Sync Game Saves Across Android Devices! RetroArch, Dolphin, NetherSX2 and more!
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- In this video, we go over how to best sync your saves and states across as many Android handhelds and devices as you want, everything from RetroArch, to Dolphin, to NetherSX2 and more.
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Written Guide: joeysretrohandhelds.com/guide...
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Timestamps
00:00 - What are we doing & Disclaimer
02:32 - Preparation
03:47 - Guide Start
04:38 - The RetroArch Problem
07:10 - Creating a FolderPair
11:03 - FolderPair Settings
12:45 - Scheduling & Instant Sync
15:03 - Adding More Folders
18:00 - Setting Up Another Device
24:24 - Wrap Up - Hry
That feel when your only device is a RP4 Pro because it plays everything, but you still watch the video anyways because you just enjoy Joey's videos.
Aw shucks, you're the best.
The rp4 pro is the closest I've bought an android handheld but I already play everything on my steam deck
@@ninjason57 No Steamdeck here, too expensive, and I wanted less of a PC and more of emulation device. But if i had a Steamdeck i wouldnt be bothering with any of this lol.
That’s the Odin 2 for me
But I feel you 🫡
Same lol. I did just order a RG35xxh as a work beater though
Joey, you have a great mind for making unique content and you seem to innovate when it comes to the handheld retro scene. I look forward to seeing this continue brother, awesome job!
Kind words, I appreciate it!
I use Syncthing to sync saves and states for all my devices. Steamdeck, ROG ally and all android devices. You can even install it on any Linux devices like Miyoo Mini, but I found that some cores like snes9x are different enough that states aren't compatible. I use my desktop as the central sync "server" so all my devices sync to that and not to each other. I've opened up ports on my firewall to my desktop so syncing works over the internet as well. Works amazingly well.
FYI, shouldn't need to open any firewall ports. If the ports aren't open, it should support NAT'd syncing if I recall correctly. I do something similar, using a Raspberry Pi as my always on sync host.
I do the same thing but use my phone as the server. Since my phone is always with me and I can tether to it when away from my PC for extended trips, I found that this was a much more convinient option. I highly recommend syncthing because of how it works across Android, Linux, and Windows based devices.
@@ndguardian Yes to clarify, I use NAT-PMP on my firewall with ACLs (so other devices can't open ports without me knowing). . Syncthing will open two external ports and forward them to the default internal port 22000. Apparently Syncthing will also work without port forwarding, but I found it unreliable..
Man, I appreciate the heck out of your content. Between stuff like this, teardowns, and install guides, you helped me enjoy this hobby of buying devices a lot more fun and enjoyable. Please keep making unique contents that aren't just product showcases, I'll keep watching!
Always!
And that's a video I was waiting for so long. Thank U!
GREAT video, man! This is the content I look forward to! Thanks!
This is amazing! Thank you for doing this tutorial
thanks for the great video. hoping to try this out myself, but was always confused.
Just a quick tip for those who use Emulation Station: If you sync the ES-DE/gamelists folder, your favorites, metadata and last played lists will sync. I also sync manually the ES-DE/downloaded_media so I scrape only once. I only scrape metadata and screenshots to keep the size manageable.
great tutorial thank you :)
Thanks joey 🙂
Did this ages ago but with the V1 Filesynch.
That backup and restore feature is awesome...I'll have to dust off my Android devices now. 😅
I couldn't comment on your rg556 setup video walk through so just wanted to comment and say thanks. I am really not clued up with the deep world of emulation and it was really helpful for me. Thanks again!
I use Syncthing but this seems pretty good I might check it out too
I use syncthing which is similar but a bit less advanced and doesn't have the cloud go between. Just open the app on both devices when you are ready to syncronise the games although it has its limits. Example being on android 14 on my phone for some systems like duckstation ans nethersx i have to set those apps to back up to a different local folder that is allowed within scoped storage, sync that same folder to my other device and then import that data. I use it mostly for citra saves as between my phone and odin 2 its thr easiest app to play on both device types as emulated consoles are much easier with physical controls where as emulated handhelds playing on a phone isn't too bad
I like this method as doesn’t rely on a PC, you can use Google drive to backup save and states to the cloud. The only problem I have is my devices Miyoo Mini, Miyoo A30, plus Retroid 4+. So probably doesn’t work on Linux devices. Although there is an install available so maybe worth trying. I am hoping Onion OS will have a sync folder feature at some point. Great how to guide vid, thank you 😊
This is awesome.
I'll have to give this a go. Between the Steam Deck, Miyoo Mini and Anbernics.
I'm curious if the old GPD XD works FolderSync 🤔 Maybe I'll leave that old fella alone... 😅 Surprisingly some cloud saves (FF III or IV 3D) still on that with Square Enix' cloud save services 😂
I've been waiting for a video like this, especially to use between my Smartphone and my Odin2. I haven't yet seen it yet, but is there also talk about crossplay between PC and Android? I'd love to play my savefile seamlessly on my PC at times.
I reckon this would work well ebough with SyncThings on the SteamDeck too as long as the cloud folder is the same and the Save (Retroarch and Core) are equivalent.
Savegame synchronization is really a life saver for idiots that have too many handhelds (like me) XD (I go with Syncthing though)
Good video . Is possibile to make the same with batocera and a PC ?
❤
Is there a way to sync between android and windows?
Would you still recommend the RG 353P? I’m torn between that and RG ARC D. The same under the hood, I’m a fan of the aesthetics of both. But what I really like is the 6 button layout on one, the the analog sticks on the other. Looking like the classic game pads are major pluses. I’m also interested in the dual booting, being able switch between Android and Linux
Tough one. I absolutely love the RG353P, love love love it. It's one of my favorite handhelds.
