VisualBoy Advance Save Problems

[Deoxys]

1. delete the .sav and .sgm file of your pmdrrt(pkmn mystry..bla..bla..)

2.start a new game, don't do a file ->save or ctrl+s

3.save @ bed

4. you're free to save with ctrl+s and anything else

[sameer]

wow...great problem solved thanxs Poké Master and other for their support and help in providing the articles..

 

thanxs a lot.in save game is happening now.....

 

sameer

[Haldrie]

Yet another satisfied Pokemon player. Just to let everyone know I am now working on an online step by step tutorial that will be hosted on my website explaining exatly what has to be done to create and manage a vba-over.ini file going over everything that is accumulated in this thread and will include all of the games effected by this problem and not just the Pokemon and Dragon Ball games.

 

[EDIT]

Project is being delayed due to my large work schedule this week. I have almost all the screenshots I need, all taken from VBA 1.8.0 beta 3, but I think I need a couple more before I start work on the pages themselves.

Edited September 12, 2007 by Haldrie

[matariel]

sup guys. Alright Im new here and as usual, I have a problem that I need some help with!

 

Alright so this is the story: Ive been playing pokemon emerald US for quite a while now. I downloaded the rom and it came with an ips patch. The rom itself is unpatched although vba (or vba link in my case as that is what I am using, version 1.8.0 non-beta) autopatches on the fly [options -> emulator -> Automatic IPS Patching], I believe that vba doesnt modify the original rom file; the original rom file should be unaffected such that if I delete (or rename) the ips file and re-load the rom file I will infact have an unpatched version of the rom in memory. Anyhow, I didnt realize that so much trouble went into making poke emerald work, what with the ips patches and what not and so ive been battery saving with the ips patch loaded up until now without realizing.

 

And Ive always wondered, why does this game keep telling me my save file is corrupt when I load it up!

 

So this morning I stumble onto this thread as Ive been trying to find a fix for the "save file is corrupted..." message that the game shows me every time I load up my game (ingame load using the battery file; I always use ingame load and ingame save, I never use save states). So after reading Hal's first and ninth post (and then the rest of the thread) I decided to try and convert my corrupted 64k save to a legit 128k save using the outlined method!

 

So I setup the vba-over.ini properly, infact to be safe I downloaded yours, hal, just to be sure that I didnt make any bothersome spelling mistakes or anything of the sort; I then deleted vba1.ini and vba2.ini from vba link's directory (I use vba link so that I can trade/battle/etc) so my settings are effectively defaulted. If you want to be sure, here are the differences between my current vba1.ini and a default vba1.ini

 

frameSkip=0
autoFrameSkip=1
vsync=1
soundQuality=1
pauseWhenInactive=0
rtcEnabled=1
recent0=C:\Emulators\GBA\roms\games\Pokemon Emerald.gba
RFU=1
LAN=1
Joy0_Left=256
Joy0_Right=257
Joy0_Up=258
Joy0_Speed=389
Joy0_Capture=387
Joy0_GS=388
Joy0_Down=259
Joy0_A=384
Joy0_B=385
Joy0_L=390
Joy0_R=391
Joy0_Start=392
Joy0_Select=386
Joy1_Left=203
Joy1_Right=205
Joy1_Up=200
Joy1_Speed=42
Joy1_Capture=29
Joy1_GS=56
Joy1_Down=208
Joy1_A=30
Joy1_B=31
Joy1_L=16
Joy1_R=17
Joy1_Start=44
Joy1_Select=45

 

The next step was to rename the ips file so that when vba link loads emerald it does not patch it in memory. At this point I backed up all my original files (emerald's .gba, .sa1, .sav, .ips).

 

And heres where I encounter an interesting problem...

 

If I delete the original (64k) save file and start a new game then save, the new save file is 128k. When I reset the game then load, the game doesnt show me a "save file is corrupted..." message which means that everything is working so far! Keep in mind that right now the loaded emerald is unpatched.

 

So now I close vba.

 

However if I restore the original 64k save file from backup and attempt to load up the game without it's ips, the game locks up before the intro copyright image and shows me a big white screen inside vba link's window. If I restore the ips file and try again the game loads up correctly and I am able to load my old 64k save however it gives me a "save file is corrupted...". If I ingame save afterwards, the produced save file is 64k.

 

So, what can I do to save my old save? please excuse the horrible pun

 

thanks for all the help.

 

edit: and sorry about the lengthy post, my bad

 

edit2: nvm! I read the thread at dgemu and fixed the problem myself. If anyone is having a similar problem I recommend you read that thread, its quite informative. See I tried the save slot workaround initially to see if I can get it to work (I didnt think of using the save slot to bypass the white screen, that was a smart move on atomicknight's part) but what I didnt think of doing was manually setting save type in vba to 128k RIGHT before I ingame save. That produced the required 128k save (I changed savetype in vba back to 64k right after the game was done saving) and everything was functional afterwards! great eh? Note that I DIDNT have to change the savetype in vba to 128k afterwards as the vba-over.ini is now able to perform its function.

Edited September 13, 2007 by matariel

[Haldrie]

Wow that is a lot of reading. Well I was going to help you out here...up until I saw the second edit. Anyway good to see you got it working. My last experiece at actually fixing a corrupted save from an IPS patch was with Fire Red so you actually taught me something about the save state part. I'm sure a lot of people will find this useful and I will be sure to include this info (while crediting you and the poster in dgemu) on my tutorial that I plan on making once I finally get the time to work on it.

