How to fix 256kb saves (FLASH 2M)

[coreycubed]

If your Pokémon Platinum cartridge is dumping saves as 256kb instead of 512kb, read on. This will explain the issue and tell you how to edit your save with Pokésav Platinum and write it back to your cartridge.

The trick is to realize that your cartridge does indeed have 512kb of save memory but only the first 256kb is accessible.

It's helpful to think of the two slots as A and B. Save A is always accessible, and Save B never is. One is your primary save, and one is your backup save. The first time you save the game, it writes to A. The second time, it writes to B and marks A as backup. The third time, it overwrites A, and marks B as backup. This continues on and on as you save your game, each time saving to the other slot and marking the old one as backup.

The problem is when your primary is in B, and your backup is in A. Since A is the only one you can dump, when you edit the save file in Pokésav Platinum and rewrite it back to the cartridge, you have just overwritten the backup save, and since B is marked primary, the game continues as if you made no changes at all.

The answer? Just save the game again and this will reverse the order of saves. Feel free to find a method that's less time consuming and works for you, but the way I have found to guarantee that the saves are overwriting is to save at a Pokémon Center. Let's say we have three boxes - A, B and C. Move a Pokémon from one box (A) to another (B), then save the game. Now move that Pokémon to a third box © and save again. Dump the save and open it in Pokésav. If the Pokémon appears in storage in the third box ©, you know the save is current. If the Pokémon is still on the box previous (B), then you know that this is the backup save. Go back into Platinum, move another Pokémon and save, then dump the save and verify that the latest change shows up in the storage. Once you have confirmed that you are looking at the primary save, feel free to make any adjustments, then write it back to your cartridge using your tool of choice. Please note that the save should remain at 256kb at all times; if you are unsure, use the Save as feature of Pokésav to save a new copy of the file and check its size before writing it back to the Platinum cartridge.

Hope this helps!!

Edited April 16, 2009 by coreycubed
broken IMG tag

[GalacticDonut]

I registered just to say thanks for finding out a method to get this to work!

It was driving me mad that sometimes I could get my changes to stick and sometmes they wouldn't. Just tested this out now and it worked great, it's funny how simple it is really.

Much appreciated!

[qwerty]

I found that converting the file to R4 512k .sav format and opening it up in Pokesav, then saving it back as a 256k format in Pokesav seems to work for me.

[Raskull]

I've heard that the SAV files can grow even larger that 512k and can include the Vs. Battles. How does that play into the dual 256k "slot" scenario? I would hate to lose extra data just to tweak a few things with Pokesav.

[Poryhack]

Are there certain flashcarts that will only take 256 kb saves? Otherwise it seems like just using 512kb would be easier than all this.

[Kaarosu]

The reason this is a problem is because the saves involved with this 256kb 'bug' are save files being ripped from retail games. Instead of the usual 512kb .SAV files some retail cartridges are ripping 256kb .SAV files

[Raskull]

So I guess that there isn't a full solution to copying/restoring SAVs from retail carts without the threat of losing some of the VS Battle recordings? Looks like we're in need of a custom SAV backup/restore DS utility for Pokemon Platinum. I haven't programmed in years and have no DS programming background. Is anybody here up to the task?

[Kaarosu]

As far as I know VS Battle recordings are unaffected or have you tried it and it's not working?

[Raskull]

If someone plays on a flash cart (for convenience) and then wants to restore it to a retail cart, VS Battle recordings and all, I doubt everything would all make it to the retail cart if the flash cart's SAV is over 256K.

Edited April 17, 2009 by Raskull
Spelling Errors

[Poryhack]

The reason this is a problem is because the saves involved with this 256kb 'bug' are save files being ripped from retail games. Instead of the usual 512kb .SAV files some retail cartridges are ripping 256kb .SAV files

That's odd... You'd think they'd all rip at 512kb.

