# GBA emulator for the DS by Darkchen *UPDATE*



## shaunj66 (Sep 16, 2009)

*GBA emulator for the DS by Darkchen *UPDATE**
GBAtemp Exclusive hands-on
              Homebrew enthusiast and GBAtemp member darkchen has been busy developing a Game Boy Advance emulator for the Nintendo DS, and we've tried it! The result? Some extremely impressive work!


How did darkchen manage to emulate the GBA given the hardware limitations of the DS? The clever guy used the extra power that the DSiPlayer (slot-1 media player) provides to get the extra juice needed to emulate GBA at a decent speed. Unfortunately of course, this means that this emulator will *only work on the iPlayer.*

We've tried a handful of games using darkchen's emulator and the results have been extremely impressive. The majority of games (even 3D intensive games) work extremely well with almost perfect video and sound output. There is a little bit of slow down in some games (using a frameskip setting of 2), but the results are astonishing for a first release. I didn't even see a single graphical glitch. But, not only is the emulation side of things impressive, the emulator GUI itself is also very well done and offers a great number of useful and well implemented options such as save states, screenshots, frameskip and more. It even supports zipped ROMs, but has some issues with 256Mbit games when zipped.

You can check out our hands-on video of the emulator above to see it in action for yourself. (We apologise for the poor video quality - watch in HQ on YouTube for a better picture). Well done to darkchen for a great piece of software and we hope you'll continue to improve it.

Also, please be aware that darkchen has not yet released this emulator publicly, so please do not request download links.

**UPDATE*:* GBAtemp are proud to announce that we are now able to release the emulator publicly TONIGHT (GMT). So stay tuned, iPlayer owners!






 Hands-on Video (YouTube)



darkchen's blog





 Discuss


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## CrimsoniteX (Sep 16, 2009)

Impressive, great work!


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## stivsama (Sep 16, 2009)

my EZF3in1 looks so... inadequate now. Hope Darkchen gets to optimise this a little more, maybe add key config in there. Or options so that users can sacrifice some aspects of emulation to enhance others.

i am excited, for sure.


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## Matt140 (Sep 16, 2009)

NOOOOOO!!! Curse you iPlayer and your extra CPU!!!

A bit off topic: I've never found an aswer to this, why doesn't the DS play as fast as the GBA? I guessed it would play much faster with the stronger processor?


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## shaunj66 (Sep 16, 2009)

stivsama said:
			
		

> my EZF3in1 looks so... inadequate now. Hope Darkchen gets to optimise this a little more, maybe add key config in there. Or options so that users can sacrifice some aspects of emulation to enhance others.
> 
> i am excited, for sure.


There is already a key config menu


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## Arno (Sep 16, 2009)

Well. Now I HAVE to get an iPlayer for Christmas. That looks like really good stuff right there! Very nice..


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## R2DJ (Sep 16, 2009)

This is very nice. If this comes out, I will get the iPlayer for the sole purpose of GBA emulation. I would like to play Pokemon Emerald, provided that it will have real-time clock functionality and of course, saving...


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## Fabis94 (Sep 16, 2009)

Could this later work on a DSi without iPlayer when the DSi mode is unlocked?


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## Mbmax (Sep 16, 2009)

I'm glad to have a iplayer.
Can't wait to see this released.


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## Santee (Sep 16, 2009)

Now if they just hacked the dsi mode on the dsi I would get in a heartbeat.


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## stivsama (Sep 16, 2009)

shaunj66 said:
			
		

> There is already a key config menu



Thanks, I always wanted to switch some buttons around when I play GBA with 3in1. If there's key config already, next thing I want is in game guide, lol (yeah, i realize the emulation thing already eats up a lot of resources, so i won't look forward to it too much, just like slot-1 gba emulation.. oh wait.)

Beta testers should test the GBA essentials.. you know, for kicks.


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## GreatZimkogway (Sep 16, 2009)

The iPlayer has DSi compatibility, right?  Otherwise this is gonna suck, kinda.


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## jeklnoo (Sep 16, 2009)

Quite an amazing feat, and I'm very interested in the technical details of how it works, but I'm still somewhat meh as for the usefulness...I can't stand non-perfect emulation. Even just a little frameskip or audio glitch makes games a lot less fun somehow. I'll stick with my GB Micro + EZFlash IV + 2GB miniSD for playing GBA games for now. This is the same reason I'd never buy that Dingooo A320 or whatever that was mentioned a few days ago.


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## Maz7006 (Sep 16, 2009)

50mb-ish video 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




on my 256kb/s connection.... 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




anyway great stuff 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




i was a bit worried since darkchen sort of abandoned his blog for a while :/


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## Psyfira (Sep 16, 2009)

Very nice 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 It looks like the project's been going on for quite some time to produce something that well polished. I seriously thought no-one would ever actually develop something like this, I guess the removal of the GBA slot on the DSi changed that. Amazing work.

If I'm reading this right the iPlayer's CPU is in constant use during runtime. Does this mean running GBA games on the iPlayer has the same effect on the DS's battery life as playing video?


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## demitrius (Sep 16, 2009)

Very nice, I expect this to make some iPlayers fly off shelves for DSi owners. Great work.


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## jgu1994 (Sep 16, 2009)

That's impressive I must say. So this only works with the iPlayer, but i'm assuming it would work on both the ds and the dsi?


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## Joe88 (Sep 16, 2009)

finally a video
very nice emu


though it still leaves the question if people will do
if they have a regular DS or DSL and will buy a $35 slot-1 cart instead of a $20 slot-2 cart
on top of that having to switch out the slot 1 carts instead of having it in all the time like a slot 2
and obtain another MicroSD (unless you can use the same microsd for both)


this will be good for people with a DSi with any firmware lower then 1.4
or people who bought the iplayer already and have a ds or whatever
too bad you can only do this on the iplayer though


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## luke_c (Sep 16, 2009)

Is this DSi only? If not, i know what i'll be getting for my birthday


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## Fat D (Sep 16, 2009)

Matt140 said:
			
		

> NOOOOOO!!! Curse you iPlayer and your extra CPU!!!
> 
> A bit off topic: I've never found an aswer to this, why doesn't the DS play as fast as the GBA? I guessed it would play much faster with the stronger processor?


The DS is faster than the GBA, but for emulation, just faster is not enough: you need to simulate the entire environment, which takes much more power than just running the original code. Also, the GBA cartridge bus is directly adressed, like internal RAM, and therefore does not have a delay in data streaming. Running a GBA game on a Slot-1 card on the DS processor would create a bottleneck in the DS card slot.


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## Mr.Mister (Sep 16, 2009)

Damnit, my heart stopped after reading the title, but then continued to beat in sorrow after reading it only works with iPlayer's CPU.


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## stivsama (Sep 16, 2009)

... and the iplayer can play raw videos too! 

At least, that's how I see the cart now


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## yuyuyup (Sep 16, 2009)

fuckin awesome


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## Raqib12 (Sep 16, 2009)

I just ordered my iPlayer. Hope it gets released soon


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## Jakob95 (Sep 16, 2009)

If this will have perfect emulation then Ima get a Iplayer.  Since my EZ Flash 3in1 can't do RTS and other cool features that this one could do such as cheats.


