Micro Machines 96 cartridge memory

[ActionMan]

MM96 is probably my favorate game ever, but my cartridge is super old now, and has developed altzheimers... It forgets who I am, what tracks i've unlocked & created, and that I love it, every time I turn the console off

I decided to open up the cartridge and see if I could find a battery that was powering the memory, so that I could replace it. A few internet forums and sources seemed to think it was the right thing to do. HOWEVER, when I laid out my beloved cartridges innards for all the world to see, it didn't seem to contain anything even remoteley like a battery...

most cartridges apparently contain a CR2032, which is huge compared to other button type batteries, so I didn't think it would be easy to miss if it was in there... But apparently, it wasn't

any ideas or suggestions on where to look and how to fix my cartridge backup memory?

[NFG]

If there's nothing else under that cart I'd have to assume the main chip is a combination ROM/Flash unit.  Flash has a limited memory, you'll never resurrect it if that's the case and it's past its use-by date.  =(

[ActionMan]

Thanks.

on further research - you're right' it works on EEPROM, which will be part of one of the smaller chips. I may be able to fix it, but it'll mean some hardcore chip surgery.

will keep posting as I progress. Would still be glad of any comments n advice in the meantime

[Hojo_Norem]

It's hard to tell from the image you have posted but it looks like the small 8 pin IC between the two gameports is a serial flash or eeprom.  These are common as muck and if you can't find an exact replacement then you might get away with replacing it with a larger capacity one or a different brand, as long as the pinout is the same AFAIK.

The easiest way to replace it would be to snip the legs on the old chip, then one by one heat up the stumps with your soldering iron and then gently pull them out.