Hacking GBA games not saving anymore

[Joe88]

none of my gba games are saving anymore

games like wario land 4
I complete a level, its supposed to auto save
but it doesnt save

super mario advance
I completed a level and hit save and quit
turned it off and loaded it up again and it didnt save it

 

[WigWrm]

nm...
sounds like your using the ewin gba expansion.
don't own one to offer any advice sorry.
"previous post offered advice for m3 perfect"

 

[Joe88]

I using the m3 gba expansion...

 

[WigWrm]

Im pretty sure the ewin gba expansion and the m3 are almost identical...
check this link out http://www.dsdatabase.org/ewinexpansion.html

 

[Fun_Zephyr]

Have you tested if your RTS is working?

Also, did it stop working when you updated to 3.7e or has it been working on that version and has suddenly stopped?

 

[KooLDiMe]

i think this is mainly caused by corrupted save file, coz not every GBA games in my card have this issue. in my case, i guess DSOrganize is the culprit (or the latest firmware? im not sure):

These bugs have already been found, but no solution has been found for fixing them:
- Corruption after some file operations, mainly writes (possibly due to outdated gba_nds_fat)
- ...

to fix this, i just delete older save file, play the game and let it create a new one.. or replace it with backup save. you might want to rename your save files to *.sav and load them with VBA, just to make sure is it corrupted or not..

 

[Joe88]

well the save files load but they just wont save anymore
like wario land 4
I have 3 bosses beat, complete a level and its supposed to auto-save after you beat the level like is has been doing but it doesnt

my GBA saves are in this format

Wario Land 4.0
Wario Land 4.is0

is that the problem, it uses .sav now?

 

[WigWrm]

he meant for you to actually back up the saves on your pc
and to rename the file extension to .sav and to test
it with the visualboy advance emulator.

 

[Joe88]

okay I tried copying the .0 files and renaming it to .sav
nothing, still didnt save, tried the .is0, still same

I then reinstalled firmware 3.6 and it works now
I dont know where they started using .sav but it doesnt actually save anything on my cart
(the only 2 games I tried , mario advance and wario land 4 had a .sav file with them, no other games had it)

hmm seems they started doing it in 3.7d
anyway to keep latest firmware while being able for my GBA games to save?
(plz dont say RTS because some games dont work with it)

 

[Originality]

I noticed that if you patch the ROM with the loader, it actually saves directly onto the ROM itself (it didn't leave any sort of save file on the card. This made it problematic, transferring saves from M3 to VBA for me, because it worked one way, letting VBA load a save file when I quick-loaded (as a *.0 save was generated) but when I tried copying back, it didn't recognise the save and went straight back to the patched save inside the ROM.

Or maybe I did something wrong. It just irks me that I lost half a day's worth of solid playing in FF6.

 

[Joe88]

I wonder it you load the .0 file up, just let the firmware load it with the GBA file
complete a level and let it create a .sav file
then delete the .0 file

I wonder if it would use the .sav instead of reading the .0 file by default
because I think that is what its doing

 

[KooLDiMe]

okay I tried copying the .0 files and renaming it to .sav
nothing, still didnt save, tried the .is0, still same

I then reinstalled firmware 3.6 and it works now
I dont know where they started using .sav but it doesnt actually save anything on my cart
(the only 2 games I tried , mario advance and wario land 4 had a .sav file with them, no other games had it)

hmm seems they started doing it in 3.7d
that's odd.. im using 3.7e (E26) & it still used the same *.0 & *.is0. i even tried renaming *.0 to sav (when i had a similar problem with you), the game load it, then it created a new *.0

Joe88anyway to keep latest firmware while being able for my GBA games to save?
(plz dont say RTS because some games dont work with it)

here's couple things that you may want to try, but im not sure which one will really work:
1. load a game with older save --> use RTS --> turn off & backup save somewhere --> delete older save --> load up the game with RTS --> save it normally.. OR
2. rename *.0 to *.sav --> play the game --> save normally (a new *.0 will be generated) --> turn off & delete *.sav --> load up the game with new save

 

[Fun_Zephyr]

I am using 3.7e

I just started a fresh game of Wario Land 4. I had no existing Save files what so ever.

I played the entry passage level and the first boss. (I also did a RTS once I finsihed this). I turned the DS off and back on to check if my progress had been saved. After starting again it had nothing saved. I had to start again. The RTS worked.

