Homebrew SCFW: Custom Firmware & Kernel for Supercard

[Xyvir]

So, what about "upgrades" to the hardware of the supercard?

I was thinking if it could be possible... Im a hardware technician and I work with bga and microsoldering everyday

I know its possible to swap the nand chip...
Even then, what would be the use of it, you know?
I dont know how to program, so maybe just buy a clean cartrige and flash it,right?

What do you think?

You'd be better off just buying a $10 bootleg cart of aliexpress and flashing it with whatever you want.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-flash-nes-famicom-games-on-gba-cartridges.649988/

Here is a thread with some details on that including recommended cards to buy for this

 

[YBC007]

Hi there - apologies for being a complete newcomer on this. I have successfully flashed SCFW and was able to save via SRAM on games. However, I recalled the ofm has real time save but I am not sure if SCFW has similar feature. Can someone confirm whether the current 0.52 version has real time save and if so, how do you get into it? Also I have trouble running larger rom like Yggdra Union. Can I ask if there is something I need to do in advance to get it to run? Thanks!

 

[Aoshii]

So, after some time playing Golden Sun, I've saved the game just after Mercury Lighthouse events then hit power off on my NDS.
Today I saw that my save file was erased only with a new game option, and I really didnt understood what happened.

I'm on kernel 0.5.2 from April.

Anyone also had this happening with their save file?

Post automatically merged: Nov 29, 2024

You'd be better off just buying a $10 bootleg cart of aliexpress and flashing it with whatever you want.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-flash-nes-famicom-games-on-gba-cartridges.649988/

Here is a thread with some details on that including recommended cards to buy for this

Thanks! I was looking more into this and its really easier with a clean flashcard.
Now I'm interested into some harware mods to this, I'm looking into Nand specs compatibility, but its just for curiosity, still dont know if it would be beneficial in anyway.

 

[dysphoria]

Is there a compatibility list? I'm checking some of my roms and some of them get stuck in white screen. None of them were previously patched with the usual SuperCard software, I will try it later. I haven't change anything in the settings menu. US roms, btw.

Some examples:

• Crash & Spyro crossover games (white screen)
• Classic NES (white sreen) (I suppose it's because of the anti-piracy)
• Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones (white screen)
• Final Fantasy 4 to 6 (white screen)
• GBA Video (boot logo loop) (expected? though it runs normal when is patched in OFW)
• Metroid Zero Mission (white screen and strange noises)
• Pokémon FRLG (runs normal, but sometimes it deletes the save file) (also expected)
• Super Mario Advance 4 (weird behaviour after saving)

I also tested a couple of Pokémon hackroms and unlicenced games. The Touhoumon games works fine, except for Enhanced that crashes when saving (i suppose it's because of the 128kb save file). And the Inside-cap visual novel ports like Higurashi or Tsukihime (yeah, those exist) don't work either (but they do when patched in OFW).

EDIT: Okay, after patching the roms using the SuperCard software, these are my results:

• Crash Purple (it works now)
• Classic NES (still unplayable)
• Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones (it works now)
• Final Fantasy 4 to 6 (it works now)
• GBA Video (still un...watchable)
• Higurashi/Inside-cap visual novel ports (they work now)
• Metroid Zero Mission (it works now)
• Spyro Orange (white screen after title screen)
• Super Mario Advance 4 (still the same issue)

 

[Xyvir]

Is there a compatibility list? I'm checking some of my roms and some of them get stuck in white screen. None of them were previously patched with the usual SuperCard software, I will try it later. I haven't change anything in the settings menu. US roms, btw.

Some examples:

• Crash & Spyro crossover games (white screen)
• Classic NES (white sreen) (I suppose it's because of the anti-piracy)
• Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones (white screen)
• Final Fantasy 4 to 6 (white screen)
• GBA Video (boot logo loop) (expected? though it runs normal when is patched in OFW)
• Metroid Zero Mission (white screen and strange noises)
• Pokémon FRLG (runs normal, but sometimes it deletes the save file) (also expected)
• Super Mario Advance 4 (weird behaviour after saving)

I also tested a couple of Pokémon hackroms and unlicenced games. The Touhoumon games works fine, except for Enhanced that crashes when saving (i suppose it's because of the 128kb save file). And the Inside-cap visual novel ports like Higurashi or Tsukihime (yeah, those exist) don't work either (but they do when patched in OFW).

Classic NES series GBA is a whole thing, that being said, if you can find a rom of the leaked iQue Famicom Mini Collection that one works fine because it doesn't have any anti piracy stuff as it was a pre-release demo cart thingy

 

[dysphoria]

Classic NES series GBA is a whole thing, that being said, if you can find a rom of the leaked iQue Famicom Mini Collection that one works fine because it doesn't have any anti piracy stuff as it was a pre-release demo cart thingy

Yes, I also did some research on them, but I haven't dedicated myself to search for those roms...

I also found patches from 17 years ago that are supposed to fix the anti-piracy, but they're still unplayable. I mean, not best way to play NES nowadays, but they're still an interesting release.

 

[Xyvir]

Yes, I also did some research on them, but I haven't dedicated myself to search for those roms...

I also found patches from 17 years ago that are supposed to fix the anti-piracy, but they're still unplayable. I mean, not best way to play NES nowadays, but they're still an interesting release.

I didn't have any luck with the ips anti-piracy patches on supercard natively either. They did work for me when reflashing bootleg GBA carts though.

 

[ISAKING]

Ive done some testing when it comes to using already existing 128kb Pokemon saves and my conclusion is the following:
Pokemon Emerald states the savefile is corrupted but still proceeds to load said savefile. Saving also works so the game is fully playable.
Pokemon FireRed on the other hand says the savefile has been deleted and u are forced to start over.
However if u do start over and play it will save like usual and it will be fully playable like Emerald.
Both games also state RTC events wont work.
My SuperCard does have a battery so idk can that be fixed?
Idk what the difference is between these 2 games internally but something is different in how FireRed reads savefiles thats 4sure.

 

[Ebot121]

How can I flash back my supercard to original software?

Post automatically merged: Dec 3, 2024

How can I flash my supercard back to original firmware?

 

[OmDRetro]

Is there a compatibility list? I'm checking some of my roms and some of them get stuck in white screen. None of them were previously patched with the usual SuperCard software, I will try it later. I haven't change anything in the settings menu. US roms, btw.

Some examples:

• Crash & Spyro crossover games (white screen)
• Classic NES (white sreen) (I suppose it's because of the anti-piracy)
• Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones (white screen)
• Final Fantasy 4 to 6 (white screen)
• GBA Video (boot logo loop) (expected? though it runs normal when is patched in OFW)
• Metroid Zero Mission (white screen and strange noises)
• Pokémon FRLG (runs normal, but sometimes it deletes the save file) (also expected)
• Super Mario Advance 4 (weird behaviour after saving)

I also tested a couple of Pokémon hackroms and unlicenced games. The Touhoumon games works fine, except for Enhanced that crashes when saving (i suppose it's because of the 128kb save file). And the Inside-cap visual novel ports like Higurashi or Tsukihime (yeah, those exist) don't work either (but they do when patched in OFW).

EDIT: Okay, after patching the roms using the SuperCard software, these are my results:

• Crash Purple (it works now)
• Classic NES (still unplayable)
• Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones (it works now)
• Final Fantasy 4 to 6 (it works now)
• GBA Video (still un...watchable)
• Higurashi/Inside-cap visual novel ports (they work now)
• Metroid Zero Mission (it works now)
• Spyro Orange (white screen after title screen)
• Super Mario Advance 4 (still the same issue)

