NDS: How to Backup/Restore your retail cartridge save file for DS games

[Danielosama]

Make sure everything is up to date. If that doesn't work, contact the maker of the device.

http://www.r4i-sdhc.com/SaveDongle.asp

Nevermind, I finally found out how to make it work: basically when you've already modified the save file, before you transfer it back to the Card, you must delete the save file in the Card with Select+Up+B and only then you can transfert the sav back to the card, and it'll work just fine.

[evandixon]

That shouldn't make a difference, but whatever works, that's what you should do.

[theSLAYER]

Has anybody tried using the Save Dongle with Pokemon D/P/Pt ? I recently bought it, and I've no problems using it with B/W, it works just fine. But with my Pearl version, the "Card=>PC" thing does not work; I mean, when the transfer is over, and I open the save with Pokesav, everything is messed up and corrupted. BUT! if you downgrade the Dongle firmware to V1.0, then the sav file is extracted correctly, however, when I use "PC=>Cad" with the sav modified, the DS detects no save and starts a new game....

This is kind of annoying me, and I wanted to know if someone had the same problem or if you have a solution.

Thanks for the thread btw.

[Edit]: Ok, now when I transfer the modified sav file back to the Card, the message "The save file is corrupted. The previous save file will be loaded." pops up. Every time I've tried it's the same. I assume the game considers the sav file corrupted when modified, but I'd like to know if it only happens to me or not (maybe it's the Dongle's fault).

http://www.r4i-sdhc.com/R4iSaveDonglee.asp

If you don't have v1.5 of the program, pokemon saves cannot be transferred properly, esp DPPt.

[Arterion]

Hi all, I've been using an NDS Adapter Plus to backup & restore saves on my copy of Soul Silver for quite some time, and all of a sudden, after restoring the file, all I get when I turn on the game is the new game screen, as if there was no save on there at all. Any idea what might be at fault here? The Adapter or the cart? I can edit the .sav fine in pokegen - I'm scared to try a backup/restore with my Platinum cart in case some sort of damage has been caused.

I would just use my ROM + R4 but that doesn't give me any PokeWalker support....the save file itself works fine with the ROM though.

Any input would be very much appreciated.

[evandixon]

First, make sure you're using the latest firmware update.

Then,

What save size does the program report?

If you backup the save that starts a new game, and open it in Pokegen, does it work?

[Arterion]

I am using the latest firmware :-)

All my saves (I have a few) happily open in Pokegen, but after restoring ANY save to the cart, even a completely clean, untouched one, results in the game acting as if there's no save file present.

[evandixon]

For HG/SS, is it reporting a 4Mbit save? If so, you'll need to get in touch with HKems.

http://hkems.proboards.com/

[Arterion]

Can't lay my hands in it right now, but from memory I seem to recall the adapter software reporting 4mb saves (even though it dumps the correct size). What does this indicate?

[evandixon]

If it was smaller, it wouldn't be writing the full save. In that case the check sums would be bad and would restart the game.

Since that's not the case, I don't know.

[mew420]

hello.

i'm a little confused with the original post, so i was wondering if any of you had first-hand experience ripping a save file from pokemon black with and action replay dsi and micro sd card.

all i want to do is extract .pkm backups of my event pokemon with ribbons that i cannot upload to pokecheck. i have no interest in altering/replacing my save file on the retail cart.

i have access to:

2x nds lite console

1x ndsi console

1x n3ds console

1x ardsi

1x 2gb micro sd card

any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[evandixon]

If your DS lite has compatible Wi-Fi, you can use Pokedoc's tool linked to in the first post. In case it doesn't work, you'll need to DLDI patch it. DS Organize includes a DLDI patched version of itself for the Games 'n Music, which is basically the ARDSi. Launch that, and use it to run Pokedoc's tool. Don't use it for much else as DS Organize can easily corrupt your card.

If you don't have compatible Wi-Fi, you'll need a USB Adapter (I recommend the NDS Backup Adapter Plus).

If you don't feel like spending money on that, since you can use ARDS codes, you can try to recreate your Pokémon in Pokegen.

[amatris]

hey huys im trying to backup pokemon black 2 over ftp but it sticks at 0%? any help?

[Gvaz]

So would it be possible to get a used version of black2/white2, get one of those usb things (the OP's store links are currently dead) to backup the save, edit it in with all the pokemon and event ones, then upload it via pokemon transfer then to the bank to get them in X/Y?

I only have a dsi xl and a 3ds xl.

[evandixon]

So would it be possible to get a used version of black2/white2, get one of those usb things (the OP's store links are currently dead) to backup the save, edit it in with all the pokemon and event ones, then upload it via pokemon transfer then to the bank to get them in X/Y?

I only have a dsi xl and a 3ds xl.

As long as all the Pokémon you edit in could have been obtained in one of the games given the right circumstances (in other words, as long as they're legal).

