Hacking Question regarding NGC save data!?

[leonmagnus99]

hey guys, i am confused as in to what happened to my Kururin Squash save..

i had issues with it before, i mainly use Nintendont for NGC and i only a couple of time used usb loader gx to launch kururin squash.

and after that no matter how many times i opened the game again with nintendont it just would not find my save, the save seemed like it was wiped..

but the thing is, when i launched it with usb loader gx again, the save file appeared and loaded up fine.
now i decided to go back to the game, and the save file is gone completely.

i am confused why this is happening, i would be afraid that this might happen to the other games i am playing these days too.

e.g paper mario tyd , like if i launched the game from the wiiflow for instance.. *sigh*

could someone tell me why this has happened ?
i never fiddle with anything..

i just installed vwii on my wii u some 5 months ago, and followed the tutorial to install the wads etc.
wii/ngc games all work fine, just this weird save issue with ngc hmm..

 

[cucholix]

Did you try enter the gcn bios screen to check the save? By holding A? You need the corresponding bios in the root of your SD though.

You would ask over USB Loader thread in the Wii section, maybe @Cyan knows better.

 

[Cyan]

There are three memory card modes :

- OFF : emulation is OFF, it uses official memory card hardware. of course, it works only on backward compatible Wii with GC ports.
- ON / global / shared : this one uses a single memory card file shared with all games. it acts like if you had a read memory card, with many games using it.
- Individual : This mode creates one memory card file per game. the filename of the card matches the game's TitleID.

When you launch a game for the first time with ON or individual, it generates an empty card file on your partition (same partition than the game).


Now, about the loaders.
nintendont can be launched either from HBC, or from a loader.
Nintendont can keep a setting file with the latest used settings.
if you use HBC, nintendont uses the latest game settings you used, loaded from nincfg.bin located on your partition's root. (if you didn't enable memory card on your previous game, it will still be disabled, until you manually switch the option)

If you use a loader, the loader sends the game settings to use to nintendont, and either generate a nincfg.bin file (if requested) or by default it just send the settings to use temporarily to nintendont without keeping or generating a setting file.

USB LoaderGX has three options :
- don't create (default). doesn't generate a config file (prevents nintendont to use the same setting when launched from hbc) and send the settings using arguments (options are in memory only)
- create : generate a nincfg.bin, nintendont will use that file
- delete : delete any existing nincfg.bin file (can prevent conflicts with another, previously launched game, or it's just cleaner, it's up to the user), doesn't create a new one, and use settings in memory only.


Delete is good if you use both loader and hbc, and don't want nintendont to autoboot your last played game launched from the loader. but it sets all settings to default.
Create is maybe a good choice, you can always stop autoboot by pressing B when nintendont is booting. this way, it keeps all your settings from previous launched game.
don't create (default) is usually good, game settings are sent from the loaders to nintendont. it doesn't created one, doesn't overwrite and doesn't delete.

I don't remember if nintendont is generating it automatically or not, whatever the option you choose in the loader.


so, maybe, in the loader you have something like "use individual memory card" and nintendont creates/loads the GameID.sav file
and when you launch nintendont from HBC, as you didn't generate a nincfg.bin it's using default settings instead of previous game's setting, and the memory card option is either OFF or ON (global). if it's ON, it generating a new card shared by all games (not using the GameID.sav previously created) so your save is not found and created again.


without knowing your exact setup and settings, I can only suppose something is not setup correctly.

 

[leonmagnus99]

Did you try enter the gcn bios screen to check the save? By holding A? You need the corresponding bios in the root of your SD though.

You would ask over USB Loader thread in the Wii section, maybe @Cyan knows better.

too late.. my mario paper ngc save is gone now too..
thanks to usb loader gx again i guess..

i did not even load the damn game with it, i just simply downloaded the covers with wiiflow.

and opened wiiflow/usbloader gx to check on Kururin squash..
now i decided to load up nintendont and run mario paper tyd and bam save gone.. like wth..

Edit: and no i haven't checked the bios thing ,where do i go to check it ? i do not even know if i have the bios in my sd (will check now)
checked my sd card now, and it seems the ngc saves are stored on the root of my sd, in a folder titled as saves.
they are shown in the gameids with the extension .raw , i hope i can have them show up again :l

G8ME for instance, i googled it now and it is the paper mario tyd game.

Now, about the loaders.

i usually load the ngc games directly from the nintendont forwarder i have on my wii channel.

i had this save issue before like i wrote in my first post..
the save file of kururin squash came back when i launched it with usb loader, but now it is gone again.
and my mario save is also gone *sigh*

i had no idea this would be so sensitive.

edit: and about the nincfg you mentioned, i now actually see it was created today.. so i guess earlier when i launched nintendont and ran mario paper that's when it re-created the file ?

this is confusing, i will delete usbloader/cfg for now.
and will report back, i think those 2 are conflicting, i will keep wiiflow/nintendont.

