Hacking Mini Supercard Micro Sd

[ChristopherJames]

I brought my son a 'mini supercard micro sd' originally intended for him to use on my old GBA handheld but I'm having issues with getting any game to actually save. (annoyingly) it will also create an extra file with the end title saying (in game) which often enough doesn't play. I've looked up but nothing I've read seems to help, I'm just wondering if someone can point me in the right direction.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

A lot of gba games require patching to run correctly and save correctly. In the realm of DS roms this is managed by the DLDI, for GBA roms there isn't one so you HAVE TO do it manually. In many cases this is called SRAM patching, it doesn't work all the time so requires specific stand alone patches for that particular rom. Then there are the few games that have no patches for, example for this would be ALL Dragonball Z games due to the protection used.

Software can be found here : http://eng.supercard.sc/soft_minisd.htm

 

[ChristopherJames]

A lot of gba games require patching to run correctly and save correctly. In the realm of DS roms this is managed by the DLDI, for GBA roms there isn't one so you HAVE TO do it manually. In many cases this is called SRAM patching, it doesn't work all the time so requires specific stand alone patches for that particular rom. Then there are the few games that have no patches for, example for this would be ALL Dragonball Z games due to the protection used.

Software can be found here : http://eng.supercard...soft_minisd.htm

Thanks,

I've already installed the application, how does the stand alone patches work?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

http://www.pockethea...a&section=patch

This is a collection of most stand alone patches. If the patch is a IPS file then you need a IPS patcher. You can find several on filetrip along with some IPS patches for some games. Standalone patches are applied to the rom file, example is the english translation patch of Mother 3. here: http://mother3.fobby.net/

http://filetrip.net/....php?string=ips

The important thing to know about GBA rom games and if they are compatible or not is by the save type they use. Save types of SRAM do not require any patching and will be good to play without modification. Those of EEPROM will require SRAM patching. If you don't know the game save type you can use g-Online to identify the game save type.

Spoiler

http://gbatemp.net/newgon/?dat=gba

I use a standalone catalog app called offlinelist. I use this over a online index due to the fact that depending on which computer I am on I am not always online but still need to lookup something.

http://offlinelist.free.fr/

 

[ChristopherJames]

Sorry for the dumb question again but how do I use those ips patches?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

http://filetrip.net/f7705-IPSWin-2-0.html

Use this.

File to Patch is the rom

Ips Patch To Use is the ips file

then you press the patch button. Put a check on the Backup Copy if you think your gonna screw up.

 

[DanTheManMS]

Uhhh... you shouldn't need to use standalone patches for most GBA games. HDIDT, you're steering him in the completely wrong direction here. The Supercard patching software will do that for you, including SRAM patching. Open the Supercard patcher, add your games, double-click the game if you want to see which patches are being applied, and output to a different location on your hard drive before copying the patched files to your miniSD card. Do NOT output directly to the miniSD card, as this is known to cause card corruption.

I think the key issue here is that nobody told you about the fact that you have to manually save your files when playing GBA games on the Supercard. After saving in-game, you must press a certain button combination (I want to say L+R+A+Select but it's been so long that I'm not confident about that) and it *should* bring up a menu asking you to update the *.sav file on your card with the new save data. Try this on a few games before deciding that it doesn't work, since it acts weird for some games.

This may help give you a better overall understanding of the Supercard and how to use the patching software and how to save: http://www.pockethea.../wiki/Supercard

In particular, read the usage guide that's linked about 1/3 of the way down the page.

EDIT: As for the "(in-game)" file, I've never been quite able to figure that out. Best idea is to not try to launch it. Like you said, it will crash.

 

[Rayder]

I have a Supercard SD......you have to hit a key combo to make it save games, it doesn't do it automatically.

L+R+Select+A for a normal save.

L+R+Select+B for real-time-save

Or, after rebooting the card, you can go to the "saver" menu and do it manually with that (in game) file.

Hope that helps you.

 

[relminator]

Kinda OT but where did you get the Micro SD version of SuperCard? I have the Mini-SD version and I had to use a stupid microsd to miniSD adapter.

As for your probs, Rayder and DanTheManMS said it well.

 

[DanTheManMS]

Relminator, I'm not sure the original post here was accurate for that. More than likely he has a Supercard MiniSD since it fits in the GBA. The only GBA-era Supercard that takes microSD is the Supercard Lite, which is designed to fit into the DS Lite. It's too short to fit into a GBA or a DS Phat.