Saving game data from a gameboy ROM?

[kage]

I am running the current build of rockbox (3.5) on an Ipod Video 5G...

I was playing a gameboy color ROM, and I saved the data...but it did not (to my knowledge) actually get saved anywhere...

is this one of the lacking functions of the "rockboy", or am I having some technical issues...

[I restarted the ipod, then went back to the game, and the only option I got was 'new game', then I plugged my ipod into the computer, and searched for a '.sav' file, but there were none to be found]

[karashata]

From the wiki page for the rockboy plugin (here) it looks like save states are only 90% done and still slightly buggy, so...

I'm not entirely sure whether this means they are or aren't being used yet though, so... Maybe someone who knows how the rockboy plugin works better might know.

[torne]

Save states are a different thing to actual in-game saves (often referred to as "battery" files because on real carts they are stored in battery backed SRAM).

You say "I restarted the iPod" - do you mean you held MENU+SELECT to hard reset, in order to get out of Rockboy? That is why you don't have a save; it only actually saves the contents of the game's emulated SRAM out to a file on disk when you exit Rockboy (otherwise the disk would have to spin up every time the game wrote to SRAM). You should never reset the iPod with the hard-reset keys unless it has locked up and you can't get it to work any other way.

If you read the manual you will discover that Rockboy's in-game menu is opened by switching the hold switch on iPods, which includes the option to quit.

[kage]

is that how you exit out of games such as "freedoom" as well?
I could not figure out how to exit those games...

Maybe I have been doing alot more "hard resetting" than I should :\

so if I do not "hard reset" the ipod, the save file should be there?

and if it is there, could I theoretically plug in my ipod, and grab the save file off the disk, then put it there permanently?

EDIT:
okay, I got that...
so do you have to save it from the rockboy menu?
that would make more sense...

[torne]

Yes, doom also has the same hold-switch exit button. All games can be exited properly. You do not need to hard reset ever, unless the device has crashed. This is all explained in the manual; next time you wonder how to do something, you should read it

The save file (battery) will get created automatically when you exit rockboy. The save state option on the menu is a different kind of save: actually saving the exact state of the emulated hardware at that moment. Savestates are not 100% reliable in rockboy and will not be compatible with other emulators. The actual savegame should be able to be copied to a PC and run on any PC gameboy emulator (or on any other platform), as it's just a straight 1:1 copy of what the gameboy stored in the cartridge's SRAM.

[kage]

okay, thank you!

I have read bits and pieces of the manual, just not the whole thing page for page

I will try and remember that it probably has EVERYTHING I need to know...next time...

thanks you anyway!

AND: I saved and exited the CORRECT way...it now works, but the save file does not show up when I plug it into my computer.
that is okay, my mac doesnt support GBA emulators that well anyway... the only place Ill ever be using this is my ipod lol

[torne]

The file should be around somewhere, but I don't offhand recall where it puts it or what it calls it. It must exist, though, or else it couldn't load it up again

Also, discussing getting roms is not allowed. Just so you know.

[MajiKool Dragonâ„¢]

i believe the save files are stored at .rockbox\rockboy
the .sav files are the battery saves.
the .rbs files are those state saves.
and the .rtc files i believe have something to do with the ingame, supposed to be, "real time" clock.

[kage]

Also, discussing getting roms is not allowed. Just so you know.

but I can still discuss things specific to certain ROMS, right?

like how every time I "black out" or try and use a pokemon center in any pokemon ROM, it freezes...?
I DID SOME SEARCHING AND FIXED THIS PROBLEM EASILY