 

[Cyan]

USBLoaderGX is not responsible for save lost, it doesn't touch them.
it only send settings and game path to nintendont when you launch it. that's all. nintendont is the one responsible for creating/reading/writing the savegame file.

be sure you set the save option to use "one memory card per game" (individual), and you'll have nintendont use your /save/TitleID.raw

if your game is on SD, then it will use SD:/saves/
if it's on USB, it will be on usb:/saves/ etc.

you mentioned the save being on your SD, be sure you don't have duplicated games on both SD and USB, because USBLoaderGX is listing USB in priority (you can change the priority in the settings).
it would explain why you don't have the same savefile, if nintendont lists SD and loader lists USB it will not use the same memory card file.

 

[leonmagnus99]

USBLoaderGX is not responsible for save lost, it doesn't touch them.
it only send settings and game path to nintendont when you launch it. that's all. nintendont is the one responsible for creating/reading/writing the savegame file.

be sure you set the save option to use "one memory card per game" (individual), and you'll have nintendont use your /save/TitleID.raw

if your game is on SD, then it will use SD:/saves/
if it's on USB, it will be on usb:/saves/ etc.

you mentioned the save being on your SD, be sure you don't have duplicated games on both SD and USB, because USBLoaderGX is listing USB in priority (you can change the priority in the settings).
it would explain why you don't have the same savefile, if nintendont lists SD and loader lists USB it will not use the same memory card file.

so what should i do now to recover my save :/ ?

i deleted cfg loader/ usb loader gx , but my save still wont show up.

it is in save folder in the root of sd card , but i am afraid that the save file may have been reset :/

 

[Cyan]

first, backup your raw files.

second, verify the nintendont setting is correctly set to emulate the memory card.

third, you should check if the file you found contains actual savegame data in them, or if it's empty memory card files.
you can load the .raw on Dolphin (gamecube emulator on PC), it has a memory card manager.

last, delete all raw file, and launch the game again with the correct memcard emulation you want to use, see if the files are created again or not.

having or not having USBLoaderGX "boot.dol" on the SD card doesn't conflict with other homebrew.
I don't know about wiiflow, but like I said launching a game with USBLoaderGX is not deleting a game's savegame file, as worse it's using a different setting and either not using the save at all, or not using the same filename. but not deleting them.

 

[leonmagnus99]

third, you should check if the file you found contains actual savegame data in them, or if it's empty memory card files.
you can load the .raw on Dolphin (gamecube emulator on PC), it has a memory card manager.

checked my saves just now, and they appear fine.
not empty raws it seems.

i will back up the save folder from my SD then delete them from my SD and put SD back to my wii u and launch nintendont.

after that if nintendont recreates the raw file, do i then replace them with the ones i backed up previously?

 

[Cyan]

yes, it's just to see if nintendont actually check that folder, if it creates the card if not present or just don't care if present or missing.

if it recreates the files, it means it's actually looking in the correct location, and reading/writing the savegame.
the problem will be to understand why you don't see any save data while in the game.

 

[pedro702]

i bet he has diferent settings on block size and individual and multi on usbloader gx and nintendont directly...

 

[leonmagnus99]

yes, it's just to see if nintendont actually check that folder, if it creates the card if not present or just don't care if present or missing.

if it recreates the files, it means it's actually looking in the correct location, and reading/writing the savegame.
the problem will be to understand why you don't see any save data while in the game.

hey buddy, done what you said.

i started up paper mario and made a save file , then i put my SD back into PC and i see it has created the "Save" folder in the root of my SD card and there is the Paper mario save in it.

i will put the backed up saves now back into my SD card and hope it will load them now..
i have the memory card emulation setting 'on' for every ngc game i run.

and btw. should i perhaps delete the 'ninmem' and 'ninmemj' ? perhaps having nintendont recreate those 2 files will make my saves load up fine again?

 

[Cyan]

pedro, I think the bloc size setting is only used when creating the card, not when loading an existing one.
unless it expand the size if ithe card is smaller than used bloc setting? I don't think it inflate existing files

 

[leonmagnus99]

i bet he has diferent settings on block size and individual and multi on usbloader gx and nintendont directly...

i deleted usbloader gx, also deleted its folder from my SD card.
but the forwarder icon is still on the wii channel ,how do i delete it from there too?
cfg icon is also still on channel, also deleted that from the homebrew menu of the vwii.

and lastly, is it safe to exit my ngc games with the combo 1+2 + Home button (with the wii controller). ?

i always use that combo to return to the vwii.

 

[pedro702]

i deleted usbloader gx, also deleted its folder from my SD card.
but the forwarder icon is still on the wii channel ,how do i delete it from there too?
cfg icon is also still on channel, also deleted that from the homebrew menu of the vwii.

and lastly, is it safe to exit my ngc games with the combo 1+2 + Home button (with the wii controller). ?

i always use that combo to return to the vwii.

why are you deleting usbloader gx? makes no sence lol

afaik you only need to press home to exit and its fine to exit it was meant for that, like i said it makes no sence you are deleting usbloader gx lol.

you probably dont know but usbloadergx default options for nintendont are not the same as the alone nintendont.

so all you need to do is tell me the size of the files that are in raw and there names on the saves folder, and i will tell you the settings to find them lol.

