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.