ROM Hack Hacking the BIOS Graphics

ScottBeebiWan

ScottBeebiWan

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unLZ-GBA.exe has stopped working
NLZ-GBA Advance Graphics editor - Index was out of range.

It should be LZ77 compressed, considering that it's not uncompressed according to my "research" (messing with tile editors) but this happens.
halp
 
FAST6191

FAST6191

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What graphics are you attempting to recover? If it is a font or something it might be a non standard tile size. Also you checked both 4bpp and 8bpp stuff?

What are you using to find the addresses? The basic searches of those tools can be tripped up easily enough by things that look like compression but are not. If you can then maybe try SWI logs (swi = software interrupt aka BIOS calls which includes decompression options).

Also maybe try http://www.romhacking.net/documents/361/ to see if you can locate it properly, some of the more advanced things you can do with such techniques are complex but that is easy enough to learn. VBA-sdl-h still works but no$gba's debugger version has since gone free ( http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm ) and the same workflow from the document will work there (you are still setting read and write breakpoints on points in VRAM and following it back up the chain) and has a nice GUI to play with rather than playing with a quasi command line.

As you asked for compression alternatives though
https://filetrip.net/gba-downloads/tools-utilities/download-lz77restructor2-1-0-2-f29641.html
http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/433/
http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/431/
Also crystaltile2 has nice compression searching functions, though they are sometimes even more flaky,
 
ScottBeebiWan

ScottBeebiWan

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FAST6191 said:
What graphics are you attempting to recover? If it is a font or something it might be a non standard tile size. Also you checked both 4bpp and 8bpp stuff?

What are you using to find the addresses? The basic searches of those tools can be tripped up easily enough by things that look like compression but are not. If you can then maybe try SWI logs (swi = software interrupt aka BIOS calls which includes decompression options).
Click to expand...

1. Just the graphics that say "GAME BOY".
2. Yes.
3. I'm not really using anything to find addresses, this (I think) is my first time GBA hacking.

I'm trying to get a SWI log from BIOS on VBA but I get nothing no matter what.

upload_2016-12-27_9-15-46.png


Let's try NO$GBA Debug.

upload_2016-12-27_9-9-6.png


... fuck.
Also i've tried CT2 but I can't find my way around the UI.
Ok, here's hoping LZ77 Restructor works...

upload_2016-12-27_9-7-28.png


OOooPS

upload_2016-12-27_9-10-56.png
dammit
upload_2016-12-27_9-12-16.png
(yes I know how to use console applications)
 

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FAST6191

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Wait you want to edit the BIOS file itself? That can be a workable in on other systems but I am not sure I would suggest it for the GBA. At this point I am not sure we even have a good disassembly of the BIOS -- most people care more about the function calls than the BIOS. Likewise I am not sure if anything runs the BIOS file itself like you can run the firmware/loaders of various other systems.

The Nintendo thing is part of the cartridges (some speculate as a weak attempt to prevent certain types of flash carts and homebrew from being legal) but the Gameboy coloured thing is a different matter.

If you are aiming for custom versions of the startup for something then I will share my script for http://gbatemp.net/threads/update-t...-a-nintendo-switch.453820/page-6#post-6947356 if you reckon it will do for you.
 
ScottBeebiWan

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FAST6191 said:
Wait you want to edit the BIOS file itself? That can be a workable in on other systems but I am not sure I would suggest it for the GBA. At this point I am not sure we even have a good disassembly of the BIOS -- most people care more about the function calls than the BIOS. Likewise I am not sure if anything runs the BIOS file itself like you can run the firmware/loaders of various other systems.

The Nintendo thing is part of the cartridges (some speculate as a weak attempt to prevent certain types of flash carts and homebrew from being legal) but the Gameboy coloured thing is a different matter.

If you are aiming for custom versions of the startup for something then I will share my script for http://gbatemp.net/threads/update-t...-a-nintendo-switch.453820/page-6#post-6947356 if you reckon it will do for you.
Click to expand...

I didn't want to change the Nintendo logo. I didn't even say that. Just change the GAME BOY letters. Like, for example, it could say YOBE MAG or something. For real. Also, by "Gameboy" colored thing do you mean the GBC Gameboy Logo that's built-in (for obvious reasons) or the GBA startup (which is what I mean)?
 

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