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## Skyline969 (Sep 16, 2009)

I knew this was possible! I'm just glad it's finally been done.


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## berlinka (Sep 16, 2009)

Wow! Impressive stuff! Now all you DSi owners can play REAL GBA GAMES on your DSi! Wow, I'd really wish I could play GBA games on my DS Lite..... Oh wait....


well still I'm sort of happy for the (poor) DSi owners


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## science (Sep 16, 2009)

THIS CHANGES _EVERYTHING_ EVER POSTED ON THIS SITE ZOMG!!!! FUCKIN NOOBS WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG!!!!!


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## benjaminlibl (Sep 16, 2009)

Looks like my faith wasn't misplaced. I always thought he would do it. Respect.


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## misticknight (Sep 16, 2009)

i still dont get it, is it compatible only with the iPlayer, or is that th only card tat would run it fine, but other cards could still at least load it?


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## PettingZoo (Sep 16, 2009)

Good job, it's good to see this come out of DSi homebrew. I'll just stick to my M3 Real and expansion on my DSL


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## bollocks (Sep 17, 2009)

this is awesome. i remember when everyone (me included) was saying the iplayer's CPU would be extremely specialised for video encoding and not suitable for general purpose homebrew. well that showed me. ha. 

if the iplayer team are smart they'll release their SDK to the public and sell their card as a complete DS upgrade for the homebrew community, not just a simple video player.


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## DsHacker14 (Sep 17, 2009)

This is awesome! Too bad i dont have an iplayer.. Do you guys think that when the DSi is hacked we could be able to use the dsi's memory to make this work on any dsi/flashcart on a dsi?
That would be pretty sweet..


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## Deleted User (Sep 17, 2009)

That's totally amazing! I'm very impressed this works as good and that someone's actually done this. I might be getting an iPlayer just for checking this out when it's released.



			
				Joe88 said:
			
		

> ...
> this will be good for people with a DSi with any firmware lower then 1.4
> ...


The iPlayer is compatible with the DSi and it can update even if you're already on 1.4 -- at least that's what the site says.


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## Jran Sakarra (Sep 17, 2009)

How are tyhe settings for it?
How many games have been tried?
How has the beta gone so far?
What errors have you encountered?


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## qwsed (Sep 17, 2009)

----


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## iwakura (Sep 17, 2009)

Takeshi said:
			
		

> That's totally amazing! I'm very impressed this works as good and that someone's actually done this. I might be getting an iPlayer just for checking this out when it's released.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



yes, it's true, the iplayer works on dsi firmware 1.4. I can't imagine why gba emulation would only work on the DSi - it should work whether you use the iPlayer on a DS or a DSi.


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## bdr9 (Sep 17, 2009)

It's too bad we need an iPlayer


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## iwakura (Sep 17, 2009)

the most interesting part about it is that it seems to have been built into the  iplayer's firmware itself. He didnt run a homebrew application - he ran the gba game from the iPlayer's firmware itself. Very nifty.

can we get any clarification/details on this?


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## DSGamer64 (Sep 17, 2009)

Looks like I might have to order myself an iPlayer and a second Trans Flash card for it so I can play videos and GBA games on my DSi.


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## m3rox (Sep 17, 2009)

I honestly never thought I'd see GBA games running on a DSi.


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## mysticwaterfall (Sep 17, 2009)

Nice for DSi people who still want GBA games... as for me, not to belittle a cool accomplishment or anything, but I'll stick with 3in1. Then I don't have to swap, et al like other people have said...


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## Gh0sti (Sep 17, 2009)

this is awesome, so cant other flash cart companies do the same thing as this guy is doing? cant wait to see it on other carts


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## RupeeClock (Sep 17, 2009)

Even as a proof of concept this is great, but this looks too well developed to never be publicly released.
Well when it's ready it's ready, I must admit I'm even somewhat tempted to get an iPlayer with homebrew capabilities like this. (GBA on the DSi with configurable controls...do want...)


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## dreams062 (Sep 17, 2009)

WOW that's just awesome


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## CheatingSoi (Sep 17, 2009)

Is the iPlayer ever going to be compatible with 1.4? If so, I will buy one right away.


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## Missing Number (Sep 17, 2009)

Heres some food for thought

multiplayer using wireless, downloadplay  and WiFi

that'd be the icing on the cake!

that would sell it 2 the max no?

*pictures himself playing Zelda 4-swords with his girlfriend n brothers*


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## iwakura (Sep 17, 2009)

CheatingSoi said:
			
		

> Is the iPlayer ever going to be compatible with 1.4? If so, I will buy one right away.



already is, my man 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





iplayer 1.4 update


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## Escape (Sep 17, 2009)

lol, for a second there I actually thought they manged to crack the DSi mode after viewing at the topic title. 
oh well, good job darkchen 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



might be worth getting a iPlayer now.


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## retiredjerk (Sep 17, 2009)

truly bad ass work dude..gonna test this out later tongiht..i can finally open the box of my iplayer.


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## quartercast (Sep 17, 2009)

Is darkchen like a darkalex for DS?


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## CheatingSoi (Sep 17, 2009)

iwakura said:
			
		

> CheatingSoi said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Shit! Awesome, guess I'll buy one then. Just a matter of when the emulator will be released.

I've never heard of the iPlayer until now though. Is it good? Right now I use acekard and I dunno if I should use the iPlayer for just GBA or for NDS also.


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## silent sniper (Sep 17, 2009)

holy shit!!
thats amazing!!


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## Sportsmaniac1322 (Sep 17, 2009)

Wow, using the iPlayer's extra hardware is brilliant!!  And we thought we'd never have GBA on a DSi!!

This emulator will change things in the DSi scene.  Mainstream flashcarts will have to start coming out with this hardware built in.  If this gets released soon, I predict we'll see a few before Christmas season (hopefully either a Cyclo or a remake of the M3i).  This is a historic day in the DSi scene!!

Amazing work, Darkchen!!  Keep it up.  You are a DSi homebrew legend!!!


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## Joe88 (Sep 17, 2009)

CheatingSoi said:
			
		

> iwakura said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


iplayer cant run DS games

it was only meant at a video player


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## jayx3m (Sep 17, 2009)

Wow. A great idea brought to reality. Darkchen has done it in spite many didn't believed it could be done. Awesome work!!!


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## CheatingSoi (Sep 17, 2009)

Joe88 said:
			
		

> CheatingSoi said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Why does it have extra hardware in the first place? Especially if its only for video. Also what kind of special hardware and how does it work? If using a cart for extra power is possible, why hasn't this been done earlier?


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## iwakura (Sep 17, 2009)

extra hardware was needed to render videos such as avi's and mpegs and etc. moonshell runs .dpg, but the quality is very dumbed down. the iplayer requires no conversion and the like. 

it was just a matter of time until someone did it, and now it's been done 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




btw im attempting to answer any questions anyone may have at my website. 

ask me a question


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## GreatWisdom (Sep 17, 2009)

wow that emulator looks kick ass. i should get one just to replay all those games i missed out on when i wanted to play them.


