ROM Hack Question Extract save from NAND backup

[redmagejosh]

Hi guys, I did some search on the forum about this but all I could find was related to 3ds.
I was wondering... If I make a NAND backup of a switch that I'm using legit, no custom firmware or anything and wanted to pull the my save from Zelda from that backup to inject it into the Switch I'm running CFW on would it be possible?
I'm looking at the possibility of not having to run CFW or homebrew on my stock switch, only hekate to get the NAND backup.

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

 

[Stellar]

It is possible, yes.

Take a look at rajkosto's old guide that details the long method of updating firmware without burning fuses. In it, you will find some steps that explain how to mount your Switch's NAND as mass storage on your computer. Mount your USER partition and you will find your savegames there, only problem is you need to figure out which one is Zelda (they wont be labeled). Best way to do it is to backup your CFW Switch's zelda save and look at its size. You want to look for one of equal (or very similar) size inside your nand backup's USER partition. Once you know which is which, mount your CFW Switch's USER partition using the method in the guide and replace the file present that corresponds to the size you expect. Note that filenames WILL NOT MATCH, you are looking to rename your backup to whatever the target file is called, and the primary means of identifying it is size.

Rajkosto helped me restore my Xenoblade save this way. It works.

 

[Stone-D]

How does Checkpoint identify which is which?

 

[Stone-D]

Do any tools exist for unpacking/repacking those save files?

 

[redmagejosh]

It is possible, yes.

Take a look at rajkosto's old guide that details the long method of updating firmware without burning fuses. In it, you will find some steps that explain how to mount your Switch's NAND as mass storage on your computer. Mount your USER partition and you will find your savegames there, only problem is you need to figure out which one is Zelda (they wont be labeled). Best way to do it is to backup your CFW Switch's zelda save and look at its size. You want to look for one of equal (or very similar) size inside your nand backup's USER partition. Once you know which is which, mount your CFW Switch's USER partition using the method in the guide and replace the file present that corresponds to the size you expect. Note that filenames WILL NOT MATCH, you are looking to rename your backup to whatever the target file is called, and the primary means of identifying it is size.

Rajkosto helped me restore my Xenoblade save this way. It works.

Awesome! I'll try that!

 

[jocover]

I made a tool.

1.mount user data from nand
2.copy all files from save directory to tool/save directory
3.run.bat
4.you can find gamesave in the out directory

 

[jocover]

repeated

 

[Imouto]

How would you go about repacking/encrypting the save file after you unpack it using the tool Jocover made?

 

[JJTapia19]

I made a tool.

1.mount user data from nand
2.copy all files from save directory to tool/save directory
3.run.bat
4.you can find gamesave in the out directory

This with a save inject option would be a great alternative to manage saves without dealing with horizons telemetry. Hope you can add an inject option of possible.

 

[JJTapia19]

I made a tool.

1.mount user data from nand
2.copy all files from save directory to tool/save directory
3.run.bat
4.you can find gamesave in the out directory

This just save many hours of gameplay I thought I couldn't get back from a partially corrupted nand backup. I think the user partition is intact . Thank you a lot for that. There are some games that it could not extract the save from. I guess it needs newer keys or something? I tried to add the keys to your tool without success. Still it helped a lot! Thanks again!

 

[redmagejosh]

I made a tool.

1.mount user data from nand
2.copy all files from save directory to tool/save directory
3.run.bat
4.you can find gamesave in the out directory

So if I use this tool, would I be able to later inject those saves to the nand of a different switch? I'm saying this cause I have the nand backup of a broken switch and should be getting a new one by friday.

 

[zatixiz]

So if I use this tool, would I be able to later inject those saves to the nand of a different switch? I'm saying this cause I have the nand backup of a broken switch and should be getting a new one by friday.

I just used his tool to restore some saves from an old NAND backup I have.
What I did was

1. Start the games I wanted to restore and let the games create a new save
2. Use checkpoint to extract those new save games to the SD card (If you have multiple saves this will help you identify which is which)
3. Extract saves from old NAND with his tool
4. Replace the content of the extracted saves on the SD card with the extracted content from the tool.
5. Restore save in checkpoint

@jocover Would you mind uploading the source for this to GitHub? I though at first all you did was create the bat file
but I tried running that with hactool myself and from my understanding hactool doesn’t support the save input file option?[/QUOTE]

 

[hippy dave]

@jocover Would you mind uploading the source for this to GitHub? I though at first all you did was create the bat file
but I tried running that with hactool myself and from my understanding hactool doesn’t support the save input file option?

It's not hactool, it's hactoolnet, from here.

I missed this tool, nice work.

 

[zatixiz]

It's not hactool, it's hactoolnet, from here.

I missed this tool, nice work.

Oooh I completely missed that! Thanks, that makes it even better as I’ve got far more experience in C#/.NET.

I’ve wanted to improve my C++ skills for a long time so might try to create a version of hactool that supports saves

Trying to create my own portfolio of tools haha

 

[Clydefrosch]

I made a tool.

1.mount user data from nand
2.copy all files from save directory to tool/save directory
3.run.bat
4.you can find gamesave in the out directory

could you walk me through this a bit more clearly?
I have a rawnand.bin of my clean, intended for online use switch that I'm trying to take a savefile from to inject it into another switch later.
how do i mount user data from nand? starting the exe, i only see cmd flash for a second before closing again.

or does this only work when accessing the switch directly?

 

[Lucky16]

I made a tool.

1.mount user data from nand
2.copy all files from save directory to tool/save directory
3.run.bat
4.you can find gamesave in the out directory

You're a lifesaver. Thank you so much!!!

 

[djrbx]

Does anyone know of a method to reinject the saves without having to use CFW/Checkpoint?

Grabbing the saves without CFW is doable via HacDiskMount, unfortunately no one has mentioned any method in reimporting the saves without the use of CFW/Checkpoint. I wonder if this is possible with current available tools.

 

[adev]

Does anyone know of a method to reinject the saves without having to use CFW/Checkpoint?

Grabbing the saves without CFW is doable via HacDiskMount, unfortunately no one has mentioned any method in reimporting the saves without the use of CFW/Checkpoint. I wonder if this is possible with current available tools.

I just posted how I got it to work here (gbatemp(DOT)net/threads/importing-saves-from-a-dead-switch-with-backup-nand.523551/#post-8445521). TLDR; I dumped my nand from a virgin switch using hekate, extracted the save files from the user partition using hacdiskmount, and used checkpoint on my dirty switch with a modified backup folder that I copied my save files to. No need to boot into CFW on the clean switch.

 

[N0R7H]

How can I reinject this in my stock Switch? I did the backup from my NAND, extracted the savefiles, edited the one I wanted, but I don't know how to put it again in one file to restore the NAND.

 

[bahek332]

Does this tool works with all game saves? I extracted save folder from nand backup, and then used this tool. And i can't find save files for Tales of Vesperia. I did backup with the checkpoint, and cant find same files anywhere.

 

[reinaldox_]

im having a lot of "header hash invalid" and there is no convertion. any help?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I made a tool.

1.mount user data from nand
2.copy all files from save directory to tool/save directory
3.run.bat
4.you can find gamesave in the out directory

New
im having a lot of "header hash invalid" and there is no convertion. any help?

 

[reinaldox_]

its giving me this message all the time