How to use an existing save file with Goomba Color

Today I wanted to transfer my save file for Pokemon - Silver Edition from my PC to the EverDrive GBA X5 and continue my playthrough on my GameBoy Advance. I found out that the save file which was initially created on an emulator (namely mGBA), is not compatible with the Goomba Color emulator that I use on the GameBoy Advance.

Fortunately there is a way to convert any raw save file to a Goomba Color compatible one.

Obtain an empty save file

First create a new save file with the Goomba Color emulator on your GameBoy Advance for the game you want to use. After saving the game make sure to also press L+R to open the Goomba Color menu. By doing this the content of the save file is written to the SD card in your EverDrive.

Power off the GameBoy Advance, insert the SD card into your computer and mount the appropriate device node for later use.

Convert the save file

There is a tool called goombasav which we will use to convert any existing save file to a Goomba Color compatible one.

To do this, first clone the GitHub repository and then build the project:

$ git clone git@github.com:libertyernie/goombasav.git
$ cd goombasav
$ make

After that use the replace operation of goombasav to inject any existing savefile you already have, into the Goomba Color save file you created earlier:

$ ./goombasav replace /sdcard/GBASYS/emusave/Pokemon*.srm ~/saves/Pokemon*.sav

Make sure to adjust the file paths accordingly.

Now unmount the device, insert the SD card back into your EverDrive cartridge and check if the save file is working.

If you want to learn more about how Goomba Color stores save files, read this.