Hacking New GBA ExpLoader!

[Eyedunno]

GBA ExpLoader 0.3 is out, and to my surprise, it supports the Ewin!

Here's the deal though. Some newer EEPs/DSTT 2-in-1s apparently only have 128KB of SRAM. Since the ExpLoader uses 64 KB of SRAM (in addition to the 128KB used for the saves themselves), it won't support these EEPs yet (he'll have to find another way to implement save management, if it's even possible). But go ahead and try it anyway, unless you know for sure which Ewin you have.

http://www009.upp.so-net.ne.jp/rudolph/nds...xpLoader_03.zip

I'm at work right now, so I haven't tested it yet, but you can bet that as soon as I get home, I'm putting it through some serious testing (mainly to see if the games that wouldn't save before are okay now).

This should finally be the thing that puts (most of) us Ewin users on par with EZIV3-in-1 users.

 

[Urza]

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=76067

 

[Eyedunno]

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=76067

Sorry, I mostly only pay attention to the Flashing Hardware & Software section, plus I figured this was big news for Ewin owners.

Edit: UGH.

The same games that wouldn't save properly with the GBA Loader (notably Lost Vikings and Puzzle Fighter) aren't saving properly with GBA ExpLoader either. That hints that it may be some bizarre hardware issue after all. But I'll drop a line to Rudolph a little later, I suppose.

Edit#2: Okay, I left a message on Rudolph's blog detailing my problems.

A few more observations:

• Street Fighter II X Revival saves fine here (it wasn't saving for me on the Ewin GBA Loader).
• I managed to import all my saves and set the two problem saves to read-only, which works just as well here as on the Ewin GBA Loader.
• Dodge Ball Fighters is saved at 32KB, which isn't supported by Save Tools. To import that one, I converted my old save to 64KB instead, then pasted the first 32KB into a new file in a hex editor, which worked like a charm.
• This saves the last folder accessed, which is great for me, as I have only one GBA folder.

Overall, this is still slightly better than Ewin's loader, and I will use it from now on.

Edit#3: Apparently the saves in question were EEPROMv112, which is not listed in the readme as being supported yet, so this is very likely still just a software issue, and Rudolph is apparently going to look into it. Yay.

None of this is a huge deal to me at this point, but it's still nice to see good things get better.

 

[jurassicbond]

I have a DSTT 2 in 1 and the games load, but they don't save. Is this because of the RAM issue you mentioned in your first post?

 

[Eyedunno]

I'm not sure. I was under the impression that it wouldn't even work if you have the SRAM issue. NOTHING saves? What have you tried saving in?

 

[jurassicbond]

Well, I've tried saving in Tactics Ogre and Mario Golf. I'm saving in-game. Is there something special I have to do to save the SRAM?

 

[Eyedunno]

Well, I've tried saving in Tactics Ogre and Mario Golf. I'm saving in-game. Is there something special I have to do to save the SRAM?

Usually all you have to do is start up GBA ExpLoader again. You could also press "B" (then "A" to confirm) to save to a file again. Try a wider variety of games though, if you can. I don't think either of those should be broken, but I'm not sure.

Edit: BTW, Rudolph supposedly included code to verify that 256KB are present. He doesn't have a 128KB Ewin though, so said code hasn't been tested. Still, you probably have 256KB.

 

[jurassicbond]

What do you mean by press "B". Once I'm in the game how do I access the exploader menu?

When I start up GBA ExpLoader, it has a box which says:
Current SRAM Save


Should this be empty or should it have whatever game I loaded the last time I used the program?

 

[Eyedunno]

Ouch. Yeah, it should have whatever game you loaded the last time.

So maybe his code doesn't work OR you have a dead battery.

 

[jurassicbond]

Anyway that I can test the battery? I just got the thing yesterday. It'd suck if it was defective.

*EDIT* I just found that when my card is used with the EWIN software in game saves are saved directly to the Slot-1 device. It makes me wonder if my cartridge even has a battery. I got everything working so far with that loader, so I guess I'll just use it for now.

 

[Eyedunno]

I just found that when my card is used with the EWIN software in game saves are saved directly to the Slot-1 device.

What? No, I don't even think that's possible. Perhaps you do have the 128KB cart and the ExpLoader's detection is buggy.

 

[jurassicbond]

According to this review that's how it works.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=68358&st=0&p=895073&

"Save files are written to the microSD card, no backing them up required when changing games and no fussing about. I'm really liking it so far."

 

[Eyedunno]

According to this review that's how it works.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=68358&st=0&p=895073&

"Save files are written to the microSD card, no backing them up required when changing games and no fussing about. I'm really liking it so far."

Oh, I see. Yes. They are written to the microSD (with either loader) but not directly. Contents of SRAM are written to the microSD when you load another game (in the case of GBA Loader), or when you start the loader or press B (in the case of GBA ExpLoader).

Edit: Okay, there's now confirmation that 128KB SRAM simply causes the SRAM contents to show up empty each time, so that's what you've got. Apparently there was something wrong with his checking method.

 

[PizzaPasta]

I've been having this exact same problem. I must have the 128kb cart as well. I hope this can be fixed.

 

[GoingDark]

Just wondering if this problem has been fixed in the newer (0.51) version - because I'm still experiencing the same thing even with that version. Anybody have a solution yet?

 

[Bri]

How can you tell which version of the Ewin expansion you have? If GBA ExpLoader 0.51 says "EXP256K" does that mean I have the 256K version?

If anyone is just trying to run GBA games with the 128K version, the eWin Expansion Pak GBA Loader 1.6.0 should work.

ETA: There is a new version of GBA ExpLoader (0.53) that is supposed to work properly with the 128K version.

-Bri