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[Saturn] Tamagotchi Park - save game restore/dump?
Kurasiu - Aug 24, 2017

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  slinga Mar 17, 2021
Did you use Save Game Copier? 3.6.2: Release Tweaks to Saves Listing, More .BUP .... I just tested on Yabause and it appeared to work for me. Before copying the save I got an error message (I can't read Japanese). After copying the save with SGC it appeared to work. The Tamagotchi Park save is accessible via the "CD Filesystem" option. You don't need to add it to the ISO.

This should of worked with Save Data Manager as well. Did you unzip the zip? I can't think of what could go wrong.

 Yjzep Mar 17, 2021

slinga said:

Yes i unzipped. I don't have a cart capable of pseudo kai full version, i run modchips. The file is visable on the cart , 532 blocks, named "Tamagotcbup".

 slinga Mar 17, 2021
I would burn SGC: Release Tweaks to Saves Listing, More .BUP Saves ....

I verified it worked on Yabause.

 Yjzep Mar 17, 2021

slinga said:

Yup that did it. I have had that game for years knowing it was useless and just decided to check on a whim of there was a way to fix it.
Thank you for all you do, and everyone else endeavoring to keep the greatest console ever alive!

 fafling Mar 17, 2021
I've just tried the last save game manager on @cafe-alpha... 's website (pskai_release_20210315.7z...), and after importing the included TAMAGOTCHI_.BUP file on an official backup cart, the game does allow to save and load.

 cafe-alpha Mar 20, 2021

malenko said:


I personally don't care to open mine, but didn't have (and still don't ...) have enough free time to test. Anyway, let's forget about that now that the dump and testing of this cartridge is over


Yjzep said:


Are you still stuck in copying this save ? Here is an alternate method in the case you need :
1. Download latest build of Pseudo Saturn Kai Save Data Manager : PPCenter :: Pseudo Saturn Kai... -> pskai_release_20210315.7z (or more recent if available)
2. Burn tools -> pskai_sdm.iso/cue disc image file on CD-R and load it with memory cartridge inserted on Saturn.
3. From Save Data Manager main menu, select "Save Data Import" -> "CAFEALPHA" -> "TAMAGOCHI" -> "TAMAGOCHI_PARK.BIN"
4. Please wait for a little moment until the file selected above is read from CD-ROM.
5. Select "TAMAGOTCHI_" save, which should be the only one listed.
6. In "Select Destination Device" menu, select "Cartridge", and then confirm operation with "Yes".
7. Please wait for a while until the save is copied. After that it is OK to turn off the Saturn and play Tamagotchi Park

Note : Any kind of backup memory cartridge should work : official ones, but also "all-in-one" red cartridge or Gamer's Cartridge etc. It should also work on emulator too. But, it won't work with cartridges not supporting in-game save access such as Action Replay installed with stock firmware.

 slinga Apr 26, 2021
Save Game Copier can be used (via the "Dump Memory" option) to dump the entire cartridge memory to SD card if you have MODE/Satiator.

That being said, I loaded this game in Yabause using the save game file provided and it worked. The zero block would not have been initialized to the authentication code in that scenario. Do you know why it worked? Perhaps I didn't attempt to save the game?

 cafe-alpha Apr 28, 2021
Thank you for the analysis @stevekwok... !
There's one suspicious byte in the blank block : is it that which is preventing from using a standard memory cartridge ?


From the fact that save record size is slightly larger than Saturn internal memory, I suspected some kind of artificial limitation to require a cartridge to work. And from this stupid limitation, we are now sure that it was an intentional design of this game in order to force the sale of backup memory cartridges colored in pink.


slinga said:


When dumping the save for this game, I also took a full dump of the contents of cartridge, in case of.
So it's available in Pseudo Saturn Kai Save Data Manager CD-ROM -> "SAVES->cafealpha\Tamagotchi\CartDump" folders -> Tamagotchi_Park.bin file.

 stevekwok Apr 28, 2021

cafe-alpha said:

Hi, thank you for replying.

I checked the Tamgotchi_Park.bin file and realized that my previous inference was completely wrong.
My inference was based on false information, I thought the pink cartridge was a 4MB cartridge, but actually it is a 512KB cartridge (omits the even null bytes), I got some false information before.
And I also noticed that its block size is 0x100 (omits the even null bytes), AFAIK, the block size of a 512KB cartridge should be 0x200, it should be 0x400 in raw format. So it used a non-standard format.