[Shade2074]

we have three copies of Platinum and all three are ripping 256kb - all of our diamond and pearl games though ripped at 512kb. I'm thinking we may need a different download program designed specifically for getting saves off platinum as someone else here had suggested.

[Raskull]

we have three copies of Platinum and all three are ripping 256kb - all of our diamond and pearl games though ripped at 512kb. I'm thinking we may need a different download program designed specifically for getting saves off platinum as someone else here had suggested.

That was exactly my point earlier in the thread. Either a Pokemon Platinum specific one or a new WiFi/Slot-2 SAV utility that has better logic to determine SAV size.

[AlexRotom]

So many people here are making the assumption that this is Platinum specific. Like I've said a number of times on the old thread as well as the IRC, my Diamond would only rip at 256k (FLASH 2M) for the longest time. This is specific to all Pokemon games for the DS. They all have the same save structure.

That being said, there needs to be an update to both Rudolph's tools that will deal with this specific problem. Either that, or a brand new program.

[NovaPhoenix]

I'm still getting the problem.

I went to edit my save to give me the Secret Key. I used "Auto" save in Pokesav and then restored the file, and it worked. I saved in the secret room (I was gonna clone my original Rotom and get all the forms). When I went back to edit that new save file in Pokesav...

...my party was still the same as before I got the SK (ie. no Rotom), and the SK itself was not in my Key Item inventory.

Weird eh!?

[NovaPhoenix]

Sorry for the double-post. I just wanted to extend my appreciation to the OP. Your method worked.

Do I have to save the game twice every time that I want to Pokesav my save file?

[coreycubed]

Sorry for the double-post. I just wanted to extend my appreciation to the OP. Your method worked.

Do I have to save the game twice every time that I want to Pokesav my save file?

Technically, no. You could just do a PC transaction that triggers a full save, and then check the dumped save. If it wasn't current, you'd have to save again.

Of course you all are welcome to comment with suggestions or other feedback. I appreciate all the positive comments so far! I work fulltime and barely had a moment to write up this guide, so I wrote just the steps that were guaranteed to work. If someone else can reliably prove that simpler methods work, I'll be happy to update the tutorial. Right now it's not worth my time to spend hours finding another method (on top of the time it took to figure out as much as I have) than to just spend a few extra second saving the game.

By the way, I have heard there is a tool called REIN that can dump Platinum saves at 512kb, but it requires a slot-2 device (will not work with 3-in-1). If anyone would like to test this out, I would be interested in any thoroughly tested results.

As for Vs Recorder data, I do not know where that is stored in the cartridge, so I couldn't say if it's being stored in an area beyond the 512kb. Again, if anyone has any evidence that this is the case, I would be happy to compile it into a readable, easy to understand guide.

[Raskull]

I've good things about REIN in the past. It's a shame that the long-rumored Slot-1 version never saw the light of day.

[NovaPhoenix]

Technically, no. You could just do a PC transaction that triggers a full save, and then check the dumped save. If it wasn't current, you'd have to save again.

Of course you all are welcome to comment with suggestions or other feedback. I appreciate all the positive comments so far! I work fulltime and barely had a moment to write up this guide, so I wrote just the steps that were guaranteed to work. If someone else can reliably prove that simpler methods work, I'll be happy to update the tutorial. Right now it's not worth my time to spend hours finding another method (on top of the time it took to figure out as much as I have) than to just spend a few extra second saving the game.

By the way, I have heard there is a tool called REIN that can dump Platinum saves at 512kb, but it requires a slot-2 device (will not work with 3-in-1). If anyone would like to test this out, I would be interested in any thoroughly tested results.

As for Vs Recorder data, I do not know where that is stored in the cartridge, so I couldn't say if it's being stored in an area beyond the 512kb. Again, if anyone has any evidence that this is the case, I would be happy to compile it into a readable, easy to understand guide.

I can try and test REIN a bit later. Hope it works.

EDIT: Test failed. REIN didn't like the fact that I had a CycloDS Evo and an EZFlash V 3-in-1.

