NDS Save File Converter [v2.5: Updated 7/24/2011]

[NaruZkurai]

What I would like people to do is request support for different save file types, so I know they are needed.

For all I know, no one has an M3 *.0 save file.

here is a request:

drastic save state

its been changed, and i want to play on my PC rather than phone.

and i want to play my Pokemon soulsilver game and evolve my gengar and others but cant because cuz i cant figure out how to change the states. drastic is currently using .dss for the save format

(im using dsmume as the other emulator)

[evandixon]

here is a request:

drastic save state

its been changed, and i want to play on my PC rather than phone.

and i want to play my Pokemon soulsilver game and evolve my gengar and others but cant because cuz i cant figure out how to change the states. drastic is currently using .dss for the save format

(im using dsmume as the other emulator)

Drastic and DeSmuMe both use *.dsv save files. *.dss files are save states (which are basically snapshots of RAM), and cannot be reliably converted.

[Drácula]

Hi, I need to say thank you because all of this post & contributions for this program

I have an issue, and i hope here you can help me.

I have .sav files that wasn't been used in years, so i don't remember which format are they. I open those ".sav" files from DeSmuMe and their respective games and works well.

The problem is when i try to use those ".sav" file to R4 card doesn't work. I already try to convert to R4 files from this program (but i don't know exactly which format is originally, so it probably never worked without that info). So, I load ".sav" files to DeSmuMe and Export to ".dsv"(DeSmuMe) & ".sav"(Raw Save File) and i tried to convert those save files to R4 ".sav" But never worked.

In the screen on the game it appears like a new game, like if the ".sav" doesn't have any data saved.

I think this could happened because the ".sav" file & the game (".nds") are in different language. (".sav" file is spanish & ".nds" is english and vice versa). But i need your help. I'll try to download the ".nds" in the original language to see if the problem get solved, but in DeSmuMe it work well with the same ".nds" and ".sav".

Here are all the files that i been using. (in all my tries, the name of the ".nds" and ".sav" was the same (pokemon platino.nds & pokemon platino.sav or english version))

Link: https://drive google.com/open?id=0ByUuITTisD78dWFwajhSTFVhYkE

So I wait for answers, Thanks

[theSLAYER]

1 hour ago, Drácula said:

Hi, I need to say thank you because all of this post & contributions for this program

I have an issue, and i hope here you can help me.

I have .sav files that wasn't been used in years, so i don't remember which format are they. I open those ".sav" files from DeSmuMe and their respective games and works well.

The problem is when i try to use those ".sav" file to R4 card doesn't work. I already try to convert to R4 files from this program (but i don't know exactly which format is originally, so it probably never worked without that info). So, I load ".sav" files to DeSmuMe and Export to ".dsv"(DeSmuMe) & ".sav"(Raw Save File) and i tried to convert those save files to R4 ".sav" But never worked.

In the screen on the game it appears like a new game, like if the ".sav" doesn't have any data saved.

I think this could happened because the ".sav" file & the game (".nds") are in different language. (".sav" file is spanish & ".nds" is english and vice versa). But i need your help. I'll try to download the ".nds" in the original language to see if the problem get solved, but in DeSmuMe it work well with the same ".nds" and ".sav".

Here are all the files that i been using. (in all my tries, the name of the ".nds" and ".sav" was the same (pokemon platino.nds & pokemon platino.sav or english version))

Link: https://drive google.com/open?id=0ByUuITTisD78dWFwajhSTFVhYkE

So I wait for answers, Thanks

The link you gave was inaccessible to me, cause it lacked a crucial "." between drive and google.

Remove the roms from your link, as we are not allowed to link to roms here.

What options are on your R4?
Your  .sav (at least for HeartGold and Black 2) are of the correct save size and loads properly into our tools that can check saves
(my hall of fame extractor, pokestar enabler, PKHeX etc), so I can't see why R4 is giving your issue.
 