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## TM2-Megatron (Sep 17, 2009)

Definitely great work.  Personally, though, even when this is released... I think I'll just stick with my CycloDS and M3 GBA Expansion combo.  I can't really see any significant advantage to using an emulator like that for my GBA games, as I have no interest in stuff like RTS or cheats... I just want to play the games the way they were meant to be played.  And on top of that, I prefer being able to play GBA games in actual GBA mode on my DSLite... emulation is something I'd rather just keep on an as-needed basis.


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## retiredjerk (Sep 17, 2009)

didnt realize this wasnt out. cant wait to try this out. wonder if the gba files are just drag or drop or do they need patching. drag and drop would be killer


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## KamuiX (Sep 17, 2009)

I still can't get that. Why need a resource-hungry emulator to play GBA games? DS has a a slot to play GBA games...so it has a GBA mode to run them. like playing gamecube games on wii. It doesn't need extra CPU. So why we need it here?


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## iwakura (Sep 17, 2009)

retiredjerk said:
			
		

> didnt realize this wasnt out. cant wait to try this out. wonder if the gba files are just drag or drop or do they need patching. drag and drop would be killer



it's drag and drop


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## RupeeClock (Sep 17, 2009)

KamuiX said:
			
		

> I still can't get that. Why need a resource-hungry emulator to play GBA games? DS has a a slot to play GBA games...so it has a GBA mode to run them. like playing gamecube games on wii. It doesn't need extra CPU. So why we need it here?



Because with this, you can now play GBA games on the DSi.
Which has no GBA slot. Seriously, did you not know or something?


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## TM2-Megatron (Sep 17, 2009)

KamuiX said:
			
		

> I still can't get that. Why need a resource-hungry emulator to play GBA games? DS has a a slot to play GBA games...so it has a GBA mode to run them. like playing gamecube games on wii. It doesn't need extra CPU. So why we need it here?



The DS has the power, and yeah it even has actual GBA hardware in there to function in GBA mode... but it simply doesn't have anywhere fast or large enough to store the ROM while you play it.

Also, as the other guy said, it's useful on the DSi which has no slot-2.  As far as I'm concerned, that's one of the major reasons why I'm holding off on a DSi purchase until I have some other reason to buy one.  And even when I do buy one, I'll still probably play most of my games on the DSLite... only going to the DSi if there's some enhanced game that would benefit from it.


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## retiredjerk (Sep 17, 2009)

hello, the DSI has no GBA slot..didnt you see the video fool? he is playing on his DSi. man some people are so clueless


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## dong1225 (Sep 17, 2009)

Holy God!
I'll need an iPlayer soon.
NAOW!!!
I don't have money to waste though *sniffle*
Why do iPod hombrew have to suck more, where the hell is my iControl Pad zod?

P.S RIP DSTT and BIH DSTT team


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## R2DJ (Sep 17, 2009)

Can you try running Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald to see if it supports RTS and if it will still have the battery glitch? Thanks.


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## indask8 (Sep 17, 2009)

Oh my!

So it's finally true!

I'm so proud of owning a Iplayer.


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## DjoeN (Sep 17, 2009)

Can't wait to use it on my iPlayer, anyway i do hope he gets a public release out soon


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## DanTheManMS (Sep 17, 2009)

Well I'll be damned, he made it after all.  Can't blame people for thinking it was a hoax though, what with the "I'm only showing two screenshots of the top screen only" thing, and then disappearing shortly thereafter for months.  

Still, I'm very surprised to see it running so well.  I believe he managed to get a hold of the iPlayer SDK somehow, which is how he appears to be launching the games from the iPlayer menu itself (at least for the first one).


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## Another World (Sep 17, 2009)

i hope this leads to other emus for the iplayer. i've put down my nds recently for my dingoo. i'd come back if emus started to get ported to the iplayer!

-another world


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## redact (Sep 17, 2009)

Another World said:
			
		

> i hope this leads to other emus for the iplayer. i've put down my nds recently for my dingoo. i'd come back if emus started to get ported to the iplayer!
> 
> -another world


/me hopes for snes


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## retiredjerk (Sep 17, 2009)

the iplayer seems like it would make a kickass emu card. Big props for coming through when everyone shot you down dude. lets hope for a quick public beta


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## Cermage (Sep 17, 2009)

this may persuade me to get a dsi now. even though i don't play gba games all that much anymore, either way its time to get rid of my ds phat now


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## jayx3m (Sep 17, 2009)

Maybe darkchen is an iPlayer employee. That's why the emulator is so damn good.  But either way, this will boost iplayer's sale.


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## Nerdii (Sep 17, 2009)

Jesus! Taking so long to come out!! *MUST TRY!!!!!*





 +  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 (i) =


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## Whizz (Sep 17, 2009)

There will never be a GBA for NDS they said... you're a n00b they said....

Haha, pwned!


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## Searinox (Sep 17, 2009)

I see somebody finally crossed the taboo and got GBA emulated on the NDS. What's next, N64? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




This is why I love flashcarts over optical storage. You can always work some mojo and add some extra hardware effectively upgrading a unit. I do hope these chips make it into all the flashcarts.


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## Coookie (Sep 17, 2009)

Very nice ^^ it's to bad the iplayer doesn't run .nds files, since paying 35$ is a bit to much for me just to play gba games


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## lrwr14 (Sep 17, 2009)

wow thats really good. I might just get a iplayer for this, since i no longer ue my old ds.


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## jalaneme (Sep 17, 2009)

Whizz said:
			
		

> There will never be a GBA for NDS they said... you're a n00b they said....
> 
> Haha, pwned!




^^ what he said, good progress, shame they won't release it though, this video is there to tease people and throw them a carrot with a string attached to it XD


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## Maz7006 (Sep 17, 2009)

luke_c said:
			
		

> Is this DSi only? If not, i know what i'll be getting for my birthday



Its iPlayer only. SO yeah, i really think may just somehow have to try getting one of these, i could get a EZ Flash thing, but this comes flv, avi, and variopus video support, so yeah more value for your money.


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## BlueStar (Sep 17, 2009)

Whizz said:
			
		

> There will never be a GBA for NDS they said... you're a n00b they said....
> 
> Haha, pwned!



This is more of a GBA emulator for the iPlayer than an GBA emulator for the DS though really, isn't it.


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## Islay (Sep 17, 2009)

hmm the iplayer is looking good at the mo, hows it affecting the DSi's already lame battry ?


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## DSGamer64 (Sep 17, 2009)

mercluke said:
			
		

> Another World said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


SnemulNDS runs alright on my M3i Zero


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## Jacobeian (Sep 17, 2009)

impressive, but yes, technically it's more a GBA emulator for the iplayer hardware  but who cares...

the next thing we need now is a public release of the devkit that was used to compile the VBA sourcecode for the iplayer hardware (I know it uses the same chip as the DSi, probably with a faster clock, plus a dedicated FPGA... but anyone know the official spec ?)) , so that anybody could port other CPU intensive emulators (MAME, PSX4All, etc..) ... 

I'm also pretty sure the toolkit was given to him by someone who developped the firmware but I doubt it would be very legal to distribute it (like with xbox emulators that used the official SDK), unless it has been done on purpose by the iplayer team because they knew this was going to  increase their sells massively


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## NakedFaerie (Sep 17, 2009)

This is great but pity its for the iPlayer only.
Maybe they start on the iplayer then find a way to work in all carts.

