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DS Flash Equipment > gba controls

#44211 - mattdog1000000 - Tue May 31, 2005 2:42 am

Would there be any way to modify the gba control scheme on the ds? Possibly through modifying the firmware or just through separate gba emulation? I ask because it is almost like the super gameboy in how certain games are just uncomfortable to play with the a/b setup, and I would rather have it as y/b, just cuz its more comfortable.
thanks

#44212 - Mchart - Tue May 31, 2005 2:49 am

No way as of yet, you could with a firmware replace though, or just by simply switching it around physically inside the DS.

#44213 - mattdog1000000 - Tue May 31, 2005 2:52 am

I took that into consideration, until I came to my senses and realized I'd be destroying every ds game... so I think a firmware mod would probably be the best choice... darn, how hard could it be...? *expects rational answer*

#44214 - doublec - Tue May 31, 2005 2:54 am

Unfortunately the x/y keys are read from a different register to the a/b keys so I imagine it would not be easy.

#44216 - mattdog1000000 - Tue May 31, 2005 2:58 am

You think nintendo would do that intentionally? I bet they did... they always do crap like that.

#44217 - Mchart - Tue May 31, 2005 3:27 am

Uhh no. They did it because it makes sense.

Anyways, I specifically remember there being a thread with directions in here that showed how to mod your DS so you could switch the keys around.

#44224 - Darkwind_776 - Tue May 31, 2005 4:07 am

I was acctually hoping there was a way to use the X & Y as L & R. In some games, I really wished that you didn't have to reach the top of the DS/GBA to hit some of the buttons (Street Fighter Alpha: 3, Chain of Memories, ect.)

Would that be even harder to configure?

#44233 - Joat - Tue May 31, 2005 5:04 am

Actually, it doesn't make much sense at all to put X and Y on a seperate register only readable from the ARM7. The only reason I can think of is that they were added at the last moment (figuratively speaking, since the last minute for hardware major hardware revisions was still probably 9 months to a year before release). Otherwise, putting the X,Y, and /penirq lines in the KEYS register on both processors makes a bunch more sense (and can be disabled in GBA mode by a freaking OR gate on each one pulling them high).

However, it *is* fully a hardware issue, the firmware doesn't have anything to do with reading the keys (or just about anything else for that matter) during a game. It doesn't provide networking features either, so changing it will *not* make existing nifi games magically Wifi capable either.

The BIOS boots and validates the card, then decrypts/decompresses the firmware, which then sets up a few things, re-validates the card more exhaustively, and almost completly erases itself from memory before your NDS code ever gets running (configuration info like the touch screen calibration is the *only* thing left in memory by the time your code is run).
_________________
Joat
http://www.bottledlight.com

#44240 - Abcd1234 - Tue May 31, 2005 6:14 am

And on that note, I have to say, it's pretty amusing what people think can be done by modifying the firmware... hey, I should start a rumour that someone created a PSP emulator for the DS by modifying the DS firmware... ;)

#44243 - josath - Tue May 31, 2005 7:20 am

http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?t=5180