 

[leonmagnus99]

why are you deleting usbloader gx? makes no sence lol

afaik you only need to press home to exit and its fine to exit it was meant for that, like i said it makes no sence you are deleting usbloader gx lol.

you probably dont know but usbloadergx default options for nintendont are not the same as the alone nintendont.

so all you need to do is tell me the size of the files that are in raw and there names on the saves folder, and i will tell you the settings to find them lol.

i deleted usbloader gx, also deleted its folder from my SD card.
but the forwarder icon is still on the wii channel ,how do i delete it from there too?
cfg icon is also still on channel, also deleted that from the homebrew menu of the vwii.

and lastly, is it safe to exit my ngc games with the combo 1+2 + Home button (with the wii controller). ?

i always use that combo to return to the vwii.

wow okay guys, my save loaded up fine just now with .....

WiiFLOW =__= what the hell is going on here ?

so after i put my backed up save folder back into the root of my SD , i put it in my wii u, then launch Nintendont forwarder from the vwii channel.
and it does not find my save file.

and Now i decided to try WiiFlow, and BAM it sees my load file.
i will just use WiiFlow from now on =_=

*sigh*

i hope my kururin save file will appear with wiiflow now as well.
if it does, then that's it i will only be using wiiflow to launch my Wii/NGC games.


Edit: alright.. now the reason why i always use nintendont forwarder for my NGC games is because only with nintendont forwarder makes them go Fullscreen.
so i decided to fiddle with the settings of my game before i launch it (paper mario) so i saw the Multi Memory card thing was set to 'On' i turned that one 'Off' and loaded paper mario and .. BAM my save files appears fine +A+'

 

[pedro702]

wow okay guys, my save loaded up fine just now with .....

WiiFLOW =__= what the hell is going on here ?

so after i put my backed up save folder back into the root of my SD , i put it in my wii u, then launch Nintendont forwarder from the vwii channel.
and it does not find my save file.

and Now i decided to try WiiFlow, and BAM it sees my load file.
i will just use WiiFlow from now on =_=

*sigh*

i hope my kururin save file will appear with wiiflow now as well.
if it does, then that's it i will only be using wiiflow to launch my Wii/NGC games.


Edit: alright.. now the reason why i always use nintendont forwarder for my NGC games is because only with nintendont forwarder makes them go Fullscreen.
so i decided to fiddle with the settings of my game before i launch it (paper mario) so i saw the Multi Memory card thing was set to 'On' i turned that one 'Off' and loaded paper mario and .. BAM my save files appears fine +A+'

like everyone told you if multi is on on usbloader gx it will only search for multimemorycard and therefore it wont find your save, if multi is off and you saved with multi on it wont find the save either also the blockszize may affect the finding too if you saved on 251 blocks and the option is turned to 512 or whatvever number it might not find your save since you dont have a 512 mc blocks card.

are you getting all this and stopping deleting stuff?

also to get full screen on vwii just put wiiu widescreen set to on on the settings.

 

[leonmagnus99]

like everyone told you if multi is on on usbloader gx it will only search for multimemorycard and therefore it wont find your save, if multi is off and you saved with multi on it wont find the save either also the blockszize may affect the finding too if you saved on 251 blocks and the option is turned to 512 or whatvever number it might not find your save since you dont have a 512 mc blocks card.

are you getting all this and stopping deleting stuff?

also to get full screen on vwii just put wiiu widescreen set to on on the settings.

never thought about that..

i have to check in wiiflow now for the multi memcard, and the block size *sigh*.
on nintendont forwarder it seems like it was always set to on.

and block size in nintendont forwarder is always set to 59 for me.
i will have to make them all set to be the same , hope i recovery my kururin squash save too u_u

oh and btw.
i sometimes use my DS4 controller for NGC games, but i always have to have it connected with cable.
and i know that Wii mote controller works fine with ngc games (it is wireless ,no hassle with cables)

so i was going to ask, is there any other type of wireless controller that works with the NGC emulation on vwii ?

 

[pedro702]

never thought about that..

i have to check in wiiflow now for the multi memcard, and the block size *sigh*.
on nintendont forwarder it seems like it was always set to on.

and block size in nintendont forwarder is always set to 59 for me.
i will have to make them all set to be the same , hope i recovery my kururin squash save too u_u

see if you aunch nintendont directly from the homebrew channcel the default option should be mcemu off and when you turn it on it default to 251 and not 59.

 

[leonmagnus99]

see if you aunch nintendont directly from the homebrew channcel the default option should be mcemu off and when you turn it on it default to 251 and not 59.

oh i see, but it was always set to 59 for me :l
which should i use now ?

and also read above i edited my post!
regarding controllers.

 

[pedro702]

oh i see, but it was always set to 59 for me :l
which should i use now ?

and also read above i edited my post!
regarding controllers.

you can use wiimote+CC,wiimote+CCpro, wiiupro also works.

like i said tell me the size of each file you got on your save storage and i will tell you i enever told the the size in bytes just the pictures.

i always use multi off and 251 blocks for me since some games require alot more than 59 blocks and will refuse to save with that setting.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

remenber individual sizes for each not the 6 together ...