Hardware can't flash mother3 on f2a 256mbit

[mrgone]

i tried to flash mother3 to my trusty old f2a 256 cart
but i wont work.
the numbers on the ilinker app on the gba even dont count up...
ERASE 0
WRITE 0
END 0


after flashing, i still see the content from before

but if i flash something smaller, it works.

i tried new batteries, no effect
i tried reducing the speed, no effect
i tried using a regular gba, and my gba sp while charging, no effect

has anyone any ideas ?

i could play mother3 on my ds with 3-in-1, but thats not the same as a real gba

ps: i use a f2a parallel linker

pps: i'm not the only one
http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Mother/3_Bl...rst#post1101529

ppps: i tried f2a writer 3.0, 3.2 doesn't recognize my cart, and powerwriter says not enoug hspace for mother3 + menu ( stupid software)

 

[DanTheManMS]

A couple of posts that may help:

Since f2a-usb was not working I tried it on my old PPC port of if2a which has oodles of extra options for me to force this game to fit on the cart. The command line options used to get this thing on the f2a was "-W -H -n".

QUOTEI flashed it with a DS, an R4, and a flasher program. My USB cable fell apart, and I don't have a parallel port anywhere to use my MBV2 cable. For some reason, the last 64 bytes failed to flash.
Game saves perfectly with no patching on my F2A.

Both from http://www.pocketheaven.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=6748

 

[mrgone]

Since f2a-usb was not working I tried it on my old PPC port of if2a which has oodles of extra options for me to force this game to fit on the cart. The command line options used to get this thing on the f2a was "-W -H -n".
-W =write
-H = dont correct headers
-n = no menu

i never had another flash software besides f2awriter that worked for me

QUOTEI flashed it with a DS, an R4, and a flasher program. My USB cable fell apart, and I don't have a parallel port anywhere to use my MBV2 cable. For some reason, the last 64 bytes failed to flash.
Game saves perfectly with no patching on my F2A.

i tried a lot of trimmed up till now (over 8 kb), but it never works ( flasher never really writing, just showing zeros and "ready")
(trimmed using a hex editor, as standard trim tools trim nothing)

can anyone tell me:
it's failing because:
a) of my flasher (parallel)
b) my crappy software (f2a linker)
c) my crappy cart ( f2a 256)
?

i'm now thinkin if i should get another 3-in-1, where i cut of corners and parts of the case so it fits in my gba...
i really want to paly it on my gba
i could play it on ds though...

 

[eightcell]

i am having the same problem.

When it is writing the ROM onto the cart it doesn’t show any progress on the GBA screen, Write # and End # remain at “0” throughout the whole process - meanwhile the computer does seem like it is writing.

my f2a linker is parallel.

This seems to be the only thing this happens with.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[mrgone]

i followed the link to http://code.google.com/p/fas1/
its a DS slot-2 flashing software, but it misses f2a support, although a link is given to ucon64's f2a support source code.


does anyone know how small a gba rom has to be to get flashed successfully ?
i'm pretty stumped as i usually make my flash cart full, not wanting to waste any space, but
that was always with multiple smaller roms, never one big rom.

 

[DanTheManMS]

The page says it doesn't support the F2A but I've heard two people claim otherwise. Give it a try.

 

[mrgone]

i somehow feel stupid right now...

i tried all 3 versions of the tool, but
all of them crash(?)/hang while starting up

i just see the upper screen ( on the site) as my lower screen,
but only with the text till the second horizontal line of dashes
buttons dont do anything, upper screen is white

i tried this with and without f2a cart inserted
i have a standard r4 with pretty recent firmware

and i have a subfolder GBA with *.gba

 

[Tanas]

i am having the same problem.

When it is writing the ROM onto the cart it doesn’t show any progress on the GBA screen, Write # and End # remain at “0” throughout the whole process - meanwhile the computer does seem like it is writing.

my f2a linker is parallel.

This seems to be the only thing this happens with.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

I have no problems flashing Mother 3 to my FA Pro using the parallel linker, try a different power supply or parallel cable.

 

[mrgone]

I have no problems flashing Mother 3 to my FA Pro using the parallel linker, try a different power supply or parallel cable.

its a f2a, not a fa, it's a cable from parallel to gba-ext. and i'm pretty sure, it's not my power supply (gba batteries, i have lots of them to test)

 

[mrgone]

finally

i successfully flashed it to my gba cart

i trimmed 0.25 Mbit, to a final size of 255.75 Mbit, in hex: 1FF8000

lets hope i didn't kill something vital

i tried as next size 1FFA000, which didn't work.

but its somehow logical:

the gba i.linker software shows as END: 128
is still not get it why this seems the maximum to flash in one piece

(i can fill my cart up to 256 MBit, but only if i flash multiple roms)

 

[sword414]

I have the exact same problem.

How did you trim the cart?

 

[mrgone]

I have the exact same problem.

How did you trim the cart?

with a hex editor (xvi32)

 

[sword414]

would you mind giving me some instructions for it..?
I downloaded the program, but I still couldn't figure out how to do it.

 

[carterman]

Hex Workshop is a lot easier to work with, IMO.

 

[mrgone]

would you mind giving me some instructions for it..?
I downloaded the program, but I still couldn't figure out how to do it.


QUOTE(carterman @ Oct 26 2008, 08:49 AM) Hex Workshop is a lot easier to work with, IMO.

- go to address 1ff8000
- edit -> delete from cursor
- save

 

[sword414]

Wait..how do I access the cart with the XVI32? All I can open is .exe files...

 

[junk_man32]

i tried to flash mother3 to my trusty old f2a 256 cart
but i wont work.
the numbers on the ilinker app on the gba even dont count up...
ERASE 0
WRITE 0
END 0


after flashing, i still see the content from before

but if i flash something smaller, it works.

i tried new batteries, no effect
i tried reducing the speed, no effect
i tried using a regular gba, and my gba sp while charging, no effect

has anyone any ideas ?

i could play mother3 on my ds with 3-in-1, but thats not the same as a real gba

ps: i use a f2a parallel linker

pps: i'm not the only one
http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Mother/3_Bl...rst#post1101529

ppps: i tried f2a writer 3.0, 3.2 doesn't recognize my cart, and powerwriter says not enoug hspace for mother3 + menu ( stupid software)

all i have to say, get a better gba flash cart

 

[mrgone]

Wait..how do I access the cart with the XVI32? All I can open is .exe files...

it can open all types of files

QUOTE(junk_man32 @ Oct 28 2008, 12:34 AM) all i have to say, get a better gba flash cart

hurray, the first answer, who doesn't even try to help
also: i'm pretty sure, its not the cart, but the flashing software, as i CAN flash 256 MBit on it, it just has to bne in multiple roms

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

there use to be an app that allowed you to flip the bits on the f2a from 0 to 1 and reverse. Let me dig through my stuff and see if I still got it.

 

[mrgone]

there use to be an app that allowed you to flip the bits on the f2a from 0 to 1 and reverse. Let me dig through my stuff and see if I still got it.

i don't get it. does that help me ? sounds more like a flash cart testing application