Hacking Problem with NDS Save Adaptor +

[Lucifer666]

I'm trying to back up my Pokémon HeartGold save with my NDS Save Adaptor Plus.

I'm on a Mac so I have to use the command line method. (Excuse my potential use of incorrect terminology?)

I put HeartGold into the adaptor and plugged it into my Mac, then lead terminal to the folder with the executable in it and input:

./ndsplus --backup pokemon.sav

to which I get back:

NDS Adapter+ firmware version 302 detected.
Card title: POKEMON HG
Card ID: IPKE
Card size: 128 MiB
Save: 0 KiB FLASH

0 KiB can't be right, why is the save not being recognised? I have checked my cart after receiving this. The game works fine and my save is still there, so I don't know what's wrong.

The adaptor *does* generate a save file, but according to Pokégen the save is incompatible/corrupt. Also, the size of the file is 512kb instead of 524kb.

I will run a debug in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

So I put in:

./ndsplus --debug

And it gave out:

0000: 13 00 62 11  00 aa 2e 01                                                      ..b.....
NDS Adapter+ firmware version 302 detected.
0000: c2 7f 00 80                                                                  ....
0000: 50 4f 4b 45  4d 4f 4e 20  48 47 00 00  49 50 4b 45  30 31 00 00  0a 00 00 00  POKEMON HG..IPKE01......
0018: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 40 00 00  00 08 00 02  00 00 00 02  14 a3 0b 00  .........@..............
0030: 00 74 2f 00  00 00 38 02  00 00 38 02  d8 76 02 00  00 ec 31 00  56 0b 00 00  .t/...8...8..v....1.V...
0048: 00 f8 31 00  08 10 00 00  00 e4 0b 00  20 10 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ..1......... ...........
0060: 57 66 41 00  f8 08 18 08  00 0a 32 00  ff a0 7e 0d  ac 0a 00 02  58 01 38 02  WfA.......2...~.....X.8.
0078: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  3c 76 8c 07  00 40 00 00  a0 4b 00 00  00 00 00 00  ........<[email protected]......
0090: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ........................
00a8: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ........................
00c0: 24 ff ae 51  69 9a a2 21  3d 84 82 0a  84 e4 09 ad  11 24 8b 98  c0 81 7f 21  $..Qi..!=........$.....!
00d8: a3 52 be 19  93 09 ce 20  10 46 4a 4a  f8 27 31 ec  58 c7 e8 33  82 e3 ce bf  .R..... .FJJ.'1.X..3....
00f0: 85 f4 df 94  ce 4b 09 c1  94 56 8a c0  13 72 a7 fc  9f 84 4d 73  a3 ca 9a 61  .....K...V...r....Ms...a
0108: 58 97 a3 27  fc 03 98 76  23 1d c7 61  03 04 ae 56  bf 38 84 00  40 a7 0e fd  X..'...v#..a...V.8..@...
0120: ff 52 fe 03  6f 95 30 f1  97 fb c0 85  60 d6 80 25  a9 63 be 03  01 4e 38 e2  .R..o.0.....`..%.c...N8.
0138: f9 a2 34 ff  bb 3e 03 44  78 00 90 cb  88 11 3a 94  65 c0 7c 63  87 f0 3c af  ..4..>.Dx.....:.e.|c..<.
0150: d6 25 e4 8b  38 0a ac 72  21 d4 f8 07  56 cf 61 d0  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  .%..8..r!...V.a.........
0168: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ........................
0180: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ........................
0198: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ........................
01b0: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 60  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ...............`........
01c8: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ........................
01e0: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ........................
01f8: 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00                                                      ........
Card title: POKEMON HG
Card ID: IPKE
Card size: 128 MiB
Save: 0 KiB FLASH

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance folks.

 

[evandixon]

Try gently cleaning off the contacts of the cartridge with a Q-tip, and experiment with how far you push the cartridge into the adapter. I've seen that make a huge difference.

 

[Lucifer666]

Try gently cleaning off the contacts of the cartridge with a Q-tip, and experiment with how far you push the cartridge into the adapter. I've seen that make a huge difference.

Messed around with it for a while, no dice.

I tried backing up different games and they all worked fine.

 

[migles]

check this: https://github.com/Thulinma/ndsplus/issues/11

 

[Lucifer666]

check this: https://github.com/Thulinma/ndsplus/issues/11

I've had a look through, doesn't seem entirely relevant.

I have some important(ish) news: I've tried using it on my SoulSilver game, which obviously has the exact same file type. And it worked perfectly.

And as I've said before I've put my HeartGold game into my DS and it loads up fine, my save's still there. So... what's the deal? Is the debug info I've provided useful at all?

 

[Lucifer666]

Sorry to bump this old thread but I thought I should let you all know (for informative purposes) that while I still have this problem on any mac device, it worked fine with my mom's Windows-based laptop. So if anyone else comes across this issue your best bet is to borrow someone else's Windows PC. I've tried to run the Windows client on my mac with Wine but that didn't work either.

Still weird because the adaptor and my mac can extract my Pokemon Soul Silver save with no problems, so I really don't know what that's all about. I'll report this to hkems, if they still work on the product.

 

[tslomkajr]

Hey, I just got my nds adapter plus and also have been trying to use it on a mac.
Clearly you've gotten farther than I have with this so I was wondering if you'd let me know how you got the card to firmware 302. I don't know how to update the card.

 

[mega j]

so do i want to update the card i'm on version 1.0 and need to upgrade i have on hp

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

you must have at minimum firmware version 2.1 on your adaptor to properly dump pokemon black/white or higher properly.

you can get it here:

http://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/utilities/download-nds-adaptor-plus-2-1-f22983.html
or
http://www.hkems.com/download - 0907.htm

you will need windows or to update the firmware.