Hi Dave, I have pokemon gold on gameboy color. I’ve had it for about 2 years now and recently it’s been playing up. When i save the game it runs through the usual procedure of saving and says “save successful” BUT when I turn it on again the next time it doesn’t have the “continue” option. only “new game” it’s REALLY ANNOYING!
Also [I hope u dont mind me asking this too] but i have pokemon sapphire on gameboy advance and when it loads it says “internal battery has run dry, time based events will no-longer occur” which is also VERY annoying and I cannot complete the game because some pokemon only appear at night and it stays as permanent day time.
I usually don’t field Pokeman questions, but let’s have a stab at this one, shall we? I hate to think that you’re having problems with your Gameboy Color, after all…
First off, the problem with the game save failing is probably this issue that they classify as “Game Keeps Erasing”:
“In some rare cases, the saved data in Pokémon may be lost if you reset or turn your system off too soon after saving a game. Make sure you are waiting a few seconds after the save message disappears before turning the system off.
“Games may also erase if the connectors are dirty or damaged.You may use a cleaning kit. However, if the game or system is very dirty, you will need to have it cleaned by Nintendo.
“Do not link U.S. and Japanese games. If players trade data between the U.S. and Japanese games, it will destroy the saved data on both game paks, forcing players to re-start their games from scratch.
“In a very few Pokémon Red and Blue game paks, the battery chip inside the game may become disconnected. Due to the age of the game, we cannot offer repair or replacement.”
That’s from Nintendo’s Gameboy Help Area on their site. Check it out, there’s some pretty useful information there.
Then the problem with Pokemon Sapphire’s “Internal battery has run dry” error message has a straightforward – though crummy – message from Nintendo’s help site:
“This occurs when there is a problem with the internal battery of the Pokémon game pak that regulates the clock feature of the game. For the most part, other than a few minor events, this will not affect game play, nor will there be any loss of saved data. The save info is preserved in the game’s memory chip, not the battery. To repair the issue, the game must be replaced, which will result in a loss of all of save data. If you are still concerned about this issue, and are interested in replacing the game, please call our Consumer Service Department at 1-800-255-3700.”
Basically, you’re out of luck. I’d call them and suggest that their “it won’t affect game play” message might well be completely inaccurate and see if you can convince them that having a game you paid for die on you isn’t a good way to make you a lifelong customer.
Or, plan b, you’ll find that you can buy Pokemon Sapphire on eBay for pretty darn cheap. That might be your easiest solution, though unfortunately you can’t copy across any game saves and will have to start the new game from scratch. A quick check showed that you can expect to pay about $10 + shipping for a new copy.
Good luck!
hey my pokemon Shiny Gold is working good but when i try to save it,it always sais “save failed checking backup memory please wait time required 1 minute……. the backup memory is damaged or the game’s battery has run dry…. the game can be played,but its progress cannot be saved” sooooooo yeah if anyone can help me out just reply i really need help i’ll apreciate it :[
Sweet! I’ve just received my free minecraft giftcode!
hey..what can i do when my pokemon gold saves fine, but erases the memory only when i take the game of the gameboy color? it only does this to Gold.
any advice on how i can resolve this?
My pokemon leafgreen freezes when i reach ss anne
and when iam about to battle my rival.I tried restarting the game from scratch but it did not work.Is it due to the epoxy in the catridge that this happens.If i dissolve it will this problem be solved?
I had the same problem as you till i realized that the game I got was fake! The Chinese make these stupid fake pokemon games then they flood the market with them!! I have been haveing trouble with a pokemon sapphire game which won’t save and even when it makes me think it saved it isn’t.. a user called test is occuppying the memory!! I tried deleting and cleatring the memory but it just freezes like as if it crashed, but then it goes through, but when i try to load it Test is back… Bootleg copies are everywhere we might just be better off trying to demand a rewrite of fire-red leaf green in addition to the sapphire and ruby remakes!
