ROM Hack PokeWalker Hacking

[Feroz El Mejor]

It would to be awesome to have an android app for Pokéwalker or something else, I hope you can progress more with this project.

 

[Deleted-379826]

Yes, this certainly seems nice, go for it!

 

[Garblant]

It would be awesome to have a 3ds app that allowed you to gain Pokemon, levels, or item for Pokemon from all generations!

 

[froggestspirit]

I haven't been working on this in a while, although maybe someone with a better data analyzer or something could look into it. I still wonder if the firmware can be dumped or flashed on the walker with some of those test points

 

[Yepi69]

This seems impossible but it would be nice to use the 3DS IR receiver for the Pokewalker instead of the cartridge itself.

 

[froggestspirit]

This seems impossible but it would be nice to use the 3DS IR receiver for the Pokewalker instead of the cartridge itself.

maybe not while playing HG/SS, but a homebrew app could easily use the IR sensor, and modify HG/SS save data (pretty sure PKSM has access to all gen 4 and up games)

 

[Feroz El Mejor]

Maybe a 3DS Pokewalker app? It was IR conection and pedometer.

 

[Ryccardo]

Maybe a 3DS Pokewalker app? It was IR conection and pedometer.

The first problem is the need to figure out the protocol

The second problem is that you can't use the infrared port freely, but only with Nintendo's proprietary 3DS to 3DS/CPP protocols (with the operating system loaded; an arm9 homebrew won't have this problem, but on the other hand it will need to do everything like file access on its own)

 

[froggestspirit]

The protocol is really the only obstacle ( and then programming the 3DS to use it). I don't think I have the means to properly sniff the data sent. It'd be better left to someone with more experience.

 

[Nummie]

Started messing with this last night. The Side B of the Pokewalker has a very handy programming setup - exposed pads! Turns out the EEPROM used on here is SPI. (Has CSBs, MOSI, MISO, and SCLK) I soldered some wires to that, then the wires to jumpers, and connected it to my Arduino Uno. Experimenting for a bit and I realised I soldered the CS wire to the LCD's CS - I'm fixing that tonight. But! When using the code I wrote, I (accidentally) made the Pokewalker go to the DS recognisation screen. (Where it prompts you to press the button in the middle)

I need to move the wire to the correct Chip Select Buffer pad tonight, then I'll tinker more. I'm very hopeful that we can do this.

I'll make a writeup of everything I do, too. This is fun!

~Autumn

 

[froggestspirit]

Glad to see someone picking this up, I might be able to contribute a bit more once I know a little more of what goes on (and if my hardware setup allows it)

 

[Geration]

Started messing with this last night. The Side B of the Pokewalker has a very handy programming setup - exposed pads! Turns out the EEPROM used on here is SPI. (Has CSBs, MOSI, MISO, and SCLK) I soldered some wires to that, then the wires to jumpers, and connected it to my Arduino Uno. Experimenting for a bit and I realised I soldered the CS wire to the LCD's CS - I'm fixing that tonight. But! When using the code I wrote, I (accidentally) made the Pokewalker go to the DS recognisation screen. (Where it prompts you to press the button in the middle)

I need to move the wire to the correct Chip Select Buffer pad tonight, then I'll tinker more. I'm very hopeful that we can do this.

I'll make a writeup of everything I do, too. This is fun!

~Autumn

This seems nice! Go for it!

 

[froggestspirit]

I decoded a signal sucessfully, and was able to modify a decoder for pulseview. Next step is to figure out the whole structure of the transfers

 

[Renjam]

I decoded a signal sucessfully, and was able to modify a decoder for pulseview. Next step is to figure out the whole structure of the transfers

THIS IS SO EXCITING!! I just found a pokewalker for $5 and I'm waiting for batteries to arrive in the mail. Does this mean we'll be able to run homebrew on the pokewalker?

 

[froggestspirit]

THIS IS SO EXCITING!! I just found a pokewalker for $5 and I'm waiting for batteries to arrive in the mail. Does this mean we'll be able to run homebrew on the pokewalker?

No, right now this doesnt help the end user, there is still a lot more to be done and figured out. If anything, it should allow other devices to communicate with the walker, or act as one

 

[pikpol]

No, right now this doesnt help the end user, there is still a lot more to be done and figured out. If anything, it should allow other devices to communicate with the walker, or act as one

Can we get the code of the mcu? I saw there are exposed pads which are labeled sclk, miso etc.

 

[migles]

@froggestspirit damn i remember this back then, i really was hoping for this project..
i own 2 pokewalkers

was something done\achieved in getting custom sprites uploaded from a HG\SS ?
i remember there was a nitro homebrew which could be used to load the WFC patches into official carts, i think we could use that to inject custom sprites into ram with an official HG\SS ?

 

[froggestspirit]

Can we get the code of the mcu? I saw there are exposed pads which are labeled sclk, miso etc.

I'm not 100% sure which one the MCU is, but I have high res images of the circuitboard in the OP. I wondered myself if it would be possible to dump the information on it and possibly flash it to a wii fit pedometer.

@froggestspirit damn i remember this back then, i really was hoping for this project..
i own 2 pokewalkers
was something done\achieved in getting custom sprites uploaded from a HG\SS ?
i remember there was a nitro homebrew which could be used to load the WFC patches into official carts, i think we could use that to inject custom sprites into ram with an official HG\SS ?

Right now there is no way to do the custom sprites without the official carts, since it relied on the IR sensors built in. I don't know if I still have the setup I used to inject the sprites codewise, but it was basically that I flashed the data onto the save file of a GBA cart, then the AR code injected it into the data being sent.

The IR signal is mostly figured out, minus some handshake/checksum data? I never tried wiring something up to simulate this yet without the handshake/checksum.

 

[pikpol]

I'm not 100% sure which one the MCU is, but I have high res images of the circuitboard in the OP. I wondered myself if it would be possible to dump the information on it and possibly flash it to a wii fit pedometer.

I actually ordered a Wii fit U meter yesterday to take it apart and see if it's really the same device circuitry wise.
If this is the case I could maybe desolder the chips on the boards and swap them.
I guess that the f38606 is the MCU.
But couldn't find a lot of info about it. I do know it is used in the Heart Gold and Soul Silver cartridges.
Do you know if the IR chip needs some other chip to function properly?
BennVenn had some interesting stuff to say about some of the chips on the board.
I'll try to find it again.

Edit: I read the "Iwata asks" about the Wii fit meter. They added some stuff to the device, so it isn't the same, circuitry wise, as the pokewalker.

 

[pikpol]

This is where BennVenn talks about the parts of the Pokewalker

https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/comments/82q3rr/what_part_of_this_pokewalker_is_the_accelerometer/