As soon as the DSi mode is hacked then there will be more CPU power to be used and that will probably remove the need for the iplayer. Hopefully...


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## Jacobeian (Sep 17, 2009)

NakedFaerie said:
			
		

> This is great but pity its for the iPlayer only.
> Maybe they start on the iplayer then find a way to work in all carts.
> 
> As soon as the DSi mode is hacked then there will be more CPU power to be used and that will probably remove the need for the iplayer. Hopefully...



well, it will  only works on iPlayer because Iplayer has additional hardware that make it possible to run code, other carts does not have any CPU/FPGA inside so they can't do that, they just "load" roms or homebrew program on the DSi hardware, here itr is completely different, the program is using the iPlayer hardware ...

here are the spec of the chip inside the iPlayer: http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tms320dm6441.pdf
as you can see, it includes the same processor (ARM9) as the DSi but can be clocked up to 200 Mhz (not sure about the real spec though)
the chip also include an additional DSP that can be used to run some code (more likely dedicated to sound processing and mixing) up to 400 Mhz !

last thing, it contains a FPGA but it's probably dedicated for video decoding and you won't be able to run your own code on it

not bad for that price I would say


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## Blue-K (Sep 17, 2009)

Very nice work indeed...still wondering how he got his hands on the official SDK... 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




. If Normatt now makes the promised Loader for NDS games, I'm pretty much sold (yes, I still remember that he said this)...or would this whole thing be possible once the DSi is unlocked? Then I'll probably wait, or buy an Android Phone...

Anyways, nice work, Darkchen!


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## Matt140 (Sep 17, 2009)

If we were to crack DSi Mode, would we be able to run GBA games on the DSi?


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## Jacobeian (Sep 17, 2009)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> If we were to crack DSi Mode, would we be able to run GBA games on the DSi?



I doubt it, the ARM CPUs on the DSi are still running too slow , 133+66Mhz in DSi mode, 66+33Mhz in DS compatibility mode...
sadly, I don't think it's enough for full-speed GBA emulation

that's why iplayer or similar cart with extra processing power (if other ones ever come out) would be a huge breakdown for handeld emulation (up to 32x, N64, PS1 maybe )


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## Satangel (Sep 17, 2009)

Didn't see that coming! Now we can't say anymore that a slot1 flashcard never is gonna be able to emulate GBA roms 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



(of course it was possible with that hyper-thingy, but no one would have made that hyper-thingy anyway)


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## The Teej (Sep 17, 2009)

Everybody saying "look at all the noobs who said GBA on DS would never happen, they're wrong now!!11", well, please just stop. Nobody would have _ever_ predicted a cart coming out with extra power and RAM built in, and it -still- doesn't happen on a "vanilla" flash cart, so you're not really proving anything at all.


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## iwakura (Sep 17, 2009)

jayx3m said:
			
		

> Maybe darkchen is an iPlayer employee. That's why the emulator is so damn good.  But either way, this will boost iplayer's sale.
> 
> This is what I considered as well  I mean, he even managed to get the SDK, and it since there has always been a "plugin" folder in the iPlayer, it seems like the iPlayer was eventually made for this. (the plugin folder is where it is installed to, btw)
> 
> ...



nope, DS, DSlite, and DSi compatible


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## SuperGustafson9 (Sep 17, 2009)

You Are  Truly My Friend Darkchen, I Waited For A GBA Emulator And My Dream Has Finally Came True 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I Have So Many Roms I Want To Play On My DS That I Dont Have As The Actual Cartridges!

Keep Up The Good Work


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## crook (Sep 17, 2009)

Nobody has this player.


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## SuperGustafson9 (Sep 17, 2009)

What Do You Mean Crook?

I Will Be Getting This Software The Day It Comes out


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## wolffangalchemist (Sep 17, 2009)

that's all well and good but where is a ds rom loader, other wise this really isn't work the extra cash for a iplayer especially when more flash cart owners don't watch movies on the ds?
till then i'm happy playing gba on my wii or spending $20 on a 3 in 1 not $40 or $50 on a iplayer.


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## DSGamer64 (Sep 17, 2009)

wolffangalchemist said:
			
		

> that's all well and good but where is a ds rom loader, other wise this really isn't work the extra cash for a iplayer especially when more flash cart owners don't watch movies on the ds?
> till then i'm happy playing gba on my wii or spending $20 on a 3 in 1 not $40 or $50 on a iplayer.


Considering how horribly unimpressed I was with the EZ Flash 3 in 1 and all the bullshit with NOR memory and whatnot, I am quite content with spending some money on the iPlayer and getting a reasonable sized memory card to watch some movies and play GBA games on, it won't hurt to carry around another cart just for that purpose either since they are tiny compared to GBA games.


----------



## Arwen20 (Sep 17, 2009)

All I can say is Wow! When I read this article and saw the video I was amazed. I will be purchasing an iplayer when this is released. I had been interested in one anyway to play .avi video. This simply gives me another reason to place my order.


----------



## Overlord Nadrian (Sep 17, 2009)

Very cool, I have to admit I was expecting something like this with the iPlayer's extra CPU.


----------



## kiwovo (Sep 17, 2009)

I really don't get it..
even after nintendo doubled the power of the DSI it can't emulate gba games??
that's just weird...
what did they put in the iplayer? if its that powerful.. it probably explain why it cost so much


----------



## emigre (Sep 17, 2009)

Blue-K said:
			
		

> Very nice work indeed...still wondering how he got his hands on the official SDK...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Normatt isn't going to make a rom loader for it. I remember him contacting the iplayer team but they said they didn't want the card to have commercial rom loading ability and he's respecting their wishes.


----------



## Minox (Sep 17, 2009)

What no one here seems to think of is that battery life when using this emulator will be far less than when using a pure GBA flashcart with a DS/DSL. As in the case of the DSi then it's a great feat due to the lack of GBA support, however battery life will still be shortened quite a bit.

My main point? Well, that would be that if you're only looking for GBA compatibility and have a DS/DSL then you should probably just get a GBA flashcart instead. If you have a DSi and want the same thing - get an iPlayer and this homebrew.


----------



## Psyfira (Sep 17, 2009)

The Teej said:
			
		

> Everybody saying "look at all the noobs who said GBA on DS would never happen, they're wrong now!!11", well, please just stop. Nobody would have _ever_ predicted a cart coming out with extra power and RAM built in, and it -still- doesn't happen on a "vanilla" flash cart, so you're not really proving anything at all.Someone get this man a pint
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's not what this piece of kit was built to do. The iPlayer is not a flash cart, it is first and foremost a video player. If you don't intend to watch movies on the DS then of course it is very unlikely you will own one. The fact that the extra video processor can be used to emulate the GBA expands the cart's capabilities beyond it's intended use, which is the whole point of homebrew in the first place; the exploration of the untapped capabilities and uses of hardware. Not "make something for the kiddies" (who from the sounds of it are ungrateful little sods with no appreciation for the amount of work that goes into something like this).


----------



## ShadowSol (Sep 17, 2009)

must.get.gba.emu.on.other.flashcarts.plz!!!!?


----------



## RevLTD (Sep 17, 2009)

Can't wait for this. Great work.


