Hacking GW retail game save file got deleted after dumping

[Nobita!]

So it just happened that a few days ago, I decided to upgrade my GW from 2.3 to 2.5. Before upgrading, i had been using emuNAND 7.something. I tried to dump my retail Bravely Default cart save file, for the first time, just in case something bad would happen. And then I upgraded the GW and emuNAND to 9.2.0-20. After that, I tried to restore the save file back to the retail cart using the restore save function just to see how it would work, and to my panic, all of my progress in the game was gone! That is to say, its as if I have a totally untouched Bravely default.

No matter what I do, I cant seem to restore my save file back to what it was. I tried dumping the game and changing the file extension into .3dz, and the save file name to gameID.sav to see if the save file would work on the ROM, but it doesnt. So right now I'm basically stuck with an useless save file and a brand new Bravely Default cart...

Is there a way to restore my over 100hrs gameplay now? Any helps would be appreciated. Thanks in advance guys.

 

[Huntereb]

You gotta dump the save along with the game. Bravely Default is a card1 game, the save is not stored on the rom.

 

[gamesquest1]

was it played in a updated system or emunand classic mode, if it was a updated console it will only ever work on a updated console (or at least until gateway fix 6.x save encryption)

you should be able to restore it and continue in a updated system, but right now there is no way to transfer a 6.x save made on a retail updated console to work in classic mode or on a rom

 

[Nobita!]

Yeah, at first I only dumped the save file, and after I realized everything was gone, I looked it up on google and dumped the game as well. So right now I have the dumped save file and ROM ready, point is I dont know how to restore the save. Could you show me the necessary steps?

Before upgrading the GW and emuNAND, I had been playing the retail card in classic mode version 7.something (cant remember the exact version),and no, I dont think I have ever played the game with a updated sysNAND.

 

[Huntereb]

Yeah, at first I only dumped the save file, and after I realized everything was gone, I looked it up on google and dumped the game as well. So right now I have the dumped save file and ROM ready, point is I dont know how to restore the save. Could you show me the necessary steps?

Just put the save on your main 3DS SD card. It should be named "[Whatever your game's Title ID is].sav". If you ran it on emunand when you first played the game, and you haven't modified the game's header data, it should work fine.

 

[Nobita!]

Well I tried that as well, and when I changed the save file to Bravely Default'sID.sav, the restore save function just popped out an error message and kicked me back to the GW menu. But when I used the save file's initial name, the restoring process worked no problem, but then when I entered the game, everything was still like new again. This is what I did: turned on the 3DS --> inserted the retail card --> entered GW menu --> chose restore save file function (with the save file having the initial name, not "BD'gameID".sav--> the system then proceeded to delete the old save file from the retail card and overwrite it with the save from the SD card --> done --> went into classic mode --> started Bravely Default --> nothing happened >,<, still a fresh, untouched game.

I even tried to restore the save using my own dumped ROM in Slot 1 instead of the retail card, but the result is still the same. I'm really confused now, am I doing this wrong or what?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

You are probably out of luck. I don't know what went wrong with the save backup but it sounds like you overwrote your actual cartridge's save with a corrupted or blank one.
Did you try to play the game on the GW with your save file before you restored? If so that might be it, it probably wiped the save.

 

[Nobita!]

You are probably out of luck. I don't know what went wrong with the save backup but it sounds like you overwrote your actual cartridge's save with a corrupted or blank one.
Did you try to play the game on the GW with your save file before you restored? If so that might be it, it probably wiped the save.

That's what I feared . Are you saying that after I dumped the save, the moment I turned on the game is when I wiped out everything? How is that even possible ? Since this is a retail card, whatever I do to the game should be stored in the card itself, not the SD card right? The dumped save should have remained intact, so how did I end up with a blank save file in the first place?

 

[gamesquest1]

did you run diagnostics before dumping the save?, diagnostics test wipes the save chip

 

[The Real Jdbye]

That's what I feared . Are you saying that after I dumped the save, the moment I turned on the game is when I wiped out everything? How is that even possible ? Since this is a retail card, whatever I do to the game should be stored in the card itself, not the SD card right? The dumped save should have remained intact, so how did I end up with a blank save file in the first place?

If you played the game on your GW, it would wipe the save if you are not using the correct header or the save is for some other reason not compatible with GW. If you only played it from the retail cart that can't be it.

 

[Nobita!]

did you run diagnostics before dumping the save?, diagnostics test wipes the save chip

Oh damnit, yes I did! I was like hey before I upgrade to the new GW, why not try all of its functions first... I did the diagnostics test before dumping and after realizing that my save is gone, I ran the test again, just great... Thats probably it. I didnt really keep myself updated with all the bugs GW has, and this is what I got =.=. A diagnostics test that wipes out the whole save, such a ingenious function, GW team =.=

 

[gamesquest1]

Oh damnit, yes I did! I was like hey before I upgrade to the new GW, why not try all of its functions first... I did the diagnostics test before dumping and after realizing that my save is gone, I ran the test again, just great... Thats probably it. I didnt really keep myself updated with all the bugs GW has, and this is what I got =.=. A diagnostics test that wipes out the whole save, such a ingenious function, GW team =.=

well its actually designed to wipe the SPI chip in the gateway card(it can't really differentiate from the gateway card or retail in the slot it just wipes all the same) as that was the cause of issues for some people, basically its another case of curiosity killed the cat

 

[Nobita!]

So the test worked as intended? Well I for one would love for a warning window to pop out just like when you choose the format emuNAND, something like: "Warning, this will delete everything in slot 1 and make you a sad panda!", something like that...

Well, at least now I know the cause of my problem and am aware that my save is beyond saving. Thanks for the help guys, its back to square one for me now.

 

[kyogre123]

So the test worked as intended? Well I for one would love for a warning window to pop out just like when you choose the format emuNAND, something like: "Warning, this will delete everything in slot 1 and make you a sad panda!", something like that...

Well, at least now I know the cause of my problem and am aware that my save is beyond saving. Thanks for the help guys, its back to square one for me now.

Don't worry. You will be able get a save from someone else once GW release their new saving features.