Hacking R4 Save Problem / Chinese / English

[Slybo]

Hello all Im new here so first let me say hello and apologise if I come over as a bit of a noob.

In a nutshell here is the problem.

I purchased my R4 card in Hong Kong a few weeks (black one with no spring) ago and a 1gSandisc Microcard.

- I originally followed all the instructions for installing the English firmware 1.11 and every time I loaded it I was getting an error screen in Chinese as has been mentioned on here before.

- I then sat back and thought about it and installed the Chinese firmware 1.11 and it got me to the loading screen and I was able to play games...however not a single game was saving even though it said it was. I had only one game installed so it was not a space problem. I followed the instructions to apply an English fix for the language and that worked for the menu but again no save.

- I have reformatted the card both Fat16 and Fat32 on quick and normal format. I have error checked it and also defragged it.

-After doing this I could get the English 1.11 Firmware working no problem but again could not save a single game.

- Since the start I have not once been able to access the moonshell program at all. Eveytime I click on the middle icon it starts to load and then crashes. The top screen shows a windows blue screen of death and the screen below comes up in English saying there has been a problem. This happened from the very first time I turned it on with both Chinese and English 1.11 and after every format.

As you can see im going a tiny bit mad trying a few things and hence why I have turned to the forums for some expert advice. It seems I have unique problem as I have not found one bit of information which suggests someone else has the same problem before....just my luck

Thank you for any advice in advance
Sly

 

[betawind]

Wow. Nice troubleshooting first off. I'm really not sure where to go with this, but I'm going to throw a few things out there for ya. First off, if you haven't already done so, try another ROM, or the same ROM from a different source. Its a shot in the dark, but what the hell, right? Second, try firmware from a different source and reconvert it to english. Also, out of curiousity, does the .sav file for the game get created? If not, could you have made the folder you put the ROM in (assuming you didn't put it in the root directory) read-only? Does the ROM have a long file name that could be confusing the R4? Again, these are all shots in the dark, but even if they don't work they may inspire someone else. Good luck.

 

[Slybo]

Thanks for coming back to me.

-I have tried another ROM but not 100% sure if its from the same source. They all work but just unable to save.
-I have tried reconverting to english and something very strange is happening. Sometimes it works fine...other time it does not work and I get the chinese error message when loading again.
-The .sav has never been created once.
-Read Only..good idea. I have not checked. Im using the misses laptop which is vista and which I have very little experience with. How can I tell if its read only ?
- Yes the ROM does have a very long file name. Is it safe to rename any ROM as long as it ends in .NDS ?

Once again thank you for your help.

 

[enigmaindex]

I have no idea about the read only as i use XP and have very little experience with Vista but i would assume it would be somewhat the same.

Although yes it is safe to rename a rom as long as it ends in '.nds' But when renaming the rom make sure you rename the '.sav' to the same as the corresponding rom name for example.

Original rom name 'Pokemon diamond version nintendo ds american.nds'
The original save would be called 'Pokemon diamond version nintendo ds american.sav'

If you rename the rom (.nds) to say 'pokemon diamond.nds'
You would have to rename the sav file to 'pokemon diamond.sav' for it to work.

And yes i know you said you don't have any save files this is just for the future in case you decided to rename and you have saves.

But yeah you are able rename roms no problem.

 

[Slybo]

Thanks for the info.

It seems the folder I was creating was going in as Read-Only and I cant change it for love nor money.

So far I have the English Firmware working 1.11 and can play games, but still cant save. When I try to load moonshell the following error springs up. Sorry there is a load of info coming up but the bit im intrested in is the following :

Initialize file [/moonshl/resume.sav]
Cluster=0x000008c0
Sector=0x00005629
Test: direct disk reading.
Test: direct disk writing failed.
Postion = (1,0xb1!=0x83)

What I actually see at the top screen in blue is this :

boot Moonshell
Version 1.71

NDS darmware lang ID: 1
Warn Image filename [warn_eng.b15]
Init FileSystem.
FileMaxCount=256
actuve interface = 0x020498e0
Device ID=R4TF
DeviceName=R4(DS) - Revolution for DS
Startup=0x02049c78
MBR boot sector=249 RD-4153 RE=0 REsize-32

SPC=8 FD=4153 FLC=247417
Dectect FAT32
Detected adapter is [R4(DS) - Rev for DS]
found shell =/moonshl

Resume initialize.

Initialize file [/moonshl/resume.sav]
Cluster=0x000008c0
Sector=0x00005629
Test: direct disk reading.
Test: direct disk writing failed.
Postion = (1,0xb1!=0x83)

Critical error!! CPU HALT for saftey.


On the botom screen in English I get this :


An error was detected while tryiing to access the disc or a file. Please confirm the followings :

Dis the setup end normally ?

Is the /moonshl folder moved or deleted

Have you enabled the resume function with a media that is not supported

Do you have enough free space on your media ?

Please re-format the media and try again

Please try with different media from another manufacturer.

 

[betawind]

Thanks for the info.

It seems the folder I was creating was going in as Read-Only and I cant change it for love nor money.

So we've probably found the culprit! Excellent! In all honesty, it *should* be as easy as right clicking on the folder, choosing properties, and unchecking Read only. If its not checked, try checking it, clicking apply, and unchecking it and clicking OK.

 

[Slybo]

So we've probably found the culprit! Excellent! In all honesty, it *should* be as easy as right clicking on the folder, choosing properties, and unchecking Read only. If its not checked, try checking it, clicking apply, and unchecking it and clicking OK.

Unfortunately not.. I have checked unchecked applied etc etc and it just wont save it as write (suggests a fault maybe?) It shows as done.. then when you go back and check the file the tick is back on "read-only"

I also had games on the main directory to try that and again same problem with no save at all.

Im worried I keep getting this fault line:
Test: direct disk writing failed.

Im presuming and its a long shot here... the way the PC saves data to the Micro SD and the way the NDS does is different. As if I can write data from the PC in theory the card should be ok ?

 

[betawind]

That fault line isn't a good sign. What brand/size card do you have?

 

[Slybo]

Its a Sanddisc 1GB

 

[Slybo]

Update:

Well i have a new SD card (2gig Sandisc) and am getting the same problem .
I have even used a friends save game file on quite a few games.
I can load his games and the R4 no longer asks me to create a file when I first start. I can also countiune his from his saved games.

However it will not save my games or quicksave even though it sates its saving. When I reload the game nothing has saved.

Also Im still unable to load Moonshell and get the same error screen which it gets stuck on everytime.

Think its time for a new R4