VisualBoy Advance Save Problems

[cybervegeto22]

Wow I was so stupid, I never paid attention to the fact that saving on Pokemon Silver worked and NOT FireRed!!!!! Here's the easiest, quickest and by far best method of saving a game (no side effects like a save patch!!):

 

 

1. Open Notepad.

 

2. Click Save As (yes, as just a BLANK slate!), choose the File Type as "All Files," and type the name of your game file* with a ".sav" extension on the end.

 

3. Open the VBA, click Options > Emulator > Directories...

 

4. Choose the Save Path to the folder you put the .sav file in.

 

5. You're good to go battle the Elite Four/any other games' boss(es) and carry on with your game

 

 

*The game name will be such as this:

I have a "Pokemon FireRed.gba" file. Therefore, I will name this new Notepad file, "Pokemon FireRed.sav" and put it in the directory that the VBA saves to.

This means that if my VBA saves to 'My Documents > Pokemon ROMs > Pokemon FireRed', I will put the file "Pokemon FireRed.sav" that I just created, in the Pokemon FireRed folder.

 

 

 

THIS IS SO SIMPLE!!! I can't believe I didn't figure this out before, I was frantic for the last week or so trying to find out how to get past the Elite Four on my game lol. And Haldrie, please ignore my PM... >_<.

 

 

!!SPECIAL NOTES!!:

 

- As long as you have Notepad or Wordpad, you can do this no problem. Heck, even Command Prompt might work (if you know how to work it).

 

- This works for ANY GBA game I've tried so far, which includes Spider-man, Pokemon FireRed, Pokemon LeafGreen, etc.

 

- I am using VBA v 1.8.

 

- My save settings are Automatic/Flash 128k; This works every time without fail now, but if yours doesn't work try switching around the settings until it does.

 

- The .ini file thing didn't work for me, as it might not have for many others. This method is quicker, easier by far (no code to type or copy/paste), and just requires a few letters of typing to name it after your .gba file.

Notepad makes everything so simple!

 

 

-- If it wasn't for Haldrie gettin me into closely examining files, I never would have thought of this. Mad props to him and his 11-page-long topic. Thanks dude!

 

 

 

 

EDIT NOTE: For some, I have had reports of problems of this resetting. I advise you don't open that save file once created... Or edit another .sav file to rename it.

 

EDIT AGAIN: Sorry for the multiple edits... I made a mistake earlier saying it was a .sgm file needed, when it's a .sav file instead. Post fixed.

Edited July 21, 2008 by cybervegeto22

[Agozer]

PROTIP: Use the latest version of VBA-M. You don't have to worry about save problems.

 

Plus, VBA 1.8 is older than ancient.

[cybervegeto22]

Oh really?

What's VBA-M? (I might sound like a n00b haha, I apparently just aint up-to-date with this stuff...... I just like to pwn ppl )

 

Ahh just checked it out... but where's the download? Its only release is the source code so far..

Edited July 18, 2008 by cybervegeto22

[Agozer]

No, not just the source code. SVN compiles for both x86 and x64 systems are available. The latest version can be found under the MSVC2008 directory

[cybervegeto22]

By the way, I'll add this to my post - In order to save onto a .sav file when using this method, you need to change the Save Type to Flash 128k. Then you're ready to go.

PM me if you need screenshots or tutorial for this, a couple of my friends had some hard times with it..

[Haldrie]

Ok since this still seems to be an issue and I finally have some time on my hands I will start work on the tutuorial page I promised some time ago. I'm sorry it's taken me so long but I got caught up is some other stuff and then just got plain lazy. It will take me some time to get everything in order but I will have it read for everyone and have a link on my site for it when it's done.

 

[EDIT]

Also I have AIM and xfire installed on my comptuer so if you want to contact me with them I will have them open. I will get MSN Messenger installed and running soon. I just got a new hard drive for my laptop because the old one failed on me so it's taking me a while to get everything back on it.

Edited July 30, 2008 by Haldrie

[AnthonyE]

Hi, I'm new and kind of need some help.

