Hacking Rominator for NDS

beautifulbeast · Mar 20, 2007

@Dazimus: if Rominator recognizes them, you can always hit the botton with a blue book to rename them according to the database.

hankchill · Mar 20, 2007

Yes, does sound confusing o.O

However, those games do have a proper entry in the database so you can try and have Rominator rename them accordingly.

If you still have troubles, try and elaborate on the issue so that I can make an attempt to tackle any existing bugs.

Regards.

Dazimus · Mar 20, 2007

Well I did manually rename them, then after a proper release name turned up, I clicked the book icon to give it the Rominator proper name, yet the roms I manually renamed first are still ... edited differently than the roms which I havent renamed manually first.

hankchill · Mar 20, 2007

Is it that you're renaming it but it's still showing up in the same position and not sorting? Here's what you can try: Click on the heading of the list (the part that says 'Name'), it'll force a sort.

Regards.

Dazimus · Mar 20, 2007

Sorry Hank, I've been very confusing so far

I've tried clicking on the Name column to sort the roms, but no matter if it sorts A-Z or Z-A, the roms I had manually renamed are always after Z. Which also explains that when I see my roms on my R4, that the roms Rominator renames seem to have a space before their name, whereas my manually renamed roms dont have a space. Therefore the roms with the space are prioritised due to standard PC naming conventions.

Kinda like if I named a folder "_Theme Park" and another folder "Theme Park", the folder with the _ at the start would always come before the letter A in sorting. So I'm guessing when Rominator renames files, it puts some kind of character at the beginning?

Edit: Aha! It does! Rominator is adding a space at the start of every filename ;-) That explains why manually renamed roms are sorted different now ;-)

Edit 2: And when I try to use Rominator to give a manually named rom its proper name, Rominator says "Rename successful" but doesn't include the space at the start of the rom like it does on a rom that hasnt had its name manually edited before.

Edit 3: After saying all of that, when I click on any rom now, it now renames them properly as opposed to putting a space at the start. Strange, maybe it was a bug when I went through renaming all of my roms in a previous version of Rominator?

Bearing in mind the roms on my card (and their save games) have the format of a space at the start of the filename, if I fix the roms on my HDD so they dont have spaces, will there be conflicts between my HDD roms and Flash roms? As Rominator will detect my HDD and Flash roms as having different names due to the space?

Edit 4: Wow, too many edits! I've just realised I can just do a mass rename of my roms on my flashcard anyway and it'll match the names on my HDD then, nevermind my previous question

Still odd how I ended up with that space tho ...

microtsip · Mar 21, 2007

Great software! I'm glad I took the time reading all the posts in this thread. I just downloaded it today and I'm itching to try it when I get home. Sadly, I could not download the database because I am behind a firewall and it needs proxy authentication. The link provided by mavis, which is a 15MB file, is also blocked here in the office. damn... I guess we're only limited to less than 12MB downloads

This is why I would like to add some suggestions regarding the updating of the database.

Suggestion I:
How about splitting the files needed to update the database? I think it's better than letting the users download the whole database everytime there are revisions on the entried or when new ROMS were released.

Sample:
ROMS 0001-0300
ROMS 0301-0600

If there will be revisions on the previous database entries, then you will only have to release an update for the revised entries (e.g. ROMS 0200-0250 revision update).

Suggestion II:
Proxy authentication support

More power to you bro! Keep it up!

Deleted User · Mar 21, 2007

Hey hankchill, is it okay if I'll add Rominator to iusethis.com? Just thought I'd ask before doing so, because maybe you want to add it yourself or don't like the idea to add it at all.

hankchill · Mar 21, 2007

Wow, so many posts to respond to

@Dazimus: Glad your problem got solved. I distinctly remember fixing a renaming bug from a previous version, so that may have been what you were encountering

I checked my renamed roms and didn't see any spaces before the filename

@microtsip: What I might do is place all database updates on my server individually by Rom number. This way when the user goes and checks for updates, it'll compare what's available online to what you already have and just download what you are missing. Honestly though, under 200KB is not a lot to download which is why I have it this way right now

Regarding Proxy support, I may do so if I had a proxy to test on.

