Emulation Can you use .sav with VBA?

[Smartpal]

Can you use .sav files with VBA?

 

[Psyfira]

Usually, yes. Depending on which version of VBA you're using sometimes you can just drop the savefile into the directory with the same name as the game. If you have any trouble, open the game then import the savefile using the File> Import> Battery file option.

 

[hdofu]

depends on the sav and version of vba

 

[Smartpal]

Ok. I'll try doing that.

 

[Calypzo]

I've been looking for help with this for ages, so this topic is really useful.

Which version of vba would I need? The one I have at the moment only detects .sgm's, so I can't open my .sav. ):

I tried importing the battery file, as was mentioned, but it didn't work. Is there any other way of doing this, or am I doing soething wrong?

 

[hdofu]

I've been looking for help with this for ages, so this topic is really useful.

Which version of vba would I need? The one I have at the moment only detects .sgm's, so I can't open my .sav. ):

I tried importing the battery file, as was mentioned, but it didn't work. Is there any other way of doing this, or am I doing soething wrong?

What version are you trying to use?, also, is the sav named the same thing as the rom? (sav instead of gba should be the only difference) and in the save states folder?

 

[Calypzo]

version 1.8.0-beta 3

yes, and yes. Does it matter that my vba is using .sgm instead of .gba which you said?

 

[DanTheManMS]

.sgm is a savestate file, .gba is the game itself. With .sgm files, you need to import the savestate, not the battery file, which should be another option in the File menu. Might need to use the same version of VBA that was used to create the savestate, not sure.

 

[Calypzo]

Well, I can open the savestates I already have by going, File -> Load Game and then choosing a savestate. But that doesn't really help. Also, If I go, Import -> Battery File, when I load the .sav I want, it doesn't load anything. The game just runs as if there was no save file.

 

[Searinox]

That's gotta be the dumbest question I've seen in a while. Define SAV. Many games and consoles and emulators save with a SAV extension but there may be differences. AFAIK only NDS savefiles have been categorized, and I only know of the RAW .sav saving. VBA works with .sav files I've had from .REW emulator for Pokemon gameboy games, and some GBA games work with SAVs dumped from the EZflash 3in1. Please point out the source of your savegames.

 

[Calypzo]

That's gotta be the dumbest question I've seen in a while. Define SAV. Many games and consoles and emulators save with a SAV extension but there may be differences. AFAIK only NDS savefiles have been categorized, and I only know of the RAW .sav saving. VBA works with .sav files I've had from .REW emulator for Pokemon gameboy games, and some GBA games work with SAVs dumped from the EZflash 3in1. Please point out the source of your savegames.

Gee, thaks for that.


Its a .sav from an EZFlash 3 in 1, used with a CycloDSEvolution. Is that any help?

 

[Smartpal]

I never thought this topic would come alive again.

 

[mervyn797]

just keep the save in the same folder as the rom and rename it so that both have the same name but dont forget the extension

 

[bdragonomega]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but i'm also having a similar problem.

So, i'm playing summon night swordcraft story 1 on AKAIO 1.4.1 with EZFLASH 3in1 Expansion. There's a couple of scenes which I do not want to replay a couple of boss fights to view the scenes (basically, I want a use a savestate to view all the scenes). So I copied the .gba file along with the .sav file from the micro sd slot to my VBA folder. This way, i'm pretty sure the extention and name of all the files are correct.

Once I load up the game in vba, it states that the battery file was loaded at the bottom in red. But once I get to the load screen, all it says is "new game." Funny thing is that when I play the game on vba, it creates a 8kb .sav file. If I already had a .sav file there, it replaces it with a 8kb file. Whats so funny about it is that the .sav file that akaio creates is 128kb and not 8kb. So i was just wondering what the problem was or what i need to do.

I looked up the game and it uses EEPROM_V124 which uses 8kb saves? I dunno.

Oh yeah, I've used VBA 1.8.0 beta 2 and 1.7.2.

Thanks

[edit]
arrg, should have did this before but was a little bit too lazy haha. Anyway, I was reading up on save file types (without compression/encryption that some emulators might have... or not) and found out that the various sizes are related to the save types such as eeprom, sram, and flash. Well, I trimmed the rom I was playing (summon night SS1) and apparently the savefile for the game was corrupted or something. Its still kinda weird because emulators recognize the same .gba file and look for a eeprom save file, while my acekard 2 looks for the flash save file haha. Anyway, just gonna start over again. I wasn't too far into the game, just maybe 4-6 hours into it (although i was almost done ;_. I guess i'll keep a lookout from now on haha....grr...

 

[Vague Rant]

AKAIO sticks a 16-byte header on the front of GBA saves which VBA-M won't recognise. If you want to use saves from AKAIO, you'll have to use a hex editor to trim the first 16 bytes.

 

[bdragonomega]

Haha, thanks for the info. I'll keep that in mind next time I want to move my saves from AKAIO and VBA. But yeah, that didn't help my .sav file, I think i deleted the first 16 bytes which was just AKGB, a 02 in the middle, and then a bunch of zeros. When I set VBA to automatically detect the save type, it'll still just overwrite my 128kb save file with a fresh 8kb one. If i set it to read 128kb flash save file, it'll detect it but it can't read the saves and I can't save either. I've tried using the online converter and converting it to a 8kb file but still no go.

Haha, I've given up all hope for it xD. I'm heading to las vegas later this week (right before finals...) which is like a 7-9 hour drive from where i live. Since I don't have to drive the whole way(playing the ds while driving is a no no haha... ^^), I'm going to catch up in the game during the time i'm relaxing in the back seat.

[edit] whoa haha actually it did kinda worked ^^. So, I decided to look at the .sav file that VBA created for summon night and compare it to the .sav files i had. Like you said, the first 16 bytes were not in the VBA one. The other thing was, of course, the size, so i trimmed my save file (which was apparently just padded to 128kb) to look like the VBA one. Guess it was just the size of the file haha.

Thanks again

 

[pharohzeke]

I keep having trouble opening these files, is there anyone that can assist me, it won't load on PkHex at all