----------



## Dizzy Doom (Sep 17, 2009)

It's a great thing somebody made/ported an GBA emulator for the iPlayer, although I'm worried about the release. If s/he indeed ported VBA, he'd have to violate either the GPL, or iPlayer's SDK copyright (if it has one, and I'm almost sure it has).


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Sep 17, 2009)

Now Darkchen can say "I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO" to all those who believed this project was a hoax. 

I already have a 3in1 for GBA games, but this may actually give me a reason to buy an iPlayer. I'd love to see how this comes out in the end.

Nice work out there. I think the iPlayer team should be thankful too; this can become a great solution for DSi owners who want to play GBA games.


----------



## brento (Sep 17, 2009)

wow, amazing, amazing work!!
my ds broke, but I'll be buying a new one just for this.


----------



## Klavier Gavin (Sep 17, 2009)

Does this mean that the Iplayer is going to be the popular flashcard?


----------



## 8BitWalugi (Sep 17, 2009)

Jonkswa said:
			
		

> must.get.gba.emu.on.other.flashcarts.plz!!!!?



Clearly you don't know about the limitations of other flashcarts trying to play GBA games.


----------



## post353 (Sep 17, 2009)

I hope this comes out for the R4DS!


----------



## Jakob95 (Sep 17, 2009)

post353 said:
			
		

> I hope this comes out for the R4DS!




NO IT WON"T.


----------



## Psyfira (Sep 17, 2009)

post353 said:
			
		

> I hope this comes out for the R4DS!


It won't.

(Edit: beaten to it, lol!)


----------



## Jakob95 (Sep 17, 2009)

PharaohsVizier said:
			
		

> Why do people insist on hoping for it to come out on something else?  It took years to deaden the hope of slot 1 GBA emulators, it will take even longer to crush it down.  Why won't people understand this ONLY WORKS ON THE IPLAYER?!




Because we have a lot of people on the board that have brain/mental/retarded issues and don't understand that they have to read to accomplish something.


----------



## RiderLeangle (Sep 17, 2009)

I'm debating whether or not this is worth buying an iPlayer for or just waiting for the DSi to be cracked and a GBA emulator is made for it from the SD card.  I mean Team Twiizers is getting close at cracking the DSi so once they release something publicly then it will only be a matter of time



			
				post353 said:
			
		

> I hope this comes out for the R4DS!


----------



## Pendor (Sep 18, 2009)

emigre said:
			
		

> I remember him [Normmatt] contacting the iplayer team but they said they didn't want the card to have commercial rom loading ability and he's respecting their wishes.



Same thing happened with darkchen. He didn't get the SDK from them.

My point being "other people's wishes" mean nothing. You can fuck licenses and permissions whenever you want just like this guy, since he prolly won't release the source (and VBA is GPL).

I have this crazy idea that darkchen is actually part of the iplayer team but who cares, really.


----------



## RupeeClock (Sep 18, 2009)

I'm surprised nobody has brought this up, but if the iPlayer can successfully emulate GBA games, then what about getting a good SNES emulator working on the DS?

The iPlayer would sell like hotcakes as an alternative emulation solution on DS.
For that matter, iPlayer kind of kicks the ass out of DSi Mode in terms of power anyway.


----------



## Toni Plutonij (Sep 18, 2009)

This is great news!

This made me even more sorry, if it's possible, that I didn't get my iPlayer review sample.. :frown:
I'm waiting to see how will this develop more, and no doubt that this emulator once made public, will in fact boost sales of iPlayer!


----------



## enlargedhousecat (Sep 18, 2009)

ah  heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee


----------



## mikeac (Sep 18, 2009)

DANG IT!! I just got the AceKard!


----------



## Centrix (Sep 18, 2009)

Now it's just a matter of time until some one takes the source code and modifys it for all flash cards!


----------



## TrolleyDave (Sep 18, 2009)

Centrix said:
			
		

> Now it's just a matter of time until some one takes the source code and modifys it for all flash cards!



I'm guessing you didn't bother to read any of the posts that came before yours.  It's *impossible* to port this to a card other than the iPlayer, they lack the tech specs


----------



## jackdanielchan (Sep 18, 2009)

I think we should all acknowledge the fact that iPlayer does have it's plusses now, and this just kinda evens out the unable to play NDS rom thing a bit...


----------



## Uzumakijl (Sep 18, 2009)

jakob95 said:
			
		

> PharaohsVizier said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Now this wont stop..


----------



## altorn (Sep 18, 2009)

finally.

i bought an iplayer last month. august was a waste of money for me. but
this proves otherwise.

im a software development student and i want to be one day developing games
and homebrew for the DS or whatever. or hack into accounts and pirate stuff............. j/k

great job darkchen!


----------



## Kalisiin (Sep 18, 2009)

So, this isn't even for the DSi, or the DS, yet, it only works on the "iPlayer" which, unless I'm wrong, is something by Apple, right?

I dunno, they come out with new shit so fast it's hard to keep up with what's what anymore.


----------



## GreatZimkogway (Sep 18, 2009)

Kalisiin said:
			
		

> So, this isn't even for the DSi, or the DS, yet, it only works on the "iPlayer" which, unless I'm wrong, is something by Apple, right?
> 
> I dunno, they come out with new shit so fast it's hard to keep up with what's what anymore.



...Do you not see the "GBA emulator for the *DS*"?  The iPlayer/DSiPlayer is a flashcard for the DS/DSi.  That's like saying the DSi is made by Apple.  Or that iGoogle is by Apple.  Not everything with a lowercase "i" is by Apple.


----------



## Kalisiin (Sep 18, 2009)

shinkukage09 said:
			
		

> Kalisiin said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Geez, did you have to be an ASS about it?  I asked the question, because I didn't know...because, like I said, they come out with stuff so fast, it's hard to keep track.

I never fucking HEARD of this goddam "iPlayer" before, ok?

So don't be a jackass.  Your post was unnecessarily mean and sarcastic.


----------



## hdofu (Sep 18, 2009)

bollocks said:
			
		

> if the iplayer team are smart they'll release their SDK to the public and sell their card as a complete DS upgrade for the homebrew community, not just a simple video player.



They don't seem to want to cater to "Buccaneers" from what I've read


----------



## GreatZimkogway (Sep 18, 2009)

Kalisiin said:
			
		

> shinkukage09 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Sorrry x.x Didn't mean to come off as an ass about it, was merely saying.  Apologies.


----------



## HiroshiYamauchi (Sep 18, 2009)

It's a great accomplishment, but i'm happy with my DSi and my DS games, if i got caught by some nostalgic feeling, i can play my GBA games on my GBA SP. I mean, GBA games are very recent and i can find games in the DS games library that can fulfill my wish of playing any GBA game.


----------



## kiwovo (Sep 18, 2009)

I still don't freakin get it!!!!
are u telling me even twice the power a ds lite had is not enough to emulate GBA?
wow the DSI is really weak if that so..
and again im asking.. why is the iplayer so strong? what did they put on it?


