Homebrew GBARunner2

[Deleted User]

That list is definitely outdated. My last update was 2 years ago.
Edit: Gericom uploaded a new version with support for V-Rally 3.
https://github.com/Gericom/GBARunner2/releases/tag/v20190915-131833_05a69d8

 

[Gericom]

That list is definitely outdated. My last update was 2 years ago.
Edit: Gericom uploaded a new version with support for V-Rally 3.
https://github.com/Gericom/GBARunner2/releases/tag/v20190915-131833_05a69d8

Note that it most likely doesn't work on ds. It may work with rom3M once I update that.

 

[Rahkeesh]

Yeah I haven't used this in quite a while, back the only SRAM was supported, but I've tried several non-SRAM games out now and they seem to work quite well. Which is great for going between different platforms. Gericom has made a ton of progress and I'm going to start throwing the whole library at this and see what happens.

 

[Gericom]

Yeah I haven't used this in quite a while, back the only SRAM was supported, but I've tried several non-SRAM games out now and they seem to work quite well. Which is great for going between different platforms. Gericom has made a ton of progress and I'm going to start throwing the whole library at this and see what happens.

Thanks!
Note that we have a compatibility list here: https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/GBARunner2

 

[dsaltiveri]

Hello, the last dsi version of GBARunner2 gives me an SCFG locked error when I launch it. Do you know what could be happening? Thank!

 

[Gericom]

Hello, the last dsi version of GBARunner2 gives me an SCFG locked error when I launch it. Do you know what could be happening? Thank!

Make sure you use the latest nightly of nds-bootstrap. The old version didn't allow me to change the memory settings.

 

[EikiShiki]

hi! i would like to ask where can i download the nightly bootstrap specifically? i updated my nds bootstrap using hiyacfw helper but i still get the SCFG Locked! error on my dsi xl, thank you and have a good day

 

[RocketRobz]

hi! i would like to ask where can i download the nightly bootstrap specifically? i updated my nds bootstrap using hiyacfw helper but i still get the SCFG Locked! error on my dsi xl, thank you and have a good day

https://github.com/TWLBot/Builds/commit/761120e653e625e5ebdea0d39e89f7059e3f2a53

 

[EikiShiki]

thank you very much @Robz8!

 

[Rahkeesh]

I get an empty nds-bootstrap.7z from that link? 7-zip opens the archive but doesn't seem to find any files/folders.

 

[RocketRobz]

I get an empty nds-bootstrap.7z from that link? 7-zip opens the archive but doesn't seem to find any files/folders.

Fixed.
https://github.com/TWLBot/Builds/commit/d749e33e86c62f4745e887f4f7f4e7315b1c3f7f

 

[Rahkeesh]

Thanks to Robz posting the compiled nightly I've been able to try Gericom's latest dsi version on a dsi XL.

Just want to say that I'm really impressed. I've seen next to zero graphical errors in the two dozen games I tried, all the gameboy audio seems to be working, and everything is running near full speed with both caching options on. A few games stlll won't boot but the rest have been near flawless save for PCM audio lag/desync. Its enough to make one ponder a gameboy macro "XL" now! I'll see if I can start updating the wiki with my findings soon.

There does seem to be a limit of browsing 69? files in a folder, I have my roms organized into folders by initial letter but some of the letters are a bit full. Can be easily worked around but something to keep in mind.

 

[Gericom]

Thanks to Robz posting the compiled nightly I've been able to try Gericom's latest dsi version on a dsi XL.

Just want to say that I'm really impressed. I've seen next to zero graphical errors in the two dozen games I tried, all the gameboy audio seems to be working, and everything is running near full speed with both caching options on. A few games stlll won't boot but the rest have been near flawless save for PCM audio lag/desync. Its enough to make one ponder a gameboy macro "XL" now! I'll see if I can start updating the wiki with my findings soon.

There does seem to be a limit of browsing 69? files in a folder, I have my roms organized into folders by initial letter but some of the letters are a bit full. Can be easily worked around but something to keep in mind.

Yeah, there's indeed a 64 entry (gba files + folders) limit currently. I should see if I have memory left to increase it.

Edit: I was thinking about the compatibility list. We should probably be a bit careful with mixing tests on ds, dsi and 3ds. Preferably ds tests (67MHz + 4MB memory) should be the baseline. If a game works notably better on dsi speed it can probably be mentioned in the notes or so. If a game only works with more memory, we can probably put it as working and put in the notes that it doesn't work on ds or so. For me it is mainly important to be able to see which games have issues that make it non working on any of them, but for people using it on a ds it should be representative as well. What do you think @Dodain47 @Rahkeesh ?

 

[Deleted User]

I agree. It would be a good idea to mark a game as "working on dsi/3ds only".
I can test games with my N3DS.

 

[Rahkeesh]

Preferably ds tests (67MHz + 4MB memory) should be the baseline.

Isn't that the arm9 version? I can't get that to launch on my Acekard 2i on my DS lite (whose shoulder buttons are also failing anyway...), and I guess it won't ever run on a DSi? Meanwhile the current DSi version is Arm7, which means its running at 33 Mhz? If so, shouldn't 33 Mhz (+ 4 mb memory) be the baseline speed as that is what most systems are going to end up running at?

