Gaming No text on some Pokemon romhacks

[Vinniemeneer]

Hi everyone,

Hope I'm in the right section for this thread.

I've been trying get the romhack ''Pokemon Adventures Red Chapter'' to work on my old 2DS.
When injected as a CIA and installed via FBI the game runs great, except the text looks all corrupted.
When playing via mGBA the text is intact but the game runs really slow.

I tried googling but I couldn't find anything related.

Someone have any idea what may be the cause?

PS: Tried including a screenshot but doesn't work on my new account ^^

 

[AdenTheThird]

Maybe try enabling frameskip? That tends to fix a game just running slow. It might just be too big of a ROM for the emulator to handle.

 

[Vinniemeneer]

I've tried it, but didn't help unfortunately.

 

[AdenTheThird]

Hmm... I don't know then. Super sorry!

 

[Vinniemeneer]

No problem, thanks for the suggestion

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Try NSUI Beta 27 with the Injection method: RetroArch GpSP forwarder.

Edit - Nvm. You have an o2DS. That emulator option won't work.

 

[Vinniemeneer]

It only seems to happen with gen3 Pokemon games. Pokemon Crystal Clear works perfect and so do other non-Pokemon games.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

It only seems to happen with gen3 Pokemon games. Pokemon Crystal Clear works perfect and so do other non-Pokemon games.

I did a quick test play with Pokemon Adventure Red Chapter Beta 14.5. There's romhack out there that's 32 MB and has CRC32 hash EA4356C7.

The settings I used for NSUI Beta 27 has the ROM save type: Flash 1Mbit (Macronix, ID: 0x09C2) + RTC.

The only garbled test I've seen so far is the clock when you open the menu by pressing (START).

 

[Vinniemeneer]

I'm not sure what you mean with ''CRC32 hash EA4356C7.''

Already tried all the ROM save types, but problem stays the same. Probably not the issue.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

 

[TurdPooCharger]

I'm not sure what you mean with ''CRC32 hash EA4356C7.''

Already tried all the ROM save types, but problem stays the same. Probably not the issue.

Files have unique digital fingerprints known as hashes to help people identify them and know whether or not they're intact. CRC32 is just one of several popular hash types.

The copy of Pokemon Adventure Chapter Red *.gba romhack I found has that specific hash. It was labelled as beta 14.5 version release.

Also, I did not see text like that in your picture. From my end, that game worked fine as a GBA VC injected as CIA with NSUI Beta 27.

 

[Vinniemeneer]

Ah alright, thank you for explaining. I've tried multiple roms from different sources. Some I injected as CIA myself, others were already injected. Made no difference.
So it's probably my 2ds that has issues.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Ah alright, thank you for explaining. I've tried multiple roms from different sources. Some I injected as CIA myself, others were already injected. Made no difference.
So it's probably my 2ds that has issues.

1 - Archive your GBA rom in WinRAR and look under the right column to check its CRC32 hash like this.

2 - Don't use the older Ultimate GBA VC Injector for 3DS; use the New Super Ultimate Injector. Double check that you're not using the NSUI Beta 26. You want Beta 27.

3 - If all else fails, your issue might be related the GBA VC graphical glitch bug due to the SD card using the wrong cluster size.

• Weird Problem W/ GBA Injects (VC on 3DS) [post #2]

***

This tutorial rehashes techniques shown at GBA VC injecting Pokemon - Liquid Crystal with working RTC for the 3DS.



EDIT Dec-08-2019 - Special Bug Note
This romhack does not have fully functional RTC in GBA VC injection. The game uses a 24-hour clock or military time. Special day time events (PM hours) do not work.
To read more about this bug: [PKMN Adventures - Red Chapter ROM HACK] Beta 14 RTC fix + save edit?



GBA VC injecting Pokémon Adventure Red Chapter with working RTC for the 3DS.

1. Download the Beta 14.5.ups (20.3 MB - 2144DF1C) patch found here.​

2. Acquire a copy of Pokemon - Fire Red Version.gba (16 MB - CRC32 hash: DD88761C).

• For more information about this game, see Advan Scene GBA rom release (1618).
  
• There was Rev A re-release of this game (CRC32 hash: 84EE4776). You don't want this version (1674).
• If you need help hash checking files, archive your files with WinRAR. Look under the CRC32 column on the right.

3. Apply the *.ups patch to the *.gba rom using NUPS patcher.

• The output romhack should be (32.0 MB - EA4356C7).

4. Download the adventure-red-rtc.zip patch made by endrift found here.

• adventure-red-rtc.ips (55 bytes - F448B8E1)
  
• adventure-red-rtc.ups (69 bytes - 2144DF1C)

• If you do not have a PokéCommunity forum account, you may instead download from this second source here.
  • [GitHub - mGBA] [3ds port]Rtc doesn't work properly in fire red rom hacks.

