Binary is not compatible with Save

[theSLAYER]

On 12/12/2021 at 4:44 AM, Reversal said:

Hey, I found this Thread by looking what could be wrong with my save.
Sadly I am unable to find it here, so maybe you could help me. I Got the file with the GBA Backup Tool for R4 Flashcards with my physical copy.FILE POKEMON LEAF GREEN (DE) Sadly i dont know how to Upload on here so i uploaded it on a regular file page.

It would be great if anyone could tell me whats wrong and how to do it right (My Physical Copy of Ruby works completely fine even now)

POKEMON_LEAF_BPGD00.sav 128 kB · 0 downloads

For starters, you can directly upload the file on-site. No need to use some sketchy hosting site.

Next, the file you uploaded has nothing but garbled nonsense.

For a file to be truly be a save, it needs to have gaps in data so that partitions can be recognizable.

So this file may be named "sav", but it is completely not a save.

If I understand this right, you tried using the GBA Backup Tool with your LeafGreen cart? It's possible that your cart is fake. The backup tool only works with real carts (this is due to how real vs fake store the save in their hardware)


TL;DR: Your backup method is probably wrong, or your cart is fake. Either way this file isn't a save. PKHeX can't read it, simply because it isn't one.

[aerond]

Hi @theSLAYER, will I be able to do this with rom hacks? I tried exporting the battery save but I'm still having this issue.

Edited January 16, 2022 by aerond

[theSLAYER]

2 hours ago, aerond said:

Hi @theSLAYER, will I be able to do this with rom hacks? I tried exporting the battery save but I'm still having this issue.

upload the save

[flarewolf56]

ik this post is old but i need help with my .sav so i need to go over some things first

1.ive read this thread

2.yes my copy of emerald is a repo cart it was advertised as such

3.im guessing my issue is because its a repo cart

4.im using a new device called the gb operator and yes it works well with real carts i have real pokemon carts for almost every gen and my it works well with my gen 1 through 3 carts

5.i would like to know if there is a way to get the actual save from the cart since it does save differently then a real one or at least according to a comment on this thread said so any way.

6.if there is a way to get the real save that would be awesome

7.when i put the save into my emulator aka vba it reads the file then when i save it and export the save from the emulator pkhex allows me to edit the file but when i try to put that save back into the repo cart it reads the old version that was not edited and no its not my device i have been able to edit my gen 1 2 and 3 carts just fine

[theSLAYER]

If it’s a repo cart, You can extract the save, but cannot inject it back.

Wait, let me see if I got this correctly: you got the save from a repo cart to work on VBA, without having to dump your ROM?

If so, upload said save, wanna take a look

[flarewolf56]

dang thx for helping i do have another question though and what happened is very weird

so i changed the game on the cart to a dbz game (gt transformation to be exact) i was curious to try something anyway the game saves automatically and it did but when i turned it off and back on it did not keep the save same thing happened with hamtaro ham ham heartbreak so i put pokemon emerald back on the game aka the version that was on the cart to begin with however instead of having no save it loaded the original save i had before i ever tried anything with the cart aka my save that had all 8 gym badges beat the elite four and was in the battle zone (forgot the real name aka the places in the post game) it was super weird because not only had that save been overwritten with a brand new save because i had started the game over at one point before trying this stuff but it brought the save back????? it was weird but i started a new save and from that point on it still has the brand new save with no gym badges and only played up to the point of seeing wally suck at catching pokemon so my question is do you have any idea of how this weirdness happened???

[theSLAYER]

You might have missed my edit on my previous post. Refresh the page :3

Also, I have no idea what you're on about, in it's entirely. So it's less a repo cart, and more a flash cart, since you can change the game on it?

 

[flarewolf56]

yes i can change the game on it however when i change the game to anything other then pokemon emerald it does not keep the save file for any game i put on it i do not know why and i want to know how to get it to keep save files if you can help or direct me in the right direction i would greatly appreciate it

[theSLAYER]

That doesn't answer the repo cart or flash cart question.

How do you replace games? Is it via an SD card? To you use a cable to send the ROM to the cart? Things I kinda need to know before we can proceed.

Also, upload the save. I don't want to have to ask again.

[flarewolf56]

i dont know how to upload the save to this website i did see you saying that was a thing that could be done on this website

also it has no ports i have a device called the gb operator that plugs into my pc via usb and i put my gba cart into that device

idk if links are allowed but im gonna put a link to the gb operator website (i do not use the built in emulator for it though)

https://www.epilogue.co/product/gb-operator

[theSLAYER]

4 minutes ago, flarewolf56 said:

i dont know how to upload the save to this website i did see you saying that was a thing that could be done on this website

when you reply, you can drag the file there:

Also, I need the picture of the cart. I don't think you can just replace ROMs of regular carts, or even repro carts. You're playing on a flashcart, yes? Or are you writing on blank dev carts?
Seriously, there's only so many times and so many ways I can ask. If you don't answer that I won't be able to proceed. And at some point I'll give up and just not bother.