However, the ARC is great as well. I don't think you could go wrong with either choice. The P has better firmware support for Linux however if that matters to you.
@@JoeysRetroHandhelds I like the idea of having that versatility, two OSs. And of course the touch screens as well. That “all in compassing handheld” and the those two are my favourites that I hadn’t bought…. Yet. Those or a Steam Deck (we’ve now jumped in price)
I experienced an issue with the RG Cube and the Android/Data folder. Where the Aethersx2 emulator doesn't read the savestate and memcard files that are synced. My RP4 Pro and Odin 2 are working just fine and if I export the files manually using the export/import feature then the Cube will read them. I even checked off the box in FOldersync that gives you root access, but to no avail. Is this a known issue with the RG Cube (and RG556)? Does foldersync not have access to the Android/Data folders on the Cube? Is there a workaround I'm missing?
Any chance that can have the same sync features between StreamDeck and Android handheld ?
Yes but with a different program called Syncthing.
So Autosync 4 g-drive is no longer recommended? Other than paying for it, are there any downsides?
Yeah, it can't sync Dolphin, NetherSX2 or anything besides RetroArch.
joey are you getting a Pocket S?
Negative. They aren't sending me one that I know of, and I won't be purchasing it myself.
Foldersync on top!
Is this recommended for people with only one Android device whereby the purpose is to ensure there is always the latest backup saves and states for all emulators in cloud? Noticed recently for Dolphin emu, save states are gone after being updated. Not sure about other emulators.
I would do it
Hmm but from what i saw in the written guide, emulators likr Aethersx2, Duckstation etc saves and states are "hidden files" under internal memory Android/data/org......and we need to manually extract the saves from the emulator/app. Hence, i assume the save files cannot be sync automatically from device to cloud as you have to manually extract the save data again each time there is an update and sync to that external save data folder. Only emulators like Retroarch, citra, ppsspp etc whereby you can access the save folders directly is more convenient. A little unfortunate tbh.
Not true, you can sync them automatically using this guide.
@@JoeysRetroHandhelds Ok, tried it just now and it works. I think when I read the guide roughly 2 weeks ago, it didnt mention specifically "FolderSync is an exception" on the permission issues, hence the confusion. However, Duckstation seems to be the only emulation that has issues when it comes to save and states (ie copying or uploading to cloud) but I can just use RA swanstation for PS1 games as an alternative. Thanks again. Really appreciate the help.
But...how to sync them with PC? Especially with the PC yuzu version?
It gets complicated but I either use the same app but to Onedrive and symbolic links to folders in Windows or I use Syncthing or Foldersync to centrally sync to my Nas.
Depends on what you have and your level of comfort.
I use Google Drive's Windows software. Or you can pay for Foldersync's Windows software.
@@JoeysRetroHandheldswow. Didn't know or even think to look that they had a windows app.
I don't use Google drive client on my pc.
Last time I did this I had Odin2 on Foldersync to my cloud, cloud to PC, PC to Nas with Syncthing, Syncthing to Steam Deck.
It was awesome. It got the OLED Deck and didn't update the loop.
@@JoeysRetroHandhelds thank you Joey 4 your advice
Yea the live sync isn't working properly for me, I have to manual sync when I move from android to pc. Don't know why it won't do it on the fly.
For some reason, even though the syncs are all returning green and I can see the files on my device, when I load a game up and try to load a save it says the memory card is empty.
Is this for Nether?
@@JoeysRetroHandhelds it was happening for all my emulators but I figured the issue out. I am not sure what happened, but it looks like all my save files got overwritten in Drive. I don’t know if I synced accidentally with the new device with no saves while still on two way. I think drive thought the lack of files meant I had deleted them on the device so because I had it setup to also delete these files on drive, it deleted them in cloud storage. I actually fixed it by rolling back my files in drive. Drive actually sticks the save files in the trash which is pretty easy to recover, NetherSX2 however seems to just have each memory card saved as its own file so not as easy to recover. I had backups but also found that Google drive saved older versions of each of those files from when I first uploaded them. I rolled back and resynced both devices which fixed it for me.
@@JoeysRetroHandhelds Taking another look at this today, I think there may be an issue with how the PS2 saves are handled. Since they just save as one file for each card (for example mcd001.ps2 is mem card 1) they seem to overwrite each other constantly. For example, tonight I played GoW2 on my O2 for a good 2 hours and then uploaded those files to drive. I then ran the sync on my RP4Pro and it overwrote that save file with what was on the RP4Pro. I have the same settings you used in the video so I am not sure if the overwrite settings are causing some issue here. I am not sure if the settings for this emulator need to be different from what was used with RA.
@@ATTACKM4N Hm, nope that hasn't been an issue for me. I had one memory card with saves from different games on it, deleted/cleared any other devices, then synced to them, they download the memcard and from then on I can go between devices, saving and loading without issue.
So I just happened to try setting up cloud saves this weekend, and was disappointed to find out what "Scoped Storage" is for Android. There does not seem to be a way to sync Dolphin saves on Android. I'm trying to import my user data, but it fails. This probably isn't a problem for Android gaming devices from like Anbernic, but it does for up-to-date phones.
I guess what I'm saying is it's not as easy as you make it sound, unfortunately
This video addresses that and does work for syncing, it's even in the video title :) I have Dolphin and Nethersx2 saves synced across devices (including my S24U phone).
Worth noting, I'm on Android 14, using a Galaxy S22 Ultra
@@GreatScooty Weird, 14 here as well!
@@JoeysRetroHandhelds How did you configure Dolphin saves? Do you have to manually export user data on one side and reimport it on the other side? Because of scoped storage, some restrictions apply. Even adding special folders in FolderSync Permissions section doesn’t work. I sync between an Odin 2 and a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro, which have almost identical Android versions.