[Dax]

Update 8/25/2010(August 25): New guide is being worked on. It should also work on System Menu 4.3.

New Guide:
Since I've seen a lot of posts creeping up on the Internet and our very own forums, I decided to tinker with savegames in MH3 too.

Credits:
Brett824 for his region converting steps(I did not ask permission, but I think giving credit to the original author is enough): [Original topic lost due to forum move]
HotGamerMum and Thraadash for granting me permission to post this guide.
Giantpune of Wiibrew/other sites for the modified Savegame Manager GX.

tldr: This guide changes stuff in your Wii, by overwriting save files.If you don't agree, leave now.

Warning/Disclaimer: This guide WILL slightly modify your Wii, to the point of overwriting/deleting save files and will void any warranties, as well as violate any EULAs, that are applicable to your Wii. I'm not responsible for any damages you may have from this guide, nor from the misuse of it. It does not enable piracy, and it does not enable the ability to play free games.
Note: If you are moving data to multiple Wiis, ALL of the Wiis in question must have the Homebrew Channel in order for this to work.
Why do we have to mod the Wii to mess with save files?
Because the Wii has security measures in place to deny altered saves, as well as measures to block access to the internal memory(Flash chip). We need to bypass these in order to move/convert our saves. Another reason we have to modify the Wii is because games with online functionalities are "not allowed" to be backed up to SD(something to do with network info, and friend codes).

Prerequisites:
1. The Homebrew Channel 1.0.7 or later.
2. SaveGame Manager GX
3. Know how to use the Homebrew Channel/Install applications(this guide will not cover those extreme basics).
4. USB drive/SD card

Terminology:
FAT device: Just your USB drive/SD card to save on redundant typing.

I will break this guide down into two sections: Region converting your saves, and moving your saves to other Wiis.

Region converting your saves:

1. Start Savegame Manager GX from The Homebrew Channel.

2. After a second or so it will list all of the saves currently found and stored on your Wii.

3. Click the Wii Button(Insert pic) and Select Monster Hunter 3 save(it will appear as jibberish if you're using JP tri, as this program does not have JP character support). If you have multiple Japanese game save files, you'll just have to examine them all until you find 00010000-524D484A(The Title ID of MH3 JP).

3a. Also extract your American/European MH3 save, as you'll need the files from that as well.

4. A window should pop up(Insert pic) showing you some info about the save. Press Extract.

5. After a couple seconds(depends how fast your FAT device is), the save will be extracted(if no errors happened).

6. Press B to go back, as we're not done yet.

7. Remove the FAT device from the Wii, and connect it back to your PC.

8. Now that you have both saves extracted, it's time to do some file swapping.

9. Browse your FAT device for a folder called "savegames".

10. In this folder you should see two folders(assuming you only extracted MH3 JP and MH3 US/EU) called 00010000524d484a(for JP Tri), and 00010000524d4845(for US tri), or 00010000524d4850(for PAL tri).

11. In the folder you want to convert FROM, you will see a file called banner.bin and a folder called nocopy. Go inside the nocopy folder, and highlight Data00 through Data05, and copy them.

12. Go into the folder you want to convert TO, and then in the nocopy folder, and paste/overwrite the already existing DataXX files.

13. Put your FAT device back in the Wii.

14. This time, Click the FAT device button(USB for USB, SD for SD).

15. Choose "Monster Hunter Tri" from the list(if you're going from JP->US/PAL), or the jibberish one(JP Tri) (if you're going from US/PAL to JP).

16. Press A to bring up a window with info, similar to the extraction menu. Choose Install.

17. If all went well it should say OK. Press any button after that to continue. Press Home to bring up a HOME menu similar to Wii games, and choose Wii Menu or Homebrew channel(Probably Wii Menu so you can launch your game).

18. Test the save with the game you converted TO. If it worked, you're done, and if you want to remove the softmod, skip down to Removing The Softmod.

Moving the Save to Another Wii:
NOTE: The Wii you're moving TO must have played the game at least ONCE before the Wii will accept a save install. Just put the disk in and let the game make a save. Savegame Manager ends up overwriting the new save.

