Hacking Mother 3 - Can't keep any saves!

[tebes]

I'm having big troubles with my shiny new freshly-translated Mother 3. I just can't figure this out, and so far I've been unable to find a sufficient solution in any of my searches.

First my goal: I want to be able to play Mother 3 on my DS, I don't care if it's attached to the slot-1 device or not - Not would be awesome, but as long as I can play the game on hardware and effing SAVE, I'm solid.

Second, my setup: I have an R4 with latest firmware in slot 1, with GBAexpLoader software, plus a GBA folder containing my Mother 3 rom, patched with the new translation. I made a "SAVE" folder as well inside the GBA folder. In slot 2, I have an EZFlash V 3-in-1.

Third, my problem: Getting the game to save, or more specifically, to KEEP a save. It'll seem to save no problem. It's when I turn the system off and then boot up the game again to load my save that I run into problems. The title screen will only say "new game" and "sound test".

The steps I've taken:
Every time I load up GBA ExpLoader, it asks "May I set this Slot2 expansion pack for GBA ExpLoader?"
I say "Yes".
Into my GBA folder. Down to Mother 3. Switch to NOR Mode.
I choose to copy the game to the cart. I choose to start a new save.

Twenty damn minutes later...

Now I have the option to just run the game, or I can "write SRAM to SAV file", or "Load SAV file to SRAM".
I've chosen to write SRAM to SAV file in slot 1.

I have a working Mother 3 game in my EZFlash. To my astonishment, I don't even need my R4 to run it. I'm so excited I play it without the R4, I play for a good hour or so, and then save.

When I load the game back up, on the title screen, there's no option to continue. Just "new game".
So I try to load it through GBAExpLoader. when I go into ExpLoader, the save file doesn't seem to be there. If I run the game from NOR mode, it's the same deal: title screen only has "new game".

I know I have all the pieces I need to get this working, but I'm tearing my hair out getting there. Can anyone please just give me a step-by-step on what I need to do to get this thing to save?

I think it has something to do with saving PSRAM to SAV data, or loading SAV from PSRAM, or some crap that I'm not getting, not doing, and my trial-and-error thus far has frustrated me to extremes. I have played the beginning of the game, up to the first save, maybe 6 times now. I'm at the end of my rope. Someone please shine a light, I'll appreciate it forever.

 

[tebes]

Going in and trying this again, one thing seems very fishy.

I'm now trying to load a save I know I just made.

When I go into ExpLoader, and press "Load SAV file to SRAM", it gives me the following error:
"SRAM save data not found
Can't Process to SAV file.
(A) :Confirm"

uuuh... Isn't that backwards?? That's the exact same error message as when I press "Write SRAM to SAV file". If there's nothing in SRAM, then it makes sense that it would say that. But if I'm trying to LOAD from a SAV file, why in the hell would that error come up??

EDIT: A few more details here. GBAExpLoader now won't load ANYTHING. It brings up the prompt "May I set this Slot2 expansion pack for GBA ExpLoader?" and when I press Yes, it gives me a blank directory, as if I have absolutely NOTHING on my microSD card. I tried over and over. nothing.

I popped the microSD card into my computer and looked around. In my GBA_SAVE directory (which I didn't manually create, and which is in my card's root directory), there is a mother 3 .sav as well as a .sv1 and .sv2. There's also a 1KB .sgn under GBA_SIGN.

I don't know what this tells me or what it means. But I absoluely CANNOT load anything from ExpLoader, there's nothing there, with "0 game" written at the very top.

 

[Bummey]

I have this exact same save game issue with a CycloDS (except GBAExploader still loads for me). It's driving me up the wall.

There are a lot of posts all over the place with this problem. Some say the cause is faulty hardware, firmware incompatibilities, software issues... I have no idea.

 

[tebes]

Well, a little update from me:

I solved the issue of the GBAExploader not reading anything at all on the R4's microSD. I simply popped out my EZFlash, turned the DS back on and went into GBAexploader, it asked to shut down, which it did, and then I popped the EZflash back in, loaded up Exploader and it was all good again.

I also realized I had never patched my Mother 3 ROM with gbata's SRAM patch. So I did that. Didn't fix anything.

I feel like the problem is that when I save to SRAM, and then shut down my DS, when I turn the DS back on again, it is NOT transferring the SRAM to the microSD card.

That, or there's some issue with loading a SAV file into SRAM, because it gives me that ridiculous error message. I know I have a mother 3 SAV file, but it won't let me load it or do anything with it.

 

[carterman]

I'm honestly wondering if the translation patch messes up saving for a lot of flashcarts. Was there ever this much trouble with the original JP release?

 

[jhoff80]

Does saving work for other GBA games for you?

I know my 3in1 cart arrived with a dead battery and wouldn't save in any games.

 

[tebes]

No, I haven't gotten it to work for anything.

I think you're right. All signs seem to be pointing to dead battery.

That is damned infuriating. At least I can stop fudging with it and get right to writing an angry email to the person who sold this to me.

 

[carterman]

This may be idle speculation, but I have heard that leaving the system on overnight (possibly in GBA mode) might help to charge the battery. Maybe. Try that before you do anything else.

 

[tebes]

Hm... Unfortunately I already cruelly ripped the old battery from its warm home, so I'm unable to attempt the charging technique. I'll pass the word and see what comes up though with other people.

 

[Bummey]

This may be idle speculation, but I have heard that leaving the system on overnight (possibly in GBA mode) might help to charge the battery. Maybe. Try that before you do anything else.

That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard, it's not a car, but hey I'll give it a shot. I'll post tomorrow and see if anything changes.

 

[carterman]

Yeah, it may be stupid, but hey...it couldn't hurt. *shrugs*

 

[Bummey]

News Flash: It didn't work.

 

[HanlonHouse91]

Well, a little update from me:

I solved the issue of the GBAExploader not reading anything at all on the R4's microSD. I simply popped out my EZFlash, turned the DS back on and went into GBAexploader, it asked to shut down, which it did, and then I popped the EZflash back in, loaded up Exploader and it was all good again.

I also realized I had never patched my Mother 3 ROM with gbata's SRAM patch. So I did that. Didn't fix anything.

I feel like the problem is that when I save to SRAM, and then shut down my DS, when I turn the DS back on again, it is NOT transferring the SRAM to the microSD card.

That, or there's some issue with loading a SAV file into SRAM, because it gives me that ridiculous error message. I know I have a mother 3 SAV file, but it won't let me load it or do anything with it.

I've had a similar problem to this. I got mother 3 a few days ago and put it on my ez flash. It worked great for two days and saved and did everything. Then the next day, it gave me the message that my Data was Corrupt and deleted it.

i tried erasing the NOR but then GBAExploader wouldn't load. Your solution helped me fix this.

But I'm wondering, is this just something to do with the patched Mother 3, or is it something else to worry about?