@Matthew: You are not able to transfer data for a GBC game between two GBAs. This is because transferring data is handled differently on the GBA than the GBC and GB (original).This creates a gap between the second generation games and third generation games. This is one of the reasons why the remakes were made (FireRed(FR)/Leafgreen(LG) and HeartGold(HG)/SoulSilver(SS)). Using two GBAs, you could pull the Pokemon from FR and LG onto your copies of Ruby(R), Sapphire(S), or Emerald(E) and then consolidate all of those Pokemon onto one game. Then, on Diamond(D), Pearl(P), HG, and SS, using a DS or DS Lite, you could transfer your Pokemon from any third generation game (R,S,E,FR,LG) to a fourth generation game (D,P,HG,SS) since there is a slot for both a GBA game and a DS game. The slot, however, due to design, will fit GBA games but will not fit GBC/GB(original) games.
Hi, I have a GBA & GBA SP(second model release) and was trying to trade pokemon on Crystal and Silver verion with a GBA cable cord. Crystal version will save and wait, while silver will just say “please wait,” and then say, “friend is not ready” and the little screen will turn off. Then Crystal will say “link stopped due to inactivity,” and then do the same as well. I’ve looked for a solution but have not come across a clear explanation(at least not in my situation). It could be the cord can only be used between GBA’s or that it is broken(though I bought it new). Silvers save battery did die but I don’t see how that would do anything after I gave the egg to prof. Elm and got pokemon balls and also caught a pidgey. I heard the GBA cord isn’t compatible with anything else besides the GBA itself. Is this true? I have no confirmation on this so if you could tell me something, that would be great!
i try to turn on my pokemon crystal game but it says gameboy and the nintendo logo is all glitched how can i fix this please help
I replaced the battery in my silver version a little over a year ago. i just started a new game recently and in this new game the time is not advancing. it saves just fine; it’s just always stuck at the same time (which sucks because there are different pokemon at different times a day). anyway, i was wondering if anyone had any advice as to how this could be fixed (outside of taking it apart and re-taping the battery; which i’m afraid might be my only option). thanks.
I have performed this operation a few times, and I swear it works. Cut the head off of a bic pen, and there you have the nintendo 3 sided screwdriver.
Find almost any given watch battery that is somewhere between the size of a nickel and a dime. You should have no problem locating the battery as it is the only thing in the cartridge that looks like a small silver coin. You can do this. When you are done use a piece of electrical (or even scotch or masking) tape to hold the battery in the connectors or possibly ask your parents to solder it for you. I have a 20 year old functioning copy of links awakening.
This has been said before, but some people seem incapable of reading other comments.
For GBC games, the battery is used to keep the save file from being erased when the power is turned off. The chips that held the data was an old type of flash memory that needed a continuous electrical current to work. Once the battery dies, the game will not hold a save if the power is turned off.
With new(er) GBA games, they use the current type of flash memory that has bit memory material. The only GBA games that use the battery are ones which need a clock to run, such as the Pokemon games. The power supplied by the system is not adequate enough to run the crystal oscillator that acts as a clock.
In order to be able to save again in old GBC games, or to resume timed play in certain GBA games, you will need to open the cartridge and replace the battery with an appropriate type. The connection must be continuous, or the new battery will not work.
Dear Dave,
This is about the same problem but different game. Dragon Ball Z Buu’s Fury. What can I do.
my games are deleted. how can i restore them.
hello i have gameboy advance sp. my problem is that
when i on my game it only turned on for 2minutes .
i also charge my battery full .
Well i just got mine replaced. the best place to go is at Gamer’s Anonymous. they go it really fast and for a cheap price of 8 bucks. go there it saved me the effort of doing it myself. And also it is very reliable. TRUST ME its great.
I found out that you can get the proper batteries for pokemon games here at this site, in the UK:
http://www.rewind-bits.co.uk/cr1616-tagged-lithium-cell-for-gameboy-memory-saves.html
They also have the CR2025 too.
Hope this helps! Thanks!
hello sir i have a nintendo gameboy advance invisible cover their is a problem when i start it its green light is on but game their not anything displaying in its screen
so i have a silver version and whenever i save it and turn it off it dosent continue?? what do i do???
