Backup a GBA Pokemon bootleg save file

GBA Pokemon bootleg save file are located in the rom itself.
In order to transfer to another catridge or into any emulator we need to do some work.

What do we need:

- NDS Fat or NDS Lite (need a working Slot-2)
- NDS FlashCart that can run Homebrew (R4 is the one used here)
- Pokemon bootleg game (Fire Red is used here)

Step 1
Download GBA Backup Tool and extract the content of GBA_Backup_Tool folder at the root of your NDS Flashcart.

(Optional)

Spoiler: Gaining time and sapce

If you want to reduce the size of the dump you can edit the GBA_Backup_Tool.ini file.
This example reduze the size of the dump to 16 MB, wich is the original size. This can help you save place if you want to do multiple backup.

Code:

# GBA_Backup_Tool.ini

FileDir       /GBA_Backup   ! Directory

SaveFile   128       ! 0:auto, nnn:Save File Size(KB)

RomSize       16       ! 0:auto, nn:Rom Backup Size(MB)

#Trim               ! Use Trim

Step 2
Insert your Flashcart and your GBA game into your NDS.
Power it on and launch GBA Backup Tool.

Press (A) to confirm that the gba cartridge is inserted.
Then press (R) two times to switch to Rom Backup.
Press (B) to start the backup, then (A) again to confirm.
Wait until the end. You can press (Start) to shut down your device once it's finished.

Step 3
Open the rom file (XXX.gba) with HxD.
Copy bytes from the number 00740000 to 0074FFFF into a blanc file.
Save it as the name you want. The file must be 65 536 bytes.
If you need a 128 Ko save file, add FF untill you have 0001FFFF bytes in total.

You can now use you save file where you want.
Have fun training your pokemon !

 

I found the reference online. So here is a picture of the PCB.



This model uses SRAM instead of Flash.
I will work soon on the same PCB that contain the Emerald version.

(I don't own the right for the image)

 

So after some research i found out this:
The save part is located between what I would called a start and a stop.
They are two chain of 18 bytes used as "marker" in order to know where save file end and stop.

The first one indicate that the next line will be the first line of the save file.
And the second one is used to indicate that the current line is the last one of the save file.

For US versions:
In Fire Red the start hex values is: (03 00 6A 64 25 20 01 08 0A )
and the stop value is : ( 04 00 ED 70 25 20 01 08 19 )

In Emerald the start hex value is: ( 0D 00 31 F1 25 20 01 08 08 )
and the stop value is : ( 00 00 62 4A 25 20 01 08 09 )

For JAP versions:
In Fire Red the start hex values is: ( 0D 00 02 6C 25 20 01 08 02 )
and the stop value is : ( 04 00 ED 70 25 20 01 08 19 )

In Emerald the start hex values is: ( 0D 00 02 6C 25 20 01 08 02 )
and the stop value is : ( 00 00 1F A5 25 20 01 08 03 )

As we can see those values depend on version and region.
I will study it and try to find any rule about it.
If someone wants to adds some entries to the list feel free to write them down.