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--- template:carts_important_notes [2022/06/20 14:41] – hiccup
+++ template:carts_important_notes [2025/04/26 13:41] (current) – hiccup
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 **Important Notes**
-  * If you have an unused/sealed game, you should dump ROM and save data from the physical media before using it, and note in your submission if the physical media was new or sealed when you got it. This is to avoid inadvertent modification of the data and to help preserve the data in its unused/“factory” state. Its also a good idea to photograph the cart/packaging in its sealed state, in order to help with verifying it.
+  * Unopened games should have their ROM **and** save data dumped **before** attempting to play them. This avoids inadvertent modification of the data and helps preserve any possible rewritable data in its unused/"factory" state. This is especially important for types of cart that store the ROM on rewritable media, or games that come with special save data pre-installed. But it is not necessarily possible to know in advance, hence why its advisable to dump first. Note in your submission whether the physical media was sealed and include a photo of the cart/packaging in its sealed state, if possible.
-  * If the dump is new (hashes don't match anything in the relevant ROM database), then you should clean the contacts (or equivalent) on the physical media and redump it to see if you still get the same hashes as before.
+  * You should clean the physical media's electrical contacts before trying to dump it, then dump it, and if it doesn't match something in the database, clean it again and dump it a second time, checking if both dumps match using a file comparison tool or calculating the SHA256 of each file and comparing those values. This helps ensure that dirt on the contacts is not causing interference, and that dirt was fully removed during the cleaning process.
+  * Especially for rare items, make sure to keep the media and dumping hardware around as long as possible (and keep in contact with any future owner if possible), in case an issue with the dump comes up. At minimum (again, if possible) its good idea to keep it around for a while after its been added to the database.
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