NOTE2: If you had any previous saves on the Wii[s] you're moving to, relating to the game, THEY WILL BE OVERWRITTEN WITH THE ONE YOU'RE INSTALLING. So back them up if applicable.

1. First, make sure ALL of the Wiis in question have the Homebrew Channel 1.0.7 or later, otherwise you cannot install the saves.

2. After letting the Wii[s] you're transferring TO make the save data[if necessary, if you're already played on the other Wii[s] it doesn't matter), run Savegame Manager GX.
3. Choose your FAT device.

4. Choose your MH3 save.

5. Install it.

6. You're done.

Sorry for the vagueness in this section, but it's really just the same stuff as earlier parts in the guide, except without DataXX swapping.


Legacy guide(not recommended):

Spoiler

This is just a copy paste from the Google Cache. This guide should still be working. Will probably recolour at some point.

UPDATE 6/21/2010: DO NOT UPDATE YOUR WII TO 4.3 IF YOU WANT TO USE THIS GUIDE, IT IS RENDERED USELESS BY THE NEW UPDATE.


Since I've seen a lot of posts creeping up on the Internet and our very own forums, I decided to tinker with savegames in MH3 too.

Credits:
Brett824 for his region converting steps(I did not ask permission, but I think giving credit to the original author is enough): [Original topic lost due to forum move]
HotGamerMum and Thraadash for granting me permission to post this guide.

tldr: This guide changes stuff in your Wii, including modifying firmware, and overwriting save files. It also does not enable piracy. If you don't agree, leave now.

Warning/Disclaimer: This guide WILL slightly modify your Wii, to the point of installing a legal custom IOS, which is a system firmware, and will void any warranties, as well as violate any EULAs, that are applicable to your Wii. I'm not responsible for any damages you may have from this guide, nor from the misuse of it. It does not enable piracy, and it does not enable the ability to play free games. I will also provide steps to remove the modification at the end, in case you are paranoid about it.

Note: If you are moving data to multiple Wiis, ALL of the Wiis in question must be softmodded in order for this to work.

Note 2: This guide assumes your Wii is on System Menu 4.X(4.0, 4.1, 4.2). The region does NOT matter. If you are are already softmodded, then you can skip the modifying parts, and can run Savegame Manager from The Homebrew Channel(which this guide will not be installing, for the sake of those who hate anything modified more than necessary).

Why do we have to mod the Wii to mess with save files?

Because the Wii has security measures in place to deny altered saves, as well as measures to block access to the internal memory(Flash chip). We need to bypass these in order to move/convert our saves. Installing a Custom IOS(similar to a CFW for you PSP users, but not exactly the same) allows us to bypass these protections. Another reason we have to modify the Wii is because games with online functionalities are "not allowed" to be backed up to SD(something to do with network info, and friend codes).


I will break this guide down into three sections: Modifying the Wii, Region converting your saves, and moving your saves to other Wiis.

Modifying The Wii:

Things you will need:
1. SD card. Without an SD card(preferably NOT SDHC), you can't run any of this stuff.
1. Bannerbomb(to be able to run the following programs): http://bannerbomb.qo.../abd6a_v200.zip
2. DOP-Mii(for the actual mod): http://dop-mii.googl...OP-Mi%20v12.zip
3. Savegame Manager MOD(for extracting/installing save files): http://www.mediafire.com/?mlwzfnmlcma

How to install Bannerbomb in order to run homebrew programs:
1. Extract abd6a_v200.zip to your desktop, or some place convenient to you.

2. It should create a folder called "private", in which you will find a "wii" folder. Take this folder called private and place it in the ROOT of your SD card(example: If your sd card is X:(if you're on Windows), then just put the folder in X:, where all of your other folders(if any) are.).

2a. If you already have a folder called private, rename it to private.old or delete it(back it up first!) before copying this private folder.

3. Extract DOP-Mii v12.zip to your desktop as well, and it should contain a folder called "apps." Go inside it, and inside the DOP-Mii folder, you should see a file called "boot.dol". Put this file in the ROOT of your SD card.

