Backup/Restore Your Retail Pokémon DPPt Save File!

[codemonkey85]

Hello,

It seems like more and more people are asking how to create a backup of their retail save file, as well as how to restore it back to the cart. I will recommend two solutions to those of you wishing to backup / edit your retail Pokémon save file.

The first requires you to have an NDS flash cart, Rudolph's NDS Backup Tool Wifi, and any FTP program for your PC (I recommend SmallFTP). A tutorial for using these programs can be found here.

Special thanks to Jiggy-Ninja for the below (this is the version of Rudolph's NDS Backup Tool Wifi that I recommend now):

After some searching, I found a version labeled 0.31 that works perfectly, and I've attached it to this post.

See below for further advice:

Spoiler

Okay, so the .ini file that goes into the same directory as NDS_Backup_Tool_Wifi.NDS (I believe the root folder is suggested) should start off like this:

#
# NDS_Backup_Tool_Wifi.ini
#

ServerIP	192.168.0.10		! FTPd IP address
ServerPort	21			! FTPd Service Port
#FileDir	/NDS_Backup		! Home Directory

FTPUser		anonymous		! FTPd Logon User name
FTPPassword	anonymous@anonymous	! FTPd Logon password

SaveFile	0			! Saving size : 0:auto, nnn:Save File Size(KB)

#Trim					! Rom Triming Backup

I changed the server IP to my PC's IP, the port was changed to 8080, and I set both my FTP username and password. The latter three settings were made to match in the SmallFTP program.

It worked just fine for me... I was able to backup my save to my PC, edit it with Pokésav, and then restore it back to the game.

Please note that it worked perfectly for me, and I did not have to change any router or network settings, or anything like that. I'm not even the network administrator in my house.

The only thing that was stopping me was the SSID broadcast. As soon as I turned it on, I got the everything to work. That might be something that they want to fix in the next version of the software.

I do not recommend using SavSender, because I have never been able to get all 512kb of the save file to transfer with it. I also cannot speak for Rudolph's 3-in-1 / slot2 backup tool, because I have never used it, but here's this:

Rudolph's 3-in-1 / slot2 backup tool worked just fine for me, by the way.

The second method I would recommend is using a USB device called "NDS Backup Adapter", which again I have never used, but have heard good things about:

Spoiler

Well, after trying every utility out there, I decided to try a hardware solution. I purchased a USB device called the "NDS Backup Adapter" from ConsoleSource.com which can read and write SAVs directly to a DS retail cart. It successfully recognized the Platinum SAV as 512kb. I looked at it in a hex editor and it indeed does have both the primary and backup SAV in it.

The only thing I haven't checked out is VS Recorder battles. When I get a chance to record some, I'll let everyone know.

FYI: The software for this device only works in Windows. I have it working in Windows XP (in Parallels) on a Mac and also on a Windows XP laptop. I've read reports of people having trouble getting the drivers to work properly. I can attest to the fact that they are very picky. But the end result is worth it. I've been able to backup/restore carts that wouldn't work with other utilities.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to PM me.

[Neo]

Nice Guide there codemonkey. I think this should be Stickied

[Guested]

Rudolph's 3-in-1 / slot2 backup tool worked just fine for me, by the way.

[codemonkey85]

Good to know. Thanks for the feedback!

[pandamonia]

I did that, but the save I got didn't work with Pokesav.

[codemonkey85]

Oh really? Here are some questions:

1. What do you mean "you did that"? Are you referring to Rudolph's wi-fi tool?
2. Are you using the correct version of Pokésav?
3. Is the save file 512kb?
4. Is the extension .sav?
5. What kind of flash cart do you use?

Answer those questions and I'll see how I can help you.

[pandamonia]

Oh really? Here are some questions:

1. What do you mean "you did that"? Are you referring to Rudolph's wi-fi tool?
2. Are you using the correct version of Pokésav?
3. Is the save file 512kb?
4. Is the extension .sav?
5. What kind of flash cart do you use?

Answer those questions and I'll see how I can help you.

1. No, I used SavSender and SavReceiver.
2. I am using the most recent version of Pokésav for Pokémon Platinum 0.06d.
3. Yes.
4. Yes.
5. AceKard 2i.

http://pandamonia.us/pkmn_plat.sav

[codemonkey85]

Ah, SavSender is your problem. Try using Rudolph's tool instead; I've had much more success that way.

[Greencat]

Neat.
Stickied.

[pandamonia]

Ah, SavSender is your problem. Try using Rudolph's tool instead; I've had much more success that way.

Could you try to download my SAV and see if there's some way that you can make it work?

[codemonkey85]

When I get home / finished with the final project due tomorrow, I will look this save file over. To be honest though, if you're using SavSender, I doubt you got everything you need to make it work.

The only way I see this working is if the first half of the save file actually does contain all of your current save information, in which case it would be simple enough to duplicate that half, and adjust the save index / block ID numbers in the second half so the game reads the correct part of the save. But I'll let you know for sure when I see it tonight.

I still think Rudolph's tool is easier though.

Stickied.

Thank you for that.

[pandamonia]

When I get home / finished with the final project due tomorrow, I will look this save file over. To be honest though, if you're using SavSender, I doubt you got everything you need to make it work.

The only way I see this working is if the first half of the save file actually does contain all of your current save information, in which case it would be simple enough to duplicate that half, and adjust the save index / block ID numbers in the second half so the game reads the correct part of the save. But I'll let you know for sure when I see it tonight.

I still think Rudolph's tool is easier though.

Yeah, I misplaced my MicroSD adapter so I wasn't able to download it. I'm gonna look for it tonight. :D

[codemonkey85]

I did that, but the save I got didn't work with Pokesav.

Could you be more specific? Because I just loaded this file using Pokésav Platinum 0.06d (Pokesav PLA - ENG - PKM DB.exe) and everything looks fine. Is something missing? Does it work when you restore it to your game?

I am aware that Pokésav doesn't load save files in quite the same manner as the games do, so there is a possibility that it looks fine in Pokésav but isn't really fine. If that is the case, let me know.

[pandamonia]

Could you be more specific? Because I just loaded this file using Pokésav Platinum 0.06d (Pokesav PLA - ENG - PKM DB.exe) and everything looks fine. Is something missing? Does it work when you restore it to your game?

I am aware that Pokésav doesn't load save files in quite the same manner as the games do, so there is a possibility that it looks fine in Pokésav but isn't really fine. If that is the case, let me know.

I got it to work. I think that turning on the Japanese Unicode support is what did it, because when I turned it off, it worked. Thanks so much, though.

[Jiggy-Ninja]

http://projectpokemon.org/forums/sho...51&postcount=5