Game Saves

• Common terms used in this page
  • <userid> The number assigned by the system to this user when his account was created (is a counter). Stored in XRegistry.sys, e.g: 00000001
  • <SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY> Name of the folder where the savedata files are stored, composed by TITLE_ID + some variable characters added by the game, e.g: BLES00001-nick01save01
  • <TITLE_ID> Name of the folder where the game was installed (different than the TITLE_ID in his PARAM.SFO that refers to the original ID when the game was released years ago as a disc)
  • <virtual_memcard> The name you assigned to the card when it was created from the "Memory Card Utility (PS/PS2)" in XMB
  • Any_Other_Files Represents all the other files in the folder generated by the game with any filename and filextensions that are dependant of each game and can vary, e.g: "PROFILE.BIN", "PROGRESS.SAV" (in PS3 Game Saves) or "SECURE.BIN" (in Minis Game Saves) etc...
  • <MC_Save_ID> Identifyer of each Game Save of a PS1 or PS2 Memory Card. Used as the file name when an single Game Save is exported to USB, e.g: BESLES-53702535953.PSV
  • PARAM.SFO Information about the Game Save. This one is never encrypted.
  • PARAM.PFD Signatures of some of the other files in the folder. The signature method is still unknown.

Game Saves PS3

Storage Media	Path	Import/Export file conversions
Internal HDD	dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/savedata/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/ICON0.PNG	No conversion
	dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/savedata/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/PARAM.PFD	values updated when imported ? (not verifyed)
	dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/savedata/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/PARAM.SFO	values updated when imported ? (not verifyed)
	dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/savedata/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/Any_Other_Files	No conversion
External USB	dev_usb0/PS3/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/ICON0.PNG	No conversion
	dev_usb0/PS3/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/PARAM.PFD	values updated when exported ? (not verifyed)
	dev_usb0/PS3/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/PARAM.SFO	values updated when exported ? (not verifyed)
	dev_usb0/PS3/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/Any_Other_Files	No conversion

• ICON0.PNG in the table represents all the multimedia files supported by the XMB for this format like images, audio, etc... See: Content Information Files - Saved Data Utility (PS3)

PS3 Copy Protection Flag

The ones without "Copy Protection" can be copyed to an external USB storage device (by pressing triangle over his icon in XMB with the option "copy" of the side menu)

Copy protection can be removed from a Game Save by changing a flag in the ATTRIBUTE of his PARAM.SFO. This can be done when PARAM.PFD doesnt contains the signature of PARAM.SFO (only a few old games)

PS3 Games unprotected

There are two types of possible protections:

• One possible encryption in the files generated by the game that is not mandatory and depends of the developers of the game.

• And other protection based on signatures stored in PARAM.PFD generated and managed by the system. This file supervises signatures of other files of the folder, the list of files supervised is not fixed and again... it depends of the developers of the game, but usually PARAM.SFO is inside this list

This allows modifications/cheats for some games wich files are not encrypted, and not supervised by PARAM.PFD

• MotorStorm (protected with CRC32 checksum)
• Call Of Duty 4 (hacked saves can be found on the internet)
• Battlefield: Bad Company
• Assassin's Creed
• Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII

For a more complete list, with example download links : http://www.ps3hax.net/showthread.php?t=8559

Source: http://ps3dev.wikispaces.com/Saved+Games

Game Saves Minis

Storage Media	Path	Import/Export file conversions
Internal HDD	dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/minis_savedata/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/ICON0.PNG	No conversion
	dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/minis_savedata/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/PARAM.SFO	values updated when imported ? (not verifyed)
	dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/minis_savedata/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/Any_Other_Files	No conversion
External USB & PSP & PSvita?	dev_usb0/PSP/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/ICON0.PNG	No conversion
	dev_usb0/PSP/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/PARAM.SFO	values updated when exported ? (not verifyed)
	dev_usb0/PSP/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/Any_Other_Files	No conversion

• ICON0.PNG in the table represents all the multimedia files supported by the XMB for this format like images, audio, etc... See: Content Information Files - Saved Data Utility (minis)

This format is inherited from PSP (is older than PS3), and later implemented in PSvita, the "Minis Saved Games" can be exported/imported between the 3 consoles. There is no conversion of the files between the 3 consoles.

