taking an unusually long time to save...?

[kisaker39]

something strange happened a few moments ago. I went to save my game, and it was taking a while. i didnt really think much of it, until it hit the 40 seconds mark. i had my game take a little while to save on several occasions, so i was not too concerned.

about 3 minutes later, it was still attempting to save. i felt uneasy, and started thinking all that plot/campsite resetting i had done has taken its toll.

i was quite on-edge at this point. usually when i encounter something like this, i research it. i was only able to find one singular post with the same problem as mine. all the replies did not exactly know why it was taking so long to save, but assumed it was the cartridge slowly deteriorating and suggested OP to transfer their data to another cartridge.

one of the replies said to turn the wifi switch on if it wasnt already. mine was off at the time (i hear turning it off lowers the chance of corruption due to plot/campsite resseting. not quite sure if its true, but i didn't see any harm in turning it off) i switched the wifi switch on, and it finished saving immediately...?

i am very puzzled by this. i have been trying to figure out why this was. the game shouldn't be attempting to upload anything to the internet i belive.

has this happened to anyone else? does anyone have any theories on why this happened? i doubt it would be the cartridge deteriorating. the cartridge i am using is not damaged at all from what i can tell, and i have only possessed it for 4 years. 4 years may be a while, but my regular ACNL cartridge i have had since 2014 is just fine and has not had any issues.

 

[kiwikenobi]

I'm pretty sure New Horizons has this problem, too, or something similar. If the wifi is spotty or weak, sometimes it will get stuck on loading screens for a really long time. I don't even have NSO, but it wanted to check things anyway apparently, and I had to do the trick of putting the Switch in airplane mode to get it to stop trying to check when the internet is unreliable.

Based on that, New Leaf may be checking for updates or something and get caught in some kind of loop. I doubt it's uploading anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's searching for updates or something sometimes when it saves, or trying to, only to find that there's no signal if the wifi is off. Just my theory, I don't know how any of it actually works. I haven't encountered that issue myself, but I also never did any resetting.

I've never heard of a cartridge deteriorating in my life, so I doubt it's that, unless people are doing crazy stuff with their cartridges that I'm not. ^o^;>

 

[Seastar]

The only time I encountered this was the game trying to save as I left Club Tortimer, I believe? Which in that case, the internet being somehow related actually made sense. This was a few years ago.
Edit: If I remember correctly, I had to go turn off my wi-fi router during that to get it to stop. I had a newer 3DS without the wi-fi switch.

 

[Rubygame]

Hi Kisaker! I was browsing the New Leaf section and I saw this discussion, even though the problem is archived I had a strong doubt while reading it, that is, why would resetting damage the game cartridge? I've never read this anywhere, and it makes sense to me that there's no problem since you're not interrupting any saves, right? I've also done a lot, A LOT of resets over the years, should I be scared? HAHAHAH (I also resetted a lot of times for shiny legendaries in Pokémon)

 

[Zinnia.]

This happens to me every now and then, but I have a lot of trees and items in my town. My guess is that the game is having trouble loading in items for the startup screen, or maybe doing a spotpass delivery check? But I don't think it's a sign of corruption since I've done a lot of plot resetting and save editing too and I haven't had any serious issues over the years.

 

[kisaker39]

Hi Kisaker! I was browsing the New Leaf section and I saw this discussion, even though the problem is archived I had a strong doubt while reading it, that is, why would resetting damage the game cartridge? I've never read this anywhere, and it makes sense to me that there's no problem since you're not interrupting any saves, right? I've also done a lot, A LOT of resets over the years, should I be scared? HAHAHAH (I also resetted a lot of times for shiny legendaries in Pokémon)

i apologise for the late response, for some strange reason i am only just seeing this now. i.. honestly do not know why resetting supposedly damages the cartridge.

Plot resetting in ACNL is highly discouraged due to causing corruption for many people. so many people were plot resetting in the early days of New Leaf for various reasons, and with that, many people reported corrupt save files. no one necessarily knows why this is. i saw someone plot reset over 100 times with no issue, and i saw someone do it only a handful of times met with a corrupt save, so perhaps it is just a chance thing.

i did quite a bit of plot resetting knowing the risks, and when my game took a while to save, i believe paranoia led me to assume it was the cause of plot resetting.