@Takeshi: I prefer to keep Rominator at emulation sites only, like GBAtemp, mainly because this is the audience I want to attract with it

Right now, it's a GBAtemp exclusive until I release a steady 3.0, then I will spread it to the other places (like Maxconsole, DualScene, The R4 Site, etc)

Regards.

Deleted User · Mar 21, 2007

Alright then!

btw.: It feels good to use GBAtemp-exclusive software!

edit: typo ...

Dazimus · Mar 21, 2007

How come sometimes when I load Rominator it wants my flashcard in the drive and wont let me use Rominator otherwise? I'm sure I removed the flashcard while Rominator was loaded last so it was aware it wasnt inserted next time it loaded?

Mash440 · Mar 21, 2007

I don't suppose you could make the 'A game with this name already exists' status bar line a bit more verbose. It can be time consuming trying to find the problematic roms.

hankchill · Mar 22, 2007

QUOTE(Dazimus @ Mar 21 2007 said:
How come sometimes when I load Rominator it wants my flashcard in the drive and wont let me use Rominator otherwise?Â I'm sure I removed the flashcard while Rominator was loaded last so it was aware it wasnt inserted next time it loaded?

It shouldn't matter when your flash card is inserted. Even if you remove it after closing rominator it shouldn't make a difference.

Might just be a windows issue.

On another note, you'll be happy to hear that Rominator v3.0 is golden! I'm just completing final touches and will upload 3.0 tonight! Here's a list of changes:
• Small Bug Fixes
• Click on the Box Art to force a redownload and refresh
• Rom Icon Replacement: Import your own pictures into your games!
• Icon Collection: Store all of the current game icons or your own imported icons into your collection to access them anytime.
• Trainer Database! Choose the cheats you want for your games! Database updatable through 'File' menu.
• Fully Resizable Window -- Up to 1024x768
• Super-Fast List Loading

A special thanks to cracker and bleep for providing me with their trainers information, I've incorporated them into Rominator in a very easy to use manner. Now you can choose the patches you want, and patch the game as it flashes to your flash card. Just click on the Star button under the list if there are cheats available.

Also, the list loads very fast now. I ran a benchmark on it: Where it took 10 seconds in a previous version to load a 200 file list, it now takes 2 seconds

Guys like mavis will appreciate this

Remember to read the 'Read Me' for all of the explanations on how to use Rominator!

Another thing to mention:
Rominator has been a very costly project. Although I did it for free, I have still paid the expenses for hosting Rominator & it's databases, box arts, etc, for the development IDE, and for the extra feature plugins. If you like the program, I encourage you to donate to keep it alive. I probably won't be adding any more features into Rominator unless I can justify it's cost. Remember, I did all this for you guys and wanted you all to have a decent way of organizing your DS game lists -- I know I needed one! I took Rominator above and beyond for all of you.

Of course, I will fix any bugs that are found, but no new features will be added. I will continue to update the databases though. Like I said, I bit the bullet and spent to make Rominator the feature-packed program that it is.

Best Regards.

P.S. This program deserves a Sticky

mavis · Mar 22, 2007

QUOTE(hankchill @ Mar 22 2007 said:
P.S. This program deserves a StickyÂ

I'll second that.

Looking forward to version 3.0! I'll be checking in throughout the day to grab it as soon as it's up. Thanks for all the hard work!!

hankchill · Mar 22, 2007

QUOTE(mavis @ Mar 21 2007 said:
QUOTE(hankchill @ Mar 22 2007 said:

P.S. This program deserves a Sticky

I'll second that.

Looking forward to version 3.0! I'll be checking in throughout the day to grab it as soon as it's up. Thanks for all the hard work!!

Click to expand...

Well, go ahead and grab it. It's been updated

Enjoy the new features. Like mentioned above, no more new features unless I can justify what I've already spent on it.

Regards.

Czeko · Mar 22, 2007

Awesome!

i just found this software today, and i must say it rocks! more so when i couldnt find any rom utility for Mac.

i just read the readme included in the .dmg and got a couple of ideas to further improve Rominator...

