Misc Help repacking using dslazy

[YoungsterJ4y]

I really feel like I'm going insane, I cannot find any step-by-step on this online which makes me think it should be easy- but I'm struggling a lot.

I unpacked a .nds file (kuroshitsuji: phantom&ghost) in order to get specific files out. It unpacked perfectly fine, I was able to use ButlerTrans (account too new to link to the original thread on it) to get the necessary file types. When it comes to repacking, I am absolutely clueless. I open up dslazy, I select the .nds file (only the original one; I didn't get a new .nds file or anything like that- the unpacked version is, obviously, unpacked in multiple folders.), and hit the pack button.

It makes no changes to the file. I'm obviously doing something wrong. If anybody could explain how to repack the files I have in a way that's idiot-proof, that'd be very appreciated. I'm super new to this and have never done anything with any of these sorts of programs before; I messed around a bit in Tinke to get the gist of what to do, but needed to unpack/repack this specific game due to the weird file types it uses.

If you need any more information, please just ask. I'm not sure how well I explained this.

 

[Takokeshi]

You're supposed to select the folder that contains your extracted files, no? not the original ds file

Also, any chance dsbuff could be the better tool for the job?

 

[YoungsterJ4y]

You're supposed to select the folder that contains your extracted files, no? not the original ds file

Also, any chance dsbuff could be the better tool for the job?

That's what I thought as well! The program won't let me select an entire folder, though, which is why I thought maybe I had done something wrong haha. I'll try out dsbuff, thank you for the recommendation:')

edit: upon downloading dsbuff, I have the same issue. Maybe I'm missing a button or something, but hitting 'browse' only allows me to select .nds files, not folders. The documentation on the romhacking.net page for dsbuff as well as the readme both just say what the 'pack' button DOES, but not how to get it to work. Is there something I'm missing?

 

[Takokeshi]

I've never really used dslazy, so I can't really judge whether you're doing something wrong or not. With dsbuff though I know you can extract to a folder and then there's a separate button for repacking the contents of the extracted folder.

 

[YoungsterJ4y]

I've never really used dslazy, so I can't really judge whether you're doing something wrong or not. With dsbuff though I know you can extract to a folder and then there's a separate button for repacking the contents of the extracted folder.

Could you point me to which button that is? I can't seem to select anything aside from .nds files ^^'

 

[Takokeshi]

Browse for your rom at the top. Box with a red icon on it at the bottom to unpack, you select the directory you want to unpack to. The box with the green icon next to it is to repack from an extracted folder, you click on that and then you browse for the directory that contains your extracted contents. You will be prompted to select a file name for the repacked rom afterwards.

 

[YoungsterJ4y]

Browse for your rom at the top. Box with a red icon on it at the bottom to unpack, you select the directory you want to unpack to. The box with the green icon next to it is to repack from an extracted folder, you click on that and then you browse for the directory that contains your extracted contents. You will be prompted to select a file name for the repacked rom afterwards.

Hey, sorry for the late response. When I click the green icon to repack and then go to browse, I can only select .NDS files still. I'm thinking maybe there's an issue with the app itself on my end, because when I hit the button it looks like something is cut off.

Do I have to unpack with dsbuff to get it to repack with dsbuff? Because when I unpack, it gets stuck on this screen:

Nothing unpacks, and no changes are made to the file.

 

[Takokeshi]

Well, that's no good. The window is supposed to expand at the bottom with a new option to select a path for unpacking + selecting which parts you want to extract, and for repacking it's supposed to let you browse for unpacked folder.

This is relatively old software (it needs .net 3.5), is this Windows 11? It's possible it might not be working correctly there... :/

 

[YoungsterJ4y]

Well, that's no good. The window is supposed to expand at the bottom with a new option to select a path for unpacking + selecting which parts you want to extract, and for repacking it's supposed to let you browse for unpacked folder.