I also updated the OP, removing some outdated shops.

[needsomehelp]

Hello,I have the following

Ds Lite

R4

EZ Flash 3 in 1

Pokemon Black Retail Cart

How do I place an edited save back into the retail cart? I would really appreciate the help

Do I have to get it on the EZ flash first? If so,how do I go about doing that?

[Soharuda]

I have:

• DS Lite
  
• R4I Gold 3DS (with Wood 1.62 firmware)
  
• Pokemon Black Official Cart
  

I backed up the NDS and SAV files from the cart (suggested tools did not work so i used wood dumper), but now when I want to use them on my R4I it doesnt seem to work. Any ideas? I figure its probably some kind of encryption or something on the save file. Help would be greatly appreciated so I can save all my hard work.

[evandixon]

Make sure the save is 512KB.

My converter may still be online if it's not.

http://saves.uniquegeeks.net/

Also make sure the save is the same name as the ROM.

RomName.nds

RomName.sav

[Soharuda]

I chose the file, hit "Raw Format" for source, and chose "R4" for target. The end file was (again) 512KB. I loaded it onto the sdcard, fixed the name of the file to match how it should. Still didnt work maybe I'll just need to restart.

Rom name is "Pokemon Black.nds" save name is "Pokemon Black.nds.sav"

[evandixon]

I chose the file, hit "Raw Format" for source, and chose "R4" for target. The end file was (again) 512KB. I loaded it onto the sdcard, fixed the name of the file to match how it should. Still didnt work maybe I'll just need to restart.

Rom name is "Pokemon Black.nds" save name is "Pokemon Black.nds.sav"

Backup the save and restart the game and save. Note the name and size of the resulting save and try to replicate that.

[Soharuda]

Its overwriting the save i am trying to use. Is there some kind of encryption on the save file?

[BlackShark]

I wanted to use Pokedoc's tool to backup my Pokemon White save but I can't even start Pokedoc's tool.

My card is a R4i Gold 3DS with the latest official Wood R4 v1.62. I never had any problems with that card. Any game and homebrew program is working fine. But when I want to start Pokedoc's tool (version 0.3.0 RC1) I only get a blackscreen. I copied the whole folder into the root of my micro SD (2GB from Kingston).

What's wrong there?

[evandixon]

Does the previous version work?

[BlackShark]

Lol, I feel dumb now. I didn't see the previous version...

Yeah, it's working. Thanks!

[Dyshonest]

(repost from GBATemp)

Savegame Manger DS:

http://code.google.com/p/savegame-manager/

I can't get this to work for any form of savefile from any game.

I followed the instructions properly.

Whenever I try to backup a savefile (or restore, it doesn't matter what I pick), the directories on where to save/restore from don't show on the DS. If I press L+R to try to write a new file, it just tells me the FTP doesn't have proper writing access even though it does.

The settings on the program (and the port-forwarding and other router-related things for SGM DS itself) are fine.

I've tried:

- connecting my computer directly to the modem instead of using the same Wi-Fi connection as the DS.

- going from an Open connection to WEP protected.

- using two different flash carts (with the app actually crashing on one)

- using two different DS models (Phat and Lite)

I don't know why it isn't working. Nothing seems to get it working. I can see on SmallFTPd that something is trying to connect (via PASV or something), so it's getting accessed... partially.

I don't have a Slot 2 device so unfortunately I can't take the easy way out for this.

I'm using Windows 7 on a laptop (if it matters). I got this to work a year ago apparently as I backed up Black/White 2 saves, but I'm not sure why it won't work now. Is it possible a firmware update to my router messed with any possible access?

[theSLAYER]

(repost from GBATemp)

Savegame Manger DS:

http://code.google.com/p/savegame-manager/

I can't get this to work for any form of savefile from any game.

I followed the instructions properly.

Whenever I try to backup a savefile (or restore, it doesn't matter what I pick), the directories on where to save/restore from don't show on the DS. If I press L+R to try to write a new file, it just tells me the FTP doesn't have proper writing access even though it does.

The settings on the program (and the port-forwarding and other router-related things for SGM DS itself) are fine.

I've tried:

- connecting my computer directly to the modem instead of using the same Wi-Fi connection as the DS.

- going from an Open connection to WEP protected.

- using two different flash carts (with the app actually crashing on one)

- using two different DS models (Phat and Lite)

I don't know why it isn't working. Nothing seems to get it working. I can see on SmallFTPd that something is trying to connect (via PASV or something), so it's getting accessed... partially.

I don't have a Slot 2 device so unfortunately I can't take the easy way out for this.

I'm using Windows 7 on a laptop (if it matters). I got this to work a year ago apparently as I backed up Black/White 2 saves, but I'm not sure why it won't work now. Is it possible a firmware update to my router messed with any possible access?

what slot 1 device are you using.

You should get your smallftp to run on xp compatibility.