Game Saves PS1

Storage Media	Path	Import/Export file conversions
Internal HDD	dev_hdd0/savedata/vmc/<virtual_memcard>.VM1	When importing the "block" is injected in the VM1
External USB & PSvita?	dev_usb0/PS3/EXPORT/PSV/<Save_ID>.PSV	When exporting to USB the "block" is extracted from VM1 an saved separatedly as a PSV
External PSP & PSvita? Only "PS1 Classics"	dev_usb0/PSP/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/ICON0.PNG	CATEGORY "MS"
	dev_usb0/PSP/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/PARAM.SFO
	dev_usb0/PSP/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/SCEVMC0.VMP	When exporting to PSP the "block" is extracted from VM1 and injected in VMP
	dev_usb0/PSP/SAVEDATA/<SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY>/SCEVMC1.VMP	When exporting to PSP the "block" is extracted from VM1 and injected in VMP
External MC	mc_root/	Raw copy from/to a real PS1 or PS2 Memory Card using a Memory Card Adapter

• ICON0.PNG in the table represents all the multimedia files supported by the XMB for this format like images, audio, etc... same format than minis. See: Content Information Files - Saved Data Utility (minis)

Memory Card Formats PS1

Memory card PS1 (original)

Original Memory card PS1	VMP
128KB = 131072 bytes = 0x20000 bytes	129 KB = 131200 bytes = 0x20080 bytes

Details
1 Block = 8KB = 8192 bytes = 0x2000 bytes
1 Frame =128 bytes = 0x80 bytes

The original memory card for the PS1 is 128 kilobytes of non-volatile RAM. This is split into 16 blocks each containing 8 kilobytes each. The very first block is is a header block used as a directory and file allocation table leaving 15 blocks left over for data storage. The data blocks contains the program data file name, block name, icon, and other critical information. The PSX accesses the data via a "frame" method. Each block is split into 64 frames, each 128 bytes. The first frame (frame 0) is the file name, frames 1 to 3 contain the icon, (each frame of animation taking up one frame) leaving the rest of the frames for save data.

Original Memory Card PS1 (128 KB) (on PS3 XMB display :  freespace available / 120KB)
              |- Header Block 0 (this block is not accessible and visible from menu)
              |       |---1  Header Frame    ( 128 bytes)
              |       |---15 Directory Frame (1920 bytes)
              |       |---20 Unused Frame    (2560 bytes)
              |       |---Filled with FF     (3456 bytes)
              |       |---others             ( 128 bytes)
              |         (total: 8192 bytes : 8 KB)
              |
              |   
              |- Data Block 1   (this block and others are visible on screen, one game can use more than one block)
              |       |---Frame 0 (File Name: 128 bytes)
              |       |---Frame 1 (Icon) (Icon can be combine for animation or different display from the same game)
              |       |---Frame 2 (Icon) 
              |       |---Frame 3 (Icon)
              |       |---Frame 4 (Save Data)
              |       |---Frame 5 (Save Data)
              |       |--- ...  
              |       |---Frame 63 
              |         (total 64 frames: 8 KB)
              |
              |- Data Block 2
              |
              |- Data Block 3
              |  
              |- Data Block 4
              |
              |- ...
              |
              |- Data Block 15 
                        (total 16 block: 128 KB)

Size: 128KB

(VM1 is similar as original ps1 but need more inspections)

