How to Import and Export Music with an Action Replay
This page will detail how to import downloaded music into your game and export your own custom compositions to share on the Internet using a Datel Action Replay MAX for GBA/DS and the Band Brothers Save Tool. Before we begin, please make sure that you have already installed the Action Replay PC software, connected the Action Replay to the PC at least once and loaded the driver for it, and downloaded and uncompressed the Band Brothers Save Tool to a folder. Your Action Replay must also be at firmware level 1.04 or above. I highly recommend 1.05. Remember, the Action Replay MUST have a GameBoy Advance game inserted in it's slot or it will not function.
Connect the Action Replay and Establish a Connection
First, connect a USB cable to the Action Replay and a USB port on your computer. Next, start the Nintendo DS - GBA Max Drive software. You should see the screen to the right. Now plug the Action Replay into the GBA slot of your DS (or ANY previous handheld that plays Gameboy Advance games) and turn it on. The Action Replay runs as a GBA game, so if you put it in a DS that's in Auto Start mode and there's a DS game inserted, you can hold the B button when you power it up to go straight to a GBA game. If you're successfully connected, the Action Replay should be in USB SERVER MODE and your DS or GBA should display USB SERVER MODE and THE HOST PC IS IN CONTROL.
If the Action Replay doesn't show the USB SERVER MODE screen and instead boots to it's normal menu, please shut off the game system, close the Action Replay software on the PC, disconnect the USB cable, and try the process again. Make sure whatever you're plugging the Action Replay into has a good battery charge. If it's in the red, plug power into it before moving on.
Back Up Your Game Save and Export It to a File
Now that you've launched the Action Replay Max Drive software and your Action Replay is in USB SERVER MODE, we're going to back up your game save in Daigasso! Band Brothers. In the Action Replay software, click on the Max Drive DS (DS) option. That will bring you to the first screen below. Click on the first option, Backup my game cart save, and that will take you to the second screen below.
Now you have a choice of where you want to back up your save to. My Max Drive vault is the built in storage in the Action Replay itself. My PC database is a save directory on your PC. You can put a checkmark next to either one, or both. For this walkthrough, we're just going to put a backup on your PC. After you've selected My PC database, click Next. On the next screen, you have to enter the name of the game you're backing up, a name for this particular save, and optionally a description of the save. Make sure you enter something meaningful. If you haven't already, insert your Band Brothers game card into the DS slot on the Action Replay. Once you've named your save, and your game card is in the DS slot of the Action Replay,click Next.
Now the Action Replay software and the GameBoy screens should look like this.
And then after a few seconds, they should look something like this once it starts backing up to the PC.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES INTERRUPT THIS PROCESS!!!
When the backup is complete, your Action Replay software will display a message that the backup is complete, like this. At this point you can click on the Finish button.
Congratulations, you've just backed up your game! Now it's time to decompress and export the backup into a file that is usable by the Band Brothers Save Tool, and can also be copied somewhere else! Your Action Replay software should still be open. Click on Manage and swap saves, and on the next screen that comes up, choose Online community server. Don't worry, we're not trading save data on CodeJunkies' web servers!
You should see a screen like the one below. Don't worry about the right panel; we don't care about online saves. Find the backup you just made in the left panel and click on it to highlight it. After you've highlighted your save, click on the 4th icon under the left panel. It looks like a vise with an arrow inside pointing out.
You will be prompted for a location to save it in. For convenience I recommend saving it in the same folder where you're storing BBS music files. After you've chosen a location, hit OK and you're done. In that location, you should now be able to see a file with the same name you created in your earlier backup with a .duc extension on it. e.g. Bruce's Original BB Data.duc. If you see that, you're all set! You can go ahead and close the Action Replay software, shut down whatever the AR's plugged into, and disconnect the USB cable. At this point, I would also strongly suggest you copy the .duc file you just made to another location on your PC.