[matariel]

excellent! thanks a lot for making this thread, I owe you one

[solieus]

Hey guys Ya I'm new around here but I have years of frustrated vba pokemon experience

 

Ok I made a "native save" and everything works smoothly for me, but I want to save multiple files. How do I do that? Can I use save states after I have one normal save which is 128k? Do I have to have a different folder (with the gba game file in each) so it'll automatically put a diferent native save file in each? If I do that though it means I always have to start a new game when I wanna make a new sav file. I like making preset sav files to try out different things and it's much easier if I can just use save states.

 

Thanks

[Haldrie]

It is safe to use save states as long as the normal save feature is working for you but if you want to get multiple saves you can always just backup the old saves into a different folder so that VBA doesn't load them.

 

Also you can set which folder VBA uses to read and write saves by going to Options->Emulator->Directories...

[peroikos]

Hey, I was directed over here from the EMUTalk forums, and I was having all the 1-m circuit/save error problems with the Fire Red. I had been using save states because the native wasn't working, and then I added the vba-over.ini.

 

When I deleted the save state and ran the game in the VBA-M build, I was able to get it to work.

 

So, glad this thread was able to help me. Good work guys.

[welwel]

hey..

 

juz starting to enter the world of pokemon...

i'm juz a beginner wid stuff like this..

 

can anyone help me solve my problem..i've been reading posts about my problem but i can't understand a thing..(sorry guyz, juz trying to have fun..)

 

i started fire red and i juz can't save during the game...i save using the "shift f1,f2,f3,f4,f5,f6,f7,f8,f9 thing"...

then when i defeated the elitefour..the game restarted and i it juz asks me to start the game all over!!!

it says smoething like this-"1m sub-curcuit thing...." and when i save the gba way it shows a Save Error post and asks me to have a back-up thing...

juz pls tell what to do STEP BY STEP...hehe

 

btw, my vba is 1.8 and i also don't know what is an IPS patch..hehe..

i juz don't want to start my game all over again..pls help me continue the one i started...

 

thanks!!!!

[Agozer]

Please read this thread from the beginning, especially posts made by Haldrie.

[Haldrie]

As Agozer said, all the info you need is already in this thread. From what I just read you have been using save states which are only to be used as a last resort and only if you cannot save in-game. The game's own save feature should be what you use instead which is done just as if you were playing the game on a real GBA.

 

When you beat the Elite Four the game saves and the resets and has you load your save again to start the next section of the game. This is the main problem that people have with these games and the step listed in the various post in this thread are all you need to fix the problem.

 

Since you said you don't know about an IPS patch then chances are you don't have one so you can ignore any reference to it as it only deals with those people that may be using the awful save patches that are floating around for these Pokemon games. You can get more info from the link at the bottom of my signiture if you are still curious about them though.

[Wilcox]

Same problem here, I've just beaten the Elite four in Pokemon FireRed and after credits, i am not able to continue. I have read your guide, but I want to ask if it's possible to continue in the game, if i make that vba-over.ini or the only chance of continuing after beating the elite four is to start a new game?

 

I used save stats and normal saves also.

 

And another question.. with what i am supposed to fill that vba-over.ini file? If I play pokemon FR do I have to fill there:

Pokemon FireRed (U)

[bPRJ]

flashSize=131072

 

just these lines?

 

 

What i did after reading your guide is, that i have deleted all my save stats, then created vba-over.ini, filled it with lines above, opened VBA.exe, opened pokemon firered, loaded save closely after beating elite four, but i still receive 1M-sub... error message. Ye and 1 time I haven't received that message, I just saw some kind of parallel lines insteod of that error message but when i pressed start button it has done the same thing again, restarting the game.

Edited December 8, 2007 by Wilcox

[Haldrie]

The only way it will work is if you start the game all over again from the begining. I know it is unfortunate but the current save file that VBA is loading is still set to the old format and cannot be fixed at this time. The only way the vba-over.ini file will take effect is if there is no other save file to load so it can create a new save file in the correct format.

 

[EDIT]

By "start the game all over again" I mean that you have to delete (or backup elsewhere for possible future fixing) the .sav file for FireRed (and any other Pokemon games you have saves for as they too are most likely corrupted). If someone manages to find a way or write a program to fix these corrupted saves (or the save states) this will be the first place I mention it but in the years since posting this I have not found any other solution.

Edited December 8, 2007 by Haldrie

[nunberry]

Hi guys

 

I'm fairly sure I'm missing something obvious but I've read all 10 pages of the thread and tried following the instructions therein, but I'm getting nowhere. Hopefully, by giving you the opportunity to dance on a noob's head, I'll make some progress on getting this yoke working.

 

I'm using VBA 1.8.0 beta 3.

I'm trying to get a 128K save in Fire Red, Ruby, Emerald or Leaf Green.

I've set up a vba-over.ini file as directed in the thread, and confirmed that the settings are being picked up for each game by the emulator in Options \ Emulator \ Game Override. I've confirmed that the game codes in the over.ini match the codes seen in File \ ROM information. For good measure I've also set the default save type to Auto / 128K since I'm not emulating any other games at the moment. There are no pre-existing saves, battery files, quick-saves etc. and I'm starting a new game from scratch every time I attempt this. Auto IPS patching is off.

 

I start a new game then save through the game interface after going through the intro. I get a 64K save file every time and a corrupt save message on every reset. I've tried inflating the save file to 128K by appending a copy of the save onto itself and ensuring all options in the emulator are looking for a 128K save but it's the same, as soon as I save in-game it goes back to 64K. I've no idea if the ROMs are patched, but they're from different sources as I figured that would give me a fighting chance of getting at least one that wasn't in some way patched.

 

Have I missed something? Failing that, if I can get my hands on a working 128KB save and use that to start the game up then create a new game, would that overcome the problem? (if so, any offers?)