answered HGSS Pokewalker

[Arty2]

Now that's a nice update, kudos for the achievement!

I know I am not the most skilled programmer around here, just learned how to code for a hobby actually, but I'd be very interested in looking at those logs.

Drop me a line over legendarypokemon at gmail dot com when you get a chance

[Poryhack]

Just thought that I'd drop in and add that you may find some interested programmers on the IRC channel.

[Janschi]

Sure you can order new Pokewalkers: http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=166708&currency=USD&catalogId=10001&tranId=0&lastAction=setCurr&storeId=10001&languageId=-1&categoryId=58694&ddkey=http:SetCurrencyPreference

But USA/Canadian Residents only. :-/ So no chance to order one for me. I'm from germany.

But I'm gonna ask Nintendo Germany if they, send me a Pokewalker. Because I don't want to own the game.

[Guest]

There's no point in having the Pokéwalker if you don't have the game.

[Poryhack]

There's no point in having the Pokéwalker if you don't have the game.

Use it purely for accessorizing?

Not something I'd recommend but hey I don't judge. ;P

[Janschi]

I'm gonna wait till the new Versions are cheaper as it was last week. Last week it cost 25€ (34$) and since this week 35€(48$).

Or I|m gonna wait till there is a hack, that zou can use the Pokewalker over a PC.

[Vetle]

On the pokewalker screen,

to restore: UP, R, Select

to reset: DOWN, L, X

reset is needed to connect to another pokewalker, ur save is still playable.

[loadingNOW]

on a side note these tiny tri-wing screws are straight from hell i seem to have assumed an incorrect frequency and my normal photodiodes fail to get enough light - so wires it is. unless someone knows the (rf) frequency its using that is

[Arty2]

opoq could enlighten us perhaps but he seems inactive unfortunately

[Zarrokundead]

In case you break it, nintendo is selling them for about $15 now (not sure how much that is in other currencies).

[Antidote]

It's now $8.95 US

[Riolu Aura Sphere Now]

I have some information regarding the Pokéwalker below.

- When you trade a Pokémon that was caught in the Pokéwalker and trade it to D/P/PL, it will say caught in Faraway Place.

- The Pokéwalker stores the entire data of the Pokémon that was sent. If you attempt to clone the Pokémon with the Pokéwalker, you will have the clone Pokémon in Bill's PC and the original Pokémon in the Pokéwalker and when you attempt to trade the original Pokémon back to Bill's PC, the Pokéwalker will release that Pokémon in the wild.

- It seems that the Pokéwalker acts in the same manner as the Pal Palk when catching and trading (migrating) Pokémon from the Pokéwalker to Bill's PC.

[Guest]

- The Pokéwalker stores the entire data of the Pokémon that was sent. If you attempt to clone the Pokémon with the Pokéwalker, you will have the clone Pokémon in Bill's PC and the original Pokémon in the Pokéwalker and when you attempt to trade the original Pokémon back to Bill's PC, the Pokéwalker will release that Pokémon in the wild.

It is possible to clone with the Pokéwalker.

[Riolu Aura Sphere Now]

Yes I know. Remember, I made a thread about it.

I was saying that the Pokémon sent to the Pokéwalker will have its entire data stored in the Pokéwalker, but if you do not change the Pokémon Data in Bill's PC that you cloned with the Pokéwalker, it will be released. This was an example to show that the Pokémon Data is stored completely in the Pokéwalker.

[Guested]

- The Pokéwalker stores the entire data of the Pokémon that was sent.

98% sure this is incorrect, and the data is stored in the sav file.

What makes you think the whole pokemon is stored in the Walker?

[Riolu Aura Sphere Now]

The reason why I thought the whole pokemon data is stored in the pokewalker is because when you attempt to clone a pokemon using the pokewalker, its data is stored completely and the only way you can receive the clone pokemon in the pokewalker is by trading the original pokemon in bill's pc or by changing its level.

So I began to think that this might be a good example that the pokemon data is stored completely when sending to the pokewalker.

Edit: This is just a possibilty. Sorry for any problems that I may have caused.

Edited June 28, 2010 by Riolu Aura Sphere Now

[Antidote]

You didn't cause any problems. Guested think about it, pokemon data is only 136 or 236 bytes in size it's not too much of a stretch to believe that pokewalker has at LEAST that much memory, also if the data isn't stored how does the Pokewalker know when a pokemon has leveled up?

[testoc]

A bit of a story that may help with PW research. Apologies if something similar has been posted elsewhere but I couldn't find it.

My daughter unknowingly dropped her pokewalker exiting our Explorer, it landed in the yard face down (black side up) and her Aunt found it 3 days later. Unfortunately, this was after a torrential rain and a lawn mowing. The screen was totally crushed by the lawnmower - needless to say it was totally dead (no screen, no sound on button press).

I ordered a replacement from Nintendo for $8.95 + $1.08 tax + $5.00 shipping = $15.03. It arrived this evening.

