Hacking using old R4 save file on new R4i gold

[tommitek]

Hi there.

I have up until recently been using a R4 revolution card on my ds (its one of the older ones, i had it for over a year or more). About a week and a half ago, I was visiting my family back in australia, and my sister wanted to me to sort out one of these cards for her. As she is extremely NOT tech savvy, and i was leaving the country soon after, i just gave her mine, as i knew it worked, and after a quick explanation (and a piece of paper with instructions) i knew she would be able to use it.

I kept my old microSD card, and got her a new one, so as i could keep all my game saves.

I have since bought an R4i gold card and i transfered my game files and game save files to the new microSD card (simply putting in my old microSD i was using with the R4 revolution i gave to my sister didnt work. probably something to do with the setups of the cards being different or something).

However when i load any game, it doesn't recognize any of the game save files, and makes a new one. So it means that i need to start my games all over again from the start!! which, as you can imagine, blows chunks.

is there anyway, i can use my old save files created on the R4 revolution, on my new R4i gold????

please help me

 

[twiztidsinz]

Find out what kind of R4 you had (was it a real one?) and what the R4i is a clone of/what save it uses, then convert here: http://www.shunyweb.info/convert.php

 

[Krestent]

What are the extensions of the old save files and the ones created by the new cart?

 

[tommitek]

How can i tell if the r4 was a clone or a real one. the only information printed on the card is R4 Revolution for DS (NDSL/NDS).

the card i have now is a R4i Revolution for DS (DSi/DSL/NDS) all written in gold print on a dark grey card.

the old save files were saved as .SAV files and the new save files are saved as .sav (the only difference being the originals are upper case and the new ones are in lower case)

???????

 

[twiztidsinz]

Do you have the box from the old R4 still? If so, does it list a website?
Or do you know where to get firmware for it?


Alternatively, you can check if you have a real/official R4.
This is the last official R4 made, older models have a spring loaded MicroSD slot. If yours does, the below information won't help you.

You should see a screw on the back of your card, unscrew it and CAREFULLY place it somewhere safe, like inside a small dish or bowl or tray (I've "lost" mine about 4 times now, each time needing to spend 15~20 minutes looking for it). Then gently open the case -- It shouldn't take much force, but if this is the first time opening it, it might 'stick' a little.
Once you have it opened, compare the PCB to the one in this image (Not my pic, credit goes to h8isgr8):

Take note of the following:
- The uniform length of the contacts
- The uniform spacing of the contacts
- The brown 'background' of the contacts
- How the traces are squared off rather than taper from the contacts
- The locations of the 'pinholes' in the PCB

 

[tommitek]

i dont have the box, i dont know where it is. but i know that the card itself was actually white, not the dark grey pictured... does that mean it wasnt an original one?

 

[twiztidsinz]

i dont have the box, i dont know where it is. but i know that the card itself was actually white, not the dark grey pictured... does that mean it wasnt an original one?

Hmm... I'm not sure.
Back when I bought mine, I -think- there was an option for black/white case.
And I know there were white replacement shells, but I don't know if they were official.

Where do you get the firmware for your card from?

 

[tommitek]

it was so long ago, i dont even remember....

i had been using it with an original nintendo ds, so i didnt really care if it was upgradable and all that. and ive never once updated the firmware

i know that the microsd slot was not spring loaded for sure.

if its not an original one, then what would it be a clone of? also how can i tell what the r4i gold that recently bought is a clone of? maybe if i can just determine what my current one is, then i can simply assume that my original one was a legit r4, and proceed with the convertion and see what happens, and if that doesnt work, then ican try again under the assumption that my previous r4 was whatever a clone of whatever it can be a clone of.

i got super far in the new zelda game, and i really dont want to have to start from the beginning.... not to mention the other save files.

i appreciate all the help so far. i hope it all works out in the end. i thankyou again in advance for your help

 

[tommitek]

hey there. i have been reading up on this stuff a bit more during some free time during work,

and it would seem that the r4i gold is either a Acekard2i clone or a DSTTi clone (could someone clarify what this card is actually called, ive been looking up DSTTi and i have no idea so far)

is this true? (one thread i found on here said exactly that; that all r4i cards are either acekard2i or DSTTi clones)


my next question is- the white r4 revolution i had previously (the ones whose save files i am trying to convert so as i can use them with my r4i gold) could be a legit one (i dont physically have it on me, and even if i asked my sister in australia to look at it for me, i dont think we would get very far) or it could be a clone. So what could it be a clone of? i figure if i can narrow down what the card could be a clone of, then i could simply try the converting the save files the number of different ways thats possible (as long as the r4 clone possibilities arent like in the range of 20 or something)

again, please help. i hope i can get this sorted

 

[iwakura]

R4i gold isn't really a clone. If anything, it's a clone of R4's. Its interface, loaders, etc are all totally different from the acekard and dstti.

i'd recommend you to just keep a copy of the original save, and try converting the save into a few of the R4i formats.

 

[tommitek]

how would i do the convert? going to the convert site that someone posted earlier in this thread, source save files has the r4 and a whole bunch of others in one option, and then the second field has a whole bunch in the same option again. no where can i see an option for a r4i format convert....

 

[ZeWarrior]

Did you try using your old saves without doing any conversions? You haven't posted whether you tried that.

 

[tommitek]

i did try that of course, and it didnt work.

but i just found the solution.

the original save files were saved as .SAV (caps) as i said before. i simply renamed the .SAV files as .sav (lower case) and now they all work fine. YAY!

 

[NetBoy]

Cool. I'm assuming this will work from CycloDs to R4i SDHC 3ds RTS(Gateway Blue Card) as well?As the R4 save conversion was in the same category as CycloDs on Shunyweb. However, CycloDs saves are not in uppercase- they are just .sav...