[Pokemon Platinum] Save corrupt, PKSM information isn't mine.

[Snarkanine]

Hi! I made an account to post here, so please bear with me. I am but a humble, Millennial fool. (人◕ω◕)

I bought an authentic, used Pokemon Platinum cartridge, and the only issue it has is that I have to save twice for it to "stick." The first save attempt happens very quickly, even if it's "saving a lot of data," and doesn't actually register. The second save is appropriately paced, and will load up the next time I boot up the game. However: every time I boot up, it tells me that my save file is corrupted, and a previous save will be loaded.

I was trying to troubleshoot and fiddle around to solve the problem. When I loaded the Game Save File via the PKSM software on my 3DS, it shows someone else's information. They have a bunch of boxes full of eggs holding items, and a couple of mons that PKSM couldn't verify.

Has anyone had any experience with this? Is there a way to totally wipe the game and make it like a fresh cart, or did their hacks/cheats ruin the cart itself somehow? Up + Select + B, erasing the save file via TWLSaveTool, and trying to flash an emulator save to the cart didn't help. I've spent all day trying to problem-solve, but this seems well above me, if it's fixable at all. I tried looking at the hex things, too, but I'm very dumb, and couldn't wrap my head around any of that.

I've attached the save file that I dumped from the cart using GodMode9. If there's something else I should do, or any other files I can grab for y'all, please let me know!

POKEMON_PL_CPUE01_01.sav

[Snarkanine]

Should I post this someplace else? Q _ Q Or is it a lost cause?

[Lunamorte]

Changing anything on the dumped save won't do anything since the issue is with the save on the cartridge. There is a possibility of something physically wrong with the cartridge itself, because if replacing the save via TWLSaveTool does not work, something is very strange.

Just to make sure, the emulator you were using, was it Dsemume? Because I believe Dsemume saves its saves files as .dsv, which would not work on a ds cartridge. I think there is an option to export the save file as a .sav file, by going to File and Export Backup Memory on Dsemume.

[Snarkanine]

On 6/15/2024 at 2:26 PM, Lunamorte said:

Changing anything on the dumped save won't do anything since the issue is with the save on the cartridge. There is a possibility of something physically wrong with the cartridge itself, because if replacing the save via TWLSaveTool does not work, something is very strange.

Just to make sure, the emulator you were using, was it Dsemume? Because I believe Dsemume saves its saves files as .dsv, which would not work on a ds cartridge. I think there is an option to export the save file as a .sav file, by going to File and Export Backup Memory on Dsemume.

Hi! I was using Dsemume and exported a .sav file, yeah.

I'm definitely leaning towards an issue with the cartridge itself unfortunately.
I cross-posted on a couple of subreddits, and they said it seems like the flash chip isn't writing correctly anymore. No matter what I do, I always have to save twice, and the previous owner's information still shows on PKSM like I didn't do anything at all to the cart. I opened it up and cleaned the connectors without any plastic barring my way just in case - no luck. Everything on the board still looks to be in great shape, so I'm extra bummed about it. I suppose my biggest worry is getting several hours into the game and having it stop saving entirely.