I rechecked the function 060c3218.

060C3218: mov.l @r14, r2
060C321A: mov r4, r3
060C321C: add #H'4C, r2 ; 76
060C321E: shlr2 r3
060C3220: mov.l @r2, r2
060C3222: shlr r3
060C3224: shll r3
060C3226: add r2, r3
060C3228: mov.b @(H'01, r3), r0 ; 06089281
060C322A: mov r0, r3
060C322C: extu.b r3, r3
060C322E: mov r4, r0
060C3230: and r13, r0
060C3232: mov.b @(r0, r12), r2 ; 060EDBF1
060C3234: extu.b r2, r2
060C3236: and r2, r3
060C3238: tst r3, r3
060C323A: bt 060C323E
060C323C: add #H'01, r5 ; 1
060C323E: add #H'01, r4 ; 1
060C3240: mov.l @r14, r3
060C3242: mov.l @(H'38, r3), r2 ; 060892B8
060C3244: cmp/hs r2, r4
060C3246: bf 060C3218
060C3248: mov r5, r0
060C324A: add #H'08, r15 ; 8
060C324C: lds.l @r15+, pr
060C324E: mov.l @r15+, r12
060C3250: mov.l @r15+, r13
060C3252: rts
060C3254: mov.l @r15+, r14

It accumulates the total bits of the record in the blocks 02, 03(in raw format, [0x24000400, 0x24000800)).
Thank you very much, now we really learn the whole story clearly.

 fafling Apr 29, 2021
The game doesn't seem to make any difference between the original pink backup cartridge, and an ordinary official backup cartridge loaded with the save...

 slinga Apr 29, 2021
@stevekwok... : I set a breakpoint on 0x060c3218 and I'm not seeing it hit.

Here's what I'm seeing:

  
	
	

		
		

			**************************************************************

                             *                          FUNCTION                          *

                             **************************************************************

                             undefined FUN_060c3218()

             undefined         r0:1           

                             FUN_060c3218

        060c3218 18 ac           mov.l      r10,@(0x30,r8)

        060c321a ce ce           xor.b      0xce,@(r0,gbr)

        060c321c ce 7a           xor.b      0x7a,@(r0,gbr)

        060c321e 18 99           mov.l      r9,@(0x24,r8)

        060c3220 92 ce           mov.w      @(DAT_060c33c0,pc),r2                            = 1818h

        060c3222 ce ce           xor.b      0xce,@(r0,gbr)

        060c3224 ce ce           xor.b      0xce,@(r0,gbr)

        060c3226 ce 90           xor.b      0x90,@(r0,gbr)

        060c3228 8b ac           bf         LAB_060c3184

        060c322a 67 18           swap.b     r1,r7

        060c322c 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c322e 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3230 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3232 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3234 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3236 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3238 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c323a 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c323c 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c323e 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3240 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3242 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3244 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3246 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c3248 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c324a 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)

        060c324c 18 18           mov.l      r1,@(0x20,r8)


 slinga Apr 29, 2021

fafling said:

Yes your statement is correct from my understanding.

The claim is that:

1) With the pink backup cart you can delete the save and the game will recreate the save when it detects the magic bytes in the zero block of the cart. If you format the pink cartridge the magic bytes in the zero block will be zeroed out and you will no longer be able to use it.
2) With a standard backup cart if you have a save the game will work. If the save is not present the magic bytes in the zero block will be checked. Since they are zero (as this is a standard cart) the game will error out and not load.

 stevekwok Apr 30, 2021

slinga said:

It loads the function after the Sega security check.

 stevekwok Apr 30, 2021

slinga said:

My previous analysis was based on false information and completely wrong. Please don't be misled by that. There is no authentication block or magic bytes. I'm very sorry for the misleading information.

 cafe-alpha May 4, 2021

stevekwok said:


I overlooked @fafling... 's post ( [Saturn] Tamagotchi Park - save game restore/dump?... ) which confirms that importing the save in BUP format makes the game working, so authentication block seems not to exist. Anyway, because this save is just ~3% larger than Saturn internal backup memory and that it can't create an empty save by itself, I still consider this game as a scam

BTW, the non-zero byte in my previous post is set in other dumps of regular backup memory cartridge, so it's probably some kind of debug information or leftover set by Saturn BIOS.

 stevekwok May 6, 2021

cafe-alpha said:

I have worried about that the data might lost forever. No matter whether it is a scam, it is part of the history. Thank you very much for preserving the data.

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