who else can do CPS-3 battery swaps?

Cavalry

Cavalry

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I understand that bill is changing all the batteries for devilredeemed for his third strike kits and will probably have his hands full with those. And I Pm'd MeanBean to see if he could do it, but he hasn't logged in since the 11th.

Is there anyone else out there that can change the battery on a cps3 cart for a reasonable price? PM me with price info. if you're able to.

thanks.
 
werejag

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ive read about it. and have worked on us navy aircraft for 5 years. im willing to give it a try but i don't know if you would want to chance me? since im not a pro yet.

cost of shipping return and battery only for you
 
68k

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Can these be phoenixed?
 
werejag

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im looking into that. if they can im so willing to try
 
68k

68k

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I would not own a CPSIII cart unless it was phoenixed. I'd be paranoid if it wasn't.

That's too much money riding on a ~$1 part.
 
N80G80

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werejag said:
im looking into that. if they can im so willing to try
Click to expand...


Nope they cant be phoenixed....once there dead there dead :(
 
68k

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N80G80 said:
Nope they cant be phoenixed....once there dead there dead :(
Click to expand...

Wow, no CPSIII for me.
 
68k

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What's the time limit once the battery has been removed?
 
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SpamYouToDeath said:
I thought it was nothing.
Click to expand...

The SRAM would have to hold the encrypted data for a little while in order for someone to be able to swap the battery. Unless there's another method I don't know about.
 
channelmaniac

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SpamYouToDeath said:
I thought it was nothing.
Click to expand...

+1

Not sure why it can't be Phoenixed... The data is either encrypted or scrambled on the ROMs which makes it harder but I'm not sure if anyone has been able to either read the roms with a debugger and even if they could , they haven't been able to program a clean one and get it to work with the security cart.
 
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N80G80

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I believe the data is encrypted on the roms, and once the battery is disconnected, it loses the encryption key, anyway you actually have to keep the cart charged while doing a battery swap. I believe bill actually powers the cart through the cps3 board while its on and does the battery swap while the game is actually running.
 
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68k

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N80G80 said:
I believe the data is encrypted on the roms, and once the battery is disconnected, it loses the data, anyway you actually have to keep the cart charged while doing a battery swap. I believe bill actually powers the cart through the cps3 board while its on and does the battery swap while the game is actually running.
Click to expand...

Wow. Risky indeed!

Thanks for the information.
 
K

Kunio

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I am not sure but it seems as if the cart switches off the battery when you play the game and the cart gets power from the motherboard. I heard somewhere that the safest way is to change the battery while the game is running, since at that time the battery is not needed. If you take the battery out without backup power, the cart dies immediately.

I think the roms are encrypted and the encryption key is stored on the cart. If you kill the cart, you have no key and the encrypted game roms can no longer be read.

Edit: Double post.. :angry: I'll read the whole thread before posting next time..
 
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channelmaniac

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N80G80 said:
I believe the data is encrypted on the roms, and once the battery is disconnected, it loses the data, anyway you actually have to keep the cart charged while doing a battery swap. I believe bill actually powers the cart through the cps3 board while its on and does the battery swap while the game is actually running.
Click to expand...

It doesn't lose the data on the ROMs, it loses the encryption key which is stored in SRAM which is volatile. When the backup power is gone the key is gone.

I'd sure like to get my hands on a dead cart just to look at it and try to gain a better understanding of it.

RJ
 
Kpj

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I've done a few successfully.
 
billd420

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Yo anyone that wants battery swaps hit me up. I've got time for em...
 
billd420

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channelmaniac said:
It doesn't lose the data on the ROMs, it loses the encryption key which is stored in SRAM which is volatile. When the backup power is gone the key is gone.

I'd sure like to get my hands on a dead cart just to look at it and try to gain a better understanding of it.

RJ
Click to expand...

The volatile key is stored in a custom capcom IC with 50+ pins. Its a total BITCH to attempt to read it, trust.
 
billd420

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Kunio said:
I am not sure but it seems as if the cart switches off the battery when you play the game and the cart gets power from the motherboard. I heard somewhere that the safest way is to change the battery while the game is running, since at that time the battery is not needed. If you take the battery out without backup power, the cart dies immediately.
Click to expand...

Yes that is correct, it switched to motherboard power, and the battery can safely be swapped while the motherboard is powered on.
 
68k

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billd420 said:
The volatile key is stored in a custom capcom IC with 50+ pins. Its a total BITCH to attempt to read it, trust.
Click to expand...


Clever. They integrated the SRAM chip(s) into a custom IC with other components.
 
billd420

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68k said:
Clever. They integrated the SRAM chip(s) into a custom IC with other components.
Click to expand...

There's also a TSOP48 flash rom inside the cartridge. Its believed that the TSOP48 acts as a "bios" for the cartridge, telling it what region to display. If I had a surface mount rework station and the right adapter, I'd dump the chip and compare.
 
channelmaniac

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You got the adapter to read the chip?

I got the surface mount station. ;)

RJ
 
68k

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Bill, can you snap a pic of the PCB inside of the cart, with the chip believed to store the SRAM?
 
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