Homebrew GBA emulator for the ... DS?

[DanTheManMS]

Yeah, then... anyway, I just thought the following:

The Gba has just a lil better specs then the SNES, so what's going on anyway... I don't quite understand.... I could only think of it this way:
The DS is too slow to read the fast GBA Cards, cause compared to the SNES Cards they have (really) fast read speeds, or ?

Partially true, partially not. Yes, the GBA expects lightning-fast response times, and the only thing a slot-1 user would have that would be fast enough would be the DS's on-board RAM. However, there is only 4 MB of this, which would have to store both the rom and the emulator itself. Perhaps a paging system could be created that would call up chunks of ROM into RAM as needed in order to get 4 MB games to run, but this would probably be pretty slow.

However, the GBA's specs far surpass the SNES's, hence why it's possible to emulate the SNES on the GBA in the first place. http://wiki.pocketheaven.com/SNES_Advance has a chart that compares the specs of the two systems. The SNES also expects fast response times as far as I know, which is why the paging system is needed in SNEmulDS in order to run games larger than 2-3 MB.

Bottom line however, emulating the GBA on the DS would take quite a bit of work, and very few developers would even give it that much effort because the DS already has 100% compatible hardware emulation via slot-2, while a software emulator would never be able to reach that level of speed and compatibility.

 

[mithrilfox]

With all due respect to mithrilfox, and my sympathy for his manners and dedication, I can't get over the fact that his first computer was a Commodore 64 while mine was a ZX Spectrum 48K.
Because of that we shall remain sworn enemies, even though nowadays we share a common interest for the DS homebrew scene.
I would recommend him to quit looking for an inexistent GBA emulator and redeem himself by downloading ZXDS and catch up with all the 8-bit goodness that he missed in the 80's !!!

Any recommendations for games?

And, BTW, I wasn't that dedicated to the Commodore

. Loved the Atari and then my NES.

 

[Veho]

With all due respect to mithrilfox, and my sympathy for his manners and dedication, I can't get over the fact that his first computer was a Commodore 64 while mine was a ZX Spectrum 48K.

As a proud owner of an Atari 800 as a first computer, I feel obliged to hate your both respective guts.

As for the GBA emulator question: it's a very frequently asked one. They first started when the GBA Movie Player got homebrew support. At the time, they were taken seriously and discussed at length. The general agreement: might be possible possible in theory, but with all the flashcards around, why bother.

But with the sudden explosion of simple, easy, user-friendly (but sadly devoid of GBA support) Slot1 cards, we get that question once a day. People are a bit... testy. Any n00b asking the question is bound to be made fun of and insulted by the same people that asked the same question a couple of months back. Oh well.

Oh, and: welcome to the forum

 

[Rankio]

rename GBA to NDS and it works.

 

[Normmatt]

The people who say GBA emulation on the NDS is impossible need to get a reality check it can be done but probably not at full speed, i'm working on a prove of concept demo but thus far I've been unable to get it to display the demo gba rom on the real nds but it works in the emulators, i'll workout why its not displaying on hardware sometime but for now know it can be done

 

[Heran Bago]

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You know, I was going to actually read the topic and what you posted but I figure you haven't gone through the board so why should I go through your posts or topic?

Google or search the board will answer your question about GBA emulation.

 

[Don Andy]

The people who say GBA emulation on the NDS is impossible need to get a reality check it can be done but probably not at full speed, i'm working on a prove of concept demo but thus far I've been unable to get it to display the demo gba rom on the real nds but it works in the emulators, i'll workout why its not displaying on hardware sometime but for now know it can be done

Not to run you down or anything, but didn't you kinda prove them right just there?

 

[sasuke_kun12]

was about to say something to mithrilfox, then realised he was from japan and he actually can type proper english. Way to go! wish i could speak jap...

In my opinion GBA emulation is the same thing as asking if slot-1 cards will play GBA roms. Though you can easily prove me wrong and i will agree with you if you give me some hard supporing evidence

 

[Urza]

In my opinion GBA emulation is the same thing as asking if slot-1 cards will play GBA roms.

While the are similiar questions, the reason each won't work is somewhat different.

 

[TLSpartan]

In my opinion GBA emulation is the same thing as asking if slot-1 cards will play GBA roms.
While the are similiar questions, the reason each won't work is somewhat different.

They are the exact same question(just worded differently)

. And the answer is the same, NO

 

[Urza]

They are the exact same question(just worded differently)

.

