Managing Savegames via execFTPs - help need immediately!

[DrGast]

First of all, I hope I'm posting in the right forum ...

Well, I just hooked up my PS2 to my PC to transfer some save files (in raw PS2 format via execFTPs).

Now there's something weird showing up in my FTP software (FlashFXP): There are multiple memory card folders containing multiple copies of the memory card. The /mc/ folder contains folders 0 - 15 !!! I was expecting to see only 0 and 1 (0 for memory card slot 1 and 1 for slot 2). Now the best thing is, all of these folders contain save files and I'm not sure what to do with them. Is it safe to delete those? They all seem to be copies of folders 0 and 1, where 2 is the same as 0 and 3 the same as 1 and so on. So, what's the deal here? I'm absolutely confused as to how this stuff got there in the first place.

I'm currently backing up all the 15 mc folders to my HD just in case I'm doing something wrong. In addition, the PS2 browser is reporting "broken data" on my first memory card and reports it as having 0 bytes of free memory..

Is it safe to backup all my stuff to HD and format the memory card over to start from scratch?

Thanks for your help in advance!

[dlanor]

The correct thing to do about the mc/2/ through mc/15/ is to ignore them, as they are not real. Each even-numbered one is a virtual mirror of mc/0/, and each odd-numbered one is a virtual mirror of mc/1/. Backing up these mirrors separately is just a waste of time.

The only real ones are mc/0/ and mc/1/, but if you erase anything from their virtual mirrors, you will ALSO erase that stuff from the real memory cards !!! So stay out of those folders, and just ignore them...

Is it safe to backup all my stuff to HD and format the memory card over to start from scratch?

In most cases yes, but not in all cases.
Some games encode the real-time clock at save time into the saved file, and if the file has been manipulated later its time stamp will change, no longer matching the value stored in the file. Some other games use special attribute flags for the saved file which will not be preserved even by normal copying, and certainly not by FTP. (eg: Star Ocean 3 Battle trophy save.) Such saves will not be usable after 'reviving' a memory card that way. But for most games it will work fine.

Best regards: dlanor

[DrGast]

Wow. Thanks a LOT. That was VERY informative AND helpful.

[Ruddicz]

Good stuff to know, I am still on the hunt for a good PS2 mem card to HDD manager. I can't seem to find one that decodes the names of the games like the PS2 browser does.

[dlanor]

Good stuff to know, I am still on the hunt for a good PS2 mem card to HDD manager. I can't seem to find one that decodes the names of the games like the PS2 browser does.

The browser of LaunchELF will do that when you press L1.

Best regards: dlanor