4. Put the SD card in your Wii and turn it on.

5. On the Wii Menu, go to the SD Card Menu, which is located next to the Wii Options Menu button.

6. Skip through the tutorial information if it shows up, and then another message box should pop up asking you to "Load boot.dol/elf? (If you were paid, you were scammed! http://hbc.hackmii.com/scam)" Click Yes.

7. After a few seconds, the interface of DOP-Mii should be visible.

8. After reading the welcome screen, press A to continue(You do want to move/convert your saves, right? )

9. Press down on the Wiimote to select "Install IOS36 (v3351) w/FakeSign and press A.
9a. When asked are you sure you want to continue, press A(yes).

10. Next you should see "Downgrading IOS15 to v257. Loading IOS15 v257 into memory". Choose Download from NUS(if you have wifi). TODO: Cover offline install. After a minute or so(or less) it should be done.

11. Next it will ask you "Apply ES_Identify patch into IOS36?" Choose Yes(A).
12. Then it will ask you "Apply NAND Permissions Patch?" Choose Yes(A).

13. After it says "Loading IOS 36 v3351 into memory", choose Download from NUS again.

14. When that completes, it will ask if you wish to restore IOS15 to v523. Choose Yes, and Download from NUS.

15. Once completed, it will say you can use IOS 36 to install anything else(which will include our savegame!). Press any button to continue.

16. Press Home to exit DOP-Mii. If the program crashes with a screen called "Exception (DSI) Occurred!", that is fine, as bannerbomb can be unstable. Just turn off the Wii completely and turn it back on. The modification is now done.



Region converting your saves:

1. Extract Savegame Manager MOD v1.0.zip to your desktop or somewhere safe.

2. Take boot.dol from the folder it created(if applicable) and put it in the ROOT of your sd card(rename DOP-Mii's boot.dol if you want to keep it, or overwrite it, it does not matter).

3. Run Savegame Manager through Bannerbomb(see above in Modifying the Wii if you forget how).

4. After the welcome screen, press A to continue.

5. Next it will ask you which IOS you want to use. By default, it has 36 highlighted. Simply press A. If for some reason it's NOT selected, use left or right on the Wiimote dpad until you find it.

6. Next you will be asked "Select Mode: <Extract Mode>" or "Select Mode: <Install Mode>". Choose Extract mode.

7. For storage device, select Wii SD slot.

8. After a second or so it will list all of the saves currently found and stored on your Wii.

9. Select your Monster Hunter 3 save(it will appear as jibberish if you're using JP tri, as this program does not have JP character support). If you have multiple Japanese game save files, you'll just have to examine them all until you find 00010000-524D484A(The Title ID of MH3 JP).
9a. Also extract your American/European MH3 save, as you'll need the files from that as well.

10. When it asks you if you are sure, press A.

11. After a couple seconds(depends how fast your SD card is), the save will be extracted.

12. Press B to go back, as we're not done yet.

13. Remove the SD card from the Wii, and connect it back to your PC.

14. Now that you have both saves extracted, it's time to do some file swapping.

15. Browse your SD card for a folder called "savegames".

16. In this folder you should see two folders(assuming you only extracted MH3 JP and MH3 US/EU) called 00010000524d484a(for JP Tri), and 00010000524d4845(for US tri), or 00010000524d4850(for PAL tri).

17. In the folder you want to convert FROM, you will see a file called banner.bin and a folder called nocopy. Go inside the nocopy folder, and highlight Data00 through Data05, and copy them.

18. Go into the folder you want to convert TO, and then in the nocopy folder, and paste/overwrite the already existing DataXX files.

19. Put your SD card back in the Wii and run Savegame Manager through Bannerbomb again, if you turned your Wii off.

20. This time, go to INSTALL mode. Choose Wii SD slot.

21. Choose "Monster Hunter Tri" from the list(if you're going from JP->US/PAL), or the jibberish one(JP Tri) (if you're going from US/PAL to JP).

22. Press A to install the data.

23. If all went well it should say OK. Press any button after that to continue. Press Home to reboot the Wii(if it crashes, just turn it off, then on again).

24. Test the save with the game you converted TO. If it worked, you're done, and if you want to remove the softmod, skip down to Removing The Softmod.