This is relatively old software (it needs .net 3.5), is this Windows 11? It's possible it might not be working correctly there... :/

Oh thank god haha it's good to know something is wrong and it's not just me. I'm running win10, and I just checked via cmd prompt and it looks like I have .net 3.5 installed (though I don't know enough about that framework to know if that's enough; do I have to disable 4.0 somehow?). I wonder if this is why dslazy wasn't working, too. Are you on win10?

edit: for what its worth, I attempted to run it in compatibility mode, but that did nothing.

 

[Takokeshi]

You wouldn't need to disable .net 4.x, they are separate runtimes that coexist (I don't think you can disable 4.x anyway.)

And yes, Windows 10 21H2. If you didn't have .net 3.5 installed it would have prompted you to install it when running dsbuff.

I would be tempted to suspect dpi scaling being responsible for application windows breaking like this, especially for old software. Otherwise I have no idea, sorry.

 

[YoungsterJ4y]

You wouldn't need to disable .net 4.x, they are separate runtimes that coexist (I don't think you can disable 4.x anyway.)

And yes, Windows 10 21H2. If you didn't have .net 3.5 installed it would have prompted you to install it when running dsbuff.

I would be tempted to suspect dpi scaling being responsible for application windows breaking like this, especially for old software. Otherwise I have no idea, sorry.

Hm, I'll mess around with that then. Compatibility troubleshooting did something with the dpi scaling, but maybe I'll see if I can mess with it manually. Thanks for trying to help, though, I appreciate it!

 

[Takokeshi]

Well, either way it works on my end. What files are you editing, and how? If I can get or make the modified files for what you need, I could make an xdelta or something.

 

[YoungsterJ4y]

Well, either way it works on my end. What files are you editing, and how? If I can get or make the modified files for what you need, I could make an xdelta or something.

I unpacked the japanese ROM for kuroshitsuji: phantom&ghost, and used a program called ButlerTrans to convert its weird file types to something more usable. I'm trying to repack it now because crystaltile2 wont read the individual files properly without the .nds to start from.

Currently trying to upload a mediafire folder of all the files, but it is going to take a while. Thank you so much for offering:')

 

[Takokeshi]

ok, well that would be worth a try I suppose.

(Also, no, don't post stuff like that here.)

 

[YoungsterJ4y]

ok, well that would be worth a try I suppose.

(Also, no, don't post stuff like that here.)

oh my bad thanks for catching me, appreciate it.

 

[Takokeshi]

Actually I just realized, I can't really just post an xdelta like that either, because a patch like this would necessarily contain the full data for said game assets. Maybe better to try and figure out why dsbuff is broken on your end, and perhaps manage to fix it and get it working somehow?

Should look like this btw:

Spoiler

(Also for me dslazy just takes the contents of NDS_UNPACK folder, and prompts me to choose a new file name to save the edited rom, when I click "nds packer".)

 

[YoungsterJ4y]

Actually I just realized, I can't really just post an xdelta like that either, because a patch like this would necessarily contain the full data for said game assets. Maybe better to try and figure out why dsbuff is broken on your end, and perhaps manage to fix it and get it working somehow?

Should look like this btw:

Spoiler

View attachment 305148
View attachment 305149

I've been messing around with dpi scaling and compatibility modes to no avail, I'm really not sure what could be wrong here. Googling it in more vague terms ('older applications cut off in win10/net 3.5 programs not working win10/etc etc') gets me nothing, either. I'll try running it with another graphics driver (my laptop has 2, sometimes causes issues), but if not I'll try on a desktop tomorrow.

 

[Takokeshi]

If you can run a simple VM you might be able to get things working in there, if anything.

 

[YoungsterJ4y]

If you can run a simple VM you might be able to get things working in there, if anything.

oh, thats a good point, I didn't think of that. I guess I can try a vista VM because that's what compatibility mode keeps throwing at me? I'll let you know if that works, after I try the different graphics driver.