----------



## iwakura (Sep 18, 2009)

kiwovo said:
			
		

> I still don't freakin get it!!!!
> are u telling me even twice the power a ds lite had is not enough to emulate GBA?
> wow the DSI is really weak if that so..
> and again im asking.. why is the iplayer so strong? what did they put on it?



even if it's twice the power, we haven't hacked DSi mode to make use of the extra power (as far as I know)


----------



## TrolleyDave (Sep 18, 2009)

kiwovo said:
			
		

> I still don't freakin get it!!!!
> are u telling me even twice the power a ds lite had is not enough to emulate GBA?
> wow the DSI is really weak if that so..
> and again im asking.. why is the iplayer so strong? what did they put on it?



Memory and a pretty powerful CPU.  It's clocked higher than the DSi's CPU and it has more RAM than the DSi has as far as I know.


----------



## kiwovo (Sep 18, 2009)

TrolleyDave said:
			
		

> kiwovo said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




holy cow dude..
that's insane.. 
shame nintendo for making the DSI so weak ... if Iplayer (such a tiny cart) have such a powerful core.. I'm sure nintendo could do something powerful.. 
but now that i think about it.. maybe nintendo doesn't want to make the DSI more powerful.. maybe its enough to run the games that are used for the old ds.. still lacks of technology.. bit shame.. i wanted better graphical games just so my eyes won't bleed on some games..
but we can only dream 
cheers on answer thanks


----------



## BlueJon5 (Sep 18, 2009)

Oh Man I Want That Cartridge


----------



## Kalisiin (Sep 18, 2009)

shinkukage09 said:
			
		

> Kalisiin said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Accepted.
But I'd like to point out that this is one of the reasons some people come here and then never come back.

Because they are newbs, they ask a question, and are then treated like dumbasses for asking the question...and then they leave and never come back.

Folks who are more experienced need to keep this shit in mind, and not treat people like that.

There's no such thing as a stupid question.

You know, experienced folks...you weren't born knowing everything, either!


----------



## benjaminlibl (Sep 18, 2009)

Kalisiin said:
			
		

> I never fucking HEARD of this goddam "iPlayer" before, ok?


That's not an excuse. Really. iPlayer made by Apple.. hah.

I have no idea why you're on these forums. It doesn't seem like you're reading any of what is being posted.


----------



## Shuny (Sep 18, 2009)

The iPlayer costs +- 37$. Is it worth the price, considering that a good old GBA with a card can be found at this price ?


----------



## qwsed (Sep 18, 2009)

*Quote shaunj66*: "How did darkchen manage to emulate the GBA given the hardware limitations of the DS? The clever guy used the extra power that the DSiPlayer (slot-1 media player) provides to get the extra juice needed to emulate GBA at a decent speed. Unfortunately of course, this means that* this emulator will only work on the iPlayer."*

If the noobs kindly reads this post wich ALSO are at page 1 and then stop asking wether or not it will be ported to other flascards...


----------



## TM2-Megatron (Sep 18, 2009)

Shuny said:
			
		

> The iPlayer costs +- 37$. Is it worth the price, considering that a good old GBA with a card can be found at this price ?




A used GBA is only worth it at this point if it's one of the backlit SP models... after playing GBA games on the DSLite's screen, I could never go back to a pre-GBASP device for regular use.

Anyway, assuming someone has a DS or DS Lite, a 3-in-1 or M3 GBA Expansion is the cheapest option.  I'm quite happy with my M3 GEP... the emulator is cool, but running the ROMs in GBA mode is still the better option.  Whether or not that's possible for the DSi... who knows... but even if it is, you'll only ever be able to get ROMs 16MB or under to work, since Nintendo seems to think the DSi didn't need any more RAM than my old 486 had back in 1994.


----------



## shaunj66 (Sep 18, 2009)

We're proud to announce that darkchen will be releasing his emulator for the iPlayer tonight! So iPlayer owners get ready to get your GBA on!


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## servu (Sep 18, 2009)

shaunj66 said:
			
		

> We're proud to announce that darkchen will be releasing his emulator for the iPlayer tonight! So iPlayer owners get ready to get your GBA on!


My god!! excited


----------



## redact (Sep 18, 2009)

dx needs to stock these :|
i so want gba on my dsi, i hate having to use my dsl and 3in1 just for gba
well not hate... but still, it gets annoying 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




edit: lol, nvm they do 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



thanks for the heads up iwakura


----------



## iwakura (Sep 18, 2009)

mercluke said:
			
		

> dx needs to stock these :|
> i so want gba on my dsi, i hate having to use my dsl and 3in1 just for gba
> well not hate... but still, it gets annoying



http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26437

there we go 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 link edited.


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## indask8 (Sep 18, 2009)

Very good news,

I see big profits coming for the Iplayer team.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




And tonight, I'll try it as soon as it's released.


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## jayx3m (Sep 18, 2009)

shaunj66 said:
			
		

> We're proud to announce that darkchen will be releasing his emulator for the iPlayer tonight! So iPlayer owners get ready to get your GBA on!



Oh no. I can't sleep when I'm excited like this...


----------



## stanleyopar2000 (Sep 18, 2009)

expect iPlayer prices to soar.

damn you.

$50 bucks is outta their damn mind.


----------



## phoenixclaws (Sep 18, 2009)

iPlayer is currently $35 and some cents at Dealextreme.com which is free shipping. But expect slow delivery time.


----------



## Shorkio (Sep 18, 2009)

GBA Emu for DSi? Whoo, and few days ago I think it's impossible. Maybe next time here is Wii emu? xD


----------



## DeltaBurnt (Sep 18, 2009)

Guys it's not ACTUALLY for the DSi it's for the iplayer a flashcart that can be run on the DSi and DS but can't harness it's new power.

And you people do realize that if you're planning to buy an iplayer for your DS Lite to play gba games that buying an ez flash 3-in-1 is alot cheaper and would have alot better compatibility?


----------



## Jakob95 (Sep 18, 2009)

DeltaBurnt said:
			
		

> Guys it's not ACTUALLY for the DSi it's for the iplayer a flashcart that can be run on the DSi and DS but can't harness it's new power.
> 
> And you people do realize that if you're planning to buy an iplayer for your DS Lite to play gba games that buying an ez flash 3-in-1 is alot cheaper and would have alot better compatibility?




Yes but this has RTS !!!


----------



## kristymb (Sep 18, 2009)

OMG How Flippin Awesome 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



I am going to buy an iplayer right now. You rock! Great work!!


----------



## david432111 (Sep 18, 2009)

kiwovo said:
			
		

> I really don't get it..
> even after nintendo doubled the power of the DSI it can't emulate gba games??
> that's just weird...
> what did they put in the iplayer? if its that powerful.. it probably explain why it cost so much


All flashcarts run in ds mode, so they can only use the same amount of ram and cpu as the original ds.
Also, the iPlayer has a built in cpu and some extra ram, that's why.


----------



## RogueCoder (Sep 18, 2009)

I believe Nintendo will eventually have downloads of GBA titles that run native on the DSi.  Possibly by firmware 1.6 or 1.7

The DSi have enough power and still have "GBA mode" intrinsically in its system.  As for the memory map issue....the SD reader/writer mapping...

You will have to purchase for a nominal fee to get the GBA titles.  They will probably not be transferable to other DSi by way of encryption tied to the particular downloaded DSi client.  Basically Nintendo will have a business model similiar to the other consoles for DLC.  Right now they are testing how to manage the pirate/hacking community; version 1.4 is the  test, one of the features is the virtual store functions and of course blocking of some flashcards.   In later firmware upgrade more features will appear and stronger flash card blockage.


