Hacking Cannot get my M3 Lite to save GBA games

[Hammyface]

Hey guys! I followed all the directions. I am using a 1 gig MicroSD card (Kingston) and used the most updated software. I AM ONLY using the M3 Lite for GBA, not for DS games. Anyway, I left the options as default in the newest m3 game software, and wrote the games to my microSD card. All the games show up and PLAY fine, but none of them save. I have .DAT files for each and every game. Every time I start one of the Super Mario Advance games I get a warning about how my save is corrupt, for example.

I am assuming I am doing something wrong. If someone could help I'd appreciate it much!

 

[tama_mog]

Did you move any files around? Also, if you're using it for just GBA, stick with FAT32. Make sure auto-save is enabled.....make sure the m3 is making good contact to the gba slot.....try changing sd media, a lot of things you can try.

 

[Hammyface]

Did you move any files around? Also, if you're using it for just GBA, stick with FAT32. Make sure auto-save is enabled.....make sure the m3 is making good contact to the gba slot.....try changing sd media, a lot of things you can try.

Okay, I never had auto save on, I put it on. So I save my game normally, restart my DS, and I get this error:

Warning! NDS Save game already exists on this card, but 'NDSSAVE' directory cannot be found. Backup failed.

Why would the backup fail? This is a GBA game being played in GBA mode. Why the hell is it looking for an NDSSAVE folder anyway?

 

[Takrin]

does this to me all the time, when i try to load GBA game from M3 lite NDS menu it freezes then warns me that backup failed on next reboot, just load a NDS game with a dat file to fix this and avoid running gba games M3 NDS menu.

another quick thing to do is get the GBAswitch.nds
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=43361&hl=

that is if your using slot-1 for NDS games

 

[Hammyface]

does this to me all the time, when i try to load GBA game from M3 lite NDS menu it freezes then warns me that backup failed on next reboot, just load a NDS game with a dat file to fix this and avoid running gba games M3 NDS menu.

another quick thing to do is get the GBAswitch.nds
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=43361&hl=

that is if your using slot-1 for NDS games

I tried the gbaswitch thing you posted, and now instead every time I boot the M3 Lite I get:

Warning! NDS Save game already exists on this card, but autosave cannot be found. Backup failed.

This is so frustrating. Please someone help!

 

[tama_mog]

are you transferring you games via the game manager? Because it should create the directories automatically for you when you do and put the save files in the correct locations. Basically you need to create a backup .dat file for the m3 to flush the sram to to get rid of the message.

 

[Hammyface]

are you transferring you games via the game manager? Because it should create the directories automatically for you when you do and put the save files in the correct locations. Basically you need to create a backup .dat file for the m3 to flush the sram to to get rid of the message.

Yeah, I put my SD card in the reader, and have the m3 program write all the games to it. It creates a save folder on my card, each containing a 1mb size DAT file for each game. Is that what I was supposed to do? Sounds right to me??

 

[tama_mog]

Sounds right other than the 1mb size DAT file, no idea where you're getting a save file that large. Just make sure you point the manager properly to the root of your SD card and write the games. But you will need to create a .dat file (with the same name as the name of the game the sram is trying to flush to) to let the memory save properly without getting that message. Afterwards just make sure the games are transferred correctly.

 

[Hammyface]

Sounds right other than the 1mb size DAT file, no idea where you're getting a save file that large. Just make sure you point the manager properly to the root of your SD card and write the games. But you will need to create a .dat file (with the same name as the name of the game the sram is trying to flush to) to let the memory save properly without getting that message. Afterwards just make sure the games are transferred correctly.

The M3 program automatically names the DAT files exactly the same as the roms, so why would I have to "create a dat file with the same name of the game" ? Isn't this all done automatically?

 

[tama_mog]

you're right it does, but according to your error it's not finding the file so either the file has been removed before the sram was flushed or you changed the location/name of files.

 

[Hammyface]

you're right it does, but according to your error it's not finding the file so either the file has been removed before the sram was flushed or you changed the location/name of files.

I pretty much gave you my process. I am not moving or renaming anything.

I open the M3 game manager
Tell it I'm using SD
Choose the root of the microSD card on the left
Click Write GBA
Choose the roms I want
Check "same method for all"
Leave it on "Hardware support 1"
Click OK
Wait
Try to use product, fails miserably

If I am doing something wrong in this process, please let me know. I am renaming and moving nothing. All the games giving me problems have DAT files in the GAMESAVE directory. Each are 1mb in size.

 

[tama_mog]

hard to say, but the 1 meg save file sounds big.....I've only ran a couple games using the m3 lite before in GBA mode like Gyakuten Saiban 3 and some other misc games.....but I don't recall save files being so large. But it sounds like you're following the right steps....you can try changing patching modes but I don't see that changing the fact it doesn't find the save file to save back onto. I would say after you start a gba game, just soft reset back into the gba menu so it looks for the save in the gamesave folder instead of ndssave.

 

[Hammyface]

Can anyone else help please? I can't be the only one with this problem.

 

[tama_mog]

Have you tried using different formats for the media (fat vs fat32)? Also when using GBA games try starting the game with the start button. Only run gba games in gba mode and DS games in DS mode. And is this a m3 lite professional or a m3 lite perfect?

 

[Hammyface]

I've tried 3 different microSD cards and fat and fat32. I give up. Thanks anyway.

 

[Hammyface]

Just wanted to post I fixed this problem. I loaded a NDS game, saved it, rebooted, now everything is just fine.