Review K1 GBA SP

[appleburger]

sorry ifish, have no idea. i don't own the cable so I can't test it.

My model number is AGT-S-PMA.

where is there a model number printed on the device? did you order one from k1gba.com? what is your product id number, you can find it in the firmware help menu on the 3rd page.

-another world

Ah, my bad. There's no model number on the device itself. I did order mine from K1GBA. PID is 00620603

 

[Heran Bago]

Hey AW.

Does this work with the GameCube -> GBA adapter plug? For example, using the Tingle Tuner in Wind Waker?
Or any game in general

I was never able to make he "Nintendo" logo appear like Wiisel says he got to happen. Four Swords Adventures / Tingle was a no-go for me.

 

[Another World]

PID is 00620603

please double check that PID for me. if your number is 00620603 then there is a new pid being sold by k1gba.com and that changes the info in the review.

-another world

 

[appleburger]

PID is 00620603

please double check that PID for me. if your number is 00620603 then there is a new pid being sold by k1gba.com and that changes the info in the review.

-another world

My, bad - once again (this whole looking at numbers thing is hard) - it's actually 00610603

I'm going to try and modify this thing by switching out the buttons with my real SP. Would it be easier to do that, or stick the guts of the K1 into the other SP, you think?

 

[Wiisel]

Hey AW.

Does this work with the GameCube -> GBA adapter plug? For example, using the Tingle Tuner in Wind Waker?
Or any game in general

I was never able to make he "Nintendo" logo appear like Wiisel says he got to happen. Four Swords Adventures / Tingle was a no-go for me.

I could only get the logo when using my parallel PC linker cable it would then continuously do the jingle sound and change the Nintendo colour but not load the i-linker screen on the K1 so multiboot seems to still need some work.
My GC link cable seems to be busted as its not connecting with an official GBA.

 

[weijen123]

Planning to get a 2nd K1 for multiplayer!! I've done some modding to enable control button more responsive!!!
GREAT PRODUCT!

 

[Slowking]

Can this be linked to a Gamecube, like a normal GBA?

 

[DragorianSword]

Received mine yesterday!

My PID is 00610603, ordered it from K1 website.
I tested some games on it from all platforms it supports and they all work great!
The down-key is not as responsive as the other ones, but I'm already getting used to the extra pressure I have to apply and I think it will just wear in after a while.
Cheats work great, though the cheat library is far from complete.

I love the game-related frames that fill in the black screen when you play GB/GBC games.
Now I can finally play Power Quest on a handheld again! (this was my first game ever and it crashes constantly on my gb emulator for DS)

 

[Heran Bago]

I have tested my link cables and GC adapters very thoroughly and I have bad news! Here is what we are looking at:

A K1 GBA SP from k1gba.com. PID 00610603 PSN 120614 . A 1st gen GBA SP. An orange GBA Taco.

With all of these you can boot without a cart inserted or hold start+select when booting a game to boot without the Nintendo logo. A normal GBA will be ready to receive code to boot from the port labeled EXT. WIth the K1 GBA the option to show the GBA splash screen must be enabled for this feature to be feasible. I have not tried the link cable features with the K1's emulators yet. I more just wanted to play multiplayer and co-op GBA games such as Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.

"Joytech GBA SP Earphone Adapter with stereo earphones. Enjoy Dynamic stereo sound from your GBA SP."
works

MadCatz cable. Mine looks like the one pictured but with the silvery color of this instead of purple. One end firmly affixes to the GBA and fits all three GBAs. The other end has a GC adapter and a GBA link. There is a switch in the middle that switches between the two modes.
does not work

Pelican 4 Player GBA link cable. Has a switch in the center to switch between GBA and GB modes.
does not work

Nyko GBA GC adaptor. It is so big that it does not really fit the GBA SP as it presses down on L and R. Miraculously it fits the K1 GBA SP since its shoulder buttons are smaller.
does not work


Headphone Adapter test
I have to press * + Left to switch from TV-out mode back to the screen. The stereo audio works and sounds excellent.


Mario Kart Single-Pak test
With the MadCatz cable, no luck. With the Pelican cable it only worked in the case of the GBA SP or GBA Taco running the pak and the K1 GBA had to be in Player 3's slot. If the K1 was in player 1 or 2's position it wouldn't work. The K1 GBA SP could not be the GBA with the pak sending it to players 2 and 3; it wouldn't work.
Any scenario where the K1 was player 1 or 2 wouldn't work.

Mario Kart Multi-Pak test
Unsuccessful. Very bad. I might try later and it might be related to the player 3 only thing. But as I only have one real cart of Mario Kart for now I'm not going to test beyond 1 real cart and 1 rom.

Four Swords Adventures Gamecube test
With all three link cables the GBA SP and GBA Taco booted no problem. You can do this any time the game is running.
With all three link cables in any player slot the K1 GBA SP would not boot the four swords loader. This happened when turning it on with no game inserted, when start+select canceling a a real game from booting, and when canceling a rom from booting.

