Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save

[Amerika]

Hello!

I recently purchased a Memory Base 128 to backup my PC Engine Duo-R saves and I have ran into a pretty big issue that I can't get resolved via Googling.

I am using Emerald Dragon, as detailed here:  http://pce.lifeabroad.org/mb128.html.  If I save from my system to the Memory Base 128, it copies without an issue.  However, if I try to copy a save from the Memory Base 128 to my PC Engine, the software locks up and I get a really loud humming noise.  I also, without fail, lose any saves on my PC Engine but not on the MB 128.  This sucks because I lost a save where I was a few hours into Dynastic Hero

Does anybody have any knowledge on if I am doing something wrong or if the MB 128 or maybe my Duo-R is causing the issue?

Oh, I tried it with and without batteries in the MB128 but I got the same results.

Here is a Youtube video of the issue if anybody wants to see/hear it.  I do give a warning to turn down your volume though before I click the button that starts the problem.  So fair warning

[Digi.k]

I have both mem 128 and emerald dragon but sadly my mem 128 is dead... so I can't test this out :/

EDIT

Magicoal has a similar problem in that you can save to the mem 128 but if you load from it the game will just hang.

[Amerika]

I have both mem 128 and emerald dragon but sadly my mem 128 is dead... so I can't test this out :/

EDIT

Magicoal has a similar problem in that you can save to the mem 128 but if you load from it the game will just hang.

I totally forgot..but a few weeks ago I made this Pastebin that contains all of the games that either use the MB128 natively or have programs to interface with it.

https://pastebin.com/wDJQEz3U

I am going to try Popful Mail and Linda and see where that gets me.

[gilbert]

As far as I remember, the MB128 utility in Emerald Dragon wasn't very reliable and I've lost a couple of saves BiTD. I used the utility in Private Eye Doll instead (note: the format is not compatible with those in Emerald Dragon, so if you transfer your BRAM saves to a file in MB128 with Emerald Dragon, you cannot restore it with Private Eye Doll).

[Amerika]

As far as I remember, the MB128 utility in Emerald Dragon wasn't very reliable and I've lost a couple of saves BiTD. I used the utility in Private Eye Doll instead (note: the format is not compatible with those in Emerald Dragon, so if you transfer your BRAM saves to a file in MB128 with Emerald Dragon, you cannot restore it with Private Eye Doll).

I just tried Linda3 and it has what appears to be the exact same application as Emerald Dragon.  It has the same lockup too.

I tried Popful mail and it took a little while to figure out what was going on but it seems like I can't transfer files back and forth with the utility in that game.

I tried out A Train III as I just wanted to see if saving/loading from the MB128 worked in a compatible game and I could not figure out how to save games directly to the MB128.  All 4 slots all went to the PC Engine itself.

I'll try out Private Eye Dol...where is the save feature located?  And do you mean that if I have an Emerald Dragon save only or do you mean more games?  Mostly I am interested in the Y's series and Dynastic hero for now.  I can't play Emerald Dragon or Private Eye Dol, sadly, due to my severe lack of ability in reading Japanese.  Which sucks because Private Eye Dol looks pretty awesome.

[gilbert]

I'll try out Private Eye Dol...where is the save feature located?  And do you mean that if I have an Emerald Dragon save only or do you mean more games?  Mostly I am interested in the Ys series and Dynastic hero for now.  I can't play Emerald Dragon or Private Eye Dol, sadly, due to my severe lack of ability in reading Japanese.  Which sucks because Private Eye Dol looks pretty awesome.

It's the last option in the title screen:

(Screenshot borrowed from PCECP.com. The three options are "Start", "Continue" and "Backup Utility".)
You can backup entire content of your backup RAM to the MB128 (and then restore them), just like Emerald Dragon or Ten no Koe Bank. As far as I remember, it probably does other things such as copying files, etc. It's much polished and stable than the one in Emerald Dragon.

I don't know why when talking about this matter, everyone recommends Emerald Dragon, but my memory with its utility wasn't good. It's as buggy as the game itself. Maybe it's because Private Eye Doll, as a visual novel, was a bit obscure for westerners, that nobody even dared to try it.

