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DS development > Using GBA Flashcards with the DS...

#42740 - ChronicImpact - Sat May 14, 2005 2:18 pm

I've searched and scanned over the DS boards here and on a few other sites, but haven't found anything covering this topic, so here goes...

Not too long before the DS's release I bought a flashcard (two actually) for my GBA for developing. Yes, actually for developing, not for commercial roms.

So what I'm now wondering is, how useful can they be for the DS, beyond what could be done of the GBA. I'm reading alot about router and WiFi connections - not things I know much about - but not much for the use of GBA flashcards.

So is there anything more I can use them for, perhaps programming software to utilize some of the DS's functions?

Any information is greatly appreciated, thanks.

#42752 - Abcd1234 - Sat May 14, 2005 5:08 pm

It's tempting to just say RTFF, but... :)

Your GBA flash cart, by itself, isn't immediately useful for doing DS development, as by default the DS will only load code in GBA mode from the GBA cart slot. Thus, the only way it can be made useful is to coerce the DS to load code from the GBA cart in DS mode. This is where PassMe, WifiMe, and FlashMe come in.

PassMe is a device which, when combined with a regular DS cart (like, say, Metroid), tricks the DS (by modifying the cart header) into loading code from the GBA cart slot.

WiFiMe is a similar trick. In this case, you need a supported WiFi card (I used a Linksys WMP54G Rev 4 card, the latest, smaller-form-factor version), a Win2K box, and a set of hacked drivers. WiFiMe then presents itself as an available Download Play game. If you select it, WiFiMe sends a header which, again, tricks the DS into loading code from the GBA cart slot.

FlashMe is really the ultimate solution. You take FlashMe and write it to your GBA flash cart. Then, using one of the aforementioned techniques (I used WiFiMe), you get the DS to execute FlashMe, while shorting out the SL1 contact, which is accessible through the battery compartment in the back of the DS. FlashMe then modifies your firmware so that, at initial startup, the DS will attempt to load code from the GBA cart if the GBA header contains the game code "PASS". Otherwise, it loads the regular firmware. The point being that, from then on, your DS will happily load code directly from the GBA cart slot.

For info about PassMe, you can look here or here.

For info about WiFiMe, check out it's homepage.

And the FlashMe homepage can be found here.

#42766 - FourScience - Sat May 14, 2005 8:51 pm

Abcd1234 wrote:
It's tempting to just say RTFF, but... :)


Yeah, stuff about this is EVERYWHERE. Good explanation, Abcd.
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#42781 - mtg101 - Sat May 14, 2005 11:40 pm

ChronicImpact wrote:
searched


You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.




Searched??? Inconceivable... ;)
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Speaker for the Dead

#42783 - mymateo - Sun May 15, 2005 12:10 am

Then what's the correct word to use? Sought?

"I've sought and scanned over the DS boards"

Or better yet, "I sought the information... etc"?

Nah, I dun gunna go an' think that whut he sez is gunna hafta be good 'nuf fer y'all. :)

I personally don't see anything wrong with "searched". It's in the dictionary.

#42785 - mtg101 - Sun May 15, 2005 12:28 am

If ChronicImpact had made an effort "to make a thorough examination of; look over carefully in order to find something; explore" this forum he would have found information, in abundance, on the topic of GBA flash carts and their use for DS development.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes
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Speaker for the Dead

#42824 - ChronicImpact - Sun May 15, 2005 9:06 am

Apologies to everyone then for not having found what apparently seems obvious. Sure there's plenty of stuff; but none of it made much sense to someone uneducated on the DS system's behind the scenes working; such as me.

Thanks to Abcd for the explination, though.