Jump to content
  • Extracting and Injecting Save for Bootleg GBA Pokémon Carts

    Preface

    Recently, it has been getting harder and harder to find legitimate affordable copies of Generation 3 Pokémon games online. For one reason or another, regardless if it is due to sheer ignorance or nonchalance, people have been acquiring bootleg Pokémon carts. Together with other sites, such as emulator support sites, we have noticed an influx of requests relating to reading and editing saves of such games.

    Frankly, I would much recommend that if you own such a cart, to nab the save and use it on a legitimate retail cart instead, as those are way way more reliable. But in any case:
    This tutorial isn't to judge why people get bootleg carts.
    This tutorial would not work for every bootleg cart; this tutorial is aimed at the carts that store the save files as part of the ROM.

    As a disclaimer, I would like to:
    1. Remind everyone that ROM files are not to be uploaded to our site
    2. Warn people to not do this many times, as I am not sure how many flash read/write cycles these carts can take
    (basically, do too many times, and risk breaking your cart)
    3. This method will not work for every GBA repro in existence. You run the risk of bricking your GBA repro cart.
    4. A minor issue, but due to how these carts handle saves, Hall of Fame  data would not be intact.


    Necessary programs and files

    1. Loads of patience, and also the ability to read and follow steps
    2. A NDS or NDS Lite. (Neither DSi nor DSi XL nor any 3DS/2DS model.)
    3. NDS flashcart of some kind
    4. gbabf_1.2.7z (Source: https://gbatemp.net/download/gbabf.37005/)(https://gitlab.com/Fexean/gbabf)
    5. Bootleg Pokémon GBA Extractor and Injector

    Must-do for first timers

    YOU MUST MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR ENTIRE BOOTLEG GBA ROM, IN CASE ANYTHING GOES WRONG!

    Spoiler

    1. Run the gbabf.nds on your NDS/NDS Lite, via the NDS flashcart. Have the GBA cart inserted into Slot-2 (the GBA slot)

    2. Select Detect Flash and take a photograph of the entire detected configuration that the screen shows you. This may be useful later on when trying to restore the cart, if you somehow bricked it. Not everyone has the same configuration and you shouldn’t try to use someone else’s on your cart.

    3. Now, select Dump Data
    gbabf_1.2__2835.png

    4. Select 00 as the Dump Offset
    gbabf_1.2__29710.png

    5. Select 32 Mbytes as the Dump Size
    gbabf_1.2__20203.png
    (Yes, I'm aware that this is bigger than the standard size of Pokémon ROMs. Just matching the size of GBA Backup Tool)

    6. Wait for the dumping to complete. You'll see a progress bar at the bottom screen of your NDS, not dissimilar to this
    IMG_E8613.JPG

    7. Once the dumping is complete, it'll appear on your top screen, not dissimilar to this:
    IMG_E8612.JPG

    8. Once done, turn off the NDS. Remove the flashcart. Read the flashcart's SD card on your computer. Go into GBA_Backup
    image.png

    9. The file that you just dumped would be in the folder. In this case, this is the file I just dumped.
    image.png
     

    10. Please keep a copy unedited and in a safe location on your computer.
     


    Make sure you keep this file as a safe unedited backup somewhere on your computer. If anything goes wrong, this is the file you'll restore to your cart.


    Regular steps

    Spoiler

    -1. Seriously, if you do not have a safe unedited backup of the entire bootleg cart, perform the Must-do for first timers first

    0. You must already have played the cart, received a starter, checked your boxes in the PC, and saved the game at least twice.

    1. Run the gbabf.nds on your NDS/NDS Lite, via the NDS flashcart. Have the GBA cart inserted into Slot-2 (the GBA slot)
    [Your screens would likely look different]
    image.pngimage.png

    2. Select Dump Data
    gbabf_1.2__2835.png

    3. Select 00 as the Dump Offset
    gbabf_1.2__29710.png

    4. Select 16 Mbytes as the Dump Size
    gbabf_1.2__9179.png

    5. Wait for the dumping to complete. You'll see a progress bar at the bottom screen of your NDS, not dissimilar to this
    image.png

    6. Once the dumping is complete, it'll appear on your top screen, not dissimilar to this:
    image.png

    7. Once done, turn off the NDS. Remove the flashcart. Read the flashcart's SD card on your computer. Go into GBA_Backup
    image.png