 

[Rubygame]

i apologise for the late response, for some strange reason i am only just seeing this now. i.. honestly do not know why resetting supposedly damages the cartridge.

Plot resetting in ACNL is highly discouraged due to causing corruption for many people. so many people were plot resetting in the early days of New Leaf for various reasons, and with that, many people reported corrupt save files. no one necessarily knows why this is. i saw someone plot reset over 100 times with no issue, and i saw someone do it only a handful of times met with a corrupt save, so perhaps it is just a chance thing.

i did quite a bit of plot resetting knowing the risks, and when my game took a while to save, i believe paranoia led me to assume it was the cause of plot resetting.

you don't have to worry at all!! Indeed, thank you for this detailed answer I don't know what is the true reason behind the save corruption, but perhaps you also remember the fuss that happened regarding game cartridges of Pokémon Alpha saphire and Omega ruby?
I couldn't explain it well, so if you didn't know it's explained well here:

Does Your Copy Of Pokémon Omega Ruby And Alpha Sapphire Still Work?

Update: The plot thickens...

www.nintendolife.com

Maybe some ACNL cartridges were "predisposed" to wear out due to some poorly produced batches?
I don't know but it could be an explanation beyond mere fortuity

 

[kisaker39]

you don't have to worry at all!! Indeed, thank you for this detailed answer I don't know what is the true reason behind the save corruption, but perhaps you also remember the fuss that happened regarding game cartridges of Pokémon Alpha saphire and Omega ruby?
I couldn't explain it well, so if you didn't know it's explained well here:

Does Your Copy Of Pokémon Omega Ruby And Alpha Sapphire Still Work?

Update: The plot thickens...

www.nintendolife.com

Maybe some ACNL cartridges were "predisposed" to wear out due to some poorly produced batches?
I don't know but it could be an explanation beyond mere fortuity

it would honestly make sense if that were to be the case, really.

plot resetting died out when the welcome amiibo update arrived, because you could place QR codes to determine the location your villager will place their house on. most people plot reset for this very reason.

along with this update came new cartridges, Animal Crossing New Leaf: Welcome Amiibo variants. i know that nintendo were aware at the sheer number of people with corrupt save files, also. I have personally not seen anyone report corruption through plot resetting on Welcome Amiibo variant cartridges, perhaps because it was not necessary to plot reset. or maybe even because the old cartridges were predisposed to wear, and the new variants were not. for what it is worth, i was using a Welcome Amiibo cartridge variant, although i was paranoid about it, it did not corrupt.

i really would not be suprised if you are right about this.

 

[Zinnia.]

I don't know what is the true reason behind the save corruption,
Maybe some ACNL cartridges were "predisposed" to wear out due to some poorly produced batches?

i.. honestly do not know why resetting supposedly damages the cartridge.

Right, Rubygame's bad batch theory makes a lot of sense, but I've heard another theory that could also be at play too. Maybe there's a bug in some older cartridges with how the game keeps track of resetti data that's edited when isabelle loads your town and when you save? I haven't seen any proof for it but I seem to remember someone talking about it in a youtube video before. I'll update my post if i find it.

 

[Rubygame]

Right, Rubygame's bad batch theory makes a lot of sense, but I've heard another theory that could also be at play too. Maybe there's a bug in some older cartridges with how the game keeps track of resetti data that's edited when isabelle loads your town and when you save? I haven't seen any proof for it but I seem to remember someone talking about it in a youtube video before. I'll update my post if i find it.

omg! I haven't built my resetti center yet because I knew I still had to do a lot of resetting (actually I'm almost finished and will build it soon). In any case this theory makes a lot of sense!!
I think I'll have to be careful

Post automatically merged: Feb 7, 2024

Maybe there's a bug in some older cartridges with how the game keeps track of resetti data that's edited when isabelle loads your town and when you save?

Now that I think about it better, I hope the welcome amiibo update fixed this problem for old cartridges too(if it's actually the problem for corrupted data).
Fingers crossed!