Hacking AK2i SAV File Issue

[Xennius]

Hello,

So this is driving me bonkers trying to figure out what is happening - one day my AK2i, which has .sav (NOT .nds.sav) files loaded onto the SD card, refused to load any of the sav files and started every single one of my games as a new game. I plugged the SD card into the computer to see if it had deleted the sav files and it did not. I have tried reformatting the SD card to no effect and recopying the games from the computer does nothing either. I don't see any issue with the sav files not loading. I had started a few new saves, a couple of which are on the same games I had sav files on and those seem to be fine so far - I did notice that one of the sav files was duplicated and had a 2 after it, which I then deleted to see if the card would load the original sav in and it did not.

I've checked here for people having the same issue as well as another couple sites and they all basically say "change sav to nds sav" and that does not work at all. I'm stumped as to why this happened in the first place, and I'd really like to get my card to read those original sav files that show up.

Here is the root SD folder and then the games folder, ignore the blue line, it points to nothing



Hope someone can help me figure out what's happening here.

 

[Vultra]

You're file structure is proper and in my opinion you did absolutely nothing wrong. As much as I'd like to say there is a fix, I can't. I have an AK2i as well and I've had a couple files randomly corrupt or not work out of nowhere, it's very rare and hasn't happened to me since. A few weeks back I accidentally deleted my Strange Journey save, and even though I recovered it and placed it in the folder the game only recognized the save it created on it's own, so it's lost for good. This might just be a very rare and random bug, I'm unsure if it's the AK2i itself or the firmware, but I'm not the most knowledgeable about these sort of things. Best of luck to you

 

[Xennius]

You're file structure is proper and in my opinion you did absolutely nothing wrong. As much as I'd like to say there is a fix, I can't. I've had a couple files randomly corrupt or not work out of nowhere, it's very rare and hasn't happened to me since. A few weeks back I accidentally deleted my Strange Journey save, and even though I recovered it and placed it in the folder the game only recognized the save it created on it's own, so it's lost for good. Best of luck to you

Ayiyi. Welp. Guess it's back to square one for me and my games. I hope this never happens again. On a side note, I love the SMT games. Been playing Dx2 on mobile since it launched but I do miss the console games.

 

[Vultra]

I'm downloading Dx2 now, it will be nice since I prefer to leave my DSi at home. Thanks for letting me know about that game. Hopefully once I get over my lost Strange Journey save I'll be able to play it again with no issues. What games were you playing?

 

[Xennius]

Pokemon Pt/SS/BW/2 and Radiant Historia. I doubt I got very far in any of them but it was shocking in a bad way to start up the game and see the professor greet me. Do you know how the files get corrupted?

 

[Xennius]

So here’s the latest development...I tried starting up pkmn white which has a sav file just like the other Pokémon games on the card and it won’t load the save data. Tried my other non Pokémon games and the sav files I made yesterday work perfectly. Is there an issue with the roms? Is it the game? Does anyone have any idea at all that could be causing this issue?

Maybe I just need to buy the actual game cards themselves at this point?

EDIT
Good god, looking at eBay and the prices for these games even as a lot are outrageous.

Maybe the AK2i is finally dying. If anyone knows a card that works with the latest 3DS firmware let me know. If not I’ll try and hunt down an R4 as the ones I had were both fake.

 

[Vultra]

Are you using clean ROMs? You should verify the crc and md5 with a legitimate dump. If you go with the R4 the most recommended and stable card is the R4i Gold 3DS Plus.

 

[Xennius]

I don’t know what a dump is or how to do it. As for the 3DS, I had an R4 wood that would not work with the new 3DS (one with extra shoulder buttons). The firmware is like 11.0.9-45u iirc. Would the card you mentioned work with that 3DS and it’s firmware?

 

[Vultra]

A dump is just another term for a rom. The R4i Gold 3DS Plus will work with the latest 3DS firmware, I have that card myself.

 

[Xennius]

A dump is just another term for a rom. The R4i Gold 3DS Plus will work with the latest 3DS firmware, I have that card myself.

Good to know. Where can I find one that isn’t fake?

 

[DeadSkullzJr]

So here’s the latest development...I tried starting up pkmn white which has a sav file just like the other Pokémon games on the card and it won’t load the save data. Tried my other non Pokémon games and the sav files I made yesterday work perfectly. Is there an issue with the roms? Is it the game? Does anyone have any idea at all that could be causing this issue?

Maybe I just need to buy the actual game cards themselves at this point?

EDIT
Good god, looking at eBay and the prices for these games even as a lot are outrageous.

Maybe the AK2i is finally dying. If anyone knows a card that works with the latest 3DS firmware let me know. If not I’ll try and hunt down an R4 as the ones I had were both fake.

You could refresh the flash via downgrading the flashcart then updating it again. Reflashing can fix data issues the flashcart tends to provide from long use. Reflashing doesn't fix kernel issues though, so anything kernel based is strictly a kernel issue, have you tried running AKAIO 1.9.0? Don't forget to check your save size in the settings.

 

[Xennius]

You could refresh the flash via downgrading the flashcart then updating it again. Reflashing can fix data issues the flashcart tends to provide from long use. Reflashing doesn't fix kernel issues though, so anything kernel based is strictly a kernel issue, have you tried running AKAIO 1.9.0? Don't forget to check your save size in the settings.

I’ve got AKAIO 1.9 on there right now yes. I’ve heard of reflashing but haven’t had need to do it. Is the guide in with the AKAIO post guide on here?

Day 2 everything is working fine. I don’t want to push my luck by getting anywhere far in the games and having it unable to read the files again. Might wait another couple days before I have a look at the games again to see that the data is still readable.

In the meantime I remember rolling back firmware on my original 3DS years ago. I’d imagine reflashing is similar?

 

[DeadSkullzJr]

I’ve got AKAIO 1.9 on there right now yes. I’ve heard of reflashing but haven’t had need to do it. Is the guide in with the AKAIO post guide on here?

Day 2 everything is working fine. I don’t want to push my luck by getting anywhere far in the games and having it unable to read the files again. Might wait another couple days before I have a look at the games again to see that the data is still readable.

In the meantime I remember rolling back firmware on my original 3DS years ago. I’d imagine reflashing is similar?

Remember back when you would update the flashcart so it would work on a newer version of the DSi or 3DS? Well it's the same process, just this time you install an older firmware onto the flashcart then reupdate it again to whatever you were on.

 

[Xennius]

Remember back when you would update the flashcart so it would work on a newer version of the DSi or 3DS? Well it's the same process, just this time you install an older firmware onto the flashcart then reupdate it again to whatever you were on.

All I’ve been doing is formatting the SD and the putting on the most current firmware. Is that the same?

 

[DeadSkullzJr]

All I’ve been doing is formatting the SD and the putting on the most current firmware. Is that the same?

Nope, the content you are sticking on your SD card is NOT the firmware but the kernel that the flashcart firmware initiates. The firmware is the flashed ROM image of the flashcart, without that, the kernel is useless to you and the flashcart itself would be scrap hardware. When someone mentions flashing a flashcart, it means updating/downgrading the firmware of said device.