckbeard chuds?

The basic concept seems to be floating out there, and I've bought many empty RP2040 boards from AE without issue, but if you're determined to do this, maybe disconnect from any networks, back up your PC, and start with an expendable cartridge. :-)

I don't THINK a Pi Pico clone could send enough voltage back up into a board to fry a cart, but it's your risk. 98% chance everything is fine, but you're spending money on what should have a 100% chance of being fine.

Or, accept the almost-inevitable and just grab ROMs of your carts. If you really want to experiment, maybe build the dumper itself as a DIY project. Buying someone else's device to create files somebody already ripped twenty years ago doesn't quite pull the right nostalgia or hobbyist levers for me, but we have to go where our nerdery takes us, and from that perspective, I understand.

I wasn’t able to find anything definitive online, but its specs and functionality sound pretty close to BennVenn’s Joey N64 cart reader/writer. https://bennvenn.myshopify.com/products/joeyn64-cart-flasher

That’s a great link. Also looks like the cheapest option for what I’m trying to do, so I might just buy it from there.

It’s a bummer that the Sanni reader parts are so expensive despite the design being open source.

Unfortunately most of the PCB fab companies only print off PCBs in at least batches of 5. I bought enough parts to make two cart readers and split the costs with a friend to help drive the price down into the low hundreds.

I don't know which number you were looking at when you saw the Sanni was "so expensive". You can get an assembled Sanni v3 for about $150 online. https://savethehero.builders If you join their Discord, there's also folks selling Sanni v5 DIY part kits for $110-130 depending on what add-ons you go for. https://store.starshade.dev/product/oscr-hw5-complete-kit-diy It's still a pretty penny, but significantly less than some of the $250 pre-assembled stores online.

That’s a good deal. I was looking at eBay and Tindie where even kits were $150-$200 if they were in stock at all.

Am I the only one bothered by the cart being censored?

It's a bit odd, but I don't have more than a passing familiarity with the N64's library and I still got it on the first guess. If you know the N64 library inside-out and you can't place it, it's the Japanese cartridge for a famous worldwide release.

Any link to the item? Or name if links are not ok here

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtsayi0

Seems fishy to me. But they are saying to message them for more info.

Maybe theres some local club or makerspace where you could ask if anyone have a reader they can lend you. If its just a few carts and a one time job that would be enough

Sounds fun if it works, benign if it doesn’t, tragic if it cause harm to any of your hardware.

Ali is a gamble. I’ve had successes and failures but it’s mostly leaned toward, "you get what you pay for."