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SmokeMonsterPacks / Nt-Mini-Noir-Jailbreak

Custom "Jailbreak" firmware for the Analogue Nt Mini V2 "Noir"
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Save file not dumping with CopyNES Mini #11

Closed whitezombie2000 closed 2 years ago

whitezombie2000 commented 3 years ago

I tried the Dump tool with Dragon Warrior 1 as a test game. I selected Generic MMC1 SxROM.BIN as the mapper. Tick the battery box, press start, the rom dumps without any issue, but the save file is always 0 KB in size when it should be 8 KB. According to the NES Mapper Reader tool that is the correct mapper. The dumped rom can be loaded with NES core. Something is still not right with the dumped rom because it won't save the game. Save right away by talking to the king, press down + start to open and close the menu to save the game. Restart the dumped rom and there no save available.

tjanas commented 3 years ago

I have a Dragon Warrior cart that I dumped with the old Nt Mini, and that worked fine. I don’t have my Noir hooked up any more, but if no one else confirms this bug I can try to hook it up again and dump the cart.

In the game, after you save, did you try powering off the system and making sure the actual cart itself still sees your game save?

whitezombie2000 commented 3 years ago

Yes the actual cartridge can see and load the save with no issues.

AsherAvery1 commented 3 years ago

I am having the same problem. Cart can see the save files, but copynes mini does not seem to be exporting them.

Mark-VI commented 3 years ago

All of the ROMs I've tried to dump have had 0kb save files (Zelda I and II, Dragon Warrior I, III, and IV). Also, DW III and IV won't dump correctly. Three just has a black screen when I try to load the ROM, four loads the Enix logo and then the graphics start to corrupt.

tjanas commented 3 years ago

All of the ROMs I've tried to dump have had 0kb save files (Zelda I and II, Dragon Warrior I, III, and IV). Also, DW III and IV won't dump correctly. Three just has a black screen when I try to load the ROM, four loads the Enix logo and then the graphics start to corrupt.

Can you share your NES rom headers for Dragon Warrior III and IV? I know that for the original Nt Mini, they require a change to the header for them to run correctly:

“Dragon Warrior III, Dragon Warrior/Quest IV, Ninjara Hoi! - Use Mapper 1, Submapper 1”

http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2017/11/analogue-nt-mini-as-nes-flashcart-and.html

Mark-VI commented 3 years ago

NES rom headers

This is new territory for me. Is the info you're looking for in the attached image (III on the left, IV on the right)?

I stumbled across the text you quoted yesterday but since I am relatively new to this, I didn't know if changing the submapper is something done in the copy NES interface or if it requires editing after the dump.

DW3and4 DWheaders

tjanas commented 3 years ago

Open it up in iNES Header Editor Or open it up in a hex editor like HxD and provide the first sixteen bytes of the file which would be the header. Here is the special header needed for Dragon Warrior III on original Nt Mini: 4E 45 53 1A 20 00 12 08 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 image

image

Mark-VI commented 3 years ago

Thanks for taking the time to try to help me.

I tried it both with a hex editor and with the header editor you recommended. Both produce identical results (see below), but neither work. They still just give me a black screen. DW3and4 Unless I'm missing something, they look the same as your screenshot.

tjanas commented 3 years ago

OK, so your header with the fixes for the original Nt Mini didn't work... how about trying this fully-correct NES2.0 header for Dragon Warrior III (USA), which should work on Noir (but wouldn't work on original Nt Mini): 4E 45 53 1A 20 00 12 08 00 00 70 07 00 00 00 01. This was generated by nes_header_repair.py

Mark-VI commented 3 years ago

I tried the fully correct header, no luck there either. I also tried booting the ROM in RetroArch (Nestopia) and it didn't work there. I haven't yet had a chance to try all of the variations on the header with the emulator, just the latest one.

I double and triple checked that my cart was seated correctly in the slot and running fine and I redid the dump before trying the latest header. I dumped Mega Man 5 and Metal Storm too. They work fine both in the NT and emulated.

tjanas commented 3 years ago

I suspect something is wrong with CopyNES on Noir. I tried dumping three different Japanese Famicom carts: Super Mario Bros. 1, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Kirby. Inspecting their ROM data, for all three the PRG data matches the NES database but the CHR data does not.

Also, for Kirby, I made sure to check the battery save checkbox, and it produced a .sav file in both the CopyNES directory and in the /SAVES/NES directory, but that 8K .sav file must have been bad; I also tried making a copy of it and renaming the copy to match the good dump of the rom, and loading the game showed no save data. The save data on the Famicom cart is still intact though.

tjanas commented 3 years ago

I dumped these on my old Nt Mini from 2017 and those dumps match the NES database and the save data was properly dumped.

neworion commented 3 years ago

I successfully made playable backups of all of my NES carts. Each rom works, even the ones I mention below with battery saves. Yet the save files themselves appear to be corrupt.

Dragon Warrior and Zelda 1 & 2 each used the MMC1 chip. While CopyNES created 3 *.sav files that were 8kb in size, they are not recognised by the NT mini noir or by Mesen NES emulator on the PC.