 

Let me start by saying I'm using VBA 1.72 or something, lol. This is for Pokemon Leaf Green.

 

Today, I started the game and it was working just fine. It started up right where I saved it last. Immediately after catching the Snorlax before Cycling Road. (It still said corrupt file, but I still got my old save). I dropped my Wartortle off at the Day Care Man's house and decided to go start going down Cycling Road. I tear up some local trainers, and go back to check up on my Wartortle. After I get him back, the game's screen blacks out, though the music still plays. With no way out, I closed out the program. I started it back up again, but when I opening the saved game, it starts me back 3 saves previous to the one I started in the first place, again, saying the file was corrupted. Is there any way I can get me most recent save back? I still have a Save State after I defeated Giovanni the first time, but I don't have the 4th badge, nor have I finished defeating Team Rocket at Pokemon Tower. I really don't want to do the Pokemon Tower part again, so any and all help is appreciated.

[Haldrie]

Hi, I'm new and kind of need some help.

 

Let me start by saying I'm using VBA 1.72 or something, lol. This is for Pokemon Leaf Green.

 

Today, I started the game and it was working just fine. It started up right where I saved it last. Immediately after catching the Snorlax before Cycling Road. (It still said corrupt file, but I still got my old save). I dropped my Wartortle off at the Day Care Man's house and decided to go start going down Cycling Road. I tear up some local trainers, and go back to check up on my Wartortle. After I get him back, the game's screen blacks out, though the music still plays. With no way out, I closed out the program. I started it back up again, but when I opening the saved game, it starts me back 3 saves previous to the one I started in the first place, again, saying the file was corrupted. Is there any way I can get me most recent save back? I still have a Save State after I defeated Giovanni the first time, but I don't have the 4th badge, nor have I finished defeating Team Rocket at Pokemon Tower. I really don't want to do the Pokemon Tower part again, so any and all help is appreciated.

If you were able to save with that rom without using the vba-over.ini fix then your rom was most likely patched to save in a Flash 64K format (you will also be able to tell because your .sav file will be 64KB in size). In that case I can fix that save for you. Send me a PM with a link to your save file or attach it to an email (haldrie@haldrie.com) and I will get it fixed for you so it no longer says it is corrupted. In the mean time try and find a different rom that is not patched. You will know it because when you go to save it will say that it failed. The rules here state that we cannot ask for or post links to copyright material so please do not ask here.

[assaultrifle528]

Wow this topic has helped me alot! Thanks Haldrie!

 

By the way I don't know if anyone has said this yet in this topic but the method haldrie posted for fixing a corrupted save file for pokemon games does indeed work even if you use save states.

 

If you use save states, but need to save in-game in order to participate at the battle tent or something like that, you simply set the save type to 128k, and start a new game. Then save in-game (not with a save type) when the game starts, and then move that save file to another folder and then go to import battery file and import it, just like haldrie said in his post. Then all you do is load your save state and you will be able to save the game in-game normally, enabling you to do things like go to battle tents and such and you can still use save states to save

 

By the way I did this all in pokemon emerald so I don't know if it works with other pokemon games for sure but it should.

[EdtheBed]

I'm new to the board but was hoping for some help. I have been trying to set up my VBA so that I can trade between my FireRed and Ruby games, but I cannot for the life of me get past the saving aspect. I have tried a ton of different methods, including setting the save type to 128k and creating the blank notepad document.

 

 

When that failed I went through every combination of save types, still every time I save, even when starting a new game and setting the save path to an empty folder, I am told that there is already a saved game I must overwrite, and than get an error that requires me to exchange the backup memory. I am using VBA 1.8, but have also tried this on 1.7.2. I doubt it matters but I'm using a vista machine.

 

Any ideas?

 

Ok well, on a whim I tried downloading the ROM from another site, and this one seems to save correctly. However, after the saving I reach the menu asking me to "Please Wait ... ... B Button: Cancel" and it doesn't advance past there.

Edited October 15, 2008 by EdtheBed

[Agozer]

I give the same advice to all VBA people: Try the latest build of VBA-M. VBA 1.8 is older than ancient.