If you can list out (or screenshot) the options on R4, it'll help identification purposes.
(if your save options are like mine, setting it to Auto or 512K would work)

 

PS: The issue is unlikely caused due to different language rom.
I can load my Japanese save onto English and Korean, so that's unlikely the issue.
(save offsets are the same, thats why)
 

[Guest]

As far as I'm aware the R4 works with raw save files. Save files exported from DeSmuME should work as-is. In fact, your linked save files come out identical after converting to R4 with the program. I don't think any recent DS flashcards use anything other than raw save files, likely that only very old Slot-1 cards and Slot-2 cards would require a different file format.

The original R4, at least. I don't know if some kind of weird R4 clone uses different kinds of save files.

Would be helpful to have pictures of said R4 for identification purposes, and like theSLAYER said, pictures from the flashcards' menu can help too.

[Drácula]

13 minutes ago, theSLAYER said:

The link you gave was inaccessible to me, cause it lacked a crucial "." between drive and google.

Remove the roms from your link, as we are not allowed to link to roms here.

What options are on your R4?
Your  .sav (at least for HeartGold and Black 2) are of the correct save size and loads properly into our tools that can check saves
(my hall of fame extractor, pokestar enabler, PKHeX etc), so I can't see why R4 is giving your issue.
 

If you can list out (or screenshot) the options on R4, it'll help identification purposes.
(if your save options are like mine, setting it to Auto or 512K would work)

 

PS: The issue is unlikely caused due to different language rom.
I can load my Japanese save onto English and Korean, so that's unlikely the issue.
(save offsets are the same, thats why)
 

Rooms removed.

I already create a folder on the same link (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByUuITTisD78dWFwajhSTFVhYkE) where are a pictures of all settings and one of the physical R4.

Yes, before i posted, i tried to open on check saves (like the ones that you mention it) and work really well

I think this may be problem of the R4, not the .sav or rooms.

36 minutes ago, Ammako said:

As far as I'm aware the R4 works with raw save files. Save files exported from DeSmuME should work as-is. In fact, your linked save files come out identical after converting to R4 with the program.

The original R4, at least. I don't know if some kind of weird R4 clone uses different kinds of save files.

Would be helpful to have pictures of said R4 for identification purposes, and like theSLAYER said, pictures from the flashcards' menu can help too.

I already try to use the direct exported Raw save file from DeSmuMe, didn't work.

I can upload a .sav file created from this R4 if can help to this.

 

Thanks

[Guest]

Yeah sounds like some kind of R4 clone, but it uses Wood which is actually really good, not sure why the raw save files wouldn't be working with that. It should s:

The only thing I could say is to make sure the save files are named properly. If you make a save file using the flashcard, does it save and load properly? Make note of what the file name is, and I'd try and see if that save file works in DeSmuME if imported as-is (and then you can try exporting it from DeSmuME and seeing if that loads on your flashcard.)

[theSLAYER]

28 minutes ago, Drácula said:

Rooms removed.

I already create a folder on the same link (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByUuITTisD78dWFwajhSTFVhYkE) where are a pictures of all settings and one of the physical R4.

Yes, before i posted, i tried to open on check saves (like the ones that you mention it) and work really well

I think this may be problem of the R4, not the .sav or rooms.

I already try to use the direct exported Raw save file from DeSmuMe, didn't work.

I can upload a .sav file created from this R4 if can help to this.

 

Thanks

your settings look like mine.

When hovering above a game, but before launching, press "Y" and "Y",

under compatibility, you should see Select a save type.

[Drácula]

21 minutes ago, theSLAYER said:

your settings look like mine.

When hovering above a game, but before launching, press "Y" and "Y",

under compatibility, you should see Select a save type.

Oh, yes. I moved to 512K because it was on 4M. I wasn't aware of this option.

When i moved and save, i re-copy .sav files, but didn't work.

[theSLAYER]

1 minute ago, Drácula said:

Oh, yes. I moved to 512K because it was on 4M. I wasn't aware of this option.

When i moved and save, i re-copy .sav files, but didn't work.

okay new plan,
play the game anew on pokemon black on ya R4, grab the new save file, and upload it.

[Guest]

What kind of options are there when you get to selecting a save type?