Offset	Lenght	Example	Description
			Header Frame
0x00000	2	MC	Magic
0x00002	125	filled with zero	Unused
0x0007F	1	0E	XOR code
			15 Directory Frame
0x00080	1		Available blocks (similar on VM1?) Upper 4 bits A - Available 5 - partially used F - Unusable Lower 4 bits 0 - Unused 1 - There is no link, but one will be here later 2 - mid link block 3 - terminating link block F - unusable Example A0 - Open block 51 - In use, there will be a link in the next block 52 - In use, this is in a link and will link to another 53 - In use, this is the last in the link FF - Unusable
0x00081	3		When it's reserved it's FF FF FF
0x00084	4		Use Byte Open block middle link block, or end link block Per Block 0x2000 - No link, but will be a link (00 20 00 - one blocks will be used) (00 40 00 - two blocks will be used) (00 E0 01 - 15 blocks will be used, max )
0x00088	2	00 00	Link order Block/frame 0-14 If the bock/frame isn't in a link or if it's the last link in the line, it's 0xffff
0x0008A	2		Country Code (BI, BA, BE) In Japan the code is BI, Europe is BE, and America is BA.
0x0008C	10		Product Code (AAAA-00000) AAAA: Japan SLPS, SCPS (from SCEI) America SLUS, SCUS (from SCEA) Europe SLES, SCES (from SCEE)
0x00096	8		Identifier This Number is created unique to the current game played. Meaning the first time a game is saved on the card, every subsequent save has the same identifier, but it a new game is started from the beginning, that will have a different identifier. The identifier is a variation on the name of the game, for example FF7 will be FF7-S01, FF7-S02,....(last bytes are not used in this case, can be also filled with zero in other game) It don't really matter. With a PocketStation program, the product ID is a monochrome icon, a hyphen and the later part containing a "P". Country code(2 bytes)+Product number(10 bytes)+Identifier(8 bytes)= File name. See also: [DiscID]
0x0009E	97		Unused
0x000FF	1	A0	XOR Code
			Repeat 14 others similars Directory Frame
			20 Unused Directory Frame
0x00800	1	FF	Available blocks (similar on VM1?)
0x00801	3	FF FF FF	Reserved (similar on VM1?&VMP)
0x00804	4	00000000	Unused (similar on VM1?&VMP)
0x00808	2	FF	Link order Block/frame: FF
0x0080A	118	filled with zero
			Repeat 19 Unused Directory Frame
			Others
0x01200	3456	filled with FF
0x01F80	128
			Block 1
			Frame 0
0x02000	2	SC
0x02002	1		Icon Display Flag 00 : No icon 11 : Icon has 1 frame of animation (static) 12 : Icon has 2 frames (animation) 13 : Icon has 3 frames (animation)
0x02003	1		Block Number (1-15) ?
0x02004			Title of the save data (in Shift-JIS format) Display on XMB, example: FF7/SAVE01/73:25 (in this case, time played is display but can be also level or others infos specific to the save data, or just generic)
0x02050			Used for PocketStation
0x02060

Source infos PS1: Inside the PSX by Joshua Walker p94-95-96 (need to find back the internal link/ copyrighted : Do with it what you please)

Virtual Memory Card PS1 (.VM1)

VM1 is a PS1 memory card in "PS3 format", used in PS3 internal HDD only., games can use one block or several ones, each block has a name that identifies it (the first one is at offset 0x64 inside virtual_memcard.VM1 // it snt 0x8A for .VM1 and 0x64 for .PSV?)

PS1 Single Save ? (.PSV)

PSV is a PS1 "block" in "PS3 format". When exporting to a "standard" USB device the Game Saves are converted to "blocks" in PS3 format. The name of the exported file is the identifyer of the block

Size: 9KB (only one single save data using one block)

Offset	Size	Value	Description
0x00000	4	.VSP
0x00005	4	filled with zero
0x00008	40
0x00030	52
0x00064	2		Country Code (BI, BA, BE) of the game
0x00066	10		Product Code (but a bit different than VM1?)