They aren't.

 

[TLSpartan]

They are the exact same question(just worded differently)

.
They aren't.

He is talking about GBA emulation on a Slot-1. He also says playing GBA ROMS on Slot-1. Its the exact same thing and they both lead to the same answer NO.

 

[Urza]

They may be similiar things, but they have different reasons for not working.

 

[TLSpartan]

They may be similiar things, but they have different reasons for not working.

They are the same thing. They also have the exact same reasons why they don't work.

Some of the reasons why it wont work(FAST is better at explaining this then me

)

1. The rule of thumb with emulation, is that to emulate something it has to be 10 times more powerful
2. The GBA likes to get access to any part of a ROM at any given time(hence 32MB RAM in flashcarts). Current memory is too slow for this

 

[Urza]

1. The rule of thumb with emulation, is that to emulate something it has to be 10 times more powerful
2. The GBA likes to get access to any part of a ROM at any given time(hence 32MB RAM in flashcarts). Current memory is too slow for this

Memory issue aside, GBA code can't be run natively through the slot-1 data bus due to a hardware implication of the DS itself.

And two comments on your first "reason".

1. Completely doesn't apply because no emulation would be involved in this.

2. Its called a "rule of thumb" because thats exactly what it is. You also need to take into consideration the similiarities between the DS and GBA hardware, so it probably wouldn't require it to be "10 times more powerful", more likely a relatively lower number.

 

[Kellicros]

If you ask me, it is pretty ridiculous and waste of time to emulate a GBA on NDS which already has the GBA hardware on it and plays GBA games. Pay a few more bucks and get a Slot-2 solution like you did with the Slot-1, that is much easier for everyone, but of course, you could try if you just love taking challenges, and you will have my respects for the spirit.

Oh ya, emulating the GBA on SLOT-1 would mean to completely ignore the existing GBA hardware and rewrite a software emulating it with the NDS power. Yes, as ridiculous as it may sound, it is the completely different thing than to run GBA roms on SLOT-1 with help of the existing GBA hardware.

 

[Veho]

They may be similiar things, but they have different reasons for not working.

They are the same thing. They also have the exact same reasons why they don't work.

Some of the reasons why it wont work(FAST is better at explaining this then me

)

1. The rule of thumb with emulation, is that to emulate something it has to be 10 times more powerful
2. The GBA likes to get access to any part of a ROM at any given time(hence 32MB RAM in flashcarts). Current memory is too slow for this

They are not the same thing. Emulation is one thing, interpreting (running) code is a different thing. [simplify] If the processor is the same type, and can interpret the same code, all you have to do is try to adjust the system clock (get the processor to skip every second tact or something). If processors are different, you have to emulate the original processor, i.e. to literally translate every instruction in the code to another language (instruction set) on the fly, and also adjust for differences in architecture (also on the fly; sometimes an even bigger problem). You need a much faster processor to do this. [/simplify]

Take a look at the DOSbox project as an illustration.

The "rule of thumb" is applied in emulation; the DS can't emulate the GBA, but it doesn't actually have to: it could just interpret GBA code: in theory, with a lot of tweaking, code adjusting, weird address fumbling, and some serious voodoo, and all in all, really isn't worth the effort, with the EZFlash 4 at only $30, or the EZF 3-in-1 at only $22

 

[Magnifico]

With all due respect to mithrilfox, and my sympathy for his manners and dedication, I can't get over the fact that his first computer was a Commodore 64 while mine was a ZX Spectrum 48K.
Because of that we shall remain sworn enemies, even though nowadays we share a common interest for the DS homebrew scene.
I would recommend him to quit looking for an inexistent GBA emulator and redeem himself by downloading  ZXDS and catch up with all the 8-bit goodness that he missed in the 80's !!!

heh good lookin out, commodore 64 user here =). i never heard of zx spectrum though, i guess ill pick that up along with FrodoDS. always up for old skool gaming

 

[AMPonzi]

I've seen posts on this GBA on NDS shit a million times and it's incredibly annoying. Noobs should have to complete a training course before using the forums because obviously they don't understand the basics of searching. GBA on NDS is possible through interpreting as veho said, but the slot speed difference will cause a problem. And personally, I believe the original poster is a jerk for thinking he is above the rules and posting a repetitive topic anyway. End of story, good night!

 

[Urza]

but the slot speed difference will cause a problem.

Slot speed difference?

Swing and a miss.