Emulation GBA Game backups

[Smokescale]

I've recently picked up my brand new shiny DSi and I'm all aglow with it's uber-nifty capabilities...including the accessory I've seen known as "Acekard" which caught my attention rather quickly.

Long story short, I want to be able to take the GBA games I currently own (the actual cartridges themselves, not roms) and back them up on my computer (...okay so I WANT the roms, but I wanna make'em myself, saved game-data and what not) so that I can load them into a microSD card, stick it in the Acekard device, and play said GBA games on my DSi.

I've done some rather thorough googling and have not uncovered any vendors currently selling any hardware or devices that can facilitate the backup process, or in any way link my GBA SP to my computer for the purpose of backing up the games I own.

Does anyone have any advice to offer? Locations where I can purchase such a device? Or perhaps someone who lives nearby who has one that I can temporarily borrow (unlikely)?

 

[DanTheManMS]

Whoever told you that your Acekard 2i could play GBA games on a DSi was lying. There is currently no way of running any GBA games on a DSi. That's not to say that it will be impossible in the future, just that it's impossible right now. On the normal DS and DS Lite, you had to use a slot-2 device in order to play GBA games. With this slot gone on the DSi, this is no longer a possibility, and the DS itself is not nearly powerful enough to fully emulate the GBA in software (and we can't count on the upgraded hardware of the DSi since we're currently limited to regular DS mode only with the Acekard 2i and similar devices).

Perhaps in the future, if the DSi can run GBA games downloaded from the DSi store, and homebrewers crack the DSi's encryption, and somehow manage to find a way to make our own GBA games run instead of the store-bought ones, then you can play GBA games on the DSi, but probably not until then.

If you don't have a DS, the only way to backup your GBA games would be with a linker cable of sorts. The problem is that these are really hard to find nowadays. If you can manage to find a Flash2Advance USB linker, I know for a fact that that will work, though I imagine other USB-to-GBA-link-port cables would work with the FlashManager software.

 

[Smokescale]

Well...what I read here seems to support what I've claimed. Am I simply misinterpreting it?

Found at: http://www.acekard.com/product.php?type=ak2i

Can be used as a Passme to boot from slot-2 flash carts. Run GBA games by using expand cart

The Acekard 2 can be used as a passkey, so you can boot your slot2 flash carts with it.
AK2 also support 3in1 expansion cart. You can run gba games from MicroSD card directly.
*You need insert MicroSD card with OSMenu to use Passme function.
*Expansion cart sold separately.
*There is no Slot2 in DSi.

 

[wchill]

Well...what I read here seems to support what I've claimed. Am I simply misinterpreting it?

Found at: http://www.acekard.com/product.php?type=ak2i

Can be used as a Passme to boot from slot-2 flash carts. Run GBA games by using expand cart

The Acekard 2 can be used as a passkey, so you can boot your slot2 flash carts with it.
AK2 also support 3in1 expansion cart. You can run gba games from MicroSD card directly.
*You need insert MicroSD card with OSMenu to use Passme function.
*Expansion cart sold separately.
*There is no Slot2 in DSi.

They're telling the truth.
If you're running the cart on a DS Phat or DS Lite, then it supports the 3-in-1. DSi doesn't have the Slot 2, so you can't run GBA games for the moment (though a Virtual Console-type thing may come out).

 

[Smokescale]

See, here's where I fell astray.

The card that fits into Slot-1 has a port for the microSD card, which is where I assumed they expected it to be inserted when they were talking about storing GBA roms on the microSD. I assumed that with this additional slot in the card itself, it removed the necessity for the Slot-2 card. Am I simply assuming too much of the technology or is this a logical assumption? Does the mention of running GBA games from a microSD card refer to the microSD being inserted into a Slot-2 card and then inserted into its appropriate DS port?

 

[wchill]

You're assuming too much.
They meant for the GBA games on the microSD card to be copied over to a flashcart in Slot-2.

 

[DanTheManMS]

Right. GBA games cannot be executed directly from slot-1 in any way.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

This is the trap all inexperienced people assume. They confuse integrated support with emulation.

 

[Smokescale]

In my defense, it isn't worded terribly clearly. Stating that GBA roms can be run directly from the microSD card leads one to believe that Slot-2 is no longer required (and the fact that this is mentioned only on the 2i page would lead one to believe that this was instituted specifically to combat the lack of slot-2 on the DSi)