Edited April 23, 2009 by NovaPhoenix

[Aqueel]

What would you suggest if my save was ALWAYS one step behind my actions, even after following your instructions...

I'm using a G6Real Flash Card, and this is getting really frustrating.

It took me 4 odd tries to finally get Pokesav to work the first time, and now that I'm trying to build a team, I cannot get it to work at all. Highly frustrating.

-edit-

Oh right, I'm using Platinum.

Edited May 4, 2009 by Aqueel

[Slithe]

I am using Diamond, not sure if that changes anything with this, anyway, i tried saving twice and it seems i am having a problem few others might have. It is always one save behind. The Pokesav seems to open the save prior to your last, so if you edit it, nothing will happen (Its not current save). I have gotten it to work 3 times and im not sure how. I actually tested saves and this is what i got:

Saved with 6 Pokemon in Party>Deposit 1(Now have 5)>Saved>Open in Pokesav>6 Pokemon in My party?

Saved with 5 Pokemon in Party>Deposit 1(Now have 4)>Saved>Saved>Open in Pokesav>5 Pokemon in My party?

Saved with 4 Pokemon in Party>Deposit 1(Now have 3)>Saved>Turned Off DS>Saved with 3 Pokemon in Party (again)>Open in Pokesav>3 Pokemon in My party! Still didn't edit though. Am i doing something wrong?

[Aqueel]

Well, thanks to Slithe, we have a solution for those who's saves are ALWAYS behind one step when they try to edit it.

-After you've finished playing Pokemon or whatever, save your game.

-Turn off your DS

-Start up your DS, and load another game until you get to the title screen

-Turn off your DS again

-Transfer the file to your computer, load up Pokesav, and viola, it now works

I don't know much about the mechanics of flash cards, but I guess it has some sort of internal memory, and it doesn't actually overwrite the Pokemon sav file unless you load up another game.

[jdelcarp]

i have a question. Idk if there's a specific place for this, but

I'm trying to add in new pokes into my .sav file(i use a flash card).

I overwrite the pokes that are in my party by loading .pkm data in their slots. When I start the game up, it says file is corrupted, loading last save file.

[codemonkey85]

It's helpful to think of the two slots as A and B. Save A is always accessible, and Save B never is. One is your primary save, and one is your backup save. The first time you save the game, it writes to A. The second time, it writes to B and marks A as backup. The third time, it overwrites A, and marks B as backup. This continues on and on as you save your game, each time saving to the other slot and marking the old one as backup.

Great job! But that is a technically inaccurate account of what happens during saving / loading. Each half of the save file is further broken down into three blocks, one for general info, one for PC storage info, one for hall of fame info. Technically, the general block in the first 256kb of the save file can be linked with the storage block in the second half of the save file.

Check the wiki article for more details on that.

That's odd... You'd think they'd all rip at 512kb.

there needs to be an update to both Rudolph's tools that will deal with this specific problem. Either that, or a brand new program.

I've had no problem ripping all 512kb with Rudolph's wi-fi tool.

[Shade2074]

I've had no problem ripping all 512kb with Rudolph's wi-fi tool.

Odd when I set Rudolph's wi-fi tool to download 512kb regardless, my save file is unreadable by pokesav,(I get strange numbers and garbled data where names and stats should be) however when I let it automatically choose it's own size I get 256kb save files that do work - though with the same problems as described above (either the changes will work or the changes won't and I'll have to make a new save and try again).

I wonder why this works for some such as codemonkey and not for others. I'm using the original game (three of them in fact) purchased the first day it was released. As I have said before all three give me 256kb save files.

[codemonkey85]

Could the card / firmware make a difference? I've done it with an R4 and the latest official firmware (1.18 I think?). I believe it is the latest version of Rudolph's tool as well (though I don't remember what version number it is). I have YSMenu on there now, with which I haven't tried Rudolph's tool yet.