Emulation Transferring Save Files From GBA Emulator to GBA Cartridge

[Twilight1991]

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[Kwyjor]

You will need some way to write save files to a GBA cartridge. The likely candidates are:
-a DS Lite or DS Phat equipped with a flashcart
-a GBA, a GC-to-GBA cable, and a hacked Wii with Gamecube compatibility (or just a hacked Gamecube)
-a GBxCart RW.

(ETA: A Gamecube with a Game Boy Player that can run homebrew would probably suffice too.)

 

[Twilight1991]

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[Kwyjor]

All I have is a DS Lite.

You will still need a flashcart. Almost any flashcart will do. (The DSi and 3DS are a little more picky.)

The DS "Phat" is the common name for the first model of the Nintendo DS that preceded the DS Lite.

And the other thing you said?

You realize I included a link there that you can click on, right..?

 

[Ryccardo]

What is a DS Phat?

The model before the Lite, with model number NTR-001

What is ... a flashcart?

Those things you can run DS game backups and homebrew off; since 2007 this pretty much means (and for this purpose has to be) an active device that fits into slot-1, like an original DS game, and takes a microSD containing a "kernel" and DS programs
One famous brand (now defunct but with TONS of imitators) of DS flashcards is R4

The third thing he mentioned is a device that essentially gives your computer a GBA slot (and maybe GB/C too)

 

[Twilight1991]

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[FAST6191]

No region locking on GBA games (or DS games) outside of possibly some oddities with the Chinese ique stuff.

Anyway the general idea is you want something with a GBA slot in it so as to be able to speak to the GBA.
There are options with a GBA and various cables, swapping, sound and whatnot but most instead opted for a DS or DS lite as they both have GBA slots in (the DSi and 3ds do not have such things and thus can't be used) and a second slot you can also run homebrew from and easily save files to.

Most will run DS homebrew with a so called flash cart, which is sounds like you already have.

With that in mind you run the relevant piece of DS homebrew, it will chat to the GBA slot and grab the ROM, save file, or both and stick it on the SD card in the DS flash cart.

There are various programs to do this.
https://wiki.no-intro.org/index.php?title=Game_Boy_Advance_Dumping_Guide covers a few of them, and some other methods.

 

[Ryccardo]

https://wiki.no-intro.org/index.php?title=Game_Boy_Advance_Dumping_Guide

In short: do what it says for "normal carts", except do not press R twice - that will backup the save to the microSD instead of the rom; you then figure out where it's stored (should be inside a folder in the root of the card), add the save you want to program (which must be a raw uncompressed "battery" save), then you open the Rudolph's GBA Backup Tool another time, press R 1 time, and follow the onscreen instructions for writing the save to slot-2

 

[Twilight1991]

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[Kwyjor]

Which one of those methods is the best way to do it?

What do you mean? You've already said that you don't have a Gamecube or a Wii, so clearly the method that uses what you have is the "best way".

 

[Twilight1991]

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[Kwyjor]

I have to convert the save files from the R4 to the same emulator I am using which is a No$GBA. The thing is that I have no idea how to perform that procedure.

What have you tried so far? I expect all you have to do is find the save file on your flashcart's SD card, and copy it over the save file used by No$GBA. If that doesn't work, then check if No$GBA has a special option for importing save data.

 

[Twilight1991]

What have you tried so far? I expect all you have to do is find the save file on your flashcart's SD card, and copy it over the save file used by No$GBA. If that doesn't work, then check if No$GBA has a special option for importing save data.

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[Kwyjor]

Well, I heard of the site that converts saves from R4 visa versa emulator.

But these aren't "saves from R4". These are saves created by a backup tool that read the data from your GBA cart. Whatever site you are looking at is probably concerned with save data created when a DS game is run from an R4.

For example, I am doing DKC2 as a test. When I converted the save file, it shows RAREDKC2B2DE00.sav.

I don't understand what you're expecting here.

When you open DKC2 in No$GBA and save your game (using the standard in-game method, not save states), then No$GBA is going to store that save data in a separate file somewhere. I've never used No$GBA before, but the file is probably going to be in the same folder as the ROM, and probably with the same name but a different extension. You need to delete (or just rename) that file, and replace it with the file you created using the GBA Backup Tool. Is there something not clear about this?

 

[Twilight1991]

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[godreborn]

I apologize for asking too many questions. I'm autistic. That's why it takes me a while to understand certain things clearly. So, you're saying that the save files that I backed up from the GBA cartridge to the R4 isn't from the R4 itself but from the GBA Backup Tool on the R4, correct? I'm just trying to bring my save files from the GBA cartridge to the Emulator, do exclusive things on there (like e -reader content for games that has the compatibility), and bring them back to the cartridges.

send me the saves and I'll try to get them working. which emulator?

 

[Kwyjor]

I'm just trying to bring my save files from the GBA cartridge to the Emulator, do exclusive things on there (like e -reader content for games that has the compatibility), and bring them back to the cartridges.

Okay: you have an SD card that you were using in your R4. The SD card has a file on it. No$GBA is on your PC and also uses files. What exactly isn't clear?

ETA: Maybe I'm missing something here. Do you already have a GBA ROM on your PC so you can play the game in the emulator? Or are you looking to dump the entire ROM and the save data? Because that's a completely different question.

send me the saves and I'll try to get them working. which emulator?

He already mentioned No$GBA.

 

[Twilight1991]

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[Kwyjor]

I have the No$GBA emulator but no GBA roms.

Yes. Yes, you need cartridge ROMs in order to use an emulator. I ... really don't understand how you could think otherwise. That's what emulators do.

I have the actual cartridges with the save files on them on the R4.

We seem to have some confusion in terminology here. Your R4 has an SD card inside it. The GBA Backup Tool program is on the SD card. You can use the GBA Backup Tool to transfer save data from a GBA cartridge to the SD card. You can also use the GBA Backup Tool to transfer ROMs from a GBA cartridge to the SD card. So I don't know what you mean when you "have the actual cartridges with the save files on them on the R4".

As noted in https://wiki.no-intro.org/index.php?title=Game_Boy_Advance_Dumping_Guide :

By default, GBA Backup Tool is in Save Backup mode. Press R twice to go to rom backup mode.

You will need to backup both the ROM and the Save.

 

[Twilight1991]

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