Emulation PocketNES, Goomba, Cologne, and SMSAdvance sram and exit patched *UPDATED

[nibbles27]

As of the 2.0 firmware the patching process used here is no longer needed.
This patch file should take care of the 64kb's .sav patching process needed!

Download your favorite Emu, make compilation, then rename .pat file to whatever your emulator compilation's name is
Then copy the .pat file to the /PATCH/ directory on the SD! (And it should change the header to save 64kb's instead of 8kb's fixing the save problem!)


Links:
Goomba Color: http://www.dwedit.org/gba/goombacolor.php
PocketNES: http://www.dwedit.org/gba/pocketnes.php
Goomba Paletted: http://kuwanger.altervista.org/gba/goomba/

Cologne: https://www.sendspace.com/file/af4l7g
SMS Advance: https://www.sendspace.com/file/tqpwkr

(All the above are exit patched)

Spoiler: GSS Exclusions:

Global Softreset and Sleep Patch

(Add the following to the bottom of KEYSET.CFG):
#GAMELIST TO SKIP GSS AUTOMATICALLY
COLG = 1
GMBC = 1
GMBA = 1
SMSA = 1
PNES = 1

EDIT:
Patters thankfully is updating these collections as i have no time to maintain these:

HERE:

I have updated the collection as follows:

• Added latest Jagoomba 0.4a (1-11-2022) fork of Goomba Color, patched to force 64K SRAM when using EZ-Flash IV firmware 1.xx
• Added Goomba Color 2019-05-04, patched to display the correct release date in the menu, and patched to force 64K SRAM when using EZ-Flash IV firmware 1.xx
• Gathered missing changelog information from Dwedit's forum and updated the Goomba Color history.txt file
• Added the latest PocketNES 1-4-2020, patched to force 64K SRAM when using EZ-Flash IV firmware 1.xx
• Gathered missing changelog information from various sources and updated the PocketNES history.txt file
• Added the documentation and tools that were originally bundled with each emulator - useful reminders of features, especially since some of these emulators are quite difficult to find these days
• Included the emupatch.pat file to force 64K SRAM when using EZ-Flash IV firmware 2.xx
• Updated the main Readme with additional info from this forum thread for EZ-Flash IV firmware 2.xx
• Updated the main Readme with some simple FOR loop examples to automate batch creating .gba files from a folder full of ROMs

Updated the collection again (05-01-22):

• added build.sh and build.bat scripts to each emulator folder for easier batch rom conversions
• added exit-patched PCEAdvance 7.5 and a new compile script
• added SNESAdvance 0.1f (no emulator exit though) and a new compile script
• merged SNESAdvance update history information
• major rewrite of all Python 3 compile scripts, which are now mostly at feature parity with the old Win32 GUI applications
• all compile scripts:
  • drag and drop a selection of ROMs onto the shell window after typing the script name, to easily add multiple ROMs
  • blank SRAM save file of the appropriate size can now be created automatically using the -sav option
  • GSS patch file for EZ-Flash IV firmware 2.x (to force 64KB SRAM saves) can now be created using the -pat option
  • patch file data is encoded within the script body - no external dependency
  • splash screen support
  • optional overrides of file paths
  • can clean brackets from ROM titles
• some compile scripts (as applicable):
  • auto-detection of ROM types for emulators that support multiple types with specific header requirements
  • region options and PAL timings are now auto-detected based on ROM naming
  • boot-to-BIOS support
  • small ROMs suitable for link transfer (<192KB) can be marked in the game list
• pceadvance_compile.py:
  • ISO and TCD tracklist support for PC Engine CD-ROM
  • some sprite follow settings for "Unscaled (Auto)" display mode (those featured in gamelist.txt)
  • CD BIOS automatically added when an ISO image is added, and titled with the ISO name
• goomba_compile.py:
  • works around an EZ-Flash issue where some ROMs would cause duplicate game list entries
  • can prefer ROM filenames rather than original ROM game titles in the game list
• pocketnes_compile.py:
  • can lookup ROM checksum in PocketNES Menu Maker database (pnesmmw.mdb) for optimal game settings, sprite follow
  • can prefer game titles from PocketNES Menu Maker database
  • 256 byte alignment of all ROM data for optimum performance
• snesadvance_compile.py:
  • SuperDAT database is mandatory (snesadvance.dat)
  • default graphics assets are encoded in the script, external skin files are ingested if present
  • can accept headered or unheadered ROMs (.smc/.sfc)
  • can export header-stripped ROMs
  • can prefer game titles from SuperDAT database