There's also a possibility that the file sizes listed there are in bits rather than Bytes, and so 4Mbits = 512KBytes (I don't think there are any games that really use 4MB saves, I've seen 1MB and 8MB but maybe I'm wrong.) But then that would mean it was already on the right size and it didn't work, so eh.

You could try and play some other completely different game on DeSmuME, and then see if save files for that game work once you copy them to the flashcard, then you could see if it's a problem with the flashcard as a whole, or if it's game-specific configuration.

Could also try backing up your microSD card files, then deleting everything and copying over a fresh copy of Wood to the SD card to see if if works then. If it does then we'd know it has to be some kind of configuration option somewhere that's messing things up.

I found out that there's Wood for DSTwo so maybe I can take a look at the options there myself actually... if it works the same way as Wood actually does, at least. Actually no, apparently doesn't support SDHC very well so I guess nevermind.

[Drácula]

4 hours ago, theSLAYER said:

okay new plan,
play the game anew on pokemon black on ya R4, grab the new save file, and upload it.

Well. There is a little detail i forgot to mention...

The pokemon black 2 seems that cannot run on this R4, (but it can runs the others rooms).

I upload a save file of Pokemon platinum & pokemon SoulSilver running from this R4. I also uploaded the save file of the Black 2 (all in the same link), but seems that is frozen on "Loading..." screen (probably because is a some old R4).

The .sav file from R4 does not work with DeSmuMe 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByUuITTisD78dWFwajhSTFVhYkE

4 hours ago, Ammako said:

What kind of options are there when you get to selecting a save type?

There's also a possibility that the file sizes listed there are in bits rather than Bytes, and so 4Mbits = 512KBytes (I don't think there are any games that really use 4MB saves, I've seen 1MB and 8MB but maybe I'm wrong.) But then that would mean it was already on the right size and it didn't work, so eh.

You could try and play some other completely different game on DeSmuME, and then see if save files for that game work once you copy them to the flashcard, then you could see if it's a problem with the flashcard as a whole, or if it's game-specific configuration.

Could also try backing up your microSD card files, then deleting everything and copying over a fresh copy of Wood to the SD card to see if if works then. If it does then we'd know it has to be some kind of configuration option somewhere that's messing things up.

I found out that there's Wood for DSTwo so maybe I can take a look at the options there myself actually... if it works the same way as Wood actually does, at least. Actually no, apparently doesn't support SDHC very well so I guess nevermind.

I also upload the pictures of the settings when i can select the save file type.

And yes, i have some games with 4MB save file size (on the settings, like pokemon platinum) but those games has a 256KB or 512KB files of the .sav

[theSLAYER]

28 minutes ago, Drácula said:

Well. There is a little detail i forgot to mention...

The pokemon black 2 seems that cannot run on this R4, (but it can runs the others rooms).

I upload a save file of Pokemon platinum & pokemon SoulSilver running from this R4. I also uploaded the save file of the Black 2 (all in the same link), but seems that is frozen on "Loading..." screen (probably because is a some old R4).

The .sav file from R4 does not work with DeSmuMe 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByUuITTisD78dWFwajhSTFVhYkE

I also upload the pictures of the settings when i can select the save file type.

And yes, i have some games with 4MB save file size (on the settings, like pokemon platinum) but those games has a 256KB or 512KB files of the .sav

I see no reason why the transfer wouldn't work.

Your platinum save looks similar to mine.

Perhaps you'll need a wood firmware upgrade for Pokemon Black 2 to run (that was a thing back then).

you could try using the tool to convert from (raw to desmume) (r4 to desmume), and if both don't work then your save format is only somehow different.
 

edit: reading through the previous page, you may be having an issue that is related to the R4 firmware itself.

back up your entire SD card, then use these firmware files: https://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/flashcart-files/download-wood-r4-1-62-f32256.html
Or these: https://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/flashcart-files/download-wood-r4-for-clones-1-42-f26997.html
(cause you're on a clone card, the first link may not work)

[evandixon]

15 hours ago, Drácula said:

Hi, I need to say thank you because all of this post & contributions for this program

I have an issue, and i hope here you can help me.