[Amerika]

I'll try out Private Eye Dol...where is the save feature located?  And do you mean that if I have an Emerald Dragon save only or do you mean more games?  Mostly I am interested in the Ys series and Dynastic hero for now.  I can't play Emerald Dragon or Private Eye Dol, sadly, due to my severe lack of ability in reading Japanese.  Which sucks because Private Eye Dol looks pretty awesome.

It's the last option in the title screen:

(Screenshot borrowed from PCECP.com. The three options are "Start", "Continue" and "Backup Utility".)
You can backup entire content of your backup RAM to the MB128 (and then restore them), just like Emerald Dragon or Ten no Koe Bank. As far as I remember, it probably does other things such as copying files, etc. It's much polished and stable than the one in Emerald Dragon.

I don't know why when talking about this matter, everyone recommends Emerald Dragon, but my memory with its utility wasn't good. It's as buggy as the game itself. Maybe it's because Private Eye Doll, as a visual novel, was a bit obscure for westerners, that nobody even dared to try it.

I should have tried the game before asking.  I found the menu and I also got far enough in the game to make my own save from the in-game menu system.  However, I could not figure out how to transfer save files or banks around.  There is what appears to be a Copy option which I can't figure out.  Then to it's right is a copy all function which seems to copy all the contents of the PCE to any bank I want on the MB128.  Then the bottom left option, I believe, is a format option?  I lost all my saves on the 128 when I chose it.  And the bottom right option I thought was an erase but I am not sure.

So, if I have this straight, I can use the second copy all option and copy everything from the "PC" (first in the list) option to any bank in the MB 128.  So when I run out of room, I copy to those banks and then delete files to make space.  And if I ever want those files back, I just copy that bank back to the PC option in the menu?

If that is correct, then I can use that utility to do what I want instead of Emerald Dragon.  And it's a hell of a lot safer than using an HuCard bank option since this thing allows me to change the batteries while it's plugged in without losing all my saves.

[Amerika]

OK, so I got it all figured out and my Memory Base 128 is saved thanks to Gilbert

The utility, once you know what to do, is quite nice.  I do not know any of the gotchas in regards to save incompatibilities like what you mentioned with Private Eye Dol and Emerald Dragon.  I was able to confirm that Dynastic Hero works though.  I made a save on the PCE, I went into Private Eye Dol and copied the save over to a different bank, deleted the save, verified that it was deleted, copied Dynastic Hero save back over to the PCE and fired up Dynastic Hero and I was able to load the game without issue.

I did make a quick video on how to do it for my own reference which I will leave unlisted.  However, if you guys think it might be valuable, I could make a better one that is a bit more concise and also tells people NOT to use the bottom left option which, I believe, formats the whole PCE or MB128.

[gilbert]

As it's been a while, can you take a picture of the backup utility screen, so that I can just translate what's on it?

[Amerika]

OK, so I think I have this figured out.

I can copy the contents to whatever bank I want using Private Eye Dol fairly easily.  However, if I want to view the contents in any of the MB128's banks I first have to copy the contents of that bank to the PC Engine (make sure to backup the PCE first in another bank).  Then I load up the Erase tool (bottom right/4th option) and select the PCE.  I can then view the individual save files.

Is there a better way to view your saves on the MB 128 than that particular method?  It's not a huge issue but I would be totally fine loading up another game if I simply wanted to check out everything I had saved on the MB128 easily.  Loading up each bank individually like how I described would be a bit of a PITA in the future after I have more saves.  I guess I could always just put the info on a Google Sheet haha.

[esteban]

I purchased an MB128 a week or two ago, so this thread is going to save me a lot of grief and confusion.

[Amerika]

I purchased an MB128 a week or two ago, so this thread is going to save me a lot of grief and confusion.

Haha, fantastic.  Hopefully my video above helps save you some time.  Like I said earlier, I might make a better one that fully demonstrates the utility.  Google is extremely light on information in this area outside of the one game that seems to not work for multiple people (Emerald Dragon).  I almost returned my MB 128 thinking it was defective if it wasn't for Gilbert saving the day.