I would love to get these save files backed up.

Bohman-Timothy commented 3 years ago

With the initial version of the Nt Mini Noir Jailbreak firmware (v6.2), I wasn't able to back up any saves either (all it gave me was a 0 KB file for each game), even though the ROMs backed up correctly, but with Nt Mini Noir Jailbreak v6.6, I successfully backed up every save file I have.

Edit: Well, except for an unofficial cartridge—an English-translated copy of Final Fantasy + Final Fantasy II on a cartridge, which doesn't successfully dump both games in the same ROM. If I use CopyNES while at the game selection screen, only Final Fantasy (I) plus the game selection screen are saved in the ROM (and the save file is also dumped successfully); when I attempt to load Final Fantasy II, it cycles back to loading the game selection screen again. If I first select Final Fantasy II, then use CopyNES, only Final Fantasy II is saved in the ROM (or at least, only this game is playable because it starts at Final Fantasy II's title screen), and the save file does not load this game's saved game data (when using the ROM I dumped of this game). The ROMs I get of each game are both 256 KB, which is the same as the individual games' official ROMs. I used the "Generic MMC1 SxROM.BIN" plugin to obtain both ROMs.

I don't know if an unofficial cartridge failing to dump correctly qualifies as an official bug in the Nt Mini Noir Jailbreak firmware, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

Edit 2: The English-translation of Final Fantasy + Final Fantasy II that I have is on a Famicom cartridge. It seems to me that whoever put the translation on the cartridge was going for the effect of being constructed—in hardware and the ROM—in a manner equivalent to the original Japanese cartridge. The outward appearance of the cartridge itself is as if it may have been an actual Japanese cartridge of Final Fantasy + Final Fantasy II (labeled as Final Fantasy I * II) that had its innards replaced, which I suppose could include or exclude using a new board to contain the ROM. I don't know how possible it would be to reuse the same board for the new ROM. I don't have the tool required to open the cartridge and see what it looks like inside, so I can't check it for signs of "newness."

whitezombie2000 commented 3 years ago

Ok I finally got some time to try the 6.6 JB firmware. I was able to successfully dump the rom and save. The dumped rom plays fine, the dumped save loads fine, and I was able to save successfully.

neworion commented 2 years ago

@whitezombie2000 This is still a current and ongoing issue and should not be closed as not all Save Files copy over!

I successfully made playable backups of all of my NES carts. Each rom works, even the ones I mention below with battery saves. Yet the save files themselves appear to be corrupt.

Dragon Warrior and Zelda 1 & 2 each used the MMC1 chip. While CopyNES created 3 *.sav files that were 8kb in size, they are not recognised by the NT mini noir or by Mesen NES emulator on the PC. So yes I did select the battery option while saving 😉

I tried using Jailbreak versions 6.5 & 6.6 and neither worked. I would love to get these save files backed up.

whitezombie2000 commented 2 years ago

Reopened issue.

@neworion I was able dump Dragon Warrior 1 ROM and save with the NT Mini Noir with JB 6.6. I can load the dumped ROM and save with the 6.6 JB firmware on the NT Mini Noir too. I have not tried any other battery save games.

tjanas commented 2 years ago

I wonder when we will see version 6.7. I think it’s been at least a year since 6.6?

whitezombie2000 commented 2 years ago

@neworion

Here is Dragon Warrior dumped by CopyNES using JB 6.6 with the NT Mini Noir. I tested the dumped ROM and save via Mesen using RetroArch 1.10.0. It worked just fine and worked with the 6.6 JB on the NT Mini Noir. I also tried a downloaded ROM of Dragon Warrior from a ROM site, renamed the .SAV to match the downloaded ROM, Dragon Warrior (USA).SAV, and the save worked with the downloaded ROM via Mesen using RetroArch 1.10.0. It did create new save files with Mesen after saving with the emulator, Dragon Warrior (USA).srm and GAME1117.srm.

tjanas commented 2 years ago

If you open up the rom in the NT mini noir, an everdrive, or an emulator and then try and load the saved games you shared. You will see that it does not work and it asks you to begin a new game. This is the same error I enountered.

@neworion I just tried the GAME1117.NES and GAME1117.SAV provided by @whitezombie2000, and when I place that .SAV file in the Retroarch saves directory, with the file renamed to GAME1117.srm, when loading GAME1117.NES it does recognize the save file as legitimate. image Your GAME1115.SAV file is also good; I see it contains a save file named ADAM: image GAME1115.NES is also a good dump of Legend of Zelda, The (USA) (Rev 1); it matches no-intro (if you strip the header from the file before checksum'ing it, it matches).

whitezombie2000 commented 2 years ago

I just dumped and tested Zelda. The dumped ROM and dumped save worked fine via Mesen using RetroArch 1.10.0. It also worked fine using the 6.6 JB. No issues loading the ROM, no issues loading the save, and no issues creating a new save.

@neworion I have no issue with your dumped rom GAME1115.NES. The file is identical in a hex editor with my GAME1115.NES. Your GAME1115.NES and GAME1115.SAV work fine with Mesen and the 6.6 JB.