Hacking G6 Saving Question

[Kodakai]

Firstly i'd like to say that the FAQ at the top of this forum is excellent, by far the best documentation i've found for the G6.

I am however still having some problems which i think may be better answered if i understood what was going on under the hood.

I can't seem to restore my saved games to the G6 and i think if i understood how it all worked i may be able to make sense of why.

Firstly i'll let you know what i'm doing.

I switch on the DS and selct the game i want to backup
I press select and choose SRAM --> Default - It then says 'Backup OK'
I then put the cart onto the USB, plug into the PC and run the U-Disk manager
I then copy the .0 save file onto my hard disc

In order to restore it later i do the following

Install the game
Right click on the .0 save file and select 'Write'
Point it at the file and it the says 'Write OK'

Then when i restart my DS and select the game it has no save data.

So is it my process that's wrong?

Where is the save data being stored? What are the .1 and .2 files for, should i be backing them up?

Why do i need to copy from SRAM? And what is SRAM?

I'm just not really clear on why i'm doing what i'm doing, what's important and what isn't.

If anyone out there knows i'd really appreciate the insight.

Thanks

 

[Destructobot]

To back up saves:
1) Put the G6 in the DS, turn it on, let it process data, turn it off. Do not start a game. Do not press select and mess with the saves.
2) Connect the G6 to the PC.
3) Using Windows Explorer or My Computer, copy the .0 files for the games you want to back up to your hard disk.

To restore saves:
1) Put the G6 in the DS, turn it on, let it process data, turn it off. Do not start a game. Do not press select and mess with the saves.
2) Connect the G6 to the PC.
3) Put the rom(s) you want to use on the G6 using the U-disk manager.
4) Using Windows Explorer or My Computer, copy the .0 files for the games you want to restore to the appropriate folder on the G6. (\NDS for DS games, \GBA for GBA games)

Make sure the file names for a game and it's save are exactly the same, except for the extension.

The U-disk manager probably works fine for moving the save files, I just always found it easier to use windows explorer.


SRAM is where save data is stored temporarily while playing a game. When you start a game the G6 copies the save from the .0 file to SRAM, then later when you go into the G6 menu and it says "processing data - please wait" (or something to that effect) it's copying the save data from the SRAM to the .0 file for the game you played last.

You should not have to press select and choose 'SRAM --> Default' to back up your save, and you may actually corrupt or delete the save in the .0 file by doing this when you don't need to. (you might replace the save with blank data, or write the save from a different game to the file)

The .1 and .2 files are extra save files in case you want to have more than one for a game. You can access these by highlighting the game in the G6 menu and pressing select. Default is the .0 file BTW The .is0, .is1 and .is2 files are real time saves for GBA games.

The .1, .2, .is0, .is1 and .is2 files can be deleted to save space if you aren't using them.

 

[Kodakai]

Thanks for your reply.

What does putting the G6 into the DS and turning it on do? Should i be doing this after deleting a game, but before i put it back onto the G6?

At present in order to test i'm deleting a game, then loading a fresh copy on, updating the save, putting it into the DS and booting. This is still not working though.

I did manage to get it working once last night but wasn't sure how i did it. Not had any luck since.

Does putting the G6 into the DS load the saves into the ROM?

Thanks for your help with this, sorry if i'm being a bit dumb.

 

[Kodakai]

I've finally got it working, after a lot of trial and error. Thanks for your help, i'm sure you get this a lot