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Flash Equipment > Guide to using the Supercard (SD) for DS and GBA homebrew.

#90101 - MrD - Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:42 pm

This is a guide for running homebrew on the Supercard, a device which fits into SLOT-2 of any Game Boy Advance or Nintendo DS series handheld console, allowing you to run code stored on removable flash media.

There are four common versions of the Supercard:
  • Supercard CF, which accepts CompactFlash (CF) media
  • Supercard SD, which accepts Secure Digital (SD) media
  • Supercard SD - MiniSD, which accepts MiniSD media
  • Supercard Lite, which accepts MicroSD media
This guide was written for the Supercard SD, although much of the guide is applicable to all versions of the Supercard.

To use the Supercard with Nintendo DS homebrew, you will need to 'enable' it to run homebrew. There are several software, hardware, permanent and temporary methods for doing this, most of which you can read about at pineight.com.

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Running Nintendo DS homebrew from your Supercard:
To run Nintendo DS homebrew from your Supercard, use the following sequence:
  • Use the *.nds.gba version of your chosen homebrew. If there is no *.nds.gba version available, you can use DevKitARM's dsbuild to create *.nds .gba from *.nds. Usage: dsbuild game.nds -o game.nds.gba)
  • Rename your *.nds.gba to *.nds.
  • Copy save.sav from the Supercard patching program directory, and rename it to *.sav.
  • Copy your renamed *.nds and *.sav to the flash media.
  • Your homebrew title should now appear in the Supercard menu.
To avoid confusion between renamed *.nds.gba and original *.nds files, many people rename their *.nds.gba files to *.sc.nds. (And their respective saves *.sc.sav)

There may special versions of certain homebrew games and utilities available with the extension *.sc.nds. Sometimes, these specialised versions may offer enhanced features over the *.nds or *.ds.gba versions.

Attempting to patch homebrew *.nds using the Supercard patching program is not recommended: many files will not patch correctly, and you would not gain any functionality from doing so.

There is a patching program available on the Supercard Products website which patches Moonshell, allowing it to be used on a Supercard Lite.

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Running GBA homebrew from your Supercard:
To run GBA homebrew from your Supercard, use the following sequence:
  • Copy save.sav from the Supercard patching program directory, and rename it to *.sav, to match your GBA homebrew filename title.
  • Copy your renamed *.gba and *.sav to the flash media.
  • Your homebrew title should now appear in the Supercard menu.
GBA homebrew does not need patching, it should work straight away. However, the Supercard patching software allows you add a number of features to GBA games:
  • Supercard 'Normal Save' - L+R+A+SELECT - This allows you to hold up to four distinct versions of the game's SRAM at any one time. You will still need to QPC save (described below) to save this multi-SRAM to the flash media. You can use one Normal Save if you patch with 'Enable saver', and four Normal Saves if you patch with 'Enable more saver').
  • Supercard 'Real Time Save' - L+R+B+SELECT - This allows you to save the entire current state of the game at any time. (You can do this while the game is in progress: You don't need a 'save point'). You can have four Real Time Save slots if you patch with 'Enable more real time saver'
  • 'Game Guide in Game' - L+R+B+START - This allows you to attach a text file to the game (such as a walkthrough), which you can refer to at any time.
  • 'Game Cheat in Game' - L+R+A+START - This allows you to attach a single GBA *.cht cheat file to your game, and gives you the option to enable and disable any cheat while the game is in progress.
  • 'Reset to Main Menu' - L+R+SELECT+START - This allows you to return to the Supercard's main menu at any time. You can do this to avoid using QPC.
GBA homebrew patching compatibility is sketchy at best. Some games work flawlessly, other games will have minor graphical glitches when returning from a patch-related utility menu, other games will refuse to patch.

