Corrupted Cartridge Fixer Release

[LusoPlayer]

Try to run the tool while holding Y, and post the logs from /gm9/out.

Sorry, I've never done that. I hold Y while veryfing the cartridge?

 

[skawo]

Hold Y while selecting the "Fix corruption" option. That turns on logging.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Nin should've provided us with such a useful tool at least, after flooding the market with such lousy game carts.

Going for theoretically rewritable storage instead of MASK-ROM wasn't the smartest idea. Probably two things:

• Cheaper
• Can be individualized instead of 100% identical copies ("private header") → DRM garbage is more important nowadays than longevity.
  • Is there a way to achieve something like this with real ROM?

The overwhelmingly vast majority of cartridges have no problems.

Yet? 3DS is not what I would call old and already has a significant amount of problematic game carts. Yes, anything out of production and older than 3 days [sic!] is considered to be outdated, ancient junk nowadays. But comparing 3DS to previous carts is disillusioning.
There are a few GB games, sometimes heavily used with breaking solder connections on the ROM chip. A reflow usually solves it. Other than that the old games with real ROM chips show virtually no wear after three decades and more.

Look at the following GB game. It was corroded on the contacts and certainly abused looking at the plastic part. Still working perfectly (without reflow, just cleaned the outer contacts)

Spoiler

Playing the game for a a few hours definitely would wear the cart out more than running the tool. Of course, I still wouldn't do it "frequently" or anything - but I think if you have a 3DS collection, running it through the tool once a couple of years is a good idea.

Good to know. Will probably run the checking function on my games.

 

[LusoPlayer]

Hold Y while selecting the "Fix corruption" option. That turns on logging.

I got it. Here's the log:

CORRUPTION FIX LOG ON C:/0004000000055E00_v00.3ds
Unfixable: 3b030000
Unfixable: 3b031000
Unfixable: 3b033000
Unfixable: 3b034000
Unfixable: 3b035000
Unfixable: 3b036000
Unfixable: 3b037000
Unfixable: 3b038000
Unfixable: 3b03c000
Unfixable: 3b03d000
Unfixable: 3b03e000
Unfixable: 3b03f000
Unfixable: 3b040000
Unfixable: 3b042000
Unfixable: 3b043000
Unfixable: 3b044000
Unfixable: 3b045000
Unfixable: 3b046000
Unfixable: 3b047000
Unfixable: 3b04b000
Unfixable: 3b04c000

 

[skawo]

"Unfixable" chunks are ones where the hash gets stuck on the same value more than 20 consecutive times.
One last thing you COULD try would be running the corruption fixer while holding SELECT - 'ts gonna spam the cartridge with refresh requests, and those could maybe budge.

If not, I guess there's hoping these chunks are not in some important file.

 

[LusoPlayer]

"Unfixable" chunks are ones where the hash gets stuck on the same value more than 20 consecutive times.
One last thing you COULD try would be running the corruption fixer while holding SELECT - 'ts gonna spam the cartridge with refresh requests, and those could maybe budge.

I did that, and not only it did not fix any of them, but I got one more Unfixable block:

CORRUPTION FIX LOG ON C:/0004000000055E00_v00.3ds
Unfixable: 3b030000
Unfixable: 3b031000
Unfixable: 3b033000
Unfixable: 3b034000
Unfixable: 3b035000
Unfixable: 3b036000
Unfixable: 3b037000
Unfixable: 3b038000
Unfixable: 3b03c000
Unfixable: 3b03d000
Unfixable: 3b03e000
Unfixable: 3b03f000
Unfixable: 3b040000
Unfixable: 3b042000
Unfixable: 3b043000
Unfixable: 3b044000
Unfixable: 3b045000
Unfixable: 3b046000
Unfixable: 3b047000
Unfixable: 3b049000
Unfixable: 3b04b000
Unfixable: 3b04c000

Now I'm not sure if I should try one more time or just leave it the way it is...

Thanks for the help nonetheless.

 

[skawo]

Probably best to leave it be, then.

 

[Frostflame]

Hi, I'm wondering if this program would be able to fix my Smash Bros cartridge, which is detected by GM9 when it's inserted, and is also detected by Checkpoint when I tried to back up my Smash Bros save, but doesn't show on the 3DS home menu. Checkpoint displays the cartridge with a solid black icon, while GM9 correctly detects the Smash Bros icon but displays the game title as "Supe??????????????" or something similar. I tried dumping the game once and it had the same solid black icon and could not boot. I just want to export the save from my cartridge to the digital file I have, so if there's a way to do that without needing to fix the whole game that would also be nice.

 

[MCPOBR44]

The overwhelmingly vast majority of cartridges have no problems. You can hardly say they "flooded the market".

And besides, doesn't this tool have the potential to wear out a cartridge faster if one uses it too frequently?

And a lot of the cartridges that DID get damaged wasn't because the cartridge was defective. It was because of players who wanted to cheat, so they used 3rd party piracy hardware that ran the risk of causing corruption.

 

[Kwyjor]

And a lot of the cartridges that DID get damaged wasn't because the cartridge was defective. It was because of players who wanted to cheat, so they used 3rd party piracy hardware that ran the risk of causing corruption.

That strikes me as quite unlikely. I don't think "3rd party piracy hardware" was ever very popular. What hardware are you thinking of, anyway? The Powersaves?

 

[ghjfdtg]

The only one that comes to mind is Powersaves which did brick a few games but it definitely was not a piracy device. It was just for savegame manipulation.