What if the porblem is that, actually I have a pokemon firered version game pak, but when i save it, it keeps on saying save failed required one minute, but when i waited for more than five minutes when i play it again, my game that was saved was lost, is there any problem with the game pak or the gameboy???
In pokemon leaf green version i receive an error message when i try to save my game.like “SAVE EROR”.
hi,
I am having the same problem with gold, but it isn’t my game… Is it possible that a sticker on the back is the trouble?
grtz
If your game froze while it was saving then the data was most likely corrupted, so I’m afraid you’ll just have to restart the game.
And i’d be careful about using a different battery type, it could damage your cartridge if the voltages are different.
OK! so i took the advice and swapped out the battery and now my pokemon gold is saving again! thanks for the info, it saved me about $20 to buy a new one.
the battery was a little tricky to take out because it’s clipped in there at the top and bottom so you have to slide it around and pry up to get it loose WITHOUT BREAKING THE SOLDERING AT THE ENDS! be careful and it should be fine. I used a 2032 battery instead of the 2025 just cuz i had one and i’m not having any problems. hope this helps
hi dave my name is stephanie i need some advice please help.
ok so i;ve had my game boy advance sp since i was 8 years old and i am 13 now and it keeps freezing on me and when i was playing my megaman battle network 5 team protoman my game froze while i was saving and now when i turn on the game instead of saying load game it says new game and it deleted my game data this has happened before and when i take out the game i blow into the counsul and the game and it still has my data but now it wont even pop up its only showing new game is there any way of getting my data back or will i have to start the game all over again?
Please dave help me thanks in advance
My crystal pokemon version won’t work I turn on the game it says gameboy but the nintendo is all messe up. I cleaned it and the same thing happened. But the weird thing is that it only has that glich for my pokemon crystal version. Please help.
Like Golden Sun, all (or most) GBA games do not need a battery to hold a save. R/S/E Pokemon games have a battery only to keep track of its internal clock to the game, not save data.
All GB and GB Color games need a battery to keep a save file, which will eventually die after many decades, unless its Gold/Silver/Crystal, which will last roughly 3-6 years, maybe 10 if you rarely touch the game.
My english is terrible because I am from Scandinavia….but I have a question about Gameboy advance games with no batteri inside will they have a longer life than games with batteri inside ?…I have a game with no batteri the name is Golden sun and it saves my data perfect after many many years
My internal battery to pokemon crystal will not come out is there a special way to get it out or is it hopeless?
A lot of people have already said this, but just to clarify…
If people are having problems with their gold/silver/crystal cartridges saying ‘save successful’ or whatever, and then they turn it on again only to find that their save is gone, and they only have a new game option, it almost certainly isn’t the gameboy that’s the problem.
Before going out and buying a gameboy off of ebay, or sending it to some obscure company who still sells gameboy parts, try changing the battery in your game cartridge. It’s a bit of a pain to get the screw undone, but once you have, all you need to do is remove the battery (the big round silver thing, someone said they didn’t know what it looked like :p) and put a new one in place. I believe it’s a CR2025 battery. Then just put some stickytape over the top of the battery to ensure a good connection. Put the cover back on, and hey presto, your game should work.
Don’t be too heavy handed or you might damage the other components of the game. And don’t try to sue me if you stab your hand with a screwdriver or something, do this at your own risk…
Of course, you might have a problem with your gameboy, but try this first, cause it’s much cheaper, and it’s usually the problem. There are many more help sheets on the internet, with pictures and in-depth description if you want them, but you DON’T need a soldering iron, as half of them seem to say…Use one if you want, but sticky tape works just as well and is a lot safer.
Sorry for the long post, but I just thought I’d help people save a little money =] Some people are starting to have problems with their R/S/E cartridges, and I’ll bet anything that changing the battery would solve that, too.
