Tutorial
Updated
How to: Copy save files from a completely unhacked Vita to a hacked one (on different PSN accounts)
Hey guys,
A bit ago I asked this question on GBATemp, and while the reply I got was helpful, it didn't quite solve my problem (psvpfstools, in particular, has had an issue which has been known that hasn't been fixed yet which prevents save file decryption). I asked some anons on /vg/ also, and while they were also helpful, it didn't quite solve the problem. However, I am happy to say that I figured out my own way of doing this, which, to my understanding, hasn't been shared so far. Without further ado:
Requirements:
- Windows OS (This tutorial will work on Linux and macOS, as the required tools are available, but you will have to change commands and syntaxes for your OS)
- psvimgtools
- a browser tab open to cma.henkaku.xyz
- QCMA/CMA (I recommend QCMA)
- Unhacked Vita that you want to move the save file from (works with 3.69/3.70)
- Hacked Vita/VitaTV you want to move the save file to
- THIS release of Savemgr (if you are running non-coldboot Henkaku on >3.65, follow these steps to get it working)
- The same game installed on both consoles (cartridge/Nonpdrm works)
- Some time on your hands, and a save file that makes this process worth it
Step A, Obtaining Your Encrypted Save File(s):
1. Connect your unhacked Vita to Q/CMA and back up the save file to your PC. If you have a digital download from PSN, this will also back up the whole game but it will still work.
2. Browse to your QCMA file directory, then to go Applications/APP
3. There will be folders with a long string of characters such as "7er41a8XXX283212" (if you have multiple consoles synced to Q/CMA there will be multiple of these, find the right one)
4. Take this string of characters and paste it into cma.henkaku.xyz. Keep this tab open.
5. Open the folder with the long string of characters that you just copied, and find the folder for the game you want to move the save file of. Persona 4G (US) is, for example, is PCSE00120. Enter this folder.
6. Open the folder 'savedata.'
7. Copy 'savedata.psvimg' to the same folder that you have the psvimgtools binaries in.
8. Open a CMD window with the working directory being the psvimgtools folder, with the 'savedata.psvimg' in it.
9. Run psvimg-extract -K XXXXXXXXXXXXX savedata.psvimg decrypted with 'XXXXXXXXXXXX' being the result string you got from cma.henkaku.xyz
10. You will now have a folder called "decrypted" and inside it should be another folder entitled something like 'ux0_temp_game_PCSE00120_savedata_PCSE00120'
11. Rename this folder to just the PXXXXXX part, so in my case it would be "PCSE00120"
12. Enter this folder and delete VITA_PATH.txt
Step B, Moving Your Save File to the Hacked Vita:
1. Open VitaShell on your hacked Vita, and enter your main partition (usually ux0). Then, browse to /user/savedata/
2. Find the folder titled the same as the one in Step A-11, and rename it, adding .bak to the end (in case something goes wrong) (If it doesn't exist, that's fine too)
3. Using FTP/USB transfer, copy the folder from A-11 to /user/savedata/ (so that it looks the same as the one you renamed)
4. DO NOT OPEN THE GAME TO TEST IT
5. IT WILL NOT WORK. DO NOT OPEN THE GAME
6. Open Savemgr. Make sure it is the release I linked, not an older one.
7. Back up the save file for the game to any slot.
8. Immediately restore it.
9. Open the game. Verify it worked.
10. Enjoy.
This process was tested on Persona 4 Golden, Persona 4 Dancing All Night, and both Project Diva F games.
I have not tested trophies yet, but I do not receive any warning about being ineligible for them.
EDIT: Depending on the game, it seems to give trophies retroactively if earned. After playing one song in P4D, for example, it gave all(?) of my earned trophies at once.
FAQ:
"Why didn't you just decrypt the save with psvpftools and the restore it with Savemgr?"
Psvpftools is great for game content, but it will not work with save files due to its inability to deal with file padding for save files. This is a known issue on its GitHub. Because of this, we use the nightly of Savemgr to decrypt/reencrypt it correctly for us, but it needs to be correctly structured.
"When I try to pick a slot in Savemgr, it shows times instead of the slots and gives an "unable to copy" error. What do I do?"
Follow these steps.
"This isn't working for one of the games you said it did. Why?"
Idk, you're probably screwing a step up. Make sure to redo everything carefully and if it still doesn't work I can try to help. Also make sure that the game that it came from, and the game you're moving it to are on the same patch/DLC revision.
"I got this working for XX game but not XY. Why?"
I haven't tried this with every Vita game. Let me know which ones don't work using this method and I can take a look.
"Can I use this for encrypted save files that were ripped right from a user's ux0:/user/ folder without Savemgr?"
Yes. I tried this with someone's encrypted uploaded P4DAN save. It worked fine. Just make sure you follow Step B properly.
