The Game Save Memory Card Manager (PSX)

A new feature of the PlayStation Action Replay Pro is the Memory Card Manager. Action Replay' versions 1.7 and above support a memory card manager which allows you to copy, delete and format memory cards as with the PSX's internal memory card manager. Where the Action Replay manager differs is with its ability to compress individual saves so you can fit many more saves on a card than the standard 15. 


Introduction to the Memory Card Manager
At the main menu of the Action Replay select "memory card manager" and press O, you will now be in the memory card manager. 

The Memory Card Manager Screen
The Action Replay will now present you with a screen listing the contents of any memory cards and at the bottom of the screen the operations you can perform with their corresponding buttons.
Save Game Listings
The main blue area contains listings of the contents of any memory cards present in either of the two PlayStation card ports. Card 1 will be listed on the left hand side of the screen under the title "CARD 1 CONTENTS", if no memory card is present in card port 1 then the message "No Card Present" will be displayed at the bottom left of the screen. Card 2 will be listed on the right hand side of the screen under the title "CARD 2 CONTENTS", if no memory card is present in card port 2 then the message "No Card Present" will be displayed at the bottom right of the screen
Save Game Size Value
For each card the number of unused slots is displayed under its contents listing ("nn Slots Free"). The number of free slots determines how many more saves you can fit on the card. Each memory card has 15 such slots as described in your PlayStation manual.

Each save in the list also has a number between 1 and 15 to its right,  this is the number of 'slots' it takes up. For example - If a save has a 2 next to it then that save takes up 2 of the 15 slots on that card, if you were to copy this save to another card then the destination card must have at least 2 slots free.


Using The Memory Card Manager - Basic Operations
Removing, Inserting and Listing New Memory Cards
You can remove and insert memory cards at any time when the memory manager is not performing an operation (i.e. is not copying a save, deleting a save, etc.). When you do remove or insert a card you will need to tell the memory manager to re-read the card and list it's saves.

To re-read the cards simply press the O button to list the options menu. Highlight the option "RE-READ CARDS" and press O again. 

Formatting a Memory Card
If you have a brand new card you will probably not be able to use it until you format it. Formatting can also be used to quickly delete all the saves on a card in one go. 

To format a card simply press the O button to list the options menu. Highlight the format option you require (you can format the card in port 1 or 2 - be sure to select the correct card or you might format the wrong one), and press O to begin the format. 

Copying a Save
This function requires two memory cards - one in each slot. With this operation you can copy saves from one card to another. This is useful if you wish to make a backup of your save game or want to give a copy to a friend.

To copy a save first highlight the save you wish to copy using the left & right controller buttons to select card containing the save, then use up & down to highlight the save itself (the save should now be highlighted as black text on a grey background). Now press the square button to copy the save. 

If the destination card already contains a save of the save name it will be overwritten (you will be asked if this is OK first).

Deleting a Save
If you wish to remove a save permanently then you can delete the save. (i.e. if you didn't want it anymore and would like to free the space it takes up).

To delete a save first highlight the save you wish to copy using left, right, up & down. Now press the triangle button to delete the save. You will be asked to confirm this action with a simple YES/NO answer box, to select YES press the left direction and then press O.

Exiting back to the main menu
To exit the memory card manager and return to the main menu simply press the X button.


About Compression
A unique and extremely useful feature of the Action Replay Memory Card Manager is its ability to compress game save's. The result of doing this will allow you to fit many more than the standard 15 slots on a single memory card. For example, you can fit the saves from "Wipeout", "Destrutction Derby", "Ridge Racer", "Rayman", "Ace Combat" and "3D Lemmings" into 1 game save slot, normally these will all take up a slot each (6 slots). The compression also works on bigger saves like "Discworld", this save normally take up 8 slots but can easily compress to under 1.

This function of the memory manager can save you a lot on memory card space. There is only one catch ..... you can't use a save whilst it is compressed. You must first decompress the save (onto the same card or to another) before you can use it in its original form. Other programs will not be able to see the compressed files - only the normal uncompressed files will be displayed by programs like the PlayStation's own memory manager.
Compressing a Save
The process for compressing a save is very similar to copying a save. You can compress a save to the card it is already on (leaving you with the original save intact and a compressed version), or you can make the compressed save on a second memory card (this of course requires two memory cards). 

1. Compressing a save to the same card. Highlight the save you wish to compress using the direction pad. Press the first left shoulder button on your controller pad (left trigger 1 - above the direction pad). This will compress the save, it will take a few seconds. When the card's saves are listed you will see a save called "GT COMPRESSED" followed by any compressed saves it contains in yellow text.

2. Compressing a save to a second "destination" card. Ensure you have both cards inserted and listed (see "Removing, Inserting and Listing New Memory Cards"). Highlight the save you wish to compress using the direction pad. Press the first right shoulder button on your controller pad (right trigger 1 - above the triangle button). This will compress the save, it will take a few seconds. When the card's saves are listed, on the destination card you will see a save called "GT COMPRESSED" followed by any compressed saves it contains in yellow text.

You can compress as many saves as you wish to a single card. 

Viewing The Compressed Saves
When you compress a save, a file called "GT COMPRESSED" will be created on the destination memory card. All the compressed saves on that card are stored in this single save. The list of files on that card will contain the file "GT COMPRESSED" in white text. As with all normal files on the card. The only difference with this save is that underneath its name "GT COMPRESSED", all of the compressed saves will be listed in yellow text. 

Decompressing a Save
As with compressing a save - you can decompress a save to either the same or a second card. 

1. Decompressing to the same card. Highlight the compressed save in the yellow list. Press the second left shoulder button (left trigger 2 - near  the base of the controller). 

1. Decompressing to the a second card. Ensure you have both cards inserted and listed (see "Removing, Inserting and Listing New Memory Cards"). Highlight the compressed save in the yellow list. Press the square button as if you were copying a normal save.

Copying a Compressed Save
As stated in "decompressing a save" you can copy a compressed save to a second card using the square button - this however will copy the compressed save to an uncompressed version on the destination card. If you want to copy the compressed save to a similarly compressed version on the destination then you should use the first right shoulder button (as when compressing saves).

Deleting a Compressed Save
You can delete an individual save from the compressed list (the yellow names) as with a normal save (highlight the name and press the triangle button). 

Warning Note : If you delete the file "GT COMPRESSED" you will delete ALL the compressed saves it contains. 