[flarewolf56]

i dont know what kind of cart it is i know i bought on etsy back in 2019 it was advertises as a repo cart it is not a flash cart it has no sd cards or any slots other then the part to put it into a gba

 

also a older comment you made on this post from last year said you dont know if its possible to change whats on a cart however many devices out there exist that can do just that including the one i use

 

also sorry for the bad camera quality i used my old webcam

[theSLAYER]

  

9 minutes ago, flarewolf56 said:

many devices out there exist that can do just that including the one i use

Except it's either not advertised or blatantly untrue.



Doesn't say anything about overwriting games of repro carts, at least not that I can find on the site.

https://support.epilogue.co/hc/en-us/articles/360018475320-Does-the-GB-Operator-offer-support-for-flashcart-rewriting-
 

... after some digging ...

The FAQ appears to be treating repro carts and flashcarts to be the same, but it does mention it can flash repro carts. So at least that does it.

I wonder if it's detecting the save being in the ROM and stripping it out correctly.


At least it does seem to be a (a) a repro cart and (b) GB operator appears to be able to reflash repro carts to some extent.


Now, mind uploading said save?

I've got an idea of how it might work for you. Are you familiar with hex editing?

[flarewolf56]

ive looked at hex coding before but im not the best at it however i have done it before and got whatever it was i was doing at the time to work correctly (i like to mess around stuff tech wise to see what i can and cant do ive done all kinds of stuff before)

Pokemon - Emerald Version (USA, Europe).sav

[theSLAYER]

4 minutes ago, flarewolf56 said:

ive looked at hex coding before but im not the best at it however i have done it before and got whatever it was i was doing at the time to work correctly (i like to mess around stuff tech wise to see what i can and cant do ive done all kinds of stuff before)

Pokemon - Emerald Version (USA, Europe).sav 128 kB · 0 downloads

Sorry I should have clarified. I want the save directly from the cart dump, not from the emulator.

edit: wait, is this from the cart? Are you sure VBA can read this? it looks like garbage

[flarewolf56]

that is the save from the cart but pk hex still gives me the binary error

[theSLAYER]

2 minutes ago, flarewolf56 said:

that is the save from the cart but pk hex still gives me the binary error

let's move away from that for now. Are you absolutely certain VBA can read this save?
How do you import the save into VBA. Doesn't look like how a save should look like.

[flarewolf56]

i open vba then open the game (pokemon emerald) then click file --> import --> battery file and choose this save and then reset the emulator using crtl r and it reads the save but if i export the save from vba pk hex can read it but only the copy of the save directly from the cart is the one pk hex can not read 

[theSLAYER]

Just now, flarewolf56 said:

i open vba then open the game (pokemon emerald) then click file --> import --> battery file and choose this save and then reset the emulator using crtl r and it reads the save but if i export the save from vba pk hex can read it but only the copy of the save directly from the cart is the one pk hex can not read 

do me a favor. Load up Pokemon Emerald, and delete the save.
This way Pokemon Emerald as no saves. Then try importing it and trying again, see it that works.
Important to not use state saves along the way.

[flarewolf56]

into the emulator???

 

correction apparently the vba emulator does not read the save at all so then why does the cart give this save file???

[theSLAYER]

7 minutes ago, flarewolf56 said:

into the emulator???

Yes.

I just tried on my end, and the emulator won't recognize it to. I doubt that this file is a save file. I just looks like garbage, and I reckon you probably read another file.

Here's something else I also want you to try.
1. Dump the ROM (don't upload it here)
2. Use this program on said ROM.
3. Upload the saves obtained from the program.
 

Quote

correction apparently the vba emulator does not read the save at all so then why does the cart give this save file???

because it is a repro cart. Tools usually dump the save partition, but repro carts don't keep saves in the save partition, so it messes up.

[flarewolf56]

ok i did a quick search do you want me to do a full search with the program?

save0-2022-02-19 01-42-35-0xFC0000-halfpatched.sav

 

ok so i just put that save i just uploaded here into pk hex and it loads the old save back from 2019 when i had finished the game and beat the elite four which is weird because thats not the current save file the current save file i have started over and only have gotten up to where wally trys to catch a raltz so its weird that this program pulled the old save file

[theSLAYER]

4 minutes ago, flarewolf56 said:

ok i did a quick search do you want me to do a full search with the program?

save0-2022-02-19 01-42-35-0xFC0000-halfpatched.sav 128 kB · 0 downloads

Nah that's more than enough. full search is only useful is quick search doesn't work.

This save should work on PKHeX. Use it to perform your edits.

4 minutes ago, flarewolf56 said:

ok so i just put that save i just uploaded here into pk hex and it loads the old save back from 2019 when i had finished the game and beat the elite four which is weird because thats not the current save file the current save file i have started over and only have gotten up to where wally trys to catch a raltz so its weird that this program pulled the old save file

you're saying it's not the current save?

How many files did the program spit out? Or did you close the program the moment it gave a file?

[flarewolf56]

i did quick search and it only gave me the 1 save file and yes it is the old one im uploading a pic of the current one

[theSLAYER]

4 minutes ago, flarewolf56 said:

i did quick search and it only gave me the 1 save file and yes it is the old one im uploading a pic of the current one

yeah the picture isn't going to help one bit

Make sure you did a fresh ROM dump, not use an older one.
Then, maybe to full search, since quick search isn't giving you a recent save.