And the reason that R/B/G/Y still work? They don’t have clocks, so they didn’t need an internal battery. Providing that you treat them well, you should be able to enjoy retro monochrome graphics and tinny music for years to come 🙂
what does the internal battery look like? cause i don’t what it looks like at all it would be for the pokemon emarld game ok
HI THANK YOU IT WOKRED
some reason my megaman game cant save it says it has an error saving
i hav a similar problem, my game only says continue sometimes but it usually only says new game and options
Hi! I do have a similar problem…
But, as I checked the Internet for help, I was told that to open up my cartridge, I can do the “biro pen trick” ie. use a lighter on a pen and then use the pen to open the cartridge.
Has anyone here done it before? I tried it but it just merely melted my entire pen!
Thanks!
I am having the same problem with my pokemon gold as ben and the original question. Even though I save the game successfully, when I turn it back on there is no continue option. I’ve had the game for a while, but the problem only recently cropped up. My pokemon yellow is just as old, but it’s fine *knock on wood*, so it must be the gold cartridge.
ello Dave,
Basically i’ve had the same problem as the chap above except on Pokemon Silver. When i save and turn the gameboy off it doesn’t reload my saved game when i turn it back on etc. And this happened with my old copy of pokemon silver so i took your advice and bought a new one of amazon.co.uk. First time i played it, saved it and turned it off, come back to it and turn it on, BANG. It didn’t save my file AGAIN. This makes me think that there’s something wrong with my game boy??? Or am i just REALLY unlucky???
Sounds like the same problem with both games – the internal battery has run out. You have to open up the game to replace it.
Sheila, you’re talking about what’s called corrosion with your older battery and it really can do a lot of damage to electronics. The best you can try is to take a toothbrush or similar stiff brush and carefully remove all traces of it from the battery compartment. Then put in new batteries and hope for the best. Often, unfortunately, by the time you see that, it’s too late for the device.
I have an older Game Boy that had the batteries left in it while it was stored. There was white stuff in the battey compartment and now the Game Boy won’t play. Is there any way to fix this?
Thanks
Enrique, we’re talking about the little battery inside the game cartridge, not the batteries that power the system. Replacing this battery is a little more advanced than it seems.
i have pokemon leaf green version and i am unable to save the game i use duracel batteries.when i put new battries then also i am unable to save the game what should i do plz answer it cause i cant complete the game
Miles I love you…this worked perfectly thank you so much.
As for getting a Pokemon game on Ebay, be careful you don’t get a fake one!
With the old pokemon games, I have found a way to fix the games that do not save! All you need are some tweezers, your pokemon game, and some tinfoil. First, take the tweezers and stick them around the small screw on the back of the game carton. turn the screw until it comes out. then push and slide the top of the game down. now, all of the insides are exposed. Take the tinfoil and fold it up to about the same size as the batter that you see inside. Move the battery up and down so it is disconnected from the base a little bit then leave it as how you found it. Next, take that piece of tinfoil and put it directly on top of the battery. Then put the cover back on and try to sqeeze it over the tin foil so the battery is very firmly in place. put the screw back on and your game should work! If it does not, simply buy a new battery and replace the old one.
i have just started red and blue versions of pokemon with my brother. the plan was to be able to trade pokemon with each other, but we cannot seem to connect at the trading center. We are playing on gameboy advanced’s with a gameboy advanced link cable. Is this the problem, that you cannot link together while playing a gameboy advance with a gameboy colour game or is the link just faulty.
the games are not saved on the battery is correct but the memory is the same as computer memory, no power no save. If the battery dies all saved data will be erased. Just done this myself for a friend and works fine again. You need a CR2025 (Iused a CR2032 as I had heaps and just fits) BUT BE WARNED THESE BATTERIES WILL EXPLODE IF OVERHEATED. Or take the old one to a battery pack manufacturey and they will make one up for you, If you use a CR2032 it will last about 50% longer.
you have to get it through a nintendo event
Hello I have Pokemon Fire red and I want to know how i can get a Mew and the Aura Ticket on this game.
Well he could back up the sapphire save with a action replay or gameshark, then download the old save to the new gamepack using the ar/gs