1) button to eject the flash card directly from rominator (no more dragging it to the thrash or clicking the system tray)

2) be able to create a special list, but instead of dropping .nds to it we could drop any kind of file like .mp3 or .txt to create libraries of books and music or images... and each special list gets copied to a specific folder (it could be configured when creating the list) in the flash cart. (/music , /ebooks , etc) Rominator doesnt have to playback any of those files, just manage them.

the last one would also work great for homebrew, because some of them require an app folder copied to the root of the cart instead to the rom folder. i just kinda want to stay away from the Finder as much as i can when managing the cart's content

Again, thanks a lot for such an awesome program!

EDIT! damn, it took me a lot to write the post and you updated the software! its ok if you ignore my requests, you've done quite a lot already

hankchill · Mar 22, 2007

QUOTE(Czeko @ Mar 21 2007 said:
Awesome!

i just found this software today, and i must say it rocks! more so when i couldnt find any rom utility for Mac.

i just read the readme included in the .dmg and got a couple of ideas to further improve Rominator...

1) button to eject the flash card directly from rominator (no more dragging it to the thrash or clicking the system tray)

2) be able to create a special list, but instead of dropping .nds to it we could drop any kind of file like .mp3 or .txt to create libraries of books and music or images... and each special list gets copied to a specific folder (it could be configured when creating the list) in the flash cart. (/music , /ebooks , etc) Rominator doesnt have to playback any of those files, just manage them.

the last one would also work great for homebrew, because some of them require an app folder copied to the root of the cart instead to the rom folder. i just kinda want to stay away from the Finder as much as i can when managing the cart's contentÂ

Again, thanks a lot for such an awesome program!Â

EDIT! damn, it took me a lot to write the post and you updated the software! its ok if you ignore my requests, you've done quite a lot already

Those are some good requests, but I'm not taking anymore unless I can justify continuing development. I have already paid for too much and not received any support from anyone as of yet. The program is still free, but I've done too much work and paid for it too just to deliver a free app.

I will however release one more update, with advanced online update checking (for updating the program, database, and trainers all integrated in the program). Will come this weekend.

Regards.

decept · Mar 23, 2007

Hank,

This looks like a great app, I would be more than happy to donate some money if I was able to use it. The fact that the application does not support ZIP files is big for me considering all my backups are in zip format.

Look forward to your weekend update, hopefully it will support zip files.

hankchill · Mar 23, 2007

QUOTE(decept @ Mar 22 2007 said:
Hank,

This looks like a great app, I would be more than happy to donate some money if I was able to use it.Â The fact that the application does not support ZIP files is big for me considering all my backups are in zip format.

Look forward to your weekend update, hopefully it will support zip files.

There would be quite a bit of code modification to implement ZIP support. Although it can be done, it will take some work. I just cannot justify continuing development right now. I know zip support is something a few people want, but currently it isn't an absolute necessity.

Regards.

hankchill · Mar 23, 2007

Allrighty, I've upped 3.0.1

2 new features:
• Option to choose the .sav backup location
• Extensive update system -- Running Check for Updates will check for program, database, and trainer updates, and you can choose the updates to install. If there's a Rominator update, the program will download it to your desktop, so when it's done, you can copy it overtop of the old rominator

I haven't gotten a chance to update the readme though

Maybe soon

Enjoy!

P.S. I've had a couple donators already, a huge thanks to you guys. It's really encouraging to continue developing when receiving donations for all of the hard work for free

mavis · Mar 23, 2007

Hey Hank!

Thanks for the updates! I've found a few issues that I thought I should mention .... should be fairly minor to fix, I'm guessing they're just database issues

1. 0054 is still not recognized by ROMinator.

2. 0703 is still not recognized by ROMinator.

3. 0887 is still nameless in the database (auto-name does not work)

4. 0935-0944 are missing box art.

I hope this list helps. I have all 944 ROMs and these are the only problem I've found, even when using ROMinator to do mass-renaming ... Pretty impressive!

Hacking Rominator for NDS

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