With the release of vba this emulator is now officially discontinued!

Many many thanks to everyone that helped!


I ported the gameboy advance emulator gdkGBA (originally made by gdkchan) to the nintendo switch! (Works on all versions as far as I know)

To set up I strongly recommend putting the original gba_bios.bin in sd:/switch/gba_bios.bin!
After that put the roms into sd:/switch/roms/ and start the homebrew.

As soon as retroarch gets updated for 5.0 this will instantly become obsolete!

source (you need the sdl2-libraries from the devkit-pro pacman to build this)

Known issues:
Sound is a bit weird (it seems like sometimes the wrong instruments play)
Some games seem to crash the switch after a while. (mostly fixed in v8)
Sometimes the switch likes to crash even in games that normally run pretty stable :/ (fixed in v8 I think)
Some games have graphical glitches/don't work at all
Saving doesn't work on some games. If that happens please don't hesitate to tell me and for now you can set (buggy) savestates using plus+r and load them using plus+l.

Please update to the latest version before reporting Problems!

Game compatibility list

UPDATE:
Sound now much better now! Many thanks to @renhei for the fix!
UPDATE2:
Changed rompath from sd:/switch/roms to sd:/switch/roms/gba in order to avoid confusion with the gbc emulator. Also double joycons now work in unattached mode!
UPDATE3:
Merged gdkchans changes to the ppu. Some games that had problems with artifacts on screen (I tried harvest moon) now look much better! However this is apparently causing trouble in some games so I also attached v2.
UPDATE4:
Added proper in-gaming-saving support! The old buggy savestate-feature is now read-only (so that you can move your progress to the new save-files). I recommend removing the old .savegame-file after making sure the new, better in-game-saving works correctly in order to make sure that you don't accidentally load it
Many thanks to @gdkchan for fixing some underlying issues with the in-game-saves of this emulator!
Also I added support for the original gba_bios.bin:
If you want to use it (which I strongly recommend since the open-source-one that's bundled is causing trouble with some games) put it into sd:/switch/gba_bios.bin
UPDATE5:
In game saving should now actually work in most games! Many thanks to @gdkchan for explaining to me how the gba handles saves!
UPDATE6:
Recompiled everything with latest libnx. Hopefully fewer crashes now.
UPDATE7:
Savestate feature is back. Please only use if the savegames fail as it is known to sometimes cause issues!
UPDATE8:
Updated libnx (again) and made a few small fixes. If you're experiencing fewer/more crashes please don't hesitate to tell me
UPDATE8.5 (Experimental only):
Pushed the new graphics-fixes from @gdkchan. Please only use them if you're experiencing graphical glitches since they introduce a large slowdown in some games.
UPDATE8.6 (Experimental only):
Pushed @gdkchans new fixes+optimisations. The experimental version should now run a bit faster!
UPDATE9:
Saving should now be more reliable again (makes the save-feature work as it did in v7 again).

 

[andypin2002]

UPDATE2:
Changed rompath from sd:/switch/roms to sd:/switch/roms/gba in order to avoid confusion with the gbc emulator. Also double joycons now work in unattached mode!

Whoops! my bad... didn't read that part...

 

[SkyAeolus]

Also, do we need an existing save file? It seems that some still won't save.
However, kudos on the really quick updates through the day

 

[CatmanFan]

Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Tom & Jerry Tales still have graphical glitches even on the latest version.
Also, fade-in/fade-out effects don't work correctly in any games that use it.
Too lazy to bundle screenshots tbh

 

[Messiah4000]

Also, do we need an existing save file? It seems that some still won't save.
However, kudos on the really quick updates through the day

No, you don't need a save file. It creates a file when you save within the game option.

 

[jakibaki]

I just updated a new build where I simply recompiled everything with the latest libnx.
Please let me know if any crashes have been resolved by this update. (at the very least it can't hurt )
(nothing crashed for me yet with this build but that's a rather small sample size)

 

[SkyAeolus]

I just updated a new build where I simply recompiled everything with the latest libnx.
Please let me know if any crashes have been resolved by this update. (at the very least it can't hurt )
(nothing crashed for me yet with this build but that's a rather small sample size)

Testing all the MegaMan Battle Network games and all run really slowly.
About to test pokemon to see if it's just me getting these results.