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Saving games on your Supercard:
Supercard SD does not have battery backed up SRAM. This means that once you turn off your DS or GBA (as this applies to both), you any in-game saves will be lost. To save the SRAM, you must do the following:
  • After you save the game (using the normal save function of your homebrew), turn your DS off and on rapidly.
  • When you are presented with the Supercard menu, switch to the SAVER menu. (+ pad)
  • Because the SRAM will have not been lost, you can now save the SRAM manually. To do this, find the *.sav file for your homebrew title and press A.
  • When asked if you want to save the SRAM, click yes.
  • The SRAM has now been saved to the flash media.
You will need to use this sequence for both GBA and Nintendo DS homebrew games. Nintendo DS games that are filesystem-aware may save to a file, ignoring SRAM, and therefore can save without this method.

Turning your console off and on again rapidly is sometimes known as the 'Quick Power Cycle' method, or just 'QPC' for short. The whole sequence is referred to as a QPC Save.

You can instruct the Supercard to automatically load the *.sav into SRAM when you launch the game: There is an option ('Auto load saver') in the Supercard OPTIONS menu. It is automatically checked by default.

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Bugs, caveats and recovery:
Sometimes, when you turn on your GBA or Nintendo DS, you may get a message along the lines of 'cannot find SD card / please turn off GBA'. This message means that an application has corrupted the filesystem of your flash media. It may be possible to recover the files that were on the card using a file recovery application.

Once you have recovered all the files you can from the media, you can restore the flash media to normal by formatting it with the FAT filesystem. You can do this however you wish: There is no special Supercard formatting application.

To prevent this from happening:
  • Use the *.ds.gba version of the homebrew. Note: In some cases, you may be able to use the *.nds versions of homebrew titles. However, it seems that *.ds.gba enjoys higher compatibility.
  • Always make sure to copy the save.sav from the Supercard patching program directory. IF you use a blank file, you may encounter strange bugs.
  • If you're running GBA homebrew, always copy an accompanying *.sav file, even if your game doesn't use saving.
  • Ensure that the version of the homebrew you're using is for the correct flash media adapter combination you have. Almost all applications that are filesystem-aware have different versions for M3 or Supercard adapters, and SD and CF cards. Using the wrong version may cause the homebrew to not function correctly or corrupt your filesystem.
If you're unsure, search the homebrew and emulation forums for information, or if you're still unsure (as searching may provide out-of-date information) create a new thread, or try to contact the author of the homebrew.

Remember to back up your games and saves often. The Supercard is normally a remarkably reliable piece of equipment, but be aware that, as with any piece of software or hardware, Strange Unexplainable Things may happen, causing lost or corrupted data.

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Other stuff:
I can verify that the Supercard SD can handle cards up to and including 2GB. (~1953125MB) This was tested with a Sandisk Standard 2GB SD card.

You can continue using your flash media as you would normally when ROMs are present. For example, it is not necessary to use different flash media for your Supercard and your PDA. It is even possible to copy Moonshell to the flash media, use your flash media as normal in any compatible digital camera, and then preview the pictures in Moonshell in your Nintendo DS.

However, some digital cameras require a specific directory structure on the flash media. My camera uses a directory in the root named 'DCIM', for example. If this structure is not present, they will complain that the media is 'not formatted'. The best way to ensure that your digital camera does not format your flash media automatically is to do the following three steps:
  • Format the flash media completely using the FAT on any PC.
  • Format the flash media on your digital camera to produce the required directory structure.
  • Copy your homebrew applications to the flash cart, making sure to avoid renaming, deleting or placing files in the newly created directory structure.
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Supercard at PHWiki - Contains more information and links about the Supercard.
Supercard Products official site. - You can download firmware and patcher program updates from this site.
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Last edited by MrD on Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:45 am; edited 8 times in total

#97793 - DannyL - Fri Aug 11, 2006 3:45 pm

Thanks. So if I buy these two products:

GBAMP v2 SD
SD card

I could run homebrew?

#97825 - tepples - Fri Aug 11, 2006 8:16 pm

Please don't link to retailer pages on forum.gbadev.org. State the names of the products. I edited your post to conform to this standard.

GBAMP v2 SD can run .mb.gba homebrew. It cannot run .mb.gba homebrew that reads files from the memory card. It cannot run .gba homebrew. It cannot run DS homebrew.
_________________
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