SRAM files not being created

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What steps will reproduce the problem?
1. Open Snes9xGx either via HBC or channel
2. Choose a ROM that uses native .SRAM files
3. Load a game, once you can save, create an in-game
save, reset the game, and what you thought was there
isn't there.

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

Okay, I'll try explaining it more in depth.  Normally, when
you have have the SD card settings to automatically load SRAM
saves upon loading a game (like Earthbound for example) you can 
load the in-game save when you boot up the game (like a real cartridge)
BUT, when you have the same settings in this version (4.2.7), the game
acts as though the .SRAM file was never there, even when you save in-game. I 
reset the game only to not be able to load from a native save. 

1) SRAM saves are created
2) After loading the game at a later time, the in-game save that
was created no longer can be loaded; it's as if it was never made
in the first place.

Does this issue occur on SNES9x for Windows 1.52? If so, please report the 
issue on the Snes9x forum.

No, this does not occur with 1.52, as .SRAM saves are created AND one is able 
to actually LOAD them. 

What version are you using? On GameCube or Wii?

Wii build; HBC 1.0.8
Wii System Menu 4.2 NTSC/U
Snes9x Channel 1.1 (Google Code)

SD Card: Kingston SDHC 
Capacity: 8.0GB
Filesystem: FAT/FAT32 

Are you using the official build (from the downloads page or auto-update)?

Yes. I'm using version 4.2.7 downloaded from Google Code.

Yes, I know savestates can be made, but as with any emulator, it isn't wise to 
wholly rely on them. Native saves must be made as well, but if they can't be 
loaded, then what am I supposed to do?  PLEASE don't toss this aside, I assure 
you that there are many who're experiencing the same issue as I am. 

Earthbound, Breath of Fire 2, Chrono Trigger, etc, cannot load from the .SRAM 
files. 

Original issue reported on code.google.com by nintendonerd1889@gmail.com on 20 Apr 2011 at 2:33

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can you give me some more info before I try this out myself:

-what version this start happening in? 4.2.7? is 4.2.6 or 4.2.5 fine?
-if you delete the SRAM file, is a new file created fine?
-if you have sram loading enabled, and you load the game, is the game save 
properly loaded and you can resume where you left off?
-what do you mean by "reset the game"? Are you pressing HOME whiel in a game, 
then pressing the Reset button in the menu, and this is when your SRAM is lost?
-does SRAM saving work at all? Are there cases under which it works, and only 
doesn't work under certain cases?
-does it work for some games but not others?

Original comment by dborth@gmail.com on 20 Apr 2011 at 5:36

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Sorry, I thought I wrote it in there, but I guess not. VERSION: Snes9xGx Wii 
4.2.7. The SRAM files were being made up till 4.2.6. SRAM saving is enabled via 
the SDHC card, but when I checked the physical files, I noticed that there were 
several duplicates made "game name1.srm" all the way up to "game name 4/5.srm" 
from multiple ROMs. Also, there are several SRAM files with the word "auto" in 
it, which I find to be rather peculiar. 
Did some testing with making saves, game switching, soft reset, etc.

Here's what I did

Opened up Donkey Kong Country, loaded a savesate, created an in-game save, 
reset the game via Snes9x, and once I got to the load screen, the file seemed 
to be there.  From there, I decided to load another game, Breath of Fire 2, 
followed the same process, made an in game save, reseted the game and it was 
there. BUT, when I went from one game back to Breath of Fire 2, the save was no 
longer there.  Also tried the same thing with Lufia 2, created an in game save, 
switched games, same as Breath of Fire 2, no longer there.  Oddly enough, DKC 
seems to have kept the save. 

Settings 

Load Device - SD (should this be set to "SD" or "Auto"?)
Save Device - SD
Load Folder - snes9xgx/roms/
Save Folder - snes9xgx/saves/
Cheats Folder - snes9xgx/cheats/
Auto Load - Off
Auto Save - Off

Here's some more odd results, like I said before, when a game that uses SRAM 
boots up to the save screen, nothing is there. HOWEVER, when I save in the 
game, the game will think that a previously save was already made (like when 
you want to overwrite a save). Does that make sense?  I can see that there's 
already a "save" that was made prior to being overwritten;  Save Slots 1 and 2 
are allegedly occupied after I load a savesate, but are empty when starting the 
game up.  

After loading savesate, occupied save slots
Before loading savesate, no files whatsoever. 

WTF? oO

Original comment by nintendonerd1889@gmail.com on 20 Apr 2011 at 10:29

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*Edit*  I meant to say "after a savestate is loaded", SRAM slots are already 
"occupied"

Original comment by nintendonerd1889@gmail.com on 21 Apr 2011 at 3:02

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I can't reproduce this *at all*. SRAM saves work perfectly fine for me. maybe 
your SD card is messed up? try doing a fresh format, with no save files at all. 
works fine for me...I can switch games, load SRAM files, save them, everything.

The save with ' Auto' on the end is the default SRAM save that's loaded/saved 
with you have auto-load/save enabled.

Original comment by dborth@gmail.com on 21 Apr 2011 at 4:28

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So just do a complete reformat?  Okay, if you can't reproduce that glitch, then 
either A, my SD card is on the verge of failure or B, reformat the SD card, 
delete the SRAM files and star all over.  *Sigh* Sorry for stressing you out. 

Original comment by nintendonerd1889@gmail.com on 21 Apr 2011 at 4:32

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Ah, crap on a cracker. So, I reformatted the SDHC card to FAT32, deleted all 
SRAM saves, and it's still behaving strangely. So, I created a save in FF5, DKC 
and Breath of Fire 2, and even went as far as showing my brother that the SRAM 
saves were there. So, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I exited Snes9xGx as 
a whole, booted the game I created the save on, and surprise, surprise, it was 
no longer there. WTF? I think my SD card is jacked up. 

Original comment by nintendonerd1889@gmail.com on 22 Apr 2011 at 2:38

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Well, now that Snes9x 1.53 is out ( 
http://snes9x.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=29962#29962 ) these issues will be 
resolved....that is, if 1.53 is going to be ported.

Original comment by nintendonerd1889@gmail.com on 25 Apr 2011 at 7:42

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I ported the changes - that was 4.2.6. but there were some complaints about a 
hit to performance so I reverted some of them for 4.2.7 - 
http://code.google.com/p/snes9x-gx/source/detail?r=683

Original comment by dborth@gmail.com on 25 Apr 2011 at 8:08

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if I can't reproduce it, or get verification from someone else, there's not 
much I can do, sorry :(

Original comment by dborth@gmail.com on 25 Apr 2011 at 8:37

• Changed state: Invalid

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After some experimenting, I copied some already made SRAM files from my PC to 
the SDHC cards, and after loading them into Snes9xGx, they can be overwritten 
just fine...

Original comment by nintendonerd1889@gmail.com on 26 Apr 2011 at 10:08

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I'm playing Chrono Trigger on the SNESx9x version 4.2.8.

It's weird because I even reset the console at one point and loaded up one of 
the save points because I missed something I couldn't go back and get. It 
loaded fine and everything. Then I played for another 45min or so and saved it. 
When i was exiting it gave an error that the save file couldn't be loaded. I 
knew something was wrong and immediately went to load the game again, however 
the new save data was gone. On top of that the old Sava data, that I had loaded 
before was gone and it reverted back to a save point from a few days earlier(a 
few hours of gameplay).

Not sure what else you may need but let me know. 

Original comment by rcr...@softwaresecure.com on 12 Feb 2012 at 4:34