 

[TechDark]

Thanks for the emulator!!

just a few system errors at the time I'm playing sometimes and a few audio issues but I'm fine with it

but somehow when I'm playing pokemon emerald, i get this message that the battery has run dry but i can still play it lol

 

[jakibaki]

Testing all the MegaMan Battle Network games and all run really slowly.
About to test pokemon to see if it's just me getting these results.

The experimental builds are a whole lot slower then the normal ones so if you're using those I recommend using the normal builds instead unless you're experiencing graphical glitches.

 

[Leonidas87]

Mwahahaha

Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past need I say more.

This emulator is AMAZING

Great work @jakibaki

 

[arnoldcoolful/aKMTR]

So
when are you going to fix that issue with games loading without the fade in/fade out effect?

 

[Messiah4000]

I just updated a new build where I simply recompiled everything with the latest libnx.
Please let me know if any crashes have been resolved by this update. (at the very least it can't hurt )
(nothing crashed for me yet with this build but that's a rather small sample size)

It's better but still got a crash after a few mins playing Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past, I will test out if it's random or not.

 

[TechDark]

It's better but still got a crash after a few mins playing Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past, I will test out if it's random or not.

I also got the same results of crashing on lttp

 

[SkyAeolus]

The experimental builds are a whole lot slower then the normal ones so if you're using those I recommend using the normal builds instead unless you're experiencing graphical glitches.

I haven't tried the experimental builds yet. Question though, when loading up the emulator it says version 1.0.0 should that be different?

Pokemon Emerald runs MUCH better than the Battle Network games. (Maybe they're a bit more demanding?) Maybe a few frames behind what would be considered "normal" but I'm very impressed.


Update: Saving isn't working through normal gameplay. I thought this was fixed?

 

[CatmanFan]

Just tried out the "experimental graphics-patches". Works in a few games like Mario Kart, where the 3D tracks now display correctly. Fade-in/fade-out transitions work in games like FOP: Enter the Cleft and Ice Age 2. Graphical issues still yet to be fixed in games like Tom & Jerry Tales. Also, still very little lag here and there.

Now is there a way to implement non-bilinear filter?

 

[Leonidas87]

She is ALL MINE lmfao this took a good while to accomplish let me tell you

 

[Messiah4000]

It's better but still got a crash after a few mins playing Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past, I will test out if it's random or not.

Look like it's random, the second time it didn't crash but there are some slow down. Got the princess !

EDIT: crashes are less frequent and seem random (tested on pokemon emerald and zelda)

 

[Leonidas87]

I will do what I can to help get others to the point i am in The Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past.

@jakibaki

Could you do me a HUGE FAVOUR and continue builds that do include the Save State in NEW UPDATES.

The latest version is the BEST ALL AROUND.

with the Save State on the latest build SOME of us would be able to make use of the added feature for games that still need the save state even on the latest build.


And yes I can confirm Pokemon and games like that internal saves fo work.

Think it over @jakibaki you may get what I mean on save states still being useful at this point it should not be removed completely.

 

[chronoss]

@jakibaki : why not put all file on the same folder of the emu ?????? :
sd:/switch/gkdGBA/gba_bios.bin
sd:/switch/gkdGBA/rom
and possible to deactive the boot bios at every launch of the game ?

The Mummy : can't play this game, sound is very bad and the game go on the title screen of the game when you want to start playing...

 

[Twistedziefer]

View attachment 124040 Mwahahaha

Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past need I say more.

This emulator is AMAZING

Great work @jakibaki

What version are you using its not playable for me with the experiment build really laggy then crashes and other one has pink screen cant pass the rain

 

[ManguitoZ]

Hi! Where should I put the bios file and where do I get this file? Thank you.