Hacking GBA Emu?

[CalebW]

Is it possible for the 3DS to emulate GBA? And if so, is anybody working on such a project?

 

[Gadorach]

Umm, have you forgotten the Ambassador games? The question, I think, isn't really of whether or not it CAN run GBA games, as we already know it can. The question is more "Do we have enough privileges to invoke AGB_FIRM from inside a 3DS game or not?", to which I believe the answer is a resounding "No.". Now, to whether or not we can write our own emulator to replace AGB_FIRM, that's another question entirely.

 

[DinohScene]

Umm, have you forgotten the Ambassador games? The question, I think, isn't really of whether or not it CAN run GBA games, as we already know it can. The question is more "Do we have enough privileges to invoke AGB_FIRM from inside a 3DS game or not?", to which I believe the answer is a resounding "No.". Now, to whether or not we can write our own emulator to replace AGB_FIRM, that's another question entirely.

I'm no expert on the 3DS but Smea said we could do everything a 3DS game/app can do.
Virtual console games are "apps" so it should be possible to invoke AGB_FIRM as well.

 

[st4rk]

I'm no expert on the 3DS but Smea said we could do everything a 3DS game/app can do.
Virtual console games are "apps" so it should be possible to invoke AGB_FIRM as well.

GBA VC are ROMs, so you can't do it =P

 

[TecXero]

It probably wouldn't have to emulate that much, most of it could probably be done in a simulation wrapper. It's just a matter of having the privileges to access the right resources. Just give it time, normally a device isn't figured out and doesn't get the better homebrew until towards the end of its commercial life. PSP, Wii, and Dreamcast were the exception.

 

[Gadorach]

I'm no expert on the 3DS but Smea said we could do everything a 3DS game/app can do.
Virtual console games are "apps" so it should be possible to invoke AGB_FIRM as well.

The apps are signed with code that tells the FIRM to start TWL_FIRM and invoke AGB_FIRM at launch. This is done by the firmware itself, not the app. Heck, according to 3DBrew, we can't even figure out how it all works as the core debugging is shut off from that point on and we can't get any data back from the processes. We would have to make our own emulator, as only FIRM has the authority to shutdown the ARM9 security co-processor and switch it to DSi mode, which is needed to invoke AGB_FIRM and start GBA mode. Also, there's no access to FIRM or anything else from that point on, as TWL_FIRM takes over. The process even restarts the 3DS using the I2C chip to power-cycle the system on close. In short, I really can't see us being able to do this at all past CFW, and even Team Gateway hasn't figured out how to get it working again once its broken, so that might be a while.

 

[kedest]

Well perhaps a real emulator is the best thing anyway, because of savestates and stuff like that.

 

[SSG Vegeta]

Your kidding right simple answer is yes it can easily emulate GBA

 

[alexenochs]

Your kidding right simple answer is yes it can easily emulate GBA

Your kidding right? Do you know anything about 3ds hardware? We might see some games run full speed in an emulator that is if someone decides to take on the project but don't say it can easily emulate something Nintendo started on an emulator for it which can be.found inside a gbc vc game but halted production on it because it would be cheaper to implement a hardware solution...you see the 3ds doesn't emulate gba games it runs them off of gba hardware it's literally a gba on a chip inside the 3ds

 

[TidusWulf]

I'm going to assume the best way to get there will be injections like Wii VC used to be.

 

[SSG Vegeta]

Your kidding right? Do you know anything about 3ds hardware? We might see some games run full speed in an emulator that is if someone decides to take on the project but don't say it can easily emulate something Nintendo started on an emulator for it which can be.found inside a gbc vc game but halted production on it because it would be cheaper to implement a hardware solution...you see the 3ds doesn't emulate gba games it runs them off of gba hardware it's literally a gba on a chip inside the 3ds

I was talking about the official way

 

[SSG Vegeta]

I'm going to assume the best way to get there will be injections like Wii VC used to be.

What about the 3DS VC

 

[TidusWulf]

That's what I'm saying. If GBA ROMs are going to happen on the 3DS, it's most likely to come from injecting GBA ROMs into sideloaded VCs. We're not there yet, but if Nintendo has already released GBA games via VC, then we already have a proven working emulator. The hard part is replacing the game that comes with the VC with one of our choosing.

 

[SuperrSonic]

Well perhaps a real emulator is the best thing anyway, because of savestates and stuff like that.

To me it isn't, the ambassador games have all the stuff homebrew emulators don't have. Similar to the GB Player, you get motion blur, correct colors and a sharp upscale filter that isn't possible from hardware. I'm not saying it's impossible to include these things just that no homebrew emu did and if they did, performance would likely take a hit.
There's no way to prove it yet but I like to go with; the GBA games are rendering at 2x and get scaled to 360x240 along with hardware bilinear. Which is why they're sharper than DS games.

 

[alexenochs]

when gateway releases a way to run gba games then we can talk about vc injections i was onboard the train for the other injections i will say though any features that arent in the vc games for gba games currently wont be able to be implemented anytime later it litterally boots into gba mode from a chip on the 3ds it cant access any of the nice hardware from the 3ds

 

[MRJPGames]

It will most likely at some point run a GBA emulator, the question is when.

 

[SonicRings]

GBA emulation is a cool target to reach for 3DS homebrew, but what can be done on the 3DS that hasn't already been done on Wii, DS and GBA? I'm curious to know because I bought a copy of Cubic Ninja today and would like to know if it's worth keeping.

 

[Lucifer666]

Is it possible for the 3DS to emulate GBA? And if so, is anybody working on such a project?

tl; dr the whole thread but

i'm pretty sure if the teeny stat boost on the SCDS2's CPU allowed the DS to emulate GBA then it'll be a breeze for the 3DS

 

[slowmotioning]

GBA emulation is a cool target to reach for 3DS homebrew, but what can be done on the 3DS that hasn't already been done on Wii, DS and GBA? I'm curious to know because I bought a copy of Cubic Ninja today and would like to know if it's worth keeping.

The 3D aspect is unique to the 3DS, so some more unique offerings can be made. I'd like to see a media player implemented myself.

 

[SonicRings]

The 3D aspect is unique to the 3DS, so some more unique offerings can be made. I'd like to see a media player implemented myself.

A media player? 3DS sound already plays music, and the 3DS camera already plays 3D videos/movies. What else could you ask for?