----------



## Beige (Sep 18, 2009)

Wow, a release already?  Nice.  I just ordered my iPlayer from DX.  Should be in pretty soon, I'm pretty lucky with online shipments.


----------



## Gh0sti (Sep 18, 2009)

awesome cant wait to see it come out,


----------



## ZPE (Sep 18, 2009)

The latest iPlayers won't work with v1.4 of the DSi firmware right? Sounds brilliant so congrats to Darkchen for making it this far.


----------



## canx13 (Sep 18, 2009)

CREATE ONE FOR R4 PLEASEEE


----------



## Satangel (Sep 18, 2009)

canx13 said:
			
		

> CREATE ONE FOR R4 PLEASEEE



Not possible, and probably will never happen.

And read the openingspost, then you wouldn't have to ask this dumb question:

The clever guy used the extra power that the DSiPlayer (slot-1 media player) provides to get the extra juice needed to emulate GBA at a decent speed. Unfortunately of course, this means that this emulator will only work on the iPlayer.


----------



## Sanderino (Sep 18, 2009)

OMG so great .. This is one of those times you just want a DSi.. I'd love to play all the good GBA games on it, like zelda, and some other games like MMBN and such..*drools*


----------



## SuperGustafson9 (Sep 18, 2009)

This Emulator Is Coming Out Tonight! Im Gonna Be The First To Download it


----------



## iwakura (Sep 18, 2009)

ZPE said:
			
		

> The latest iPlayers won't work with v1.4 of the DSi firmware right? Sounds brilliant so congrats to Darkchen for making it this far.



actually, the iplayer is updatable 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 just in a shady way


----------



## SuperGustafson9 (Sep 18, 2009)

this Is An Amazing Video I Just seen, Im Glad ive Got An IPlayer for my ds


----------



## Sanderino (Sep 18, 2009)

I'm going to buy an Iplay I think, i just need to talk some sense into my old people to have faith it Internet Shopping

And think of all the good pokemon homebrews...


----------



## SuperGustafson9 (Sep 18, 2009)

Thats The Spirit Sanderio!


----------



## qwsed (Sep 18, 2009)

canx13 said:
			
		

> CREATE ONE FOR R4 PLEASEEE



You are a retard...


----------



## Sanderino (Sep 18, 2009)

Oh btw, If it's out, can someone try to let Mother 3 work on it?


----------



## temporalcask (Sep 18, 2009)

;D


----------



## VistaXP (Sep 18, 2009)

hey shaun, what's with the eeerriee background noise? is that from playing the game or is that the camcorder


----------



## shaunj66 (Sep 18, 2009)

VistaXP said:
			
		

> hey shaun, what's with the eeerriee background noise? is that from playing the game or is that the camcorder


That's probably the camera/mic... Sorry about the awful quality but I don't have a decent camcorder.

The emulator has now been released - check the homepage of GBAtemp for full details!


----------



## Devin (Sep 18, 2009)

So....I know its meant for the Iplayer, but is it does it work on other Flashcards but not run as fast?






  I have a Nintendo Dsi With a AceKard 2i


----------



## stanleyopar2000 (Sep 18, 2009)

NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!

it wont work!

i have a AK2i and im not even going to try it..

its iPLAYER ONLY.

unfortunately since its 39 fucking bucks and it cant even play .NDS Files....

now they will soar more..i guarantee it

but...what about slot 2 hardware for use as RAM in the future?

Doom and Quake DS did. how about now?


----------



## iwakura (Sep 18, 2009)

Uhh that's been out for ages stanley


----------



## Big Kong Boss (Sep 18, 2009)

canx13 said:
			
		

> CREATE ONE FOR R4 PLEASEEE


Hey kid, learn to read the opening post.


----------



## stanleyopar2000 (Sep 18, 2009)

iwakura said:
			
		

> Uhh that's been out for ages stanley





no...um for the GBA Emulator in the future...

could slot 2 hardware be used for this also with future updates?


----------



## Psyfira (Sep 18, 2009)

stanleyopar2000 said:
			
		

> no...um for the GBA Emulator in the future... could slot 2 hardware be used for this also with future updates?


Done a full circle here; if you've got access to slot 2 and you own an expansion pack then you don't need an emulator, you can run GBA natively straight from slot 2.


----------



## Nollog (Sep 19, 2009)

If darkchen can get an api("sdk"), then surely someone else could add the ability to load .nds's too, maybe darkchen could even look into it himself, though it's far beyond the scope of a VBA port.

btw, rapidshare link is on his/her blog now, woot.


----------



## Exophase (Sep 19, 2009)

I would be extremely surprised if this were really VBA. VBA doesn't even run this well on an OMAP3530 clocked at 850MHz, which is way more powerful than a TMS320DM6441. So either that isn't really the chipset used, he ported another emulator *cough*gpSP*cough*, or he optimized VBA several times more than anyone else has managed to do, in quite a short timeframe. I know he said he was looking into VBA before, but that was then.


----------



## Nollog (Sep 20, 2009)

Exophase said:
			
		

> I would be extremely surprised if this were really VBA. VBA doesn't even run this well on an OMAP3530 clocked at 850MHz, which is way more powerful than a TMS320DM6441. So either that isn't really the chipset used, he ported another emulator *cough*gpSP*cough*, or he optimized VBA several times more than anyone else has managed to do, in quite a short timeframe. I know he said he was looking into VBA before, but that was then.


You could be right, s/he used the word "migration", not port.
It could be down to his/her English skills which I thought at first, or s/he could have just used[stolen] some code from VBA.

I Hope I'm wrong there though.


----------



## Exophase (Sep 20, 2009)

Nollog said:
			
		

> Exophase said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I also doubt it's a new GBA emulator entirely, done this quickly by someone who didn't come into it knowing a lot about GBA and hasn't had a lot of time to develop a very thorough understanding of the architecture being worked on. It's not impossible though. Probably more likely than it being a tweaked VBA.

The whole thing is pretty mysterious.

UPDATE: I got someone to do some tests and it crashes in some pretty gpSP specific ways. Also, I hear that iPlayer is 330MHz MIPS, not 200MHz ARM - which is a good fit for gpSP and explains how it can run 3D stuff so well (gpSP ARM isn't good at stuff like that). So it's probably gpSP, which is also GPL, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to go after him. It's the same story as the guys selling the Dingoo A320. So long as they're not charging for the software itself then I can't really be bothered. You can all feel free to forward some of your appreciation to me though ;D


----------



## Jacobeian (Sep 20, 2009)

this is interesting EXophase, and I think you are right, VBA has still trouble running fullspeed on the 700Mhz Wii PPC and the ARM maximal rated speed according to the SoC datasheet is 256 Mhz (link, screenshot). 

Are there any other ARM-optimized GBA emu beside gPSp anyway ? it's very unlikely an emulator has been written from scratch in so few time

I also wonder if it's also using the extra DSP hardware in some way and even the DSi ARMs, which would be quite an accomplishment, and the reason why GPL should be mentionned and the sourcecode released !