Tests Worth Trying
- The Sonic Adventures/Advances Chao tests
- The Tingle Tuner Tests (There is a ROM available for the Tingle Tuner GC multiboot. It might work!)
- More 2 player carts.
- Bring the Gamecube GB player into the mix

Not worth trying:
FF Crystal Chronics: If 4 swords didn't work, see above
Four Swords GBA: how is this different from mario kart's test?


I would love for someone else to test with their own accessories, preferably first party ones. I don't consider my results conclusive but I doubt they are isolated. It can't just be that 1st party accessories are all you can use because they are not too different physically and they are almost impossible to find today. I think the K team very much needs to test their own devices and consider rolling out a firmware update. I would love to hear from Another World, Maxzhou, or the K1 team about these issues too.

 

[Another World]

i don't have access to any of the cables you just wrote about. in regards to mario kart, it worked flawlessly for me with a 2 player game. i tested with a single cart, and with 2 carts. i also tested with the k-card and a flash kit. i used a generic cable designed for only 2 devices, it is the same cable k1gba.com is selling. i also was able to transfer some nes games, i played a full round of contra without issue.

when you plug in the headphone adapter can you do the function key combo to switch to tv-out mode? i'm curious if the audio works in that mode.

when playing mp3s, is the audio in stereo or two mono signals delivered to stereo headphones (ie: exact same sound in each ear, no panning, etc).

Planning to get a 2nd K1 for multiplayer!! I've done some modding to enable control button more responsive!!!
GREAT PRODUCT!

what modding did you do? have any tips that will help out the k1 community?

-another world

 

[Another World]

i took that image outside with the k1 flat on its back, and then moved it into position using paint.net. it turned out really well. it will be funny if that becomes the official image of the k1 gba sp.

here is the original:

-another world

 

[BOBdotEXE]

Any one know how to set the system clock?

Also Anyone notice an trouble with unoffical link cables?
I can't get my madcatz cable to work, but it works with both gba's and a gb player.
(game tested megaman bn4 {clean dump} I have the original kart {that I dumped}, and it links fine)

--
other questions,
none of game pics/cheats are showing up, I extracted them to the ksystem folder, but nothing comes up when scrolling.
Do I have to name roms files a special way? (all are using the names given by 'gba backup tool')

and my TV out cable's audio only works if it's plugged in half way and at a 45 deg. angle.
Is it a bad cable or messed up port? (charging works fine)

 

[deathboy]

Anyone know if you can use cheats on the other included emulators? Got mine about a week ago and it is awesome!

 

[Another World]

Any one know how to set the system clock?

what system clock? you mean like a way to control the time for RTC games?

none of game pics/cheats are showing up, I extracted them to the ksystem folder, but nothing comes up when scrolling.

they need to go in their specific directories inside of the ksystem folder.
IE: X:/ksystem/Cheat
IE: X/ksystem/GamePic

don't extract their contents, don't unzip anything (like the cheat files), don't move the directories into other directories.

the images are based on internal game id, it has nothing to do with the file name. not all games are supported even though pretty much all games have images. also some homebrew will display images as they used real game ids.

my TV out cable's audio only works if it's plugged in half way and at a 45 deg. angle.
Is it a bad cable or messed up port? (charging works fine)

plugged into your tv or the plug to the k1 gba sp?

Anyone know if you can use cheats on the other included emulators? Got mine about a week ago and it is awesome!

some of the emu will support cheats but cheats based on their own engines. you'll want to look up how to cheat on those emus. the included emus are "enhanced" ports of popular gba emus, such as pocketnes, goomba color, etc.

-another world

 

[BOBdotEXE]

in the top right hand corner it says 01/02....
oh, that's that's the page number.. oops..

and yeah the on TV out cable, it's the k1 charger part is the side that's having the issue,

As for the linking issue, is that something that could be solved in a f/w update?
(the not being able to connect to a real gba) I've tested with cart[real gba]cart[K1] and cart[real gba]Rom[K1], with no luck.

 

[Another World]

if your unit is charging without issue then i'd suspect that the problem is with the cable.

i can't answer that multi-link cable issue. the generic cable provided for the review worked perfectly between the k1 and a real sp.

-another world

 

[BOBdotEXE]

if your unit is charging without issue then i'd suspect that the problem is with the cable.

i can't answer that multi-link cable issue. the generic cable provided for the review worked perfectly between the k1 and a real sp.

-another world

Alright, I guess I'll order a new link, and tv-out cable
(time to dissect this one )

 

[ruilong]

Planning to get a 2nd K1 for multiplayer!! I've done some modding to enable control button more responsive!!!
GREAT PRODUCT!

Good news! Can you share your modding to nable control button more responsive on k1?

 

[Darmstadtio]

I received mine a few days ago and I think a great product and I am very happy. The only detail is that I had problems with save games, the save files are created but when I retrieve the game comes back from the beginning. Is there any way to fix it?

 

[Another World]

as mentioned in the first (rather detailed) post, saves are stored in DRAM and there is no battery back-up. In order to keep your saves you must either press *+START or enter the in-game menu. Both the function key and the menu are triggers to dump the save from DRAM to the microSD card. this also works with the embedded emulation in regards to "virtual" SRAM.

-another world