#127284 - Tones001 - Tue May 01, 2007 11:30 am
Hi,
I recently purchased (1month ago) an F2A 1g cart for gameboy advance.
I am using the software as povided F2APowerwriter V2.61. I followed the user manual and load a number of games with the recommended boot loader and all was working well untill about 1 week ago when on start up the usual multi program OS window no longer would have the loaded games in the menu. All one would see is a blue screen menu with no games.
I then proceeded to erase the cart and reinstall the games as once done. What happens is that the entire process of writing the cart happens untill the very end when all the games disappear off the menu. i try verify the write but get a message that there are no games loaded.
Can anyone help me with what the likelihood has happened? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I purchased the item from linker4U but they are very disappointing in giving any support whatsoever. Unfortuantely I am paying the price for buying at a better price over the internet and overseas...beware anyone that use them..i trusted them based on the fact they are recommended on some of the various forums.
Thanks in advance
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#127385 - dantheman - Wed May 02, 2007 2:26 am
I'm not really sure what to tell you. I have had no issues with my F2AU cart, so I haven't really had to deal with Linker4U's customer service. The only thing I can suggest is this: let the cart link up to the computer and then press Select+B to open a menu where you can do a full format of the card and also do a full test. I'd recommend the test, as that should tell you if the cart knows there's a problem.
Otherwise I'd make sure that the contacts are clean and are making a good connection with the GBA slot.
#127436 - Tones001 - Wed May 02, 2007 1:36 pm
Thanks Dantheman
I linked up Powerwriter and when I hit select + a button i get a frozen screen with details as follows:
Ultra 1Gb
1L.C_256YN 1H.C_256YB
2L.C_256YB 2H.C_256YB
3L. ---- 3H. -----
4L. ---- 4H. -----
The game boy then doesn't allow you to do anything else. you can hit any button except on/off and nothing happens. I understand you should be able to enter a special menu.
On the other hand if I start the GBA normally and not connected to powerwriter and hit select + B I get the following:
F2A Cart Info.
Type Ultra
size : OM
total games:0
page#1/0
If I hit A then I get the following:
GameID:00000000
lanueage:global
saver: 1024kbit
saved file :[X]
Diehard:[INVALID]
One funny thing I tried was a different boot loader rather than WINF2A12.gba I used gbaldr/gba and i get a games listing and one that is playable...any ideas?
#127482 - dantheman - Wed May 02, 2007 10:40 pm
Yeah, I meant Select+A when linked up, sorry about that. I didn't have my F2AU with me, so I didn't check it. Regardless, when you enter the Select-A menu, there should be some info on the top that tells you which buttons to press to access various functions. Apparently this isn't showing up for you though, which makes me somewhat concerned.
On a side note, you were using winf2a12.gba? Holy crap that's old. That's 1.2a, and the latest version was 2.7, at least 5 revisions of difference (based off of the loader files that if2a had available)
I'd recommend getting the latest version of PowerWriter (v2.61), which will automatically load the latest 2.7 loader by default, so you should just leave the box blank in the Options dialog box. I'm not sure if this will fix the issue, but it will probably help a bit. Also, try the Select+A thing again while linking up with the latest PW version.
Is "GBAldr" the same thing as "GBA Loader 3.3"? I've tried that a couple of times for fun and found that it does work on the F2AU though I think it was originally made for the regular F2A. I don't know much about it, but I wouldn't recommend using it too much since the winf2a loaders are more refined.
#127498 - chuckstudios - Thu May 03, 2007 12:30 am
| dantheman wrote: |
Is "GBAldr" the same thing as "GBA Loader 3.3"? |
GBAldr is a flasher for EZ5 3-in-1 expansion cards written by cory1492, it's a very good program with a nice skinnable GUI.
#127515 - dantheman - Thu May 03, 2007 1:23 am
Yeah, that's the first thing that came to my mind as well, but he's talking about a GBA loader app for a flash cart that lets you store more than one homebrew title at a time on a cart. For F2AU users, this menu is called CIZ X.X, where the Xs are replaced by a version number, but apparently this "GBA Loader 3.3" (named loader33.gba when I found it) will also load GBA binaries correctly on a F2A Ultra cart.
EDIT: Looking at the names that the if2a guys gave these loaders, apparently "GBA Loader 3.3" was originally made for F2A Pro users, which is why I'm slightly surprised that it boots files on a F2AU as well. I'd imagine the save management doesn't work, but still.
In any case, Tones001, another option you could try would be a complete reformat using FlashManager by Mootan. I think the latest beta versions available in English will support the F2A USB cable and F2AU carts - I've used it before, and it works, though I prefer PowerWriter for most functions.
#127738 - Tones001 - Fri May 04, 2007 12:16 pm
Thanks for your input guys. I have tried to get flashmanager to work but the card is not recognised.
I tried the latest bootloader WINF2A270.gba and still no luck...the odd thing is that powerwriter with winf2a12 worked as it should for about 3 weeks..something has gone amiss..
I got pogoshell to work but it only enables the 1st couple of roms loaded to work...
I just would like to return the thing to lnker4u...is anyone able to assist with their address? The shifty buggers do't give any details or backup...
Basically linker4U don't even meet their minimum claims on their website...
If I were to buy another cart is there a better cart that one could recommend? I originally understood the F2A cards were quite good..well great when they work..
#131136 - Tones001 - Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:31 pm
All sorted out now...linker4U have kindly responded and F2A cart was replaced...unfortunately do not know what was wrong with the cart but have a new one now...all works fine...
#131546 - dantheman - Sun Jun 17, 2007 4:13 am
Glad to hear the issue got sorted out. So it was a problem with the specific cart then? No wonder my ideas didn't work. Still, at least it works fine now.