Hacking Dumping game ROM as backup purposes for a novice

[Voltshock R]

Hi. I was wishing to ask about where to start learning how to backup my games.
I know this thread has probably been covered in many different forms over time, but my question is mostly where to start reading up to learn (like keywords; there are a lot of forums on here)? It seems the methods vary based off the system's age and media (disc vs cart) from what I have read.

I was kind of wanting to start with GBA files. I found this thread: https://gbatemp.net/threads/legal-way-to-extract-gba-roms-from-carts.363718/

Also, in terms of file size, I figure it probably stays relatively managable until after the PS2 era? Can dumped ROMs be placed on a disc or memory card at a later point and be played on altered hardware? Or is it once copied onto computer, you can only play on computers?

 

[Quantumcat]

Hi. I was wishing to ask about where to start learning how to backup my games.
I know this thread has probably been covered in many different forms over time, but my question is mostly where to start reading up to learn (like keywords; there are a lot of forums on here)? It seems the methods vary based off the system's age and media (disc vs cart) from what I have read.

I was kind of wanting to start with GBA files. I found this thread: https://gbatemp.net/threads/legal-way-to-extract-gba-roms-from-carts.363718/

Also, in terms of file size, I figure it probably stays relatively managable until after the PS2 era? Can dumped ROMs be placed on a disc or memory card at a later point and be played on altered hardware? Or is it once copied onto computer, you can only play on computers?

You mention Playstation and GBA but you are on a3DS forum so I'll tell you how to dump 3DS games. Assuming you have a 3DS console with 9.2 firmware or less, search fit the homebrew launcher on Google and put boot.3dsx on your sd card and have a folder called 3ds on the root. Get the latest gateway files from their website and place launcher.dat on your SD card and Gateway.3dsx in the 3ds folder. Launch homebrew through whatever method and launch gateway.3dsx. Put your 3ds cartridge in your console and scroll to the right on the menu until you get to dump game cartridge. Choose that and wait. Afterwards you'll have a . 3ds file on your sd card. Congrats, that's a 3ds game dump.