Corrupt Alpha Sapphire Save Data on Cartridge

[JrDankest]

Hello, I made a gbatemp account just for this post because I know you guys know all the stuff I can't seem to figure out.

My alpha sapphire cartridge save corrupted at least 5 year ago. I recently jailbroke my 3ds and wanted to get back into my save only to remember its corrupted. I looked up a couple solutions like getting my file off using FBI, Checkpoint and JKSM but all of them returned an error before I could retrieve the save. It's been years since its corrupted so I can't remember the exact circumstances of this crash but I remember it coming seemingly out of nowhere. I have never modded my 3ds until recently so I doubt anything could've caused the corruption to happen. The error codes I keep receiving are as follows:

0xD900458B on JKSM

0xD900458B
Level: permanent (27)
Summary: Wrong argument (8)
Module: FS (17)
Desc: Invalid RomFS or save data block hash (395) on FBI

and it doesn't even show up on Checkpoint

I've heard of an unfuck tool but only from one source and the link said it was outdated at the top of the page. I don't know if that can help with anything and I also can't get my save file off my 3ds to even try it. I'm willing to provide any extra info I can give. I'm not exactly sure all that I need to list for you guys.

 

[JK_]

At what point does that error occur, if you know? You can give this a shot and see what it says. It'll spit out a log.txt file on your SD too so that might help. I wrote it all from memory though and I can't find my old AS cart right now.

 

[JrDankest]

The error occurs when I press save data or the equivalent on JKSM and FBI and it won't even show up in checkpoint.

I ran the file you sent in homebrew because that's what I was told runs 3dsx files. The file you sent returns:

Error opening ARCHIVE_GAMECARD_SAVEDATA: 0xD900458B
Error opening "/main": 0xC8804465

 

[Kwyjor]

I've heard of an unfuck tool but only from one source and the link said it was outdated at the top of the page.

It's right there on the first page of the message board.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/corrupted-cartridge-fixer-release.628539/

 

[JrDankest]

I don't know if this tool pertains to my situation. I knew that people used it and it on one forum I previously looked at but I didn't read much further into it. it says its for cartridges that load infinitely or crash due to non-gameplay related reasons in the read me. I just have a corrupt save file so I don't think I fit that criteria. and it says that is has a chance to make things worse. I'll try it out if nobody else has any ideas. Thank you though I'll keep this tool in mind if I have those issues. my cartridges are old and I haven't used them in forever so who knows how many issues I'll run into lol

 

[Kwyjor]

it says its for cartridges that load infinitely or crash due to non-gameplay related reasons in the read me. I just have a corrupt save file so I don't think I fit that criteria.

Are you saying your cartridge otherwise works normally? Does it play the intro sequence on the title screen?

I'll try it out if nobody else has any ideas.

I don't know what else you're expecting.

 

[JrDankest]

Are you saying your cartridge otherwise works normally? Does it play the intro sequence on the title screen?

Yeah the game boots to a screen that says the saved game data is corrupted. it has its own unique background on both top and bottom screen so I'm assuming its not a crash but an intended screen I'm supposed to see so I'm pretty sure my cartridge is not the issue. its the save. I just know that I had to specify that its a cartridge because almost all the other forums I attempted to research before were about digital copies which are obviously much easier to work with lol.

 

[Kwyjor]

Yeah the game boots to a screen that says the saved game data is corrupted.

That does not answer my question.

 

[JK_]

The error occurs when I press save data or the equivalent on JKSM and FBI and it won't even show up in checkpoint.

I ran the file you sent in homebrew because that's what I was told runs 3dsx files. The file you sent returns:

Error opening ARCHIVE_GAMECARD_SAVEDATA: 0xD900458B
Error opening "/main": 0xC8804465

I was contacted once years ago about a similar thing happening to an OR card. I don't remember the specific error code, but in that case, we were never able to recover the save and FSUSER_FormatSaveData would fail. The game was basically useless after that.

 

[JrDankest]

I was contacted once years ago about a similar thing happening to an OR card. I don't remember the specific error code, but in that case, we were never able to recover the save and FSUSER_FormatSaveData would fail. The game was basically useless after that.

awesome lol. I'll try out the other thing and let you know the results. I'm fine with resetting I just wanted to know if it was recoverable before I did. Thanks for all the help!

Post automatically merged: Feb 5, 2024

Yeah the unfuck didn't help. retried all 3 programs and that program JK sent but nothing changed on any of them. AS still boots to the corrupt file screen as well. A cool tool nonetheless though really useful concept. I'll wait like a day or 2 for any last hope lol. but otherwise I think a reset is in order. I added a bit more info to the initial post from FBI if it makes a difference for anyone.

 

[JrDankest]

Hey I did some poking around godmode9 and I have copied the .sav file and the trim.3ds file. Idk why I'm refusing to part with this save lol I don't even know what's on it anymore. I can't attach it here for some reason but I can send it to anyone who needs it. I'll attempts to look into how to look at it/edit it in the meantime

 

[lone_wolf323]

Hey I did some poking around godmode9 and I have copied the .sav file and the trim.3ds file. Idk why I'm refusing to part with this save lol I don't even know what's on it anymore. I can't attach it here for some reason but I can send it to anyone who needs it. I'll attempts to look into how to look at it/edit it in the meantime

Within gm9 that save file is encrypted to that console. its a file which on its own is useless to anyone to get anything from. all save editors that i know of will all use the decrypted file which, from what you posted, isnt something you can get ahold of.

 

[JrDankest]

But since I have access to the entire rest of the console would I not be able to find the decryption key somewhere? I have access to everything. from my VERY limited knowledge I think its a hash somewhere that's screwed so. but JK says otherwise so I don't know lol. I honestly just want to explore my console more and this is an excuse to do so because It's already screwed. Any tips or help would be cool but if its truly ruined beyond recognition I can just reset.

 

[Kwyjor]

Within gm9 that save file is encrypted to that console.

Actually, since it's a cartridge save, it's encrypted to the cartridge. But it's definitely encrypted, which is why dumping save data with godmode9 is a rather useless activity.

The only tool I'm aware of that can decrypt cartridge saves is save3ds, but I've never actually heard of anyone successfully using it for that purpose – it is a very much a program for advanced users. As per the instructions, you will need a dump of your cartridge in CCI format and the private header dumped from the cartridge. Presumably you can obtain these things with godmode9, but the specifics are beyond me.

 

[JrDankest]

yeah I was looking into that but I know javascript and java from 1 code class each lol. So I'm not savvy enough to be able to comprehend it. and every forum I saw use it was a bunch of 3ds hack jargon I don't know. I'd be willing to read and learn if I actually knew what I was looking at haha