#101636 - thegamefreak0134 - Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:21 pm
I realise this is a really simple question, but I am looking into purchacing a solution to let me test homebrew code on the DS (without using the wi-fi feature) and this seems like the best solution. Do I gather correctly that it uses a DS cart (a real one, licenced by nintendo and all) to trick the DS into thinking it's a game, and then switches over to the GBA slot to run your code? (more or less?) If so, I think it will work great, because I can use the GBA Movie Player with my CF card to do my coding, which is a nice solution. If this is not correct, or if someone knows of a cheaper solution, please let me know. Thanks!
-thegamefreak
_________________
What if the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about?
[url=http:/www.darknovagames.com/index.php?action=recruit&clanid=1]Support Zeta on DarkNova![/url]
#101640 - JerryM - Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:28 pm
Hey,
The PassMe2 is very similiar to an original PassMe, except you should know that it requires you to reprogram the PassMe2's CPLD for every new homebrew you wish to run. Your thoughts are basically correct. The PassMe would "jump" execution to the GBA Slot to run the things there, rather than continue executing. The PassMe2 is similiar to this, but was made because the new Firmwares checked to make sure the game cart wasn't doing that: jumping to the GBA Slot.
Depending on your firmware, I would suggest a PassMe, or a NoPass.
I myself, have a GBAMP-CF in the mail, still waiting for it to arrive. I'm still looking for a cheap Pass method so I can do DS homebrew.
#101642 - josath - Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:34 pm
Just so you know, PassMe2 does NOT work with GBAMP. PassMe2 requires a device with SRAM, which GBAMP does not have. Now, if you use PassMe2+some other device, to install flashme, then you can of course use your GBAMP.
PassMe1 DOES work with GBAMP, but only on DS with older firmware (do the pictochat test to see if yours is ok). Otherwise, you'll probably want a NoPass, they cost about the same as a PassMe2, but are easier to use and work with all versions of DS.
#101646 - thegamefreak0134 - Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:44 pm
Unfortunately (from a development standpoint) I have a DS lite, so older firmware is a no-go. OK, what do you mean by "reprograming" the passme? Do I have to hook it up to a PC, or what? And if so, will it come with the proper hookups and software and such?
Also (above question is much more important) if I am going to use a CF card with the movie player, do I need to format it special, or just send the binary to the card? (with the .nds or .gba extention)
*edit* I assume that no re-writeable DS carts exist, correct? That would be a lot easier...
*edit again: Sorry about this... It just occured to me that GBAMP means the movie player, in which case I will need to buy a real GBA flash cart, no?
_________________
What if the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about?
[url=http:/www.darknovagames.com/index.php?action=recruit&clanid=1]Support Zeta on DarkNova![/url]
#101655 - josath - Thu Sep 07, 2006 1:30 am
So what exactly do you have right now? ds lite, gbamp, and a passme? I'm not clear exactly, if you list it, then we can tell you exactly what else you need.
#101658 - Smayds - Thu Sep 07, 2006 1:59 am
Sounds like what you'll need is a NoPass of some description and a firmware update to your CF GBAMP. If you don't have the MP pictured, it's time to upgrade.
#101717 - thegamefreak0134 - Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:29 pm
I have a Nintendo DS Lite and 4 purchaced games. I also have a desktop computer running windows media center edition (<shudder>) if that counts. I havent purchaced any of this hardware because Im trying to find out what I need to purchace in the first place. Thus the questions.
I will definately look into a NoPass, as it looks like a much happier solution to the problem. If its more expensive, oh well, i\'s worth it to play with the touch-screen. Then I can use the MP, yes?
*edit - Done some reading of topics, and perhaps the GBAMP isn\'t the way to go. I will need a real flash cart to save files, and this poses another problem. Say I wanted to write a DS game to put on a DS cart. How would I be able to test the saving functionality? Does it essentially work the same? (Or would I simply have to write within a different hardware address to do the save, in which case it would be relatively simple to switch) If I am going to play with this, I am going to want to be able to put any real games I make on a real cart...
_________________
What if the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about?
[url=http:/www.darknovagames.com/index.php?action=recruit&clanid=1]Support Zeta on DarkNova![/url]
#101721 - tepples - Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:29 pm
If you use libfat or its predecessor, you can fopen(), fwrite(), and fclose(), and the details will be largely the same if you decide to port your game to run on a rewritable DS card. Besides, rewritable DS cards aren't widely available yet apart from SD adapters such as Magic Key 2 and DS-Link.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#101728 - Dwedit - Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:24 pm
| JerryM wrote: |
| The PassMe2 is very similiar to an original PassMe, except you should know that it requires you to reprogram the PassMe2's CPLD for every new homebrew you wish to run. |
This is completely incorrect.
