Homebrew Still can't find answers to my ROM/Save dumping questions

Cyber Akuma

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Ok, so I have been trying to Google about how to do this properly, and haven't been having much luck.

I want to backup several of the physical games I have that I tend to switch between often to roms so I can just have them on my 3DS without having to carry the carts around.

I have a N3DS with Arm9loader and Luma3DS.

Most of the guides are old and before arm9loader, and/or assume you are using a flashcart, or despite specifically mentioning they are for the 3DS are only for dumping DS content.

The best guides I could find were these:
https://github.com/citra-emu/citra/wiki/Dumping-Game-Cartridges

https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutoria...-to-cia-dump-private-headers-ds-carts.432600/

And to be fair, they still aren't too much help.

For one thing, I am confused why nothing seems to mention using uncart, since the most well known 3DS hacking guide recommends you install that as part of the hacking procedure. Are there better options now? Or were these guides written before that app? Or is that just one of several ways that are equally as good that people recommend doing?

And also, pretty much none of these guides also mention backing up your save too, just the rom.

So I figured it would be best to ask here, I actually have several questions about what I want to do:

1: Well, first of all the obvious one, what would be the best way to dump both the cart's rom and it's save file if I already have a fully hacked 3DS?

2: Would it be better to keep them as .3ds files, or convert them to .cia files? Can you load .3ds files easily on a 3DS, or would converting them to a .CIA be much easier?

3: If CIA is the easier/recommended method, then how would I be able to install my saves along with the CIA?

4: Also if CIA is recommended, is it possible to dump to .3ds first so I can also use the rom AND save in emulators, and then convert to CIA to install on my 3DS?

5: I was told that it's possible to get Pokemon Bank to work with a ROM you have dumped of your game carts, is there anything special I have to do for this? Also, is there any way to get Poke Transfer to work with black/white/2 roms or would I have to use my physical carts for that since they are DS games?

6: Are there any games where that are issues with dumping and backing up/restoring their saves? The biggest concern I have is not corrupting or losing my save data, or tripping some kind of protection in the games where they refuse to load my save data or think it's corrupted.

7: And in reference to the above, is there any easy way to have more than one save you can switch between games? Especially for something like pokemon, since I hear that has some kind of protection against restoring different or earlier saves.

8: Also, for the tons of other games I have that I am just going to keep on cartridge for now, is there any way to dump a backup of just their saves?

9: And finally, can I do all this without having to use the homebrew launcher, since I am on the latest CFW and for now HBL does not work on that version?

Err... thanks in advance for anyone that answers, I know I asked a lot.
 
Last edited by Cyber Akuma,

Ar5chK3ks

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1. I believe decrypt9 had the possibility to dump them. Otherwise uncart does the job for sure (just use it as payload like decrypt9). But with Uncart the rom is probably encrypted and needs to be decrypted with the help of devrypt9 (never done it myself, because I don't own physical games but I decrypted roms before)

2. Can't use .3ds wihtout a flashcart and would recommend .cia in generell. Butblike I said above you must decrypt them and convert them with the xorpads you get from decrypt9 with a converter like Simple 3DS to CIA ...

3. A savemanager like svdt should be able to do that, but never needed to do it so get yourself a tutorial from somewhere or maybe somebody here can explain it.

4. If the converter or another programm has thr option to decrypt it without converting: Yes

5. Can't convert ds games to cia yet... and otherwise I have no knowledge on that topic.

6. Never heard if any yet ... but you can't relay on my answer here.

7. The Savemanager should have a cia version yet. Just store the saves in a folder and switch them vefore starting the game.

8. A savemanager should also be able to just dump the saves from the cart.

9. Smealum updated the otherapp to work with 11.1 hold y or x (I don't remember which button it is) while starting homebrew launcher launcher on homemenu.

Hope this helps you tho

Edit: overread no. 8
 
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Ryccardo

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To dump games, the best option is currently Decrypt9 (be sure to have the latest version).
It can dump to .3ds or .cia in one click, and can also convert .3ds to .cia.

You can backup saves with JKSM; after installing the cia (and running it at least once) you'll then be able to reinstall it on the digital version you created

You can't use Poketransfer to read from DS flashcards, but you can just open the .sav of your DS Pokemon game in PkHeX to bulk export its Pokemon; then you can copy them to the 3DS versions

Physical games do not have any "secure value" bullshit; as for digital versions, JKSM also automatically takes care of fixing it when installing a save
 
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Cyber Akuma

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To dump games, the best option is currently Decrypt9 (be sure to have the latest version).
It can dump to .3ds or .cia in one click, and can also convert .3ds to .cia.

Huh, I didn't know Decryp9 was a game dumper, I thought it was for other things. Especially since the guide I followed seemed to have me install both Decrypt9 and uncart.

I don't suppose I can dump to both .3ds and .cia at once? If not, not like it will be a big issue to dump one then dump again or convert the .3ds to the other.

