Hacking How can I transfer my GBA Exploder saved file to PC?

[sketchstudios]

Hey All,

I did a search in the forums but came up with nothing that was specific to my question so if there's another thread out there that I missed I apologize & please direct me to that thread.

I have a R4 cart for my DS and I am a very happy camper since MOTHER 3 English patch came out. I patched the file and placed it in my microSD card and popped that in my R4. I've been playing it happily for the past few weeks using the GBA ExpLoader [New3in1] v0.53 to run it.

My question is, how can I get my saved game from my DS to my desktop?

I mean, I looked on the R4 cart under the folders and copied the saved game files but they dont seem to work. Does GBA ExpLoader save it as a different format or something? I would really like to continue playing the rest of MOTHER 3 on my 42'' flat screen TV in the living room but fail to see how I can transfer the saved game.

I havent really done any tinkering within GBA ExpLoader either since Im deathly afraid of losing my game save. So if anyone could help me out I would be GREATLY appreciative. Thanks in advance..


-Xander

 

[Porkdish]

Based on size of Mother 3 (32mb) I'm going to assume its running in NOR flash mode on your 3 in 1, (I am currently downloading/patching the rom myself to double check),

When playing a game in NOR flash, you can start it right from NDS boot up, or from the front 3 icon screen in the R4, its rare to actually go back into Exploader to load it via the menu.

As such your save data is kept on the 3 in 1, and doesn't get backed up automatically to the Slot 1 card. You have to pop back into the Exploader menu screen, then switch to NOR mode with the right trigger and read the menu.

In the green NOR menu you should see a comment Current SRAM save with [GAME NAME.sav] Underneath it. In your case it will be Mother 3. Make sure its GREEN menu for NOR flash, as the blue SRAM menu will list a different game.

In the green NOR menu you can now manually back the save data up to a SAV file or one of the S1V-S5V save files with the B button, these will then be dated and saved in the GBA_SAVE directory on your Slot 1 card.

Take this to whatever emulator you're going to use, play away. If you then later decide to continue playing with the 3 in 1, drop the save from the emulator into the GBA_SAVE folder on your Slot 1, and then load up the NOR menu in Exploader again. Press Y button and navigate to the latest SAV (or SxV file) to now use with the 3 in 1 NOR flashed Mother 3.

By the by, Exploader is up to 0.57 now.

 

[sketchstudios]

Thank you very much!

That does answer my question from the looks of it, I will put that method to test and let you know the outcome afterwards.

I didn't want to try anything for fear of erasing my saved game and having to start all over again from the beginning. I think I may even wait till I completely finish the game anyway before I back up my saved game since I dont want anything going wrong (not that I doubt your method)

Afterwards Ill go ahead and update the GBA ExpLoader to the current version.

Anyway, THANKS!!!