Moving the Save to Another Wii:
NOTE: The Wii you're moving TO must have played the game at least ONCE before the Wii will accept a save install. Just put the disk in and let the game make a save. Savegame Manager ends up overwriting the new save.

NOTE2: If you had any previous saves on the Wii[s] you're moving to, relating to the game, THEY WILL BE OVERWRITTEN WITH THE ONE YOU'RE INSTALLING. So back them up if applicable.

1. First, modify ALL of the Wiis in question(see Modifying the Wii). The Wii that is extracting the save must be modded(obviously), but the ones that you're transferring TO must ALSO be modified, otherwise you cannot install the saves.

2. After letting the Wii[s] you're transferring TO make the save data[if necessary, if you're already played on the other Wii[s] it doesn't matter), run Savegame Manager MOD through Bannerbomb.

3. Choose install mode, and Wii SD slot.

4. Choose your MH3 save.

5. Install it.

6. You're done.

Sorry for the vagueness in this section, but it's really just the same stuff as earlier parts in the guide, except without DataXX swapping.


Removing the Softmod:

If for some reason you're paranoid about having IOS 36(the firmware we modified) modified once you're done follow these steps:

1. Put the DOPMii boot.dol file back in the ROOT of your SD card.

2. Run it through Bannerbomb.

3. Press A to continue, choose IOS 36 to install other IOSes with.

4. Choose IOS, BC, MIOS(it's selected by default) and press A.

5. Again, IOS 36 is the default option here, so once it's selected, press PLUS on the Wiimote to install it(and before you ask, it is okay to install IOS 36 over itself).

6. Choose yes when it asks you if you're sure to install it.

7. Say NO to Fakesign, ES_Identify, and NAND permissions.

8. Choose Download from NUS, and a few seconds later, it's done, and your Wii is completely normal again.

9. Press Home to exit(if it crashes, just power off and on again.).

Changelog:
v 1.0: Initial guide release. TODO: Add pictures to clarify steps, if needed.
v 1.1: New guide release, work in progress. TODO: Clarify if needed, add pictures

This post has been edited by Dax: 25 August 2010 - 02:59 PM

[Nosuke]

Change to verdana for easy reading

Normal Font
Verdana Font

It only take a few seconds

Thank you for your hard work

[PatserGOUKI]

good job Dax
I was going to ask you, but you saw it before I actually could lol.

[Dax]

Could anyone give me a confirmation that the guide is still working up to this point? I haven't had time to test it lately.

[ikko]

It does work!

and I used Savegame Manager GX instead of savegame manager.

Thank you!

[Dax]

No prob. I used Savegame Manager instead because GX requires an IOS/firmware most often related to piracy, so I didn't mention it. However, I found a modification of it that doesn't require said piracy IOS, so this guide now has no need for modification stuff anymore. Also, it works on 4.3, if you can install HBC.

Edit: I'm going to try and work in a way to make this guide even easier so it doesn't need to have 24 tedious steps. It might take me a while though.

Edit2: I rewrote portions of Savegame Manager GX to work with Homebrew Channel 1.0.8's USB 2.0 capabilities. It's still not tested well, but it seems to work.

Edit3: I found that someone beat me to the punch with this idea and it works better than my code, so I'll use that in this guide.

Edit4: First draft of new guide written, it's down to 18 steps now. It's also much easier now. No further modifying is needed anymore, assuming the user has The Homebrew Channel 1.0.7 or later.

This post has been edited by Dax: 25 August 2010 - 02:55 PM

[YesYourMom]

Just for the innocent people that don't know... DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS STUPID NOT-WORKING METHOD, IT WIL ONLY MAKE YOUR SAVE CORRUPT OR MH3 FREEZES AFTER THE MAIN MENU.

[CrossXchaos]

YesYourMom, on 05 October 2011 - 06:07 AM, said:

Just for the innocent people that don't know... DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS STUPID NOT-WORKING METHOD, IT WIL ONLY MAKE YOUR SAVE CORRUPT OR MH3 FREEZES AFTER THE MAIN MENU.

Ermm... Maybe it's just you?

Let's not flame on someones hard work