https://github.com/patters-syno/gba-ezflash-iv-emulators/releases

Old 1.x Firmware Stuff
https://gbatemp.net/posts/7927911/

 

[Maxbeta]

Okay so just to be on the safe side of things...with these newly updated patched versions I no longer have to use EZ Client?
I can just drag and drop my compiled goomba.gba rom files and drag and drop them to the card?

 

[nibbles27]

Okay so just to be on the safe side of things...with these newly updated patched versions I no longer have to use EZ Client?
I can just drag and drop my compiled goomba.gba rom files and drag and drop them to the card?

Yes all patching done before hand just make a compilation and copy to card and copy renamed save file to /saver/ directory
Sorry for the late response

 

[kuwanger]

Goomba Paletted v2.40 if you want some info on fiddling with palettes/borders. Sorry about never updating my sram/exit patched collection. By the time I got around to the effort, the scene was mostly dead. Otherwise most the patching could have been integrated into the official releases/unofficial official forks (like my PocketNES fork (only useful if you're willing to trade off ROM compression for slightly lower compatibility)).

Out of curiosity, do you know the version differences? I want to say Cologne, Goomba Color, and PocketNES are the ones that were updated. But I ended up forking near every emulator to add in ROM compression, so it might be all of them. :/

 

[nibbles27]

Actually all of them were updated

Difference from old exit patched:

Cologne v0.7 updated to Cologne v0.8 (Flubba)
Goomba v2.30 updated to Goomba Paletted v2.40 (Kuwanger's Fork)
Goomba Color 3-31-08 updated to Goomba Color 12-14-2014 (Dwedit's Fork)
PocketNES 3-18-08 updated to PocketNES 7-1-2013 (Dwedit's Fork)
SMSAdvance v2.4 updated to SMSAdvance v2.5 (Flubba)

Pretty sure these are the latest


Goomba Paletted
Goomba Color
PocketNES

All came exit patched already but were saving 8kb sram instead of 64kb sram
So cory1492's EZ4-64-2 tool corrected this save issue.

Also gbata7 fixed the headers on all to fix issues with some EZ4 Firmwares.


Added exit patch using reset_ez4 bin files to :

Cologne
SMSAdvance

And then patched the same as above

This should save ppl alot of trouble instead of having to go through these steps.


Ya i just used your fork of Goomba with custom palette support find it works better the rest are Flubba and Dwedit's since i wasn't specifically looking for compression compared to compatabilty and had forgoten about your fork of SMS Advance etc.

 

[MrHuu]

Thank you for this, I've been struggling with this ever since.

 

[libertyernie]

Is anyone else having problems with color palettes in SMSAdvance?
This is from an emulator but it happens on my Micro too.

 

[nibbles27]

Is anyone else having problems with color palettes in SMSAdvance?
This is from an emulator but it happens on my Micro too.

Added exit patch using reset_ez4 bin files to :

Cologne
SMSAdvance

This might have caused problems not sure since they were not compiled i just edited the reset_ez4.bin file in place where the old ones were on the previous versions, I didn`t have time to thoroughly test and might have possibly broken compatability with some games although exit option on these was working perfectly.

If experiencing problems with these two use the old versions.


For reference here is the old version:

Cologne v0.7 instead of Cologne v0.8 (Flubba)
SMSAdvance v2.4 instead of SMSAdvance v2.5 (Flubba)

 

[nibbles27]

Is anyone else having problems with color palettes in SMSAdvance?
This is from an emulator but it happens on my Micro too.