The Passme2 works by redirecting the execution address to a point on a DS cartridge where it would execute a special SWI instruction, which has the side effect of jumping to the SRAM area of GBA cartridge space in THUMB mode. The CPLD only needs to be programed for a specific DS cartridge. Then after it jumps into the SRAM space, it's faced with many restrictions, since when SRAM is read in 16-bit mode, it returns the byte at that location, but doubled to 16 bits. So you need to put a special SRAM file on which was carefully programmed around these restrictions. Then, it will boot up the cartridge just as a passme1 would.
But nowadays, the DS cartridge encryption method has been cracked, so now you can buy a special DS cartridge (dubbed NOPASS) which communicates using regular nintendo DS cartridge protocol, then just jumps to the GBA cartridge, so passme2 is obsolete.
Finally, you can indeed use a GBAMP. If you want to save to a file system, you can do so fine with no problems. Why would you need SRAM?
_________________
"We are merely sprites that dance at the beck and call of our button pressing overlord."
#101734 - thegamefreak0134 - Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:10 pm
I was under the vague impression that SRAM was the RAM held in the cartridge, you know, the kind you save games on? Other than that, thanks for the info. I think I\'m ready to buy now!
-thegamefreak
_________________
What if the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about?
[url=http:/www.darknovagames.com/index.php?action=recruit&clanid=1]Support Zeta on DarkNova![/url]
#101747 - tepples - Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:05 pm
| Dwedit wrote: |
| Finally, you can indeed use a GBAMP. |
PassMe and NoPass work with GBAMP v2. In order to get PassMe2 to work, however, you need GBAMP v3 (M3 for short).
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#101755 - josath - Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:02 pm
I would advise you to get:
1. a NoPass -- works on any DS, simple to use
2. a GBAMP -- cheap, expandable storage, perhaps most compatible homebrew device (except a few old ones that haven't been updated, also you don't get extra free memory in dslinux, but these are minor issues)
These you may already have:
3. a CF card for your GBAMP
4. a CF reader/writer for your PC -- so you can put stuff on your CF card, you may already have one, or even built into your PC
With GBAMP, the entire size of your CF card is available to you to store data. 256MByte cards are very cheap these days, and you can always get bigger ones if you really need it (they go up to 8GByte, but it starts to get expensive)
#101778 - Smayds - Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:20 am
Also, if you're interested in running DS Linux or contributing to its development, you may want to get a CF Supercard in place of the MP, as it offers tons of extra RAM (16 out of the onboard 32MB becomes available due to the way the CF card works - at least, that's what I'm gathering from doing lots of development-oriented reading while I wait for my NoPass to arrive, and most conveniently I already have a CF Supercard, so I look forward to helping out).
Of course the downsides are much higher cost (around double a GBAMP, which you already have anyway) and a *significant* drain on battery life because of the onboard DRAM.
#101822 - Lynx - Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:45 am
| Quote: |
| except you should know that it requires you to reprogram the PassMe2's CPLD for every new homebrew you wish to run |
WHA WHA WHAT!?!?! What is that? PassMe2 only needs to be programmed for the COMMERCIAL game being inserted..
Anyway, you want your games to run on a real DS card? Why's that?
_________________
NDS Homebrew Roms & Reviews
#101880 - thegamefreak0134 - Fri Sep 08, 2006 5:04 pm
How else would I mass-produce and publish the game? Just kidding. I dunno, it just seems like that\'s a valid goal for proper homebrew development, to get something that any regular user could play, without the nintento license. I just like the thought, that\'s all.
I\'m looking into getting a PassCard3, as that seems like the best of the options, and is relatively in-expensive. Now how to handle shipping... phoo.
You say the GBAMP is in fact the most compatible card? OK, it uses those big CF cards like go in a digital camera, right? (I think I have on for my cannon camera, but I\'ll have to check.) Are there any drawbacks to this approach?
-gamefreak
_________________
What if the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about?
[url=http:/www.darknovagames.com/index.php?action=recruit&clanid=1]Support Zeta on DarkNova![/url]
#101881 - JerryM - Fri Sep 08, 2006 5:12 pm
Sorry about the wrong information I posted. I suppose I read it wrong (where it says it must be reprogrammed for every game card, I think I misrepresented that as home brew - my apologies)
Anyways.. my GBAMP arrived, now I need to find a good vendor of NoPass's for relatively cheap and order one of those.
#101890 - Lynx - Fri Sep 08, 2006 6:32 pm
Plus, keep in mind that if you are homebrewing, you get access to stuff even commercial developers don't get.. (that I know of) and that is FAT! What's better then a few MB of SRAM or EEPROM than 512MB of CF space?
I'd say homebrewing is even better than developing for a commercial DS game card.
_________________
NDS Homebrew Roms & Reviews