A bit ago I asked this question on GBATemp, and while the reply I got was helpful, it didn't quite solve my problem (psvpfstools, in particular, has had an issue which has been known that hasn't been fixed yet which prevents save file decryption). I asked some anons on /vg/ also, and while they were also helpful, it didn't quite solve the problem. However, I am happy to say that I figured out my own way of doing this, which, to my understanding, hasn't been shared so far. Without further ado:
Requirements:
- Windows OS (This tutorial will work on Linux and macOS, as the required tools are available, but you will have to change commands and syntaxes for your OS)
- psvimgtools
- a browser tab open to cma.henkaku.xyz
- QCMA/CMA (I recommend QCMA)
- Unhacked Vita that you want to move the save file from (works with 3.69/3.70)
- Hacked Vita/VitaTV you want to move the save file to
- THIS release of Savemgr (if you are running non-coldboot Henkaku on >3.65, follow these steps to get it working)
- The same game installed on both consoles (cartridge/Nonpdrm works)
- Some time on your hands, and a save file that makes this process worth it
Step A, Obtaining Your Encrypted Save File(s):
1. Connect your unhacked Vita to Q/CMA and back up the save file to your PC. If you have a digital download from PSN, this will also back up the whole game but it will still work.
2. Browse to your QCMA file directory, then to go Applications/APP
3. There will be folders with a long string of characters such as "7er41a8XXX283212" (if you have multiple consoles synced to Q/CMA there will be multiple of these, find the right one)
4. Take this string of characters and paste it into cma.henkaku.xyz. Keep this tab open.
5. Open the folder with the long string of characters that you just copied, and find the folder for the game you want to move the save file of. Persona 4G (US) is, for example, is PCSE00120. Enter this folder.
6. Open the folder 'savedata.'
7. Copy 'savedata.psvimg' to the same folder that you have the psvimgtools binaries in.
8. Open a CMD window with the working directory being the psvimgtools folder, with the 'savedata.psvimg' in it.
9. Run psvimg-extract -K XXXXXXXXXXXXX savedata.psvimg decrypted with 'XXXXXXXXXXXX' being the result string you got from cma.henkaku.xyz
10. You will now have a folder called "decrypted" and inside it should be another folder entitled something like 'ux0_temp_game_PCSE00120_savedata_PCSE00120'
11. Rename this folder to just the PXXXXXX part, so in my case it would be "PCSE00120"
12. Enter this folder and delete VITA_PATH.txt
Step B, Moving Your Save File to the Hacked Vita:
1. Open VitaShell on your hacked Vita, and enter your main partition (usually ux0). Then, browse to /user/savedata/
2. Find the folder titled the same as the one in Step A-11, and rename it, adding .bak to the end (in case something goes wrong) (If it doesn't exist, that's fine too)
3. Using FTP/USB transfer, copy the folder from A-11 to /user/savedata/ (so that it looks the same as the one you renamed)
4. DO NOT OPEN THE GAME TO TEST IT
5. IT WILL NOT WORK. DO NOT OPEN THE GAME
6. Open Savemgr. Make sure it is the release I linked, not an older one.
7. Back up the save file for the game to any slot.
8. Immediately restore it.
9. Open the game. Verify it worked.
10. Enjoy.
This process was tested on Persona 4 Golden, Persona 4 Dancing All Night, and both Project Diva F games.
I have not tested trophies yet, but I do not receive any warning about being ineligible for them.
EDIT: Depending on the game, it seems to give trophies retroactively if earned. After playing one song in P4D, for example, it gave all(?) of my earned trophies at once.
FAQ:
"Why didn't you just decrypt the save with psvpftools and the restore it with Savemgr?"
Psvpftools is great for game content, but it will not work with save files due to its inability to deal with file padding for save files. This is a known issue on its GitHub. Because of this, we use the nightly of Savemgr to decrypt/reencrypt it correctly for us, but it needs to be correctly structured.
"When I try to pick a slot in Savemgr, it shows times instead of the slots and gives an "unable to copy" error. What do I do?"
Follow these steps.
"This isn't working for one of the games you said it did. Why?"
Idk, you're probably screwing a step up. Make sure to redo everything carefully and if it still doesn't work I can try to help. Also make sure that the game that it came from, and the game you're moving it to are on the same patch/DLC revision.
"I got this working for XX game but not XY. Why?"
I haven't tried this with every Vita game. Let me know which ones don't work using this method and I can take a look.
"Can I use this for encrypted save files that were ripped right from a user's ux0:/user/ folder without Savemgr?"
Yes. I tried this with someone's encrypted uploaded P4DAN save. It worked fine. Just make sure you follow Step B properly.
Last edited by OkazakiTheOtaku,
