"Binary is not compatible with save file" after trying to load .sav file exported from bootleg sapphire cartridge

[Shamblagoo22]

I bought and have been playing a bootleg copy of sapphire, and recently have been having issues with my save file. When I start the game on the cartridge I get the following error, and only the option to create a new game. 

In order to try and see what issues my save file was having I was able to use FlashGBX to determine the save type as 512K SRAM and export the .sav file. When I try to load my file into PKHeX, I get the following error message:

I'm not too familiar with the appropriate structure that should be present in the .sav file, so I am having difficulty troubleshooting this error. Any help would be appreciated.

 

 

POKEMON SAPP_AXPE-0.sav

[Kaphotics]

If it doesn't load in an emulator or on the bootleg, it's likely toast. Open the file in a hex editor and compare the contents to a valid save file to see if the contents are even sane 

[Shamblagoo22]

4 hours ago, Kaphotics said:

If it doesn't load in an emulator or on the bootleg, it's likely toast. Open the file in a hex editor and compare the contents to a valid save file to see if the contents are even sane 

I opened the .sav I attached to the original post in a hex editor and compared it against a working .sav file. The structure and contents of the file look similar, no glaring issues sticking out. Not sure why PKHeX can't open the .sav

[Kaphotics]

Referencing the structure of Gen3 saves, your save file is missing necessary blocks and has duplicate blocks.

Missing: Block 08

Normally, the save file is 14 blocks for a primary/backup, and another set for the other save. This one is a little all over the place, probably because blockwise writing failed once and it never saved the primary/backup sets completely (only one full set, kinda).

[Kaphotics]

So, how to "fix" it?

To start, I rearranged the 0x1000-sized blocks in sequential order (based on their offset 0x0FF4 value); since blocks 5+ are for box data storage, I can "copy" block 7 and re-label it as block 8; sure the data might be corrupt, but it's better than an entirely missing block. Probably wasn't anything lost, because now that the save file opens in PKHeX (and emulators/cart) it seems you didn't store anything besides boxes 1/2 and 14.

POKEMON SAPP_AXPE-0.sav