I dont seem to have the same problem on either Emulator or NDS can anyone confirm the state of this so i can update the download if needed I'm pretty sure these two are functioning as should!

EDIT: Actually im almost positive my two updated ones with the reset_ez4.bin are functioning perfectly they both line up evenly in a hex editor compared to the older versions and tested fine. If im wrong please post results though i think im not

*(link stays the same)

 

[kuwanger]

Is anyone else having problems with color palettes in SMSAdvance?
This is from an emulator but it happens on my Micro too.

Use smsadvance_compile.py for SMS. Use ggadvance_compile.py for GG. Both are near identical hardware (AFAIK) so SMSAdvance has a flag header to differentiate them to use slightly different screen size/palettes.

 

[Bart Lemming]

Thanks for sharing your work here guys. I really appreciate that there's still life in the ol' GBA scene.

 

[dai_uk]

Thanks for posting these great to have the GBA and ez flash scene still updating - always the best handheld for the summer sun

 

[pablovs98]

Hi! I had no problems with the emulators when I had the 1.78 software on my EZ Flash, but since they added the automatic save patch on the newer releases, it looks like the card automatically avoids the SRAM patch (the savestates are stored as 8 KB files instead of 64 KB), causing the save functions to work incorrectly. Is there a solution for this? Thanks in advance!

 

[Cartoni]

Hi @nibbles27 and @kuwanger ,

First of all, I would like to say that after reading all your posts on different fora, I am amazed how much effort you put into this! Really amazing, tnx

Therefore, I was interested if the version of these emulators posted on here are still compliant with the current version of the EZ flash (IV microSD) and software (V. 2.030)? Or is there already an update available that I missed somewhere?

Regards

 

[Coto]

Yeah thank you fo rthe work here guys, I have just read this topic now

 

[nibbles27]

Hi! I had no problems with the emulators when I had the 1.78 software on my EZ Flash, but since they added the automatic save patch on the newer releases, it looks like the card automatically avoids the SRAM patch (the savestates are stored as 8 KB files instead of 64 KB), causing the save functions to work incorrectly. Is there a solution for this? Thanks in advance!

Hi @nibbles27 and @kuwanger ,

First of all, I would like to say that after reading all your posts on different fora, I am amazed how much effort you put into this! Really amazing, tnx

Therefore, I was interested if the version of these emulators posted on here are still compliant with the current version of the EZ flash (IV microSD) and software (V. 2.030)? Or is there already an update available that I missed somewhere?

Regards

Sorry for the late reply.
Ya in regards to your posts, im guessing that the new EZ4 firmware that does sram patch is probably changing the header to use 8kb of sram instead of telling the cart to use the full 64kb which is what these patches were made for to fix this.
This was usually the problem with the EZ4 client in the way it patched the emu and changed the header to tell it to use the more common 8kb's of save.

I patched these in the regards that you were supposed to avoid the EZ4 client.
The tools i used fixed the header so it was telling the cart to use the full amount of save space.

I'm not sure what the workaround would be but im pretty sure that the new firmware is going to keep changing the header to the old style and use 8kb's of space.

The exit patch should still work. I haven't upgraded my firmware yet as i have heard of longer load times and do not have time to test it!
For now im using the old firmware and this client when i need it for games (not for the Emu's though)

https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-ezgba-v0-1-0a-an-ez4-compatible-rom-patcher.395464/

I will keep an eye out, if I have time, to see what may be a proper workaround.

 

[flatgba]

Wow, thanks nibbles! Much appreciation for your excellent work to refresh the emulators with updates.

 

[nibbles27]

If anyone is interested I up'ed 3 sets of PocketNes fonts that have been available on PocketHeaven etc.

Pocketnes Font Set Backup from Pocket Heaven 1.0
Pocketnes Font set from biejor 1.0
PocketNesFontsIPS 1.0

 

[Krem Quay]

Wait, are you improving the GBA emulators? @nibbles27

 

[nibbles27]

Wait, are you improving the GBA emulators? @nibbles27

No just making sure they function properly on EZ Flash 4