My .SAV file of Pokemon Gold doesn't open due to "Binary is not compatible with save file" error

[kantayoko]

Hi guys,

Some time ago I bought a Game Boy cartridge reader in order to export my old .SAV files of my childhood Pokemon games. I checked most of my saves however I didn't check the Pokemon Gold save till today, and I am getting the typical "Binary is not compatible with save file" error that either means that the save hasn't been done correctly or that the .SAV file is empty. If I open the file with a Hex editor, I see kind of similar patters with other .SAV files that work such as my .SAV Yellow file. Now the original cartridge lost its data due to the pass of time, so it is either making this .SAV file to work or accepting I am not going to get this data. I am really angry because I fear the potential solution would have been to save multiple times the game with the cartridge and then export the .SAV file again.

Can some of you tell me if there is a way to make it work such as edit the file with a Hex file editor? Or even a way to partially recover some of the data of the file?

Attachments: GOLDAAUS doesn't work and YELAPSS works, using Hex editor I see similar patterns... some uncripted symbols in both files but YELAPSS works...

Thanks!

POKEMON_GLDAAUS.sav POKEMON YELAPSS.sav

[Kaphotics]

The attached GLD file is not even close to a valid save file.

Clean the cartridge's contacts and try dumping again. But you don't have the cartridge, so tough luck.

[kantayoko]

59 minutes ago, Kaphotics said:

The attached GLD file is not even close to a valid save file.

Clean the cartridge's contacts and try dumping again. But you don't have the cartridge, so tough luck.

Thanks. Probably I didn't express myself correctly, I do have the cartridge but now each time I insert it it only allows me to create a new game, basically the cartridge lost its saved game. My fault that I only exported the SAV file some months ago and I didn't test it (I tested others but not this one of Pokemon Gold). So I guess that given that the .SAV file doesn't make sense and the Pokemon Gold cartridge only allows me to create a new game, I guess there is no way to recover my save file right? Thanks again and just out of curiosity, I would like to know how you know the GLD file is not even close to a valid save file because I open it with a Hex file editor and I see similar patters to the Yellow SAV file that works OK (just for me to understand).

Thanks!

[Kaphotics]

4 hours ago, kantayoko said:

I guess there is no way to recover my save file right? Thanks again and just out of curiosity, I would like to know how you know the GLD file is not even close to a valid save file because I open it with a Hex file editor and I see similar patters to the Yellow SAV file that works OK (just for me to understand).

Thanks!

Correct; if you cannot dump valid data, there is nothing to be recovered.

They don't even look similar in a hex editor. The GLD file has a repetitive pattern every 8 bytes (4 bytes positive, 4 bytes negative number). Scrolling through YLW, you can see different patterns nothing like GLD.

[kantayoko]

13 hours ago, Kaphotics said:

Correct; if you cannot dump valid data, there is nothing to be recovered.

They don't even look similar in a hex editor. The GLD file has a repetitive pattern every 8 bytes (4 bytes positive, 4 bytes negative number). Scrolling through YLW, you can see different patterns nothing like GLD.

Got it. Thanks for your support.