5A. Apply the *.ips patch to the output romhack using Lunar IPS.
-or-
5B. Apply the *.ups patch to the output romhack using NUPS patcher.

• (To force patch with NUPS) If file is invalid: Ignore
• Patching with either IPS or UPS will produce the same output romhack.
  
• The output romhack should now be (32.0 MB - 9C93A7BC).
• This final romhack will now be referred as Pokemon Adventure Red Chapter.gba

6. Using New Super Ultimate Injector Beta 27 under the GBA VC settings:

• Project → Load ROM...: Pokemon Adventure Red Chapter.gba
• ROM Save type: Flash 1Mbit (Macronix, ID: 0x09C2) + RTC
  • If you do not choose the RTC option, the game's clock will not work.
• The Adventure Red Chapter box art was found in Google image search.
• The title screen cover art was obtained with a screenshot in a desktop GBA emulator.
• Other game settings are preferential or arbitrary.

 

[Vinniemeneer]

Thank you for your reply! I'm going to try this tomorrow (as it's 3:00 AM here).
I'll let you know how it went!

 

[Vinniemeneer]

Followed your tutorial exactly. Checked every file, checked every CRC32 hash.
Unfortunately, still the same outcome.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Followed your tutorial exactly. Checked every file, checked every CRC32 hash.
Unfortunately, still the same outcome.

You did the steps related to the cluster size bug too?

 

[Vinniemeneer]

Ah good point, didn't try it yet!

 

[Vinniemeneer]

No luck..
I reformatted with 32kb cluster size. Is it worth try 64kb instead? my SD is 7.5GB

 

[TurdPooCharger]

No luck..
I reformatted with 32kb cluster size. Is it worth try 64kb instead? my SD is 7.5GB

Did you quadruple reformat the card, and did you check its hardware condition in H2testw?
A simple, single reformat might not work.

***

64 KB cluster size is reserved for cards that are 128 GB and bigger, but its usage depends if the GBA VC bug happens or not. The reason to use that size is because cards that big loads way too slowly on 32 KB cluster size.

64 KB cluster size should not be used on 64 GB and smaller because it tends to cause those problems for those capacities.

 

[Vinniemeneer]

Yep, did quadruple reformat precisely as told in the guide. Also tested in H2testw. Didn't find any issues.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Yep, did quadruple reformat precisely as told in the guide. Also tested in H2testw. Didn't find any issues.

Let's see if reinstalling the AGB_FIRM (GBA firmware) will fix this.

1. For safety in case of a mistake and for a possible later step, backup your SysNAND *.bin image.

• Creating a NAND Backup

2. Try to dump a legit CIA copy of the AGB_FIRM.

• [1:] SYSNAND CTRNAND/title/00040138/00000202/content/00000000.tmd → TMD file options... → Build CIA (legit)
• 0004013800000202 is the TitleID for the Old_3DS AGB_FIRM: [3dbrew.org] 00040138 - System Firmware
• If legit CIA is successfully dumped: smdc:/gm9/out/0004013800000202 (CTR-P-CTAP).legit.cia
• If legit CIA cannot be dumped: Do not continue to step 3. Troubleshooting will require adjustments to intructions.

Assuming a legit CIA copy of the AGB_FIRM was dumped.

3. Reinstall the AGB_FIRM.

• FBI → SD → ... → 0004013800000202 (CTR-P-CTAP).legit.cia → Install CIA
• Do not use Install and delete CIA.

4. Launch the Pokemon Adventure Chapter Red from HOME Menu.
​

If the game still has garbled text from step 4,

5. Delete the AGB_FIRM.

• FBI → Titles → 0004013800000202 → Delete Title
• Do not use Delete Title And Ticket.

6. System update the 3DS firmware to reinstall the AGB_FIRM sourced from the Nintendo CDN server.

• System Settings → Other Settings → System Update

-or-​

• Recovery Mode

7. Launch the Pokemon Adventure Chapter Red from HOME Menu again.
​

If the game still has garbled text from step 7,

8. Attempt 3DS firmware repair with CTRTransfer.

9. Update the firmware back to 11.10 with System Update or Recovery Mode.

10. Launch the Pokemon Adventure Chapter Red from HOME Menu again.
​

If the game still has garbled text from step 10,

11. Restore the SysNAND with the image made from step 1.

• Restoring a NAND Backup

12. Attempt 3DS firmware repair with CTRTransfer (Type D9).

13. Update the firmware back to 11.10 with System Update or Recovery Mode.

14. Launch the Pokemon Adventure Chapter Red from HOME Menu again.
​

If the game still has garbled text from step 14,

It is assumed at this point your problem stems from an unknown hardware fault.