NDSpatcher savng problems with SC-SD

[machofairy]

This is actually a continuation of my previous thread which I have deleted. ALso asked the same in another forum. I am really frustrated :mad: and hope someone can help .

I just got my SC-SD this week. Can use it with the Supercard software without problem. However, I want to save to SD card, so I tried using ndspatcher.exe.

I got 2 sets of roms.
Set1: extension is *.nds - I can patch these but non works in Supercard.
Set2: supposedlt "patched". Extension is *.nds.gba - Unable to patch these (static black screen) but I rename them to *.nds and I can play them in NDS.

However, with set 2, everytime I tried to save - turn off and on quickly and select saver tab and save to *.sav file of the same name as rom - it saves to the NDS card slot. So, I seem to be getting only 2 saves and then the 3rd one overwrites the 2nd one.

Also, when I use Metroid, I cannot save. I can only save using Mario64. This means games lilke Ridge Racer which require a profile created before you start the game first, cannot start.

I am unable to find out how I can save to the *.sav file in the SD card.
Does anyone have the same problem?

[cory149]

1st off, using ndspatch to get a gba save is somewhat dubious - many of the 64k games work, but you MUST watch the output from the app to see if it was successfull (there are 2 searches for entry patches to change where the rom is loading from and then 5 searches for gba save patching in it, if the first two are successfull then it should work right, and if the next two are successful then it should save to gba cart correct too) - its tough to see if it worked unless you do the patcher manually from DOS instead of using its drag and drop interface.

Renaming the roms to .nds from nds.gba is correct, as SC sees the extension and decided from there what to launch the file with- and generally speaking nds.gba have a loader and .nds don't (although this has changed recently in the toolchain for nds homebrew). DO NOT put these through the SC software as ndspatcher already dealt with that and changed the header so SC soft or any DS header soft will have problems if not crash entirely. SC software produces .dsi files, dont rename these or they will not work.

With my SC SD I will give you an example:
-clean rom name is castlevania.nds
-patch with ndspatcher and get castlevania.nds.gba
-rename to castlesc.nds (sc to keep it less confusing)
-get the save file from supercard patcher dir (called save.sav)
-copy it to by the rom and rename it to castlesc.sav and put these both in the same dir together on the SD card
-go play and save in game with castlesc on your DS
-do QPC (off then on quickly)
-enter supercard menu
-select saver tab and pick the castlesc.sav, press A twice and it will copy sram to the file
-next time you load castlesc the sav will load with it and your progress should be resored.

[machofairy]

Thanks for your input. I am not exactly clear what your first paragraph meant, but for the rest, I have tried it but somehow, it is still saving to the DS cart instead of the SD card. I can even see it says saving to SAV file and the byte count counting up, but it still does not save into it.

Does anyone else have this problem?