The system automatically has created a .is0 and .sav file.

I deleted all saves created and started again I completed entry passage level and the 1st level of emerald. I went back to the main massage and then turned off and on. Loaded and my save game was there with first emerald level completed. I then reset again and started a new game from 2nd save space. I comlpeted the first ruby level walked to the main hall and then restarted and my save game was there.


Super Mario Advance - played first level pressed START and went save and quite after second level started. restarted DS and Game was successfully loaded.
Super Mario Advance - played first level, after second level started I turned off DS. Loaded SMA again and it had not saved (You have to press Start, Save and Quite or Start Save and Continue)

Yoshi's Univerrsal Gravitation - Auto Saves after level completes. After restarting save was there fine
Super Mario Advance 4 - Finished first Level - Went Save and Quite and then turned DS off / on loaded game and it had saved successfully.

All files created are is0 and sav.

I hope thsi information helps you with your two games mentioned.

I also have a previous backup of Castlevania and it was .0 and .is0 and I renamed the .0 to .sav and it loaded my save game fine and I was able to continue to save and reload.

I would also appreciate it if you could upload the save files somewhere so I could test - that would be really neat

 

[Joe88]

I might just have to scrap my wario land 4 .0 save

and RTS doesnt work on mine (Mode7)
it never boots with it on

Thanx for all the replies so far.
I will keep messing around with it

I will upload the wario land 4.0 save

 

[Fun_Zephyr]

Let me know when / where it has been uploaded.

Did you manage to try the save and quite in Super Mario Advance? And did it work?

Not sure why RTS does not allow the game to load (Wario Land 4). Hmmm, I assume you have the Method as PATCH and not FAST LOAD?

 

[Joe88]

yes I used patch
it just crashes as soon as it boots

 

[Perseid]

I had a problem getting my Rhythm Tengoku save to load(it wanted to start a new game) and here's what I did:

Copied the save games to the hard drive(a .0 and an .is0)
Started the game and let it create a new save.
Reset the DS.
Loaded a DS game(so it wouldn't re-copy the save from the slot 2 cart when I rebooted)
Copied the save from my hard drive to the card.
Copied the .0 and renamed the copy to .sav.

I can now load my save.

 

[Joe88]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/m5vjgc

there my wario land 4 save
doesnt save on v3.7e

 

[Fun_Zephyr]

As you know - I am using 3.7e.

1. I downloaded your saved game.
2. I turned my DS on and got to the M3 Menu
- I did this so anything that still needed to be transferred from the Expansion Pak would be done
3. I turned off the DS
4. I deleted my Wario Land 4.sav and Wario Land 4.is0
5. I renamed you Wario Land 4.0 to now be Wario Land 4.sav
- I did nothing with the Watio land 4.is0
6. I copied the .is0 and .sav files to where Wario Land 4.gba was saved
7. I turned on the DS and loaded Wario Land 4
Cheat Switch - Off
RTSave Switch - Enabled
Method - Patch
8. The game loaded successfully and I started playing your save
9. I completed the 1st ruby Stage.
10. Once animations were finished and I was standing in Ruby hall ove teh "Toxic Landfill" Stage I turned teh DS off
11. Started the DS and loaded Wario Land 4
12. I started in the Ruby Hall standing over the "Toxic lanfill" door with level 1 Ruby completed

I then turned the DS off to look at the files on the DS. a Wario Land 4.is0 got automatically created. My is0 and sav file had the same time and date stamp. I also noticed that the tiem and date stamp on my Wario Land 4.gba file had been updated.

The same process works if you delete your existing .is0 file and simply rename the .0 to .sav.

End result is:

The save is working with your save file on my DS with 3.7e. Once you finished the level ensure you are back in the hall waiting to go into the next level before resting.
Also, I would recommend the steps I completed above.
After copying the .sav file and turning on the DS it should turn on the M3 should load without saying "Processing data - Keep Power On...." If it says this when you turn it on (just for this case) I would turn it off and check to see if you still only have a .sav file.

Lastly - maybe there is an issue with your ROM itself? if your game is crashing when it boots either it has to do with a corrupion on your memory card OR you may have a corruption of some sort in your ROM.

Hope that helps.

 

[Joe88]

thanx

it works now

I deleted every .0 and .is0 file in my GBA folder
I only kept the wario land one and renamed it to .sav and it saves now