Homebrew Is there a SLOT-1 RETAIL -> SLOT-1 FLASHCARD save dumper?

[Ace]

So I've been Google Fu-ing after this, and skipped through tutorials and threads for this, but I'm wondering if it actually exists:

A save dumping tool that runs on a flashcard, which will dump a retail carts save to RAM, and then from RAM to the flashcard again?

FLOWCHART:

START DUMPER ON SLOT-1 FLASHCARD -> INSERT SLOT-1 RETAIL -> DUMP .SAV TO RAM -> INSERT SLOT-1 FLASHCARD -> DUMP .SAV TO SLOT-1 FLASHCARD

Obviously we already have Wi-Fi solutions like Wood Dumper and NDS Backup Tool, but it's seriously unwieldy to keep changing security modes on the router and re-open/close ports anytime I feel like backuping my saves (at a quite crappy transfer rate, at that). Slot-2 cards aren't common anymore with the release of the 3DS, and the NDS Backup Adapter + still seems like a quite pricey solution. None of these three methods are really easy, as it is.

It sort of baffles me that this wouldn't be possible, since we have 32 Mbit of RAM on the NDS, and most save files occupy no more than 4 Mbit.

So ultimately, my questions are:

Is there a save-dumping tool that does this?

If there isn't, could it be reasonable created?

If it cannot be created, why exactly?

 

[Jayro]

I would love something like this... but the DS Lite is the only one that can hot-swap carts like this, the DSi and 3DS do something differently which prevents the detection of the new cart inserted after cart ejection.

 

[dicamarques]

Yes, but only for DS Lite and DS Fat, DSi and after dont support cart swap

 

[Ace]

I would love something like this... but the DS Lite is the only one that can hot-swap carts like this, the DSi and 3DS do something differently which prevents the detection of the new cart inserted after cart ejection.

I wouldn't be too sure on the DSL being the only hotswapping console, since my Phat DS actually could hotswap carts for the Wi-Fi dumping tools. I'm sure it should totally be doable (if someone is interested in making a tool for a dated, unsupported, decade-old portable console...)

 

[Jayro]

Sorry, I think it was anything *after* the DS Lite not having the hot-swapping feature. And the DS scene is still fairly active, so someone might be able to make this a reality... the current dumping tools we have now are just asinine to use.

 

[link491]

i don't think theres anything that does this specifically, but i remember there being a usb device that you could put a nds game into that would rip the .sav file to your computer. I think it was called a save dongle.

 

[Jayro]

R4i Save Dongle... works with all DS games, and 3DS games before the NAND saving.

 

[Ace]

i don't think theres anything that does this specifically, but i remember there being a usb device that you could put a nds game into that would rip the .sav file to your computer. I think it was called a save dongle.

This is still a rather clunky solution, when you realize that flashcarts were made to eliminate the need of carrying many game carts. It seems a little silly that we cannot reacquire our save files for the same reasons we initially even bought a flashcart. In the best scenario, the flashcart devs themselves could provide a save dumper to their own cart (this probably improves compatibility) to get people started with flashcarts without 'losing' all your progress.

 

[DanTheManMS]

There actually is a DS program that does exactly what you want. It's called Eepinator, was made in 2007, and is hosted at http://blog.davr.org/2007/03/31/eepinator/

Unfortunately, it does not work. Everything appears to work fine until the last step. It can't seem to reinitialize the filesystem on your SD card after you've swapped the SLOT-1 cart back in, so it can't write the dumped save file anywhere. I just tested it with my Supercard DSONEi, and that's the point where it fails. It managed to dump my Golden Sun save to my slot-1 card just fine though!

If your phone has a Wifi hotspot ability, try simply turning that on for the few occasions you need to send stuff from the DS to your computer. It may or may not work depending on how your phone does it, because DS homebrew applications were never able to connect to ad-hoc networks as far as I remember (official games can work with both).

(here's a thread about Eepinator from about the time it was released. It was before SavSender and Rudolph's tools were available, hence why the person only refers to REINMOON as an alternative)