Sega Saturn battery and cartridge questions.

[nerdydesi]

Hi. I'd bought a Japanese Sega Saturn last year. I haven't used it in a while and finally used it a bit today. I noticed when booting it on that the menu reverted back to Japanese back from when I changed it to English when I first got it. I also had to input the time and date again. I was afraid that the battery was dead and all my saves were gone. The console didn't come with a battery and I bought a new one last year so I didn't think it could be discharged already (unless I bought a poor quality one).

But I went to the memory manager in the menu and my saves were still intact. I'm curious how it forgot the language and time/date but the saves weren't gone? I thought if the battery dies, everything is lost? My Saturn was unplugged for quite a while.

Also, I bought X-Men vs. Street Fighter and the official Japanese 4mb ram cartridge. I always have trouble getting the game to recognize the cartridge. I'll always launch the game and I'll get an error screen in Japanese saying there's no 4mb cartridge the first time around. I'll have to pull it out, sometimes blow into it and reinsert it before it recognizes it the 2nd or 3rd time, and the game finally boots up. This also happened with Street Fighter Zero 3 which also requires that cartridge. I'm doing some "Googling" and hearing the cartridge slot in these Saturn systems are unreliable. Is this true?

Thanks for any help you guys can give!

[flojocabron]

the cartrige slot is the culprit.

With some carts the connectors are larger than normal and they expand the slots.

It's debated here alot whether this is good or bad.

You just have to remove the cart and reinsert it till you get it right.

happens with memory carts too, not just the 4mb ram.

That whole thing with the time being reset it normal. If you keep the saturn plugged in all the time, it doesnt ask you to add the dates every time.

Yeah those 2032 batteries can die a fter some time, so you better move those important saves to the cart. I've lost some saves on mine too in the past.

[Hobie-wan]

Don't blow into the cart slot, that makes things worse. Blowing into NES carts and the Saturn slot will end up getting spit and humidity on the contacts which will corrode it as it dries. The cart slot probably needs a careful cleaning, as does the ram cart.

For the battery, Saturns and Dreamcast VMUs are notorious for draining batteries quickly.

[synbiosfan]

the cartrige slot is the culprit.

You just have to remove the cart and reinsert it till you get it right.

The cart slot probably needs a careful cleaning, as does the ram cart.

As mentioned, after a careful cleaning, push the cartridge all the way in then pull it back a hair. That's often good enough. Just hope you don't have to extra carefully bend the cart slot pins back.

Sega really put in a crap cart slot in the Saturn.

[harper]

That whole thing with the time being reset it normal. If you keep the saturn plugged in all the time, it doesnt ask you to add the dates every time.

Earlier I put Sonic R in and when I turned on my Saturn it went to the date and time menu (which looked different from how I remember it unless I just remember incorrectly). I thought "crap the battery is dead" even though it's fairly new. But I don't do any "serious gaming" on my Saturn so it wouldn't really matter much if it was so I just started playing the game. I just now turned my Saturn on again, still has Sonic R in, and it didn't go to the date and time menu.
Is this normal? If so/not what the hell did it mean? haha