VMU Save Managers...

[rouken]

Ok, folks. I'm creating this post to talk about the files used to backup ours Dreamcast's saves, and the programs you can use to manipulate these files in your PC.

For information, there's three types of saves you can find available:
.VMS + .VMI files = First and default Dreamcast save format for PC;
.DCI files = Nexus backup format;
 RAW format = It's like the name implies. It's the format extracted directly from the VMU (you can use the DreamShell with a SD adapter to do this).

Emulators, like the Chankast and the NullDC, don't use any format above to save the games. These emulators create a file to replace the VMU in form of a .BIN file. All the saves can be stored in this VMU .BIN file in the same way of the real thing.

Ok... The point here is... You can use specific programs to manipulate those files. You can convert the file formats, send your saves from the real VMU to play in emulators (and vice-versa), and many other tricks, like extract the icons from the files.

But nothing is so simple. To manipulate Dreamcast Saves using a PC, I need to combine four programs to get all the features possibles. I'll put the programs available to download in this post (click in each title), and I'm pointing the Pros and Cons of each program to you understand their respectives good points and bad points.

Legends:
! = Exclusive Pros
+ = Non-Exclusive Pros
- = Cons




Chankast VMS data Browser

+ You can see the ICONDATA_VMS file from a VMU .BIN file (this icon is translucent to show it's a occult file to the Dreamcast's save manager);
- The VMU .BIN files must be correctly named to be recognized by the program (they must start with the VMS prefix);
- The Fix CRC option don't really fix the CRC;
- Don't show both icon and Graphic Eyecatch of the save in the same time (just shows the Graphic Eyecatch, if the save have one), and there are problems to show the Graphic Eyecatch;
- A .VMS file can be loaded without a .VMI file, and put an invalid data in your VMU .BIN file.

Can open the following formats:
>.BIN:　　　　Yes
>.VMS/.VMI:　Yes
>.DCI:　　　　Yes
> RAW:　　　　Yes +
Can save the following formats:
>.BIN:　　　　Yes
>.VMS/.VMI:　No -
>.DCI:　　　　Yes
> RAW:　　　　Yes !





VMU Explorer

! Defragment a VMU .BIN file to organize and clean it;
! Option to copy/paste a save from a VMU .BIN file to another;
! It shows correctly the Graphic Eyecatch;
! There's a option to fix the CRC (and this option really fix the CRC);
! If a CRC of a save is wrong, the CRC will be in red fonts;
+ You can see the ICONDATA_VMS file from a VMU .BIN file (but it's not translucent);
- If you save a file in this program, the download info is modified to show the file was edited by this program.

Can open the following formats:
>.BIN:　　　　Yes
>.VMS/.VMI:　Yes
>.DCI:　　　　Yes
> RAW:　　　　No
Can save the following formats:
>.BIN:　　　　Yes
>.VMS/.VMI:　Yes
>.DCI:　　　　Yes
> RAW:　　　　No





DC Save Converter

! Edit the file's date;
+ Edit the file's name;
+ Edit the type format (Save Data or VMU Game);
+ Enable/disable copy protection;
+ Extract icons in .GIF format;
- If you save a file in this program, the download info is modified to show the file was edited by this program.

Can open the following formats:
>.BIN:　　　　No
>.VMS/.VMI:　Yes
>.DCI:　　　　Yes
> RAW:　　　　Yes +
Can save the following formats:
>.BIN:　　　　No
>.VMS/.VMI:　Yes
>.DCI:　　　　Yes
> RAW:　　　　No





VMU Tool PC

! Extract the file's info to a .RTF file;
! Create a .VMI file for a lone .VMS file;
! Link a hex-editor program to hex-edit the files;
! Set the program to show the save's Checksum in Decimal or Hexa formats;
! Set the program to show the save's size in Blocks or Bytes formats;
! Edit .VMI's download info;
! Extract Graphic Eyecatch files;
! Extract each frame of the animation of the icon in different formats;
+ Extract icons in .GIF format;
+ Edit the file's name;
+ Edit the type format (Save Data or VMU Game);
+ Enable/disable copy protection;
+ Extract icons in .GIF format;
- Edit only file's name, data format, copy protection and download info for .VMS/.VMI format, not for .DCI format;
- Can't save the file to a new one or save in a different format. The program just update a existing file;
- Problems to show/extract Graphic Eyecatch.