 

[skawo]

Hi, I'm wondering if this program would be able to fix my Smash Bros cartridge, which is detected by GM9 when it's inserted, and is also detected by Checkpoint when I tried to back up my Smash Bros save, but doesn't show on the 3DS home menu. Checkpoint displays the cartridge with a solid black icon, while GM9 correctly detects the Smash Bros icon but displays the game title as "Supe??????????????" or something similar. I tried dumping the game once and it had the same solid black icon and could not boot. I just want to export the save from my cartridge to the digital file I have, so if there's a way to do that without needing to fix the whole game that would also be nice.

If checkpoint can't access the save, then there's probably no way to - the save is stored on a separate chip from the game itself, which the corruption fixer doesn't touch.

 

[MCPOBR44]

That strikes me as quite unlikely. I don't think "3rd party piracy hardware" was ever very popular. What hardware are you thinking of, anyway? The Powersaves?

Yep that's the one. Perhaps pirating wasn't the correct word (wrote that while tired). I meant to say 3rd party cheating hardware.

The powersave thing is meant to edit save files. Well it doesn't take much searching online to find the countless "powersave bricked my game" comments. Also, every single 3ds game I've ever had problems with (save for one), had obviously hacked saves in it. And I've been buying a lot of 3ds games lately on the used market.

I am 100% convinced that this device is responsible for the majority of broken 3ds games. I put the powersave in the same category as the gamesharks and action replays of yesteryear, which coincidentally ALSO messed up the games.

The rest of the failures can be accounted for by the fact that the devices have exceeded the industry standard lifespan of 3-5 years.

 

[Kwyjor]

If checkpoint can't access the save, then there's probably no way to - the save is stored on a separate chip from the game itself, which the corruption fixer doesn't touch.

Doesn't Checkpoint still have to access other data on the cartridge before it can access the save data?

I suppose the best way to be sure would be to try to dump the save data directly using Godmode9 – but of course, unlike Checkpoint, save data dumped with Godmode9 is not decrypted, so that would be largely useless except as a test.

Regardless, does M. Frostflame have anything to lose at this point?

Well it doesn't take much searching online to find the countless "powersave bricked my game" comments.

This is the first time I'm hearing about it. My understanding is that it is largely useless since homebrew became readily available.

I am 100% convinced that this device is responsible for the majority of broken 3ds games.

As has been noted, Pokemon ORAS, Persona Q, and Smash Bros. seem to be far more likely to fail than other cartridges. My failing Smash Bros cart certainly never got anywhere near a Powersaves. (I suppose one could say that people would be more likely to use a Powersaves with Pokemon ORAS compared to other games, but then you'd expect to be seeing a lot of failing Pokemon XY/SM/USUM carts as well.)

 

[skawo]

Regardless, does M. Frostflame have anything to lose at this point?

Oh, absolutely not, I'd go for it regardless

 

[MCPOBR44]

Doesn't Checkpoint still have to access other data on the cartridge before it can access the save data?

I suppose the best way to be sure would be to try to dump the save data directly using Godmode9 – but of course, unlike Checkpoint, save data dumped with Godmode9 is not decrypted, so that would be largely useless except as a test.

Regardless, does M. Frostflame have anything to lose at this point?

This is the first time I'm hearing about it. My understanding is that it is largely useless since homebrew became readily available.

As has been noted, Pokemon ORAS, Persona Q, and Smash Bros. seem to be far more likely to fail than other cartridges. My failing Smash Bros cart certainly never got anywhere near a Powersaves. (I suppose one could say that people would be more likely to use a Powersaves with Pokemon ORAS compared to other games, but then you'd expect to be seeing a lot of failing Pokemon XY/SM/USUM carts as well.)

Funny you should mention Checkpoint. I have a copy of omega ruby that is pretty much dead. It recognizes the game, but it refuses to load. The fixer doesn't progress at all.

I used the nintendo save data transfer tool to transfer the save from the dead cartridge to a digital copy of the game. From there I was free to Checkpoint the save out as needed. The save file on the dead cartridge had survived, even when the game itself had not. Turns out the game had some very legitimate looking legendaries on there.

Now you mentioned but then you'd expect to be seeing a lot of failing pokemon games besides omega ruby or alpha sapphire. To date, I have had to fix corruption on one copy of pokemon Y, one copy of sun, and one copy of moon. All of which had hacked saves. This is why I believe that darned aftermarket save editor (which was very popular for a long time) caused all these dead games.

Sorry to hear your smash brothers is failing.

 

[ghjfdtg]

Unlikely it solves your issues but worth a shot. I have seen at least one user fix a game by just cleaning the contacts. I have no idea how it can even be read at all with dirty contacts but it's worth a shot. Preferably use 99% isopropyl alcohol for cleaning or 91% if you can't get your hands on 99%.

 

[Frostflame]

Fun update: I was able to find the fully intact save files through FBI! Worked perfectly and now they're on a digital version of the game.

 

[Kwyjor]

FBI can copy and decrypt save data? (And can work when Checkpoint does not?) I was not aware of that.

 

[TheFish]

Hey, big thanks to skawo. I have a copy of Monster Hunter Generations that would stack dump on launch. I ran the fixer and got the game to start, but it failed to validate. So, I kept running the program repeatedly and noticed that each time the log file would get slightly smaller. After running the program over 40 times (only using the select button switch about 5 times), the game actually validated.