Resigned RPCS3 savedata is not loadable

[m4st3rP]

I copied and resigned a savedata of Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker HD Edition that I have from playing the game in RPCS3 with Apollo Save Tool v1.4.2 but when I try to load it I get the error code 80120003. The savedata works in RPCS3.

These were my exact steps:
Copied the savadata from RPCS3 to the correct folder in a USB drive
Plugged the usb drive into my PS3 and started Apollo
Copied the savedata from my USB drive to the PS3 HDD
Selected "Apply Changes & Resign" on the copied HDD savedata
Started the game and upon loading the savedata getting the error code "80120003"

The savedata:
NPED00686GAME001.zip

[bucanero]

The problem lies in the RPCS3 domain:
the emulator doesn't create proper PS3 saves because they just store the data without encryption. Most ps3 games encrypt their savegame data, but the emulator has not implemented the encryption/decryption layer at all.
The emulator even miss to create some required PS3 files like PARAM.PFD

So before even trying to resign it with Apollo, the data needs to be encrypted back as per the original format and key for that game. A computer tool such as pfdtool (linux, mac, win) or Bruteforce Savedata (Windows) could be used to regenerate and encrypt the savegame using a real PS3 save as template. I assume there might be guides online about it.

You can compare with a real PS3 savegame, for example here:
https://metalgearsolidinternationalpage.weebly.com/savegames.html

a real NPED00686 savegame has a PARAM.PFD file, and the 00000000.000 data size is different:

• unencrypted: 314088 bytes
• encrypted: 314096 bytes

[m4st3rP]

All right. Sorry for asuming this was an issue with Apollo and thank you for the advice.

[bucanero]

All right. Sorry for asuming this was an issue with Apollo and thank you for the advice.

No worries. I've never tried the emulator, and I had no idea Apollo could actually be used there.

You can force Apollo to skip the encryption/decryption process for any save-game file, if you edit the games.conf file. I haven't tested it, but it might allow you to resign those save files inside the emulator.

You need to edit the games.conf file, look for the Title ID of your game, and change the secure_file_id line like this:

; My game
[BLES12345]
;disc_hash_key=
secure_file_id:UNPROTECTED=554E50524F54454354454447414D4500

This change will force Apollo to skip any encrypt/decrypt process, but can't guarantee that it will work in the emulated game. Just test it if you want.

[GR4J0M3R]

How can I use Apollo to unlock trophy on RPCS3? Right now I can boot Apollo but trophy list is not shown.

Apollo is meant to be used with a real PS3. The RPCS3 emulator has many differences with a real PS3, including how it stores saves and trophies. Rpcs3 is unsupported and Apollo won't work properly in the emulator.

Thank you for your answer, I hope it can be applied soon.

[LordMcMutton]

Chiming in to say that your solution to force Apollo to skip encryption does, in fact, work- even if the program, itself, says that it doesn't.

It throws the Unable to Reassign error, but the changes take place regardless.

[bucanero]

thanks for the confirmation.

I still don't know why RPCS3 won't properly emulate the original save encryption (all the information is already available).
IMHO, the Emulation community should push in that direction, to get accuracy and compatibility with real PS3 hardware.

[Masamune3210]

Probably a combination of just not getting to it yet and not entirely sure how much they want to push the bar, so to speak.

[JS299990]

Didn't work for me. I guess it doesn't work for every game. In my case it was Sengoku Basara HD Collection (BLJM60488). I was trying to apply cheats to the save.