I used a NDS Adaptor Plus to backup the game SAV file to my PC. Next, I reset the game/pokewalker binding (Down + X + L at the connect to PW screen) and then I registered the new pokewalker with the game. Then I saved the game using the NDS Adaptor Plus once again. All the original pokewalker steps and Watts were gone after the reset and registration of the new PW but all the path acheivements were there. I was not going to give up on the data so I then restored the original SAV file, from before the pokewalker reset, to the game cart.

At that point I decided to try the new PW and was pleasently surprised that it still functioned with the game and the original step and Watt counts in the game were still there. The old step counts and Watt accumulations are not in the new PW but they are preserved in the game. So she only lost the Watts that had accumulated on the dead pokewalker when the incident occured and the PW counts are not the same as the game accumulations but that doesn't matter much. Not that it matters but she didn't have a pokemon in it at the time of the incident but that could have been resurrected by the Up + Select + R method.

So for all who have built up large Watt counts and loose or destroy their PW all is not lost. The data in the game can be preserved as I did above.

From a mechanics standpoint, I think that the game-to-pokewalker binding data is purely in the trainer card data loaded to the PW on the original connection. If there was individual PW data stored in the game (serial, ID number, MAC like info) then the restore of the original game would have failed to function with the new PW. I do have both of these SAV files if anyone would be interested in analyzing them for delta info.

Hope this helps someone a bit...

Edited August 10, 2010 by testoc
spelling correction

[Hanak]

I'm not one to usually necro old posts but this area seemed to fit the bill best rather than make a new thread.

I had this thought about my Samsung Galaxy S7 about porting the code for the PokeWalker into an app and utilizing the S7's IR sensor and internal step counter to cover hardware portions and then figure out the controls for an app instead of the hardware version. It has been a long time since I've messed with anything like this, but I thought it would be awesome to build or help in organizing the building of such an app.

Do you folks think this is doable?

[Poryhack]

There's a bit more info from somebody that was using an arduino to read raw IR data here: https://projectpokemon.org/forums/showthread.php?34104-Emulating-Wifi-(Subdiscussion-of-Pkx-The-New-Pokemon-Format-For-Gen-6)&p=189158&viewfull=1#post189158

As for your approach, I'm not sure a phone will have the kind of low-level access to the IR unit that you'll need... You'll have to try it and see.

EDIT: With unsigned code/homebrew now possible on the 3DS it may be possible to use the native 3DS IR libraries and see the data at a higher level (which means probably more coherent/recognizable/understandable). You can even use a leaked CTR SDK tool called IrCommunicatorChecker to capture some basic information. Documentation attached.

[suloku]

This caught my attention. Did the PID generation method for pokewalker get documented?

Re-creating the whole IR protocol is definitely cool, but complicated. A less complicated way would be an android (or pc, but how would you walk?) app that "simulates" the pokewalker behavior by reading a HGSS savefile: you could get and modify courses and stepcount, as well as unlock more courses in the save and read the pc boxes to select a pokémon to carry to the course.

Of course I talk about PID generation to actually create legit pokewalker pokémon that would just be injected to the savefile, alongside the "walking pokemon" with the experience maxed for the next level (or even actually allow to level up more than one level).

Or just generating legit pokewalker pokémon would be great for those without the device (or that have lost/damaged it).

ps: some interesting threads I've found in this forums:

Offsets for watts, current course, walking pokemon...: https://projectpokemon.org/forums/showthread.php?7693-Pokewalker-Offsets

A legit compilation of all US pokewalker pokemon: https://projectpokemon.org/forums/showthread.php?10291-US-complete-pokewalker-pokemon

Some info about PID: https://projectpokemon.org/forums/showthread.php?8603-Pokewalker-PID-restrictions

Some RNG threads at smogon might hold valuable information about PID.

EDIT: Just read this at gamefaqs: "When you connect your Pokewalker to your save the first time it generates a PID it uses for all Pokemon caught from then on, only changing the first two characters. If one of the PIDs generates a Shiny Pokemon, then you'd have a 1/32 chance of getting it at any time. You can keep changing the PID by resetting your walker, but it will reset your Watts and Routes too."

I don't think it's trustable as afaik pokewalker pokémon can't be shiny, but the part about assigning part of the PID the first time might actually be true?

Maybe I'll make a compilation of ESP pokewalker pokémon, I already have some of the most difficult ones to encounter.

[Hanak]

Thank you both for your thoughtful replies!

Let me throw in some backstory - I was cleaning up some of my storage bins as my 1 year old son has been grabbing everything. I saw my Pokewalker didn't work and thought, "How can we make this timeless?" The random idea came to me, and my experience with this sort of thing is zilch. I have done some programming before but nothing of this sort.

Could we rip the software of the Pokewalker and create an app shell for an Android so that when it looks for input from the stepcounter, it uses the one on the device? As well as button inputs, IR (frequecies and ranges?), etc? If I have the program and what the triggers are for input and output, then all we need to do is find an app maker to tie it all together.

Am I dreaming too grand here?

[suloku]

Am I dreaming too grand here?

Reversing the entire IR protocol seems like a difficult and time demanding task. This hasn't been done even for generation 2, which I suppose is a far more simple protocol.

A viable option, knowing the PID generation method and direct savegame editing is a far more plausible solution...but I agree the ideal would be to know how it works and emulate everything.