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DS Misc > Whatever happened to... DSbasic?

#135159 - banjo_oz - Fri Jul 20, 2007 1:59 pm

So far I've been able to find very little info on this homebrew application, not even an author's homepage, except that it got as far as version 2, then seemed to stop development a good year or so ago.

I think it's a FANTASTIC idea, and would love to give it a try with the hundreds of BASIC programs out there (or even some of my ancient BASIC program books!).

However, I cannot get version 2 to load files (pressing select won't list the .bas files on my card; it seems to show no files even if they're there), which I assume is because I am using a slot-1 (M3 Simply) flashcart.

Does anyone know if there was ever a version of DSbasic after v2, or if there were/are any plans to make it work for slot-1 cards or even update it at all?

It seems a shame that such a potentially cool program would just 'disappear' as it has (I only found out about it from a few sites that had archives of old homebrew)... there doesn't even seem to be any threads in various DS forums about it, from what I could find.

Cheers,
Banjo

#135203 - Dood77 - Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:33 pm

banjo_oz wrote:
However, I cannot get version 2 to load files (pressing select won't list the .bas files on my card; it seems to show no files even if they're there), which I assume is because I am using a slot-1 (M3 Simply) flashcart.

Yes, this is because it was programmed with an older libfat. Basically, (no pun intended) it will run on any SLOT-2 with something other than an SD card.

And as far as I know, the original developer does not belong to the scene anymore. (Wasn't it natruim42?) If he released the source, I'm sure someone here wouldn't mind updating the fat library... if not working on the other bugs as well.
EDIT: Whoopsie, just noticed your other post, and the developer was not natrium42...
_________________
If I use a term wrong or something then feel free to correct, I?m not much of a programmer.

Original DS Phat obtained on day of release + flashme v7
Supercard: miniSD, Kingston 1GB, Kingston 2GB
Ralink chipset PCI NIC

#135238 - banjo_oz - Sat Jul 21, 2007 6:11 am

Dood77, I just got a reply PM from the author (zzo38computer) who said that they hadn't been able to get dsbasic working that well anyway (the bugs you mentioned, I assume, though being unable to use it myself, I haven't come across those)... and that since they do not have a slot-1 card, they cannot add dldi support.

zzo38computer also did mention the source being available, so I figure the best bet is for someone else to have a shot at fixing the bugs and updating the libfat for dldi support. I personally have no idea how one would go about this, but am willing to try and learn (though the bugfixing part is likely well beyond me!), however I suspect there are folks here that could at least fix the fatlib problem in a matter of minutes!

The source appears to be here:
http://zzo38computer.cjb.net/Nitro2/dsbasic/

#135309 - Dood77 - Sun Jul 22, 2007 3:25 am

EDIT: One of the moderators kindly upgraded the fat library and added DLDI support! http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?t=9575&start=34
banjo_oz wrote:
and that since they do not have a slot-1 card, they cannot add dldi support.


Uh, as of right now I fail to see how not having a slot-1 card can hinder adding dldi support to a program... Unless they have an older slot-2 flashcart that doesn't have a dldi driver?

Since DS Basic uses the older GBA_NDS_FAT, it likely wouldn't be as simple as recompiling with newer libraries. But DragonMinded did release his modification to GBA_NDS_FAT (libfatdragon) that supposedly works with DLDI... anyone know if this would be a simple recompile?
_________________
If I use a term wrong or something then feel free to correct, I?m not much of a programmer.

Original DS Phat obtained on day of release + flashme v7
Supercard: miniSD, Kingston 1GB, Kingston 2GB
Ralink chipset PCI NIC


Last edited by Dood77 on Sun Jul 22, 2007 3:30 am; edited 1 time in total

#135311 - dantheman - Sun Jul 22, 2007 3:30 am

Check http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?t=9575&start=30 - it appears Wintermute already took care of it, though I believe it remains untested.