Actually, which would be better? I would have to dump to unencrypted .3ds for emulators, but would it be better to then convert that to .cia, or to just re-dump straight to cia?

(Hmm, going through the Decrtpy9 readme, it mentions a lot of support files. Do I need to get these somehow?)

You can backup saves with JKSM; after installing the cia (and running it at least once) you'll then be able to reinstall it on the digital version you created

I tried to Google that, so it stands for "JK's Save Manager"? I don't understand what you mean by "reinstall it on the digital version". And since IIRC some games save data to the SD card too, would running that game without a save first (since you said I will have to run it at least once) mess up anything on the SDcard?

And also, since I can't run the Homebrew Launcher (And I think .3dsx files?) for now since I am on the latest firmware, even though it's through Luma3DS, would I still be able to run this save manager?

You can't use Poketransfer to read from DS flashcards, but you can just open the .sav of your DS Pokemon game in PkHeX to bulk export its Pokemon; then you can copy them to the 3DS versions

Oh well, I can just use the physical DS carts then, not really a big issue.

Physical games do not have any "secure value" bullshit; as for digital versions, JKSM also automatically takes care of fixing it when installing a save

Oh, so that is only for digital versions of games? I could have sworn previous methods to try to mess with saves on physical carts ran into this issue.

So, if JKSM takes care of this for digital carts, what happens if later I want to put the save back onto a physical cart after using it on my CIA for a while?
 
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Cyber Akuma

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I want to add: About half of my games had "Extra Data" when I backed up their saves. I am not sure what this is. Is it DLC and/or updates? Is it StreetPass data? Or is it something on the cart itself?

Basically, if all I am doing is dumping my physical cart to CIA so I can run it digitally on the same physical 3DS system, I know I need to export my save then import it back.... but do I need to export and import back this extra data too, or is it not on the game cart itself and will still be there when I start the game up again?

Also, you said I need to start the game at least once after installing it as CIA before I can import my save into it. Will this cause any issues with existing data on the SD card for that game if it will be started up with "blank" data like that?
 

Bunie

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Blah Blah Blah
1. Decrypt9 for dumping carts into installable CIA files (Or 3DS, if that's your thing), and JKSM (JK Save Manager) for dumping and pushing saves
2. 3DS Files are 1:1 copies of the Cartridge data, while CIA files are installable eShop versions. There's currently No way to run a 3DS File from the SD Card (And never will be), And 3DS is more used for Emulators and old Flashcarts like Gateway. So unless you want to use one of those (Don't), CIA is all you need.
3. Read #1
4. Yes? But all emulators are garbage right now. Though if you're interested in emulation, Keep an eye on Citra.
5. Dunno
6. None. But you have to keep in mind some games save to EXTData, such as Monster Hunter Generations. Titles such as this may not even need a save transfer!
7. JKSM lets you back up multiple saves and restore them as you want!
8. JKSM
9. Since i have used A9LH, i have never needed to use the Homebrew Launcher for anything.

Tip: When a title is installed for the first time, it doesn't have a Save Archive, so JKSM Will throw an error. The game must be booted once first so that it can generate save data before the save data can be modified.
 

Cyber Akuma

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I am confused what this EXTData is exactly though. I am going to import all of my saves back anyway, but I am not sure if doing it for the EXTData would just be a waste of time, or cause possible issues/corruption.

Is it something that is on the cart itself? Or is it something that's on the SD card? Basically, would the EXTData all be there if I run the CIA version of the game on the same 3DS and SDCard as I was playing the cart version without having to import it back? Would it cause any issues if I imported it back anyway?
 

DeoNaught

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Okay so to Use your game Carts as Cia follow these instructions (This is what I did):
use Uncart to Dump the Game, turn your Ds off get sdcard into the computer,
Go to Here get the Program: 3DS to Simple CIA.
and follow the instructions, But when it says to use RXtools, go to Decrypt9: then XORpads Generator Options,
Hit NCCH padgen. hope it helps any questions ill try to answer.
 

Cyber Akuma

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Okay so to Use your game Carts as Cia follow these instructions (This is what I did):
use Uncart to Dump the Game, turn your Ds off get sdcard into the computer,
Go to Here get the Program: 3DS to Simple CIA.
and follow the instructions, But when it says to use RXtools, go to Decrypt9: then XORpads Generator Options,
Hit NCCH padgen. hope it helps any questions ill try to answer.

simple answer. decrypt9.

I have that part down. I got my carts in both 3DS and CIA formats now using Decrypt9WIP, and extracted the saves and EXTData using JKSM.

I was confused what the EXTData was and if I should restore it when restoring the saves.
 

DeoNaught

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I have that part down. I got my carts in both 3DS and CIA formats now using Decrypt9WIP, and extracted the saves and EXTData using JKSM.

I was confused what the EXTData was and if I should restore it when restoring the saves.
I don't think you need EXTDATA, Pretty sure you only Need savedata, just restore saves, if the saves don't work restore
Extdata too, I don't remember myself touching the EXTdata at all,
 

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