[esteban]

I purchased an MB128 a week or two ago, so this thread is going to save me a lot of grief and confusion.

Haha, fantastic.  Hopefully my video above helps save you some time.  Like I said earlier, I might make a better one that fully demonstrates the utility.  Google is extremely light on information in this area outside of the one game that seems to not work for multiple people (Emerald Dragon).  I almost returned my MB 128 thinking it was defective if it wasn't for Gilbert saving the day.

Definitely make a video explaining (1) how to use the damn thing and (2) then, document the problems you experienced. That will help a few bastards in the future, especially as a reference/guide.

[Amerika]

I purchased an MB128 a week or two ago, so this thread is going to save me a lot of grief and confusion.

Haha, fantastic.  Hopefully my video above helps save you some time.  Like I said earlier, I might make a better one that fully demonstrates the utility.  Google is extremely light on information in this area outside of the one game that seems to not work for multiple people (Emerald Dragon).  I almost returned my MB 128 thinking it was defective if it wasn't for Gilbert saving the day.

Definitely make a video explaining (1) how to use the damn thing and (2) then, document the problems you experienced. That will help a few bastards in the future, especially as a reference/guide.

I already made it...which should get you started.  I was simply thinking of making a better one and setting it public that explains things a bit better.  I don't have time tonight to do it but I could definitely do it if there isn't some other better resource somebody knows of out there.

This is the video that is linked above: 

[gilbert]

As far as I remember, there are also some quirks, mainly with combinations of what peripherals you have attached to the (single...) joypad port.

Magicoal is one game that supports nearly every peripherals that you can plug in there (Princess Maker 2 is another). It supports the MB128(saves its own game only, not backing up contents of backup RAM), multitap(as it has 2P co-op gameplay), 6-button pads and even the mouse! BUT every time I saved my game to MB128, it couldn't be loaded back (game frozen like the Emerald Dragon case mentioned here), but if I move the save back to the internal BRAM it works. I never figured out what's the problem, until recent years, that I've read somewhere online (sorry, can't find it now) that there is a bug in the game, so that when the multitap and the MB128 are both connected saved games in the MB128 cannot be loaded, i.e. there are some conflicts with some combination of peripherals(I think that's it, as my memory isn't good). Maybe there was a later revision of the game that fixed this glitch (like the recently confirmed fixed Altered Beast), it's frustrating anyway. Maybe Emerald Dragon has similar problems.

I think Lemmings even came with a small piece of paper insert warning players that the game won't work if the MB128 is connected. That is, they found a bug, but couldn't fix it before release. (Another game with funny paper insert was the extremely buggy, awesome, and extremely buggy awesome  Monster Maker (I). The paper outright warned players not to save any game at certain location as that would make the game unwinnable. This is not MB128 related but isn't it cute?  ). At least this game doesn't use the MB128 anyway, so just remember to remove it from the chain before you control the suicidal rodents. But in Magicoal's case the game actually supports both peripherals but couldn't use them at the same time. Again it's preferable to have the MB128 removed as its saves aren't that large to require it anyways and that 2P co-op is one of the main highlights of the game.

It's a pity they put the nail on the coffin to the original expansion port since the release of Duo, as 100% of the time that was eventually used to connect to the (interface unit of) CD-ROM drive anyway, leaving you with one single JOYPAD port to daisy chain connect with EVERY.SINGLE.EXPANSION.  Even if it's a slight change that the console came with two joypad ports would have saved a lot of troubles. Plus, it looks horrible as the chain of expansion stuff is a literal chain. In the extreme case, typical setup of my system BiTD would be like:

Code: [Select]

_______________________
|Duo       |          |
|          |          |
|          |          |
|__________|__________|
        |
     ___|___
     |MB128|
     |_____|
        |
     ___|___
     |MTap |
     |_____|
      / | \
    /   |   \
   P1   P2   Mouse
And not infrequently, when you move a bit harder, these stuff just fell off the table. NICE.