I have .sav files that wasn't been used in years, so i don't remember which format are they. I open those ".sav" files from DeSmuMe and their respective games and works well.

The problem is when i try to use those ".sav" file to R4 card doesn't work. I already try to convert to R4 files from this program (but i don't know exactly which format is originally, so it probably never worked without that info). So, I load ".sav" files to DeSmuMe and Export to ".dsv"(DeSmuMe) & ".sav"(Raw Save File) and i tried to convert those save files to R4 ".sav" But never worked.

In the screen on the game it appears like a new game, like if the ".sav" doesn't have any data saved.

I think this could happened because the ".sav" file & the game (".nds") are in different language. (".sav" file is spanish & ".nds" is english and vice versa). But i need your help. I'll try to download the ".nds" in the original language to see if the problem get solved, but in DeSmuMe it work well with the same ".nds" and ".sav".

Here are all the files that i been using. (in all my tries, the name of the ".nds" and ".sav" was the same (pokemon platino.nds & pokemon platino.sav or english version))

Link: https://drive google.com/open?id=0ByUuITTisD78dWFwajhSTFVhYkE

So I wait for answers, Thanks

I tried out those saves on my R4i Gold RTS (using US ROMs) and could not get them to work.  After opening them in PKHeX I found that the Soul Silver and Black 2 saves are corrupt.  Platinum is probably also corrupt, but it showed two low leveled Pokemon in your party: Piplup (level 7) and Shinx (level 3).  I don't know what Soul Silver and Black 2 contained, but it would be easier to just start a new Platinum game.

[theSLAYER]

3 hours ago, evandixon said:

I tried out those saves on my R4i Gold RTS (using US ROMs) and could not get them to work.  After opening them in PKHeX I found that the Soul Silver and Black 2 saves are corrupt.  Platinum is probably also corrupt, but it showed two low leveled Pokemon in your party: Piplup (level 7) and Shinx (level 3).  I don't know what Soul Silver and Black 2 contained, but it would be easier to just start a new Platinum game.

Except I think the said "corrupt saves" work properly on the R4,
while normal raw saves could not be imported into then R4.

[Guest]

I think the saves evan is referring to as corrupted were the original save files that they couldn't get to work on their R4, not the save file from their R4 that they uploaded later on which doesn't work on DeSmuME.

Unless evan simply quoted the wrong post

Actually I just realized that the only save files that were ever posted were the ones from the R4, I got confused because they added the save files to the same google docs folder instead of making a new link, so I guess evan found the save files from the first post.

@Drácula , do save files from other games have that same problem or is that just Pokémon? Like, are you able to use R4 save files on DeSmuME, and vice-versa?

[Drácula]

11 hours ago, theSLAYER said:

I see no reason why the transfer wouldn't work.

Your platinum save looks similar to mine.

Perhaps you'll need a wood firmware upgrade for Pokemon Black 2 to run (that was a thing back then).

you could try using the tool to convert from (raw to desmume) (r4 to desmume), and if both don't work then your save format is only somehow different.
 

edit: reading through the previous page, you may be having an issue that is related to the R4 firmware itself.

back up your entire SD card, then use these firmware files: https://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/flashcart-files/download-wood-r4-1-62-f32256.html
Or these: https://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/flashcart-files/download-wood-r4-for-clones-1-42-f26997.html
(cause you're on a clone card, the first link may not work)

Okay, i tried to do all that, but nothing works...

Installing the updates of R4, only works with clone card firmware, tried to open "Wood R4.nds" it runs, but cannot open the SDcard to see files (Still cannot run Black2).

The R4 Saves files exported from the converter to DeSmuME ".dsv" looks like there is no way to open those, i tried -R4 to DeSmuME-, -Raw to DeSmuME- & -R4 to Raw-.

Nothing works. This is getting really complicated, i organized the folders on the same link to get less confusion.

51 minutes ago, theSLAYER said:

 

4 hours ago, evandixon said:

I tried out those saves on my R4i Gold RTS (using US ROMs) and could not get them to work.  After opening them in PKHeX I found that the Soul Silver and Black 2 saves are corrupt.  Platinum is probably also corrupt, but it showed two low leveled Pokemon in your party: Piplup (level 7) and Shinx (level 3).  I don't know what Soul Silver and Black 2 contained, but it would be easier to just start a new Platinum game.