    8. You will see the file. You must move this file to somewhere else on your computer
    image.png -> image.png

    9. Launch the Bootleg GBA Save Extractor and Injector program.
    image.png

    10. Open the file
    image.png

    11. Wait for progress to complete.
    https://pporg-cdn.nullcontent.net/monthly_2023_05/Capture2.PNG.929c31bd3f1ddc3f37defe23d6d3214e.PNG

    12. Once the saves are found, select Extract
    image.png

    13. The save would appear in directory that the game is stored in.
    image.png

    14. You may now edit the save as you like on PKHeX. (look here if you've never edited a save)

    15. To now inject the save back into the game, select Inject
    image.png

    16. Select the save. I'll be selecting a different save.
    image.png

    17. Once done, you would hear a ping, and the text here would update to show that injection is done
    image.png

    18. Copy the edited game back to your SD card
    image.png

    19. Now place the SD card back into your flashcart, run the gbabf.nds on your NDS/NDS Lite, while the Bootleg GBA cart is inserted into Slot-2 (the GBA slot).

    20. Select Flash ROM
    gbabf_1.2__25557.png

    21. Select the game to flash
    image.png

    22. Select Auto Detect
    image.png

    23. Wait as it proceeds to flash the game. The status will show up on your bottom screen.
    image.png

    24. Once it is done, it'll show the status in the top screen
    image.png

    25. Now play the game. If it's all went well, it should show the progress of the save you injected!
    image.pngimage.png


    I cannot stress this enough. I am not sure how many flash read/write cycles these carts can take, so constantly reflashing your cart is likely to shorten its lifespan. If you can, grab the save and transfer it to a retail legitimate cart and carry on playing from there.

    Also, I am aware there is a Flash data option, which you can specify size of save and location to flash to. But that doesn't seem to work for Pokémon games, as their saves are too far into the ROM, in terms of offset.

    In any case, congratulations on your quest to edit your save on your bootleg cart!


     

    • Like 2



    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Would you be able to do this with an gbxcart? GBABF just really doesn't seem to work for me, it won't flash anything and says all my cartridges (even an official one)'s ROMs are a bunch of 0s, so I'm wondering if I could inject the save back with gbxcart?

    Spoiler

    IMG_20231031_172612.thumb.jpg.8489baae298c36f81fe8c2c2147c5af1.jpg

    (Sorry for the terrible lighting, hope you can read that, it says it can't detect the cart even when there's very clearly one, the pins are squeaky clean and the game just perfectly well on the NDS)

    EDIT Yeah, GBABF doesn't like me very much, when I dumped my official cartridge and tried to extract the save from your software, it said there wasn't any save, so it seems to dump an empty 16Mb size file. 

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    a) not sure how gbx would work

    b) this method is for unofficial/bootleg carts. Don’t know. How it’ll interact with official carts. Furthermore it’s not guaranteed to work with every kind of bootleg cart.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Then where do I buy compatible repros? Everywhere I'm looking just leads me to this cartridge, which isn't compatible:

    Spoiler

     

    IMG_20231101_091006.jpg

    IMG_20231101_092254.jpg

     

     

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    If your GBA cartridge is an official Nintendo cart instead of a reproduction, then you should use this other guide instead. In an official cart, you can't overwrite the ROM into the cart, only the savefile can be written. In most reproduction carts, instead, only the ROM combined with the savefile can be written.

     

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    14 minutes ago, Trisomique said:

    Then where do I buy compatible repros? Everywhere I'm looking just leads me to this cartridge, which isn't compatible:

    IMG_20231101_091006.jpg

    IMG_20231101_092254.jpg

    We don't advise people to get repros. It's just a guide here for when people happens to already have repros.

    Also, if you Launch Slot 2 game from GBABF, what happens?

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Figured it out after so long: It was just my R4 card. Not sure why, but using another one fixed the problem.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    A question. Do you know how to extract a saved game from a bootleg Pokémon game from GB or GBC? 

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    wait so can i put the save onto the physical repro?

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Quote

    Neither DSi nor DSi XL

    Sorry, what? Why wont dsi's work? They have gba slots.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I got no idea whats wrong with my repro, I can launch the game through gbabr, but I cannot dump the cart's data. When I boot into the game through any mean, I get a message that pops up at the start saying:
    "The save file is ok"

     

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On 5/4/2024 at 12:31 PM, Leif6174 said:

    I got no idea whats wrong with my repro, I can launch the game through gbabr, but I cannot dump the cart's data. When I boot into the game through any mean, I get a message that pops up at the start saying:
    "The save file is ok"

     

    Yeah, repro ROMs are edited/modified to display that instead of the typical shtick about save files being corrupted and a backup being loaded and what not.

