Open AGB Firm not reading Leaf Green save

[Crisdace]

Hey there,

Any known issues with transferring files from a desktop version of mGBA to a N3DSXL running the rom on Open AGB Firm? No matter what I do, the game refuses to recognize the save file and boots up as if it were the first time running it.

 

[retrospect]

I haven't heard of this specific issue before but it's worth noting that any file can be corrupted on transfer. Unlikely in this case but not impossible.

 

[Vigilant_Veggie]

Save files for open AGB firm do not go in the same place as save files for mGBA. Whereas mGBA places the save files in the same directory as the ROMs, open AGB firm places the save files in a folder titled "saves" located within the "openagbfirm" folder. Move your save file to that folder and it should work just fine!

 

[Crisdace]

I’ve definitely put it in the correct /3DS/open_ABG_firm/saves folder, and double checked it by going through Professor Oak’s “What’s your name?” speech and saving to confirm where a new save file ended up, but I think the main problem is that the saves from playing mGBA on my desktop through Retrobat are saved as .state files instead of .sav files. They aren’t detected in their .state style, but changing them to .sav via renaming doesn’t fix the issue and they don’t seem compatible with the save conversion tool linked on the GitHub people pass around (can’t remember the exact name, but it’s something like, “EEEOGO” or something) as it popped up with a ‘size issue’ when I tried to upload to it

 

[Kwyjor]

I’ve definitely put it in the correct /3DS/open_ABG_firm/saves folder, and double checked it by going through Professor Oak’s “What’s your name?” speech and saving to confirm where a new save file ended up, but I think the main problem is that the saves from playing mGBA on my desktop through Retrobat are saved as .state files instead of .sav files. They aren’t detected in their .state style, but changing them to .sav via renaming doesn’t fix the issue and they don’t seem compatible with the save conversion tool linked on the GitHub people pass around (can’t remember the exact name, but it’s something like, “EEEOGO” or something) as it popped up with a ‘size issue’ when I tried to upload to it

A ".state" file is an emulator savestate. This saves the current contents of RAM in the running game and you can re-load it anytime you want and pick up right where you left off. There is no such functionality available in open_agb_firm.

The .sav files used by open_agb_firm are saveram dumps. This is equivalent to what an ordinary game cartridge would use when you save your game using the in-game save functions and then turn off your console, and what the cartridge would load when you turn the console back on. Further confusion results in that some emulators do not store saveram dumps in precisely the same way that an original cartridge would use – hence the occasional need for converters.

So, no, you definitely can't just rename ".state" to ".sav" and expect it to work. I have no idea where retrobat/mGBA would store its saveram dumps; they might be embedded in the .state files. Some emulators require you to use a specific export function.

 

[Crisdace]

Just had a friend explain this exact same thing when I stopped by his place while running errands. I’ll take a look at if finding those are possible, thank you!

 

[zz6]

Save files from mGBA have a few extra bytes for internal clock settings. You need to export your save as a raw battery file and import it to VBA. Rename the save file matching the dump that you made with open_AGB_firm then restore the save.