 

[Gericom]

Isn't that the arm9 version? I can't get that to launch on my Acekard 2i on my DS lite (whose shoulder buttons are also failing anyway...), and I guess it won't ever run on a DSi? Meanwhile the current DSi version is Arm7, which means its running at 33 Mhz? If so, shouldn't 33 Mhz (+ 4 mb memory) be the baseline speed as that is what most systems are going to end up running at?

Arm7 is only the dldi. The game always runs on arm9. If you use the arm7dldi_ds version and load it as a normal homebrew in ds mode with ds speed, that's okay.

 

[Rahkeesh]

Oh, all this time I thought I was missing out on higher speeds.

Yeah I had been running the dsi version at default clocks, i.e. 66 mhz. I just tried forcing 133 mhz and Metroid Zero Mission ran smoother. So I see how it works now. So I can agree that 66 mhz + 4mb can be treated as the baseline, especially since a lot of what I tried so far works pretty well at that.

 

[Rahkeesh]

Maybe you already established this but I would suggest as a rule for now to not bring up PCM audio sync issues in the compatibility list, as they seem to show up in every game. Its more noticable when the music combines PCM and gameboy audio, but again as it seems to happen to every one that uses that, not sure if its worth mentioning over and over. Then again I'm noticing white noise in place of the explosions in Metroid Zero Mission and the cause could be sync related for all I know.

Also a note, it looks like the "timing issues" from using main memory cache option can be exacerbated when running at 133 mhz. Like in the FFVI opening credits, showing the mechs march in 3D snow, runs at almost double speed. So maybe another reason to treat 66 mhz as the baseline.

And when I launched Sonic Advance / 2 I'm getting grey rounded bars instead of the game. I thought this was caused by the link cable not being emulated, and you added this feature recently?

 

[Deleted User]

Maybe you already established this but I would suggest as a rule for now to not bring up PCM audio sync issues in the compatibility list, as they seem to show up in every game. Its more noticable when the music combines PCM and gameboy audio, but again as it seems to happen to every one that uses that, not sure if its worth mentioning over and over. Then again I'm noticing white noise in place of the explosions in Metroid Zero Mission and the cause could be sync related for all I know.

Also a note, it looks like the "timing issues" from using main memory cache option can be exacerbated when running at 133 mhz. Like in the FFVI opening credits, showing the mechs march in 3D snow, runs at almost double speed. So maybe another reason to treat 66 mhz as the baseline.

And when I launched Sonic Advance / 2 I'm getting grey rounded bars instead of the game. I thought this was caused by the link cable not being emulated, and you added this feature recently?

I want to keep the audio issues in the compatibility list until they are resolved. Otherwise people will reply again and again that games have audio issues and ask why there is no mentioning in the compatibility list.
There is a solution for Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2: https://gbatemp.net/threads/gbarunner2.451970/page-94#post-8768057

 

[Gericom]

Maybe you already established this but I would suggest as a rule for now to not bring up PCM audio sync issues in the compatibility list, as they seem to show up in every game. Its more noticable when the music combines PCM and gameboy audio, but again as it seems to happen to every one that uses that, not sure if its worth mentioning over and over. Then again I'm noticing white noise in place of the explosions in Metroid Zero Mission and the cause could be sync related for all I know.

Also a note, it looks like the "timing issues" from using main memory cache option can be exacerbated when running at 133 mhz. Like in the FFVI opening credits, showing the mechs march in 3D snow, runs at almost double speed. So maybe another reason to treat 66 mhz as the baseline.

And when I launched Sonic Advance / 2 I'm getting grey rounded bars instead of the game. I thought this was caused by the link cable not being emulated, and you added this feature recently?

I want to keep the audio issues in the compatibility list until they are resolved. Otherwise people will reply again and again that games have audio issues and ask why there is no mentioning in the compatibility list.
There is a solution for Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2: https://gbatemp.net/threads/gbarunner2.451970/page-94#post-8768057

Just to address some of the things that are still missing or problematic.

• So, yeah, there are problems with the pcm audio synchronisation (and just a general delay) which are not easy to fix (except for the thing I did in the feature/mp2000-mainmem branch, but it's not ready to be merged yet).
• Furthermore the second (B) direct audio channel is still not emulated atm. This is not really an issue in most games, but it means direct audio is not in stereo currently and some games actually use it for 2 different sounds (set both to left and right).
• The noise channel is approximated by the ds noise, but is not 100% the same. The gb noise channel also has 2 modes 7 and 15 bit. The ds noise is mostly like the 15 bit variant, so this may be the cause of the metroid issue.
• All linking code is still on that branch. Until it is possible to switch it on and off in-game, I don't want to merge it because it means wifi is always on (eating battery).
• Games with timing problems that require turning off main memory cache are running too fast basically. That's why having main memory cache + twl speed makes it even worse.
• There's also still an issue with timers when games combine 2 timers to one 32 bit timer and use it as a global timing reference. That can cause issues, such as in bibi and tina.