Gaming DS (using M3) Only allows one save at a time?

[Joeystarz]

Im having a issue

I have a DS lite, with a M3 and a kingston SD 1gb. Whenever i play a DS game, and save, everything is fine. However, if i play another game, and save, the next time i turn on the DS, the first game i saved is missing! Only the game i played after it exists!

What on earth could possibly cause this?

Im using the latest loader (version 30a) for m3, and all roms 4xDMA, Software reset, and trimmed, with 30a game manager.

Thanks to anyone for help/suggestions! This is a very expensive present if I can only save 1 game at a time....so im really hoping to get this resolved.

PS- I tried searching the forums regarding this issue, but could only find a few topics on SC which didnt help me out

 

[Samutz]

Are your saves being backed up automatically when you boot the M3? If not, turn it on in the settings/options.

 

[Joeystarz]

Yes, everytime the M3 boots, it complains about autobacking up the last game i played before i turned it off. I believe thats enabled by default.

 

[azndragonguy115]

Yes, everytime the M3 boots, it complains about autobacking up the last game i played before i turned it off. I believe thats enabled by default.

unless you manually want to save, i HIGHLY suggest you turn it back on. that is what saves your game

 

[Joeystarz]

Yes, everytime the M3 boots, it complains about autobacking up the last game i played before i turned it off. I believe thats enabled by default.

unless you manually want to save, i HIGHLY suggest you turn it back on. that is what saves your game

....I never said i turned it off. When i said 'turned it off' it was in reference to turning the DS off.

Also, i would like to clarify that it does it for both NDS and GBA. I tried both turning the DS on/off and using the software reset...both give the same results. I DO get the message about backing up the game everytime i boot, and autosave IS on.

Wtf is going on?

 

[Samutz]

After reading your first post again, I think I misunderstood.

Are you talking about:
-Playing a game, saving it, then playing the same game, saving it, and loosing the first save file?
-Or playing a game, saving it, then playing a different game, saving it, and loosing the save file from the first game?

Or am I way off?

 

[Joeystarz]

After reading your first post again, I think I misunderstood.

Are you talking about:
-Playing a game, saving it, then playing the same game, saving it, and loosing the first save file?
-Or playing a game, saving it, then playing a different game, saving it, and loosing the save file from the first game?

Or am I way off?

"-Or playing a game, saving it, then playing a different game, saving it, and loosing the save file from the first game?"

Bingo.

And if I play a 3rd game, then the 2nd game's save will be gone, replaced by the third, and so on. Same with GBA.

 

[gryto]

Maybe you don't have autosave turned on and your m3 is using sram only for save management?
Check in the options menu for that.

 

[Joeystarz]

Maybe you don't have autosave turned on and your m3 is using sram only for save management?
Check in the options menu for that.

.....I know you guys are trying to be helpful and all, but I thought it was regular forum members that are supposed to yell at newbies for not reading?

How many times do i have to say YES, I HAVE AUTOSAVE = YES, IT IS TURNED ON. On on on on ON !

Ok *deep breath* ...

Yes, I have gone to the m3 setup several times and verified that yes, autosave is turned on. Yes, as i have explained, when i turn the M3 on, it auto-backs up the last game i was playing. However, for whatever odd reason, it overwrites it. Or, it does whatever it does so that only one save file exists.

Unless you are referring to some 'other' autosave feature that i am completely unaware of?

 

[Samutz]

It's certainly odd...

When you look at your save folder on the DS card, do you see just one save file or one for each game (as it should be)?
Also, how much space is free on the card?

Edit:
Something else I just thought of:
Make sure the physical read-only switch on the card is turned off.

 

[Joeystarz]

It's certainly odd...

When you look at your save folder on the DS card, do you see just one save file or one for each game (as it should be)?
Also, how much space is free on the card?

Edit:
Something else I just thought of:
Make sure the physical read-only switch on the card is turned off.

Thank you for influencing me to double check something I thought was 'for sure'. Apparently my little sister (for whom this is for) transfered another game over to the card, filling it entirely up. I guess there was only space for one save left. Kinda wierd how instead of complaining about not backing it up, it just overwrites whatever save exists?

You would think M3 would have a diagnostic message saying "card full, free space" or such. I mean hell, most DS's are used by kids

So, thank you Samutz, appreciate it.

 

[Joeystarz]

Actually, i spoke to soon.

The problem is not exactly as I have described it. Some games DO keep saves, for example i ran animal crossing, and it keeps the save fine no matter how many games i try to play. But catz and dogz refuse to save if i start up another game. I can save, shut down, and restart the rom, and the save will be there, but if i do that, then decide to play catz, when i go back to dogz the save will be missing

Lock button is off, autosave is on, using m30a loader.....not sure what else to do

Is there a known issue that some games do not save correctly? I thought i read somewhere that such was the case with some games. I checked the m3wiki compatibility page, and it lists that it works and doesnt say anything about saves

Also, i swore fast load in gba mode worked every time before, but now it just sits at 00000kb while it tries to load. If i press start to load, then it works, but its always slowwww

 

[Joeystarz]

Also, i thought i would mention. Whenever i play say, dogz, catz, or nintendogs ...whenever i get to a point where i can save, i will do so and restart the DS. Upon boot, m3 complains to me that it is trying to backup the previous games's save file, but that it cannot find it. Auto backup fail, and such....

Im wondering if anyone here has a m3, and could test out that game for me? See if it saves for you? (after playing another game after it, then going back and seeing if the save still exists)

Thanks.

 

[Covarr]

Umm, if there's no save file already on there, I don't know if it will auto-create a new one.

Now that your card isn't full, you may want to re-write all the roms that aren't saving properly to it, and see if that helps.

 

[Joeystarz]

Umm, if there's no save file already on there, I don't know if it will auto-create a new one.

Now that your card isn't full, you may want to re-write all the roms that aren't saving properly to it, and see if that helps.

Im not sure i get you about the save file not being auto-created if it does not already exist. I mean, you play a game, you save, and it creates one, right? Thats how it works? Or is there some mysterious thing that im supposed to be doing? lol.

I understand that you save, and then the m3 pulls it from the SRAM upon boot....so im not sure i gather what your saying about it needing to be there to auto-create one. How would you go about creating one, if the very means to create one is to play, save, and power off the DS/On so the m3 can grab from sram?

Also, i took all the roms off the kingston 1gb, and put it on a sandisk 2gb ...so they are rewritten.

 

[Samutz]

The save files are not created while using the M3 itself. They are automatically written as blank saves when you add a game to your card using the M3 Game Manager. Then when booting the M3, the blank save for whatever game you just played gets overwritten.

 

[Joeystarz]

Hrm, well i used the m3 game manager to mass patch all my games into a different dir, and then copied them from that dir onto the card. When you use the m3 game manager to copy them directly to the card, does it create the save data in NDSSAVE?

If so, that may be my problem.

 

[Samutz]

Yes. If you only copied the roms, then you probably didn't get the save files. And you need those in order to save, even for games you haven't started yet (hence the blank saves for new games).