Hardware Dumping GBA BIOS

[charlie22911]

I've been hunting google (and dodging malware thanks to a disposable VM) trying to find a utility called GBAMP by DarkFader and tepples so I can dump my GBA bios.
I am aware of the SRAM method but it is unsuitable for what I am trying to accomplish, a DLDI compatible utility is preferred.

Does anyone still have this utility? Literally every link I can find is dead...

And before anyone says I can just download one, I'd rather dump my own bios from my own hardware to a file that I know is a bit-perfect match of the original for educational purposes. Also it's illegal.

Thank you!

 

[FAST6191]

I am not aware of a utility by that name and GBAMP is the name of a flash cart, one very popular among homebrew developers on the GBA, so I doubt Darkfader or tepples (both well versed developers in GBA stuff) would name a tool that.
If it is not on their sites ( http://www.darkfader.net/gba/ and https://pineight.com/gba/ respectively) then it likely does not exist, the second is missing a couple of things by way of the tetris game lockjaw and a music player for the GBA but no BIOS tools that I am aware of.

Equally I have not seen a GBA BIOS dumper with DLDI. The DS version of the GBA BIOS (basically the same and same in the ways that matter -- http://problemkaputt.de/gbatek.htm#dsbackwardscompatiblegbamode ), however I am not sure if it is dumped by the DS BIOS dumpers of which you have a couple of options for DLDI enabled dumping tools ( http://www.cryptosystem.org/archives/2007/02/libfatdldi-enabled-ds-bios-dumper/ http://filetrip.net/view?4WyqHhBcP8 ).

"bit-perfect match"
The hashes for it are well known.

 

[Scarlet]

I'm not entirely sure what it was called, but I have a .gba file that dumped my GBA BIOS and worked with my SuperCard SD. I'll see if I can fish it out if it'll help.

EDIT: Found it in my downloads! "gbamp_bios_dumper.zip" I'll upload it for you

 

[TecXero]

This will work with EZ4. Just run it through your patcher to create the save file. It wasn't exactly designed for it, so you might get screen glitching, but once it goes green, it's done, so you're free to restart the GBA to dump the save to your SD. The save file will be the BIOS, though it will be too large. Half of it will be blank data. Just go in with a hex editor to remove the blank data at the end, which should be half the original size by the time you're done. Then just rename it to something like "GBA_BIOS.bin" and you'll have your own clean BIOS ready for use.

 

[7ank0v1c]

Hey, i know its been a few years since this has been posted, but is this meant to work on an actual GBA or a DS?

 

[Scarlet]

The one I posted will work on a GBA flashcard. Have only tried it on a GBA system.

 

[7ank0v1c]

how long is it meant to take? it seems to be taking a very long time?

It does have a yellow screen.

I currently only own a GBA and really want a legit copy of the BIOS.

Thanks by the way =D

 

[Scarlet]

how long is it meant to take? it seems to be taking a very long time?

It does have a yellow screen.

I currently only own a GBA and really want a legit copy of the BIOS.

Thanks by the way =D

It should go from yellow to a flashing green screen within a few seconds. The flashing green screen should mean it's done iirc.

 

[7ank0v1c]

It should go from yellow to a flashing green screen within a few seconds. The flashing green screen should mean it's done iirc.

Yeah its not working then for some reason.

Im using an original GBA with the EZ4 flash card.

any ideas maybe?

 

[Scarlet]

Yeah its not working then for some reason.

Im using an original GBA with the EZ4 flash card.

any ideas maybe?

I'm afraid I'm of little use here. All I can say is that it works fine on a SuperCard SD.

 

[7ank0v1c]

I'm afraid I'm of little use here. All I can say is that it works fine on a SuperCard SD.

Ah okay.

Just another question though, a previous comment mentioned the file will be too large and you have to hex edit it, is this your experience? and if so could you run through it with me what i have to do please?

i have found a different dumper that seems to work, but have tried hex editing etc and i just can't get it to load on visual boy advance.

Thanks again for your help, it is appreciated like =D

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

this will work with EZ4. Just run it through your patcher to create the save file. It wasn't exactly designed for it, so you might get screen glitching, but once it goes green, it's done, so you're free to restart the GBA to dump the save to your SD. The save file will be the BIOS, though it will be too large. Half of it will be blank data. Just go in with a hex editor to remove the blank data at the end, which should be half the original size by the time you're done. Then just rename it to something like "GBA_BIOS.bin" and you'll have your own clean BIOS ready for use.

Hey, could you run through this process with me, please. It seems to get stuck on the yellow screen...

 

[7ank0v1c]

I worked out how to do it using this GBA Utility Tool from here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/gba-utility-tools-new-gba-application.353326/

For anyone wanting to use this with the EZ Flash IV cart, here are some instructions that worked for me:

For use with EZ Flash IV: (Works on original GBA, and probably SP, Micro and NDS)
(make sure you have updated the cart to the latest kernel. Check here for updates http://www.ezflash.cn/download/ )

1) Patch GBAUtilityTools.gba with EZ4 Rom Loader, pick the SRAM save size and save it to the SD,
click config, okay and then send.
(leave this file as just .gba)

2) Run it on GBA and follow the on-screen instructions, then turn it off and back on.
(THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT! as it will automatically dump the SRAM data back to the SD card, which will be you BIOS dump)

3) Switch off and plug SD back into PC, copy all these files to the hard drive somewhere (desktop?) [might not work straight from SD]

4) find the .sav file in the SAVER folder on the SD card root and move it to the same folder as the previous step.
(Will be named the same as the file you ran on the GBA)
[Should be around 32kb, if not try the previous steps again]

5) Run GBABiosFixer.exe in compatibility mode, choose Windows Vista, then drag the .sav file to the opened window and press enter
(it should just disappear, but don't worry it should have worked, if you cannot open the file in a hex editor in the next step, then try this step again).

6) Then open the same file (.sav) in a hex editor [DO NOT DO THIS IN NOTEPAD, IT WILL RUIN THE DUMP]
(I used this free HEX editor from here: http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm )

7) Delete everything passed hex 3FFF (not including)

8) Rename to GBA_BIOS.bin (file size should be 16,384 bytes)

9) Enjoy your legally owned GBA BIOS Dump!!

 

[N7Kopper]

If you have a homebrewed GCN or Wii and a GCN to GBA cable, you can ignore all of these flashcart shenanigans and just use this tool to dump the BIOS, as well as game ROMs and their save chips. ROM dumps are slow, however, owing to the abysmal bandwidth of the GBA link port and GCN controller port.

 

[Brayton]

I did it using a Wii and a GBA GameCube link cable.