Can open the following formats:
>.BIN:　　　　No
>.VMS/.VMI:　Yes
>.DCI:　　　　Yes
> RAW:　　　　No
Can save the following formats:
>.BIN:　　　　No
>.VMS/.VMI:　Yes
>.DCI:　　　　Yes
> RAW:　　　　No





Ok... With these programs you can solve many problems, especially to convert the file formats. I hope this post can bring some help.

[SWAT]

Nice work!

[rouken]

It's cool to show to the people about the Dreamcast save managers. Having the tools to open the files, change the formats and help managing the saves is something important...

But could be cool if someone could take a look in all these tools, get some inspiration and create just one save manager with all the good points, fix the bad points and put some extras. With this, we could have just one manager instead four.

I would like to create such tool, but I know nothing about programming... T_T

[alex]

Цитата:Emulators, like the Chankast and the NullDC, don't use any format above to save the games. These emulators create a file to replace the VMU in form of a .BIN file. All the saves can be stored in this VMU .BIN file in the same way of the real thing.

.BIN it is VMU image file
you can dump it from VMU to SD card using Dreamshell. Just type in console following command

Код:

vmu -d -a A1 -o /sd/vmu.bin

for write dumped image to VMU use command

Код:

vmu -r -a A1 -f /sd/vmu.bin

[rouken]

(14.05.2012 20:34)alex писал(а):  .BIN it is VMU image file
you can dump it from VMU to SD card using Dreamshell. Just type in console following command

Код:

vmu -d -a A1 -o /sd/vmu.bin

for write dumped image to VMU use command

Код:

vmu -r -a A1 -f /sd/vmu.bin

Wow!! That's amazing!! I didn't know about this feature!! Thanx for the tip. I'll use this when I have an opportunity...

In fact, I already had suggested a specific VMU manager option for the DreamShell HERE (Suggestion 4 to be more specific...).

[SWAT]

For completeness, I present a list of options for this command:

Код:

Usage: vmu option args
Options:
-c, --convert      -Convert file
-d, --dump         -Dump VMU
-r, --restore      -Restore dump
-s, --size         -Set VMU size(in blocks)
-p, --printinfo    -Print VMU info
Arguments:
-a, --address      -VMU address
-n, --normal       -Convert to normal file
-v, --vmu          -Convert to VMU file
-i, --info         -VMU file description
-f, --file         -In file
-o, --out          -Out file
Examples: vmu -c -v -f /cd/file.txt -o /vmu/a1/DSFILE00.DSV -i Test vmu file
          vmu --convert --normal --file /vmu/a1/DSFILE00.DSV --out /ram/file.txt
          vmu -d -a A1 -o /ram/dump.vmd
          vmu --restore --address A1 --file /ram/dump.vmd
          vmu -p -s 240

For this command, it's time to make an application

[rouken]

(15.05.2012 11:54)SWAT писал(а):  For completeness, I present a list of options for this command:

Код:

Usage: vmu option args
Options:
-c, --convert      -Convert file
-d, --dump         -Dump VMU
-r, --restore      -Restore dump
-s, --size         -Set VMU size(in blocks)
-p, --printinfo    -Print VMU info
Arguments:
-a, --address      -VMU address
-n, --normal       -Convert to normal file
-v, --vmu          -Convert to VMU file
-i, --info         -VMU file description
-f, --file         -In file
-o, --out          -Out file
Examples: vmu -c -v -f /cd/file.txt -o /vmu/a1/DSFILE00.DSV -i Test vmu file
          vmu --convert --normal --file /vmu/a1/DSFILE00.DSV --out /ram/file.txt
          vmu -d -a A1 -o /ram/dump.vmd
          vmu --restore --address A1 --file /ram/dump.vmd
          vmu -p -s 240

For this command, it's time to make an application

Complete service is always welcome!! Commands annotated...

But it could be better the already requested VMU Manager for the DreamShell with a cool graphic interface, instead those DOS-like commands...

Question: Why there's a .VMD file instead a .BIN file for the VMU dump? A .VMD file is another VMU file for some emulator, or it's just a example name (VMD for Visual Memory Dump)?

[SWAT]

(15.05.2012 19:12)rouken писал(а):  it's just a example name (VMD for Visual Memory Dump)?

Yep, this is the same as .BIN