Virtual Memory Card PSP (.VMP)

VMP is a PS1 memory card in "PSP format"

To export to PSP first is needed to register the PSP as a remote play device (in PS3 settings menu), and activate the USB mode (in PSP XMB)

Then, from the "Memory Card Utility (PS/PS2)" you can browse the blocks inside the virtual_memcards, by pressing triangle over a block and selecting the option "copy" the PS3 gives two options, one is an icon of your PSP identifyed by his nick, by selecting the PSP icon the PS3 displays this message: "Do you want to convert this data for use with the PSP system and then copy it?. If you select [No] the data will be copied without being converted"

If you select [YES]: Then, PS3 will display the others virtual memory cards of your PSP (SCEVMC0.VMP and SCEVMC1.VMP for each ps1 classic game) you select where to copy the save data. It s doesn t really matter which virtual memory card was selected, you can import/export internally on PSP after.

You can continue your game from PSP to PS3 under differents game formats such as cso/iso and continue on PS3 after transfer of your savedata if the game share the same DiscID and . See: Emulation and Filename ( on following structures, and Identifier doesnt really matter )

• When the game is installed in PS3 it contains a "SAVEDATA" folder stored with the rest of the game files, only used by the PS3 to generate Save Games in PSP format.

Difference between SCEVMC0.VMP & SCEVMC1.VMP when copy to PSP: the slot 1 is for SCEVMC0, slot 2 is for SCEVMC1.VMP. If you save previoulsy on slot 1, it will be SCEVMC0.VMP who contain the informations about your savedata.

• This "SAVEDATA" folder used as a source contains a PARAM.SFO (with CATEGORY "MS" memory stick, and his SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY where it will be installed when exported to PSP), an ICON0.PNG (in 80x80 pixels) and two virtual_memcard.VMP (with empty blocks). All in PSP format, never updated, and not intended to store Save Games, only to export them

Size: 129KB ( on PSP, size displayed is different)

Offset	Lenght	Example	Description
0x00000	5	.PMV	( 00 50 4D 56 80 )
0x00005	7	filled with zero
0x0000C	40		When empty:(and not being transfer) On SCEVMC0.VMP: On SCEVMC1.VMP:
0x00034	74	filled with zero
0x00080	2	MC	From here, similar than VM1 (can have somes little difference such Product Code, need more inspection)
0x00082	125	Filled with zero	Similar on VM1
0x000FF	1	OE	XOR code, similar on VM1
0x00100	1		Available blocks (Similar on VM1?): Example: 51 when only one block is used A0 when no block is used (empty save)
0x00101	3	00 00 00	(similar than VM1 but if reserved?)
0x00104	4		Use Byte (similar than VM1?)
0x00108	2		Link order Block: FF FF when only one block used or empty save
0x0010A	2		Country Code (BI, BA, BE) Similar than VM1
0x0010A	10		Product Code (AAAAP00000) (instead of hyphen on VM1, it s a P)

Memory Card Tools PS1

[MemcardRex v1.5]

MemcardRex is a PSX memory card explorer/editor.

The following Memory Card formats are supported:
   * ePSXe/PSEmu Pro Memory Card(*.mcr)
   * DexDrive Memory Card(*.gme)
   * pSX/AdriPSX Memory Card(*.bin)
   * Bleem! Memory Card(*.mcd)
   * VGS Memory Card(*.mem, *.vgs)
   * PSXGame Edit Memory Card(*.mc)
   * DataDeck Memory Card(*.ddf)
   * WinPSM Memory Card(*.ps)
   * Smart Link Memory Card(*.psm)
   * MCExplorer(*.mci)
   * PSP virtual Memory Card(*.vmp) (opening only)
The following single save formats are supported:
   * PSXGame Edit single save(*.mcs)
   * XP, AR, GS, Caetla single save(*.psx)
   * Memory Juggler(*.ps1)
   * Smart Link(*.mcb)
   * Datel(*.mcx;*.pda)
   * RAW single saves
   * PS3 virtual saves (*.psv) (importing only)

Game Saves PS2

Storage Media	Path	Import/Export file conversions
Internal HDD	dev_hdd0/savedata/vmc/<virtual_memcard>.VM2
External USB	dev_usb0/PS3/EXPORT/PSV/<Save_ID>.PSV	When exporting to USB the "block" is extracted from VM2 an saved separatedly as a PSV
External USB Only "PS2 Classics"	dev_usb0/PS3/EXPORT/PS2SD/<TITLE_ID>/ICON0.PNG	Direct copy from the game install folder, no conversion
	dev_usb0/PS3/EXPORT/PS2SD/<TITLE_ID>PARAM.SFO	Added a signature at the end of the file (out of the SFO structure)
	dev_usb0/PS3/EXPORT/PS2SD/<TITLE_ID>/SCEVMC0.VME
	dev_usb0/PS3/EXPORT/PS2SD/<TITLE_ID>/SCEVMC1.VME
External MC	mc_root/	Raw copy from/to a real PS2 Memory Card using a Memory Card Adapter

• ICON0.PNG in the table represents all the multimedia files supported by the XMB for this format like images, audio, etc... same format than PS3. See: Content Information Files - Saved Data Utility (PS3)

Memory Card Formats PS2

Memory card PS2 (original)

The PS2 memory card file system has a fairly simple design, with some allowances made for the limitations of flash memory. It's overall structure is similar to the well known MS-DOS FAT file system. It uses a file allocation table (FAT) to keep track of allocated space and a hierarchical directory system where all of a file's metadata is stored in it's directory entry. Like the FAT file system, which groups disk sectors into clusters, the PS2 memory card file system groups flash memory pages in to clusters. On standard PS2 memory cards, the cluster size 1024 bytes, or 2 pages long.

• The Superblock

The key to the PS2 memory card file system is the superblock. Located in the first page of the memory, this is the only part of the file system with a fixed location. While some things like the do end up in fixed locations on standard 8M memory cards, you shouldn't rely on this.

Block Nº	Cluster Nº	Page Nº	Page Areas	Offset	Length	Name	Example	Description
0 superblock	0	0	Data Area	0x000000	0x01C (28 bytes)	magic	Sony PS2 Memory Card Format	Memory Card identifyer
				0x00001C	0x00C (12 bytes)	version	1.2.0.0	Memory Card format version. (1.2.0.0 = full support for bad_block_table map)
				0x000028	0x002 (2 bytes)	page_len	512	Page size in bytes (without ECC)
				0x00002A	0x002 (2 bytes)	pages_per_cluster	2	Number of pages in a cluster
				0x00002C	0x002 (2 bytes)	pages_per_block	16	Number of pages in an block
				0x00002E	0x002 (2 bytes)	not used	FF00
				0x000030	0x004 (4 bytes)	clusters_total	8192	Total number of clusters
				0x000034	0x004 (4 bytes)	alloc_start	41	First allocatable cluster number. Cluster values in the FAT and directory entries are relative to this
				0x000038	0x004 (4 bytes)	alloc_end	8135	Cluster offset number after the highest allocatable cluster. Relative to alloc_start. Not used.
				0x00003C	0x004 (4 bytes)	cluster_rootdir	0	Cluster offset of the first cluster of the root directory. Relative to alloc_start. Must be zero.
				0x000040	0x004 (4 bytes)	bblock1	1023	Backup1 block number
				0x000044	0x004 (4 bytes)	bblock2	1022	Backup2 block number
				0x000050	0x080 (128 bytes)	ind_fat_table	8	Indirect FAT Table cluster number
				0x0000D0	0x080 (128 bytes)	bad_block_table	-1	Bad blocks table (damaged blocks index)
				0x000150	0x001 (1 byte)	card_type	2	Memory card type (2 = PS2 memory card)
				000x0151	0x001 (1 byte)	card_flags	0x52	Memory Card features (0x01 = ECC support, 0x08 = Card may have bad blocks, 0x10 = block erased state zeroed)
				0x000152	0x002 (2 byte)	not used	FF
				0x000154	0x0BC (188 bytes)	not used		<------------------ area used by PS3 to store specific data for .VM2 format ???
			Spare Area	0x000200	0x010 (16 bytes)	ECC
		1				not used
	Up to 7	Up to 15				not used
1	8 ind_fat_table	16		0x002100	0x210 (528 bytes)	Indirect FAT Table
		17
	9	18		0x002520	0x210 (528 bytes)	FAT Table
		19
	Up to 15	Up to 31
Up to 4
5	40	80
		81
	41 alloc_start cluster_rootdir	82		0x00A920	0x210 (528 bytes)	Allocatable Clusters
		83
	Up to 47	Up to 95
Up to 1004
1005	8040	16080
		16081
	8041	16082		0x819120	0x210 (528 bytes)	Reserved Clusters
		16083
	Up to 8047	Up to 16095
Up to 1021
1022 bblock2	8176 alloc_end	16352		0x83BE00	0x210 (528 bytes)	Temporal Data		Used to store the number of the block that is going to be programmed
		16353
	Up to 8183	Up to 16367
1023 bblock1	8184	16368		0x83DF00	0x210 (528 bytes)	Temporal Data		Used to store a copy of the data that is going to be programmed to a block
		16369
	Up to 8191 clusters_total	Up to 16383

A standard Ps2 Memory Card is composed by 1024 blocks, each block contains 16 pages of 528 bytes, for a total of 528*16*1024=8.650.752 bytes (0x840000)

Total ECC data is 16*16*1024=262.144 bytes

This gives an available space to store data of: Total-ECC = 8650752-262144 = 8388608 bytes = 8mb

• Backup Blocks

Two complete blocks are reserved to deal with the possibility of the memory card being removed by the user when data is being saved. Writing data to card requires erasing and reprogramming an entire block

Before writing a block, both bblock1 and bblock2 are erased. Then a copy of the new data that is going to be written is stored in bblock1, and the number of the block that is going to be written is stored in bblock2. The block being programmed is then erased and writed. Finally, bblock2 is erased

Recovery caused by removal of the memory card is implemented whenever a memory card is inserted into the PS2 by checking bblock2, if it's not erased, then programming is assumed to have not been completed. The contents of bblock1 are then copied to the block given in bblock2. Then bblock2 is erased

• Error Correction Code (ECC)

The data area of each page (512 bytes) is divided into 128 byte long chunks and for each chunk a simple [20-bit Hamming code] is calculated and stored in three bytes

The first byte contains the column (or bit-wise) parity bits, with the even groups in the lower nibble and the odd groups in the upper nibble. The second and third bytes contain the even and odd groups respectively for the line (or byte-wise) parity bits

The 3 ECC bytes for each of the 4 chunks are stored in order in the page's spare area for a total of 12 bytes

Source: [PlayStation 2 Memory Card File System - By Ross Ridge]

Virtual Memory Card PS2 (.VM2)

The file begins the same than a "original PS2 memory card". Its not verifyed if there is something added at then end etc...

Virtual Memory Card Exported? (.VME)

Virtual Memory Card in "E" format ?

When exporting Game Saves for "PS2 classics" (CATEGORY 2P) to a external USB drive there is a "rare" PARAM.SFO exported. This PARAM.SFO seems to be a copy of the main PARAM.SFO from the installed game folder with an added "signature" "injected" at the end of the file (out of his structure) with a lenght of 20 bytes. Is supposed to be a security feature when exporting the gamesave, is not confirmed if this PARAM.SFO (with the injected "signature" out of his structure) exists in the internal HDD (when importing, or present at some time with the "PS2 virtual memory cards").

Memory Card Tools PS2

[mymc]

mymc is a PS2 memory card explorer/editor.