    Have you tried backing up your save using
    1. GBA backup tool (save dumping/backing up)
    2. gbabf -> ROM extraction -> Run ROM in Extractor program

    If so, lemme know which method you used, and show me the save

    (FYI, don't upload ROMs here)

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On 5/5/2024 at 1:28 AM, theSLAYER said:

    Yeah, repro ROMs are edited/modified to display that instead of the typical shtick about save files being corrupted and a backup being loaded and what not.

    Have you tried backing up your save using
    1. GBA backup tool (save dumping/backing up)
    2. gbabf -> ROM extraction -> Run ROM in Extractor program

    If so, lemme know which method you used, and show me the save

    (FYI, don't upload ROMs here)

    I did try backing up the save the non-bootleg way, if you will.

    The result was that it had an incompatible file type. (Shows up as PKHeX can't read binary)

     

    As for the other idea, whenever I try to dump the gbabf throws an error regarding not being able to open the file. I'll try again and if my findings change, I'll post them. I'll also grab a save from idea 1 as well for you.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    52 minutes ago, Leif6174 said:

    The result was that it had an incompatible file type. (Shows up as PKHeX can't read binary)

    just in case, send that over anyway.

    53 minutes ago, Leif6174 said:

    As for the other idea, whenever I try to dump the gbabf throws an error regarding not being able to open the file. I'll try again and if my findings change, I'll post them. I'll also grab a save from idea 1 as well for you.

    sure, give that a try

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    6 hours ago, theSLAYER said:

    just in case, send that over anyway.

    sure, give that a try

    Alright, I dumped the rom using the GBA Backup tool, it worked, and using the Bootleg GBA extractor I got the 2 save files out. Here is the save file dumped by the same program, and a screenshot of the memory refrences of the save file locations! Ill also attach the 2 that I managed to rip using the extractor tool.

    TLDR, I dumped the rom using the GBA Backup Tool, I selected the save file to inject and injected it, however, I do not know how to/if I need to export the rom file.
    Moreover, I don't know how to put the rom back on my GBA cart using the GBA Backup Tool. Any advice?

    Screenshot 2024-05-06 115834.png

    POKEMON_FIRE_BPRE01.sav save0-2024-05-06 11-56-32-0xFC0000-halfpatched.sav save1-2024-05-06 11-56-32-0x1FC0000-halfpatched.sav

    Edited by Leif6174

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    If you were able to extract the save from the ROM, means likely your save is stored in the ROM. Read everything in the very first post, regarding how to transfer saves back to your ROM, and your ROM back to your cart. Make sure you read everything!

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    13 minutes ago, theSLAYER said:

    If you were able to extract the save from the ROM, means likely your save is stored in the ROM. Read everything in the very first post, regarding how to transfer saves back to your ROM, and your ROM back to your cart. Make sure you read everything!

    I understand the step I need to do, but to be clear, I used the GBA Backup Tool to get the ROM off as it wouldn't read the ROM with gbabf.

     

    Am I supposed to flash that ROM using gbabf?

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Oh right, so it definitely can’t be read using GBAbf? Possible to get it to read with a different version?

    Also Detect Flash, and take a photo of the option listed.

    Probably shouldn’t try writing to it if it can’t be read..

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    28 minutes ago, theSLAYER said:

    Oh right, so it definitely can’t be read using GBAbf? Possible to get it to read with a different version?

    Also Detect Flash, and take a photo of the option listed.

    Probably shouldn’t try writing to it if it can’t be read..

    That's fair. I was hoping it'd be that simple since I have already dumped the ROM through the other software.

     

    IMG_20240506_190255.jpg

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    It’s odd that it wouldn’t read it. You could try flashing back, and selecting the same options as what you see above, but it would certainly be a risk, as there’s a chance it can render your card unplayable.

    It is at your own risk.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    5 hours ago, theSLAYER said:

    It’s odd that it wouldn’t read it. You could try flashing back, and selecting the same options as what you see above, but it would certainly be a risk, as there’s a chance it can render your card unplayable.

    It is at your own risk.

    Will do, at this point, I'm trying to gift this to an old friend, if it fails, oh well, I try again next time. Will update with results

     

    Edited by Leif6174

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...