Except I think the said "corrupt saves" work properly on the R4,
while normal raw saves could not be imported into then R4.

 

But in the R4 .sav files created by the card, works well, not in DeSmuME, and vice versa. The DeSmuME .sav files works well on it, but not in R4.

SoulSilver save file works well on R4, platinum too...

Maybe this is a problem by the R4 at all... Maybe I need to buy a new one...

Do you guys know which R4 are the best option? or some good Flashcard?

[theSLAYER]

47 minutes ago, Ammako said:

I think the saves evan is referring to as corrupted were the original save files that they couldn't get to work on their R4, not the save file from their R4 that they uploaded later on which doesn't work on DeSmuME.

Unless evan simply quoted the wrong post

Actually I just realized that the only save files that were ever posted were the ones from the R4, I got confused because they added the save files to the same google docs folder instead of making a new link, so I guess evan found the save files from the first post.

@Drácula , do save files from other games have that same problem or is that just Pokémon? Like, are you able to use R4 save files on DeSmuME, and vice-versa?

 

1 minute ago, Drácula said:

But in the R4 .sav files created by the card, works well, not in DeSmuME, and vice versa. The DeSmuME .sav files works well on it, but not in R4.
SoulSilver save file works well on R4, platinum too...

Maybe this is a problem by the R4 at all... Maybe I need to buy a new one...
Do you guys know which R4 are the best option? or some good Flashcard?

I too viewed the files extracted from the R4, they appear to be partially corrupted,
but it's clear that there are signs of gameplay, meaning they worked on the R4.

The ones he intended to import (the RAW) however are completely fine.
Given the fact that the games that he was able to play, consistently looks corrupted,
and the saves he want to import consistently look fine, I deduce it may be the R4 itself maybe be saving in a different format.
Could be R4 firmware related

I don't think the R4 cannot be salvaged.
I had an issue like that a long time ago, but I forgot how I resolved it (pretty much required a converter of sorts on my R4 clone)
 

2 minutes ago, Drácula said:

Okay, i tried to do all that, but nothing works...

Installing the updates of R4, only works with clone card firmware, tried to open "Wood R4.nds" it runs, but cannot open the SDcard to see files (Still cannot run Black2).

The R4 Saves files exported from the converter to DeSmuME ".dsv" looks like there is no way to open those, i tried -R4 to DeSmuME-, -Raw to DeSmuME- & -R4 to Raw-.

Lets ignore the .dsvs for now, since Desmume can Export Battery/Raw as .sav, which effectively works properly with programs.

I'll say if you can find a firmware that runs Pokemon Black 2 (also make sure save set to 4MB or 512KB; related to explanation about bits given above),
then your save problem may be one step to being resolved.
(it black 2 still doesn't run, you'll likely need to patch it to bypass Anti Piracy; or this video may help you)

[Drácula]

54 minutes ago, Ammako said:

I think the saves evan is referring to as corrupted were the original save files that they couldn't get to work on their R4, not the save file from their R4 that they uploaded later on which doesn't work on DeSmuME.

Unless evan simply quoted the wrong post

Actually I just realized that the only save files that were ever posted were the ones from the R4, I got confused because they added the save files to the same google docs folder instead of making a new link, so I guess evan found the save files from the first post.

@Drácula , do save files from other games have that same problem or is that just Pokémon? Like, are you able to use R4 save files on DeSmuME, and vice-versa?

I use a Mario & Ligui PiT. .nds & .sav files from R4. And works really well on DeSmuME. Then i create a second game on the same .sav file. And WITHOUT convert, just export from DeSmuME to Raw. Works. I am trying with more games.

I think it is just pokemon...

[theSLAYER]

11 minutes ago, Drácula said:

I use a Mario & Ligui PiT. .nds & .sav files from R4. And works really well on DeSmuME. Then i create a second game on the same .sav file. And WITHOUT convert, just export from DeSmuME to Raw. Works. I am trying with more games.

I think it is just pokemon...

Probably because Pokemon is newer or something.
Let's try something else.

https://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/flashcart-files/download-ysmenu-generator-for-r4-m3simply-clones-1-5-3-f9452.html

lets try to get YS menu to work. (I was trying to research what type of clone you have..)
https://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/flashcart-files/download-ysmenu-generator-for-r4-m3simply-clones-1-5-3-f9452.html

or move complicated steps:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/ysmenu-ttmenu-setup.227495/

edit: (yours look like this one: https://gbatemp.net/threads/please-identify-this-r4-clone-and-a-firmware-question.288008/)

[Guest]

Is there a possibility that your roms on your microSD card could be corrupted in a way that produce save files which appear to work fine on flashcard, but don't work elsewhere?

Would be really odd for just those to have gotten corrupted though while the other games remained fine. But I guess it could be worth a try. Have you tried starting fresh again, backing up your microSD just in case, then deleting everything and copying over the newest version of Wood for clones that theSLAYER linked above? To see if it would work then. I'd still try replacing the rom even then just in case (or I guess you can open both in a hex editor and compare them to see if they have any differences :p)

[theSLAYER]

33 minutes ago, Ammako said:

Is there a possibility that your roms on your microSD card could be corrupted in a way that produce save files which appear to work fine on flashcard, but don't work elsewhere?

Would be really odd for just those to have gotten corrupted though while the other games remained fine. But I guess it could be worth a try. Have you tried starting fresh again, backing up your microSD just in case, then deleting everything and copying over the newest version of Wood for clones that theSLAYER linked above? To see if it would work then. I'd still try replacing the rom even then just in case (or I guess you can open both in a hex editor and compare them to see if they have any differences :p)

Actually it's pretty common for issues while playing Pokemon on R4 clones,
and I experienced the trouble that came with R4 clones, before I got a Acekard and DSTWO.

I think the Soulsilver provided was a fresh save (before firmware change, though), and it has red boxes in PKHeX,
and trainer info could not even be viewed.
 

I think there were also the whole thing with DLDI, which I still don't understand what they were for, or how to use them,
and always just dumped them into root just to be safe. (cause I had clone carts, afraid they wouldn't patch or something, who knows what I was thinking as a teenager?)

How comfortable is OP with opening the R4 Card (and potentially casing may be lose),
so that hardware can be seen, to have an easier time confirming what clone it is?

Else, try every firmware linked,
make sure you always save twice in game, the SD card isn't corrupted,
backup the saves and name them according to firmware, test them all.
Trial and error until you know it works.

EDIT:
This may help... (Since SD card writing/reading also affects saving)
http://gbatemp.net/threads/retrogamefan-updates-releases.267243/page-160#post-6889613

[Guest]

Yeah, and now that I think about it, since every Gen. IV game is pretty much built with the same engine, they all have very similar save file formats, so if one of them didn't work right on a certain flashcard then it's likely every Gen. 4 game would all have the same problem, compared to trying a completely different game from a different producer. Gen. 5 was pretty similar too wasn't it?

Man think how much easier it would be to troubleshoot things like this if we were able to really have the thing in our hands to try everything we have in mind on our own.

[Drácula]

@theSLAYER

Here, a pic of this R4 hardware.

I am trying YSmenu but doesn't open, frozen on "Loading..." when launch R4. Maybe I didn't make right... I will try again.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Drácula

[theSLAYER]

7 hours ago, Drácula said:

@theSLAYER

Here, a pic of this R4 hardware.

I am trying YSmenu but doesn't open, frozen on "Loading..." when launch R4. Maybe I didn't make right... I will try again.

I went searching via PCB Number, website name, card name etc,
and yielded a few obscure pages, which those users never seemed to get resolution.
(they're in worse shape than you; they lost their original kernel or the thing simply doesn't boot. You better back up those files everywhere)
Can't determine your clone is a clone of what clone.

So, you probably gotta try this again:
https://forum.romulation.net/threads/wood-1-62-for-r4-clones-r4sdhc-maio-multi-flashcart-update-ak-compatibilty.55687/