Last things, even if it's not being sold, this is clearly going to boost iPlayer sales and I'd be very surprised if the SDK "leak" was not done on purpose... seems very suspicious to have a real SDK floating around, it's not like many people were going to developp stuff on that thing beside iPlayer devs themselves


----------



## stanleyopar2000 (Sep 20, 2009)

Psyfira said:
			
		

> stanleyopar2000 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




um...the compatibility on it (SuperCard SD) sucks.


----------



## Exophase (Sep 20, 2009)

Jacobeian said:
			
		

> this is interesting EXophase, and I think you are right, VBA has still trouble running fullspeed on the 700Mhz Wii PPC and the ARM maximal rated speed according to the SoC datasheet is 256 Mhz (link, screenshot).
> 
> Where did you hear that it's using that SoC exactly? I heard MIPS 330MHz, which makes a lot more sense for gpSP because gpSP ARM doesn't run 3D well but the PSP (MIPS) version does.
> 
> ...



Yep, this is probably the best thing that can happen for iPlayer sales, I bet GBA emulation is going to be more popular than movie playback. But here you have a guy who was willing to do that for free, so why go ahead and strike a deal with him? Then if he gets in trouble somehow iPlayer has no connection or liability either. Sounds like a perfect situation for them. It is possible that there's a real SDK through other channels that at least works in some capacity because it's probably for a different application using the same system-on-chip that's in iPlayer. It could have been released by the SoC makers themselves.

Anyway, it's almost definitely gpSP because it crashes in ways only gpSP is known to, and it's probably MIPS. I think I've worked out the most likely scenarios.


----------



## Jacobeian (Sep 20, 2009)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> Where did you hear that it's using that SoC exactly? I heard MIPS 330MHz, which makes a lot more sense for gpSP because gpSP ARM doesn't run 3D well but the PSP (MIPS) version does.
> 
> from here: http://www.metagames-eu.com/content/view/2313/33/
> it's written in french but as far as I understand it, the SoC has been identified as a TMS320DM6541
> ...



I doubt it: I mean, doesn't the iPlayer need to interface with the DSi video/audio hardware in some ways ? it's much likely the SDK (ot the dev tools) contains specific libraries or code to work with DSi hardware,


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## amiga (Sep 20, 2009)

I thought the same, that it seems impossible that they are using the DaVinci chip but in this french website Metagames, they have pictures of the iplayer that seems to demonstrate it has the TMS320DM6541 chip.

What it's incredible because it too cheap too be true knowing the price of other gadgets that use this chip but of course I'm not gonna complain.

The possibilities of this card are really impressive I have to say, just thinking on a dslinux using the power of the iplayer would be fantastic.


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## Exophase (Sep 20, 2009)

There's no such thing as TMS320DM6541. If you look at the number closely you'll see it could be TMS320DM35X (355 and 357 exist). That chip costs half as much, only has an ARM9 + fixed function MPEG decode engine, and can go up to 270MHz. So we've probably found the real chip. Maybe someone else will want to open theirs too?

Looks like gpSP ARM afterall.. the 3D games they tried might be the kind that render to IWRAM then DMA to VRAM, or maybe they did some extra code to improve the performance on it. Or it's vBagX, but I strongly doubt that because vBagX has poor sound and this doesn't. There's no way Vampent would fix it up for this then not update their official version.



			
				Jacobeian said:
			
		

> because without  the needded tools, he wouldn't have gone very far, and this makes free support for their product
> he said he first asked them for a SDK but they refused: the fact that they even took the time to answer him make me think their answer was a little more complex, something like "ok, we give you some tools but you don't tell it comes from us"
> 
> I don't think them responding to him is very suspicious. Companies do often respond to these things. Not that I'm saying you're wrong or anything, there's just no outright evidence.
> ...



As far as I understand iPlayer works on all DS's and nothing about it accesses DSi specific hardware. So in that regard it's just another flashcart. It obviously has code for loading and running homebrew in its own firmware - so long as it can run unencrypted binaries then it's entirely possible that using TI's compiler straight will be all you need to do to develop things for it.


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## DominoBright (Sep 21, 2009)

So Chen is using your stuff? Well, that is a rotten move, but it's nice to see someone putting it to use for the DS.


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## Jacobeian (Sep 21, 2009)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> There's no such thing as TMS320DM6541. If you look at the number closely you'll see it could be TMS320DM35X (355 and 357 exist). That chip costs half as much, only has an ARM9 + fixed function MPEG decode engine, and can go up to 270MHz. So we've probably found the real chip. Maybe someone else will want to open theirs too?
> 
> yes, you're probably right, this one suits better with known facts
> 
> ...



I mean DS or DSi video & audio hardware... isn't it how it works ?
I would have thought that the decoded video pixels (output from the SoC) need to be converted in DS format ? And the decoded sound must be send to DS audio hardware somehow...
I initially thought it was the role of the software that is running on DS/DSi, it reads video/audio data directly in known format  from the cartridge slot (probably the cart SDRAM is mapped to it for direct access) and display/render it on the console, while the role of the software running on iPlayer ARM was to decode video (using the co-processor) or, in this case, to render GBA frames through an emulator. Maybe the ASIC's role is to convert decoded pixels into the proper format and store them on SDRAM... or isn't it such things on NDS, I'm not really aware of the tech details ?


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## fudge143 (Sep 21, 2009)

Man that is so cool. i wish you can do that with the EDGE. I want other cards but dont know wer people sell those


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## Exophase (Sep 21, 2009)

Jacobeian said:
			
		

> I mean DS or DSi video & audio hardware... isn't it how it works ?
> I would have thought that the decoded video pixels (output from the SoC) need to be converted in DS format ? And the decoded sound must be send to DS audio hardware somehow...
> I initially thought it was the role of the software that is running on DS/DSi, it reads video/audio data directly in known format  from the cartridge slot (probably the cart SDRAM is mapped to it for direct access) and display/render it on the console, while the role of the software running on iPlayer ARM was to decode video (using the co-processor) or, in this case, to render GBA frames through an emulator. Maybe the ASIC's role is to convert decoded pixels into the proper format and store them on SDRAM... or isn't it such things on NDS, I'm not really aware of the tech details ?



Yes, there has to be a program running on the DS itself that pulls data off the gamecard for audio and video. Whether or not iPlayer homebrew includes loading the DS part or not is unknown, but if so it's probably in a known format like NDS. It could be that the loader itself has a default protocol for taking audio/video off the bus and streaming it to DS, in addition to putting button presses and possibly touch stuff.. but my guess is that it's the former. It's true that either way there are things that have to be figured out, but it can probably be done with some extensive work.

But there will definitely need to be someone's code running on the NDS, because otherwise it's impossible to get data off the gamecard bus and into RAM/VRAM (also to upload input data to the card).


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## Exophase (Sep 21, 2009)

Some clearer pictures here:

http://two.xthost.info/iplayerpics/

It's definitely labeled "TMS320 DM6541", whatever that is. I'm starting to think this isn't even a TI chip at all but a deliberate naming knock-off. Who knows.


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## RedBaron (May 11, 2010)

Hi Darkchen
Any chance of an updated GBA Emulator for the iPlayer with better compatibly
Vars


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## snikerz (Nov 7, 2013)

Looks like this project was abandoned, the blog is dead now: http://darkchen.blog.com


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