"Unable to read game data"

[Chem]

I've had my town since 2013. ~In short, it means a lot to me.

I booted up,

selected my name,

and was hit with that message.

Has anyone else been through this? Is there a cure? Please tell me there's a cure. There must be a cure.


Edit: Sounds less dramatic now.

 

[MayorQuinn]

This might be SUUUUPER unhelpful, but if you have the cartridge version, perhaps try taking it out, blowing on it, and blowing gently into your game slot?? I had it happen a few years ago, I think. Turns out there was just some dust or something in my gameslot, and it prevented it from reading it correctly? I really, really hope this works!!

 

[WILDWORLD]

What a horrible thing to happen. Please keep us posted or PM me, I have anxious thoughts a lot and a very common one for some reason is of this happening to me. It's very, very sad and especially seeing as you've sank so many hours into it. I'm no expert, but even though it's a physical copy, shove the SD card into your computer to see if it's broken and if you can repair it because some of NL's data is saved onto the SD card. Put it in another DS (if you have one) and see if it's the same issue. Take a Q-tip and clean the contacts but for the love of god don't use any water or rubbing alcohol while you do this. Please resist the urge to blow on your cartridge.

 

[Tomoe Hotaru]

What a horrible thing to happen. Please keep us posted or PM me, I have anxious thoughts a lot and a very common one for some reason is of this happening to me. It's very, very sad and especially seeing as you've sank so many hours into it. I'm no expert, but even though it's a physical copy, shove the SD card into your computer to see if it's broken and if you can repair it because some of NL's data is saved onto the SD card. Put it in another DS (if you have one) and see if it's the same issue. Take a Q-tip and clean the contacts but for the love of god don't use any water or rubbing alcohol while you do this. Please resist the urge to blow on your cartridge.

I NEVER knew that blowing on the cartridge was bad, thanks!

Regarding SD cards and changing them:
The SD card has your update data for welcome amiibo and your screenshots, that should be all. I had to switch out SD cards a month ago because my old one was full and with my old camera I wasn?t able to transfer files from my card to my pc. (ideally you should transfer files between cards and that?s what most people do) I was scared that something might get messed up if I used a blank card, but I was only missing some settings I did in my 3DS menu (design changes/downloads etc.) and all downloads from the eshop. After starting the game I was told to update as NL won?t run without welcome amiibo if the game was ever started while the update was installed. When the update was done I could play the game without any issues.

Now I haven?t had your issue before (*touches wood) but IF there is an issue with the sd card, like others here suggested, you can also check that by inserting a blank card and redownloading the update (try to open the game and it will ask to update).
I really hope this was just a one-time error and everything works out. Please keep us updated as this issue could happen to anyone so we should know what to do.

If the issue keeps appearing I would keep the cartridge safe and do some research. I mean, even if the system can?t "read" the data, that doesn?t mean the data is lost. There are some cheat devices (for use without computer) that read cartridges, so there should be other ways to read it: Maybe there are tools that allow you to transfer a save-file from the cartridge to your coputer and onto a new cartridge? Maybe there are people who spechialize in recovering save-files from broken cartridges - I mean that exists for your computer, so why shouldn?t someone do it for games?

Also you mentioned that you could see your town in the starting menu and got as far as selecting your name.
So if anything, we know that your town is still on there!

 

[Chem]

I'll try your solutions, and see what comes of them. Thank you all for your replies~ I'm so relieved that there's a forum for ACNL.

 

[Chem]

Update: I inserted the card into my old 3DS, and as it turns out, I haven't downloaded the Welcome Amiibo update on it. What will happen if I do download it?

 

[Ably.Saucey]

Update: I inserted the card into my old 3DS, and as it turns out, I haven't downloaded the Welcome Amiibo update on it. What will happen if I do download it?

the only physical thing will be campsite will be added somewhere on your inner cliff, I took out my game before I updated, to make sure everything went well.

 

[Chem]

the only physical thing will be campsite will be added somewhere on your inner cliff, I took out my game before I updated, to make sure everything went well.

But what will become of the data with the other campsite? Will it just be overwritten, or will it detect it as a foreign file and corrupt the data?

 

[Ably.Saucey]

But what will become of the data with the other campsite? Will it just be overwritten, or will it detect it as a foreign file and corrupt the data?

Nothing, it will stay where it is, I meant the campgrounds, it will be added as a ramp into a new section somewhere on your cliff wall.

- - - Post Merge - - -

There a lots of videos on youtube with more info than I know, if you have any doubts or questions.

 

[Tomoe Hotaru]

Which 3DS system you use shouldn?t make a difference. As I said in my post, I changed to a new SD card so everything `welcome amiibo? was missing. I had to redownload the update and everything was the same, so I THINK it should be the same for changing the system. I mean, all the data that?s not on the cartridge should be stored on the sd card anyways right? Also your campsite doesn?t really have data that sets it apart from others right? I think all campsites look the same and all should be at the same spot (depending on where your beach is). However, I haven?t confirmed the later yet, at least mine was exactly on the same spot.

I think it depends on if that old 3DS also has older firmware. Then you would need to update that in order to go online and download the WA update. Personally, I?d try to save old firmware systems because it might allow you to use custom firmware and play custom versions of certain games, edit your town in NL etc. so I would keep it just because I can?t go back to low firmware if I ever want to use those features.

 

[Dorian]

I really truly hope you can get your town back. I think each and every one of us personally feels awful for you and hopes we never find ourselves in your shoes. We have seen this kind of thing happen before and it's unfair and heartbreaking. Please let us know if you are able to reboot your beloved town.

 

[MayorQuinn]

^^I feel absolutely terrible as well, and I hope the update fixes it! And I wasn't aware that blowing on the cartridge is bad for it!! So, whoops, the more you learn! Also, the only thing I'm personally aware of that changes when you put your ACNL cartridge into a different 3DS is that if you update your dream town, the dream address will change. Nothing else changes that I'm aware of

 

[Chem]

Will I ever be able to play on my New3DS again, or will I be restricted to my original?

 

[MayorQuinn]

Will I ever be able to play on my New3DS again, or will I be restricted to my original?

Well, are you able to update the cartridge on your New 3DS? I read earlier that the save data on the actual 3DS's SD is just the updates for the game, but don't take my word for this!! If that's true, maybe you can delete that, put your cartridge in, and update it again?? Meanwhile having your original 3DS as a backup just in case this happens again! But I wouldn't suggest doing this until there's a second opinion on the matter, hehe

 

[Tomoe Hotaru]

I think you can play any 3ds game on any 3ds system (if it?s not limited to the NEW 3ds xl). Since the update data is required for old NL cartridges that were used with the update at least once, you should be able to use a NL cartridge on any system that has an sd card with the welcome amiibo update.
As I said I went and used a blank card. However, I haven?t checked what would happen if I put in my old card now. My guess is nothing because the same update is on both and any specific data for your save-game should be on the physical cartridge. I haven?t tested it yet.

If you plan to wipe the sd card that?s currently in your new 3ds, it would be tha same as putting in a new sd card like I did. I haven?t tested yet what would happen if you put the game back into a system with an sd card that you played with before, after playing with another card.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Update:

Ok I just changed the sd card and tried it so I can tell you the following.

First some extra infos:

- I?m 95% sure that anything regarding your save-file, anything that sets apart your AC NL welcome amiibo game from mine, is saved on your cartridge
- your cartridge has a folder for the save file, it got renamed after you first started the game with the WA update installed
- renaming the savefile is one reason why the game can?t run without the update anymore, it?s only possible if you undo the file changes on a hacked 3ds

Therefore (this time in more detail, based on MY experience):

- if you change the system but keep the same sd card: everything should work the same as usual
- if you keep the same 3ds but change the sd card and you transferred the files to the new card on your computer: nothing will change, but you will have other files missing that you didn?t transfer e.g. screenshots
- if you keep the same 3ds but change the sd card AND the sd card is completely empty (no system files): the 3ds will create the necessary folders on the sd card once you start the system, you can?t start NL untill you updated to Welcome amiibo, after downloading the update everything in your game will be the same, screenshots and other e shop downloads will of course be missing
- if you go to a system that has the old sd card with old files after using a new/different sd card (or just change back sd cards, the card is all that matters here): everything will be like it was seconds ago, your NL game is the way you last saved it (e.g. your save from 5min ago) but all the downloads/screenshots on your 3ds will be the same they were when you last used that old card (e.g. your 3ds menu how it looked a month ago + screenshots up to a month ago).

That?s all I can say to this now, hope this answered your questions how the saves work.

 

[Chem]

Just installed the Welcome Amiibo update on my older 3DS, and tried to play~ Exact same result.

Any other ideas?

 

[MayorQuinn]

I don’t know :/ Has anything happened to the cartridge recently that might have resulted in some damage to it? Like, liquid getting on it, possibly dropping it, anything like that? I don’t want to jump to that conclusion of it being broken, but it definitely should be addressed

 

[Chem]

I don’t know :/ Has anything happened to the cartridge recently that might have resulted in some damage to it? Like, liquid getting on it, possibly dropping it, anything like that? I don’t want to jump to that conclusion of it being broken, but it definitely should be addressed

The cartridge hadn't been removed from the 3DS for the past few days.

I now realize that since it had the same result with a seperate SD card, the problem must be within the cartridge.

 

[Tomoe Hotaru]

What do you get when you try to start the game? What works like it should and where does the error occur?

 

[Chem]

What do you get when you try to start the game? What works like it should and where does the error occur?

Everything's normal up until the "preparing your town" sequence starts. Then it loads for 'bout a second, and the "unable to read data" message appears. I'm then sent back to the main screen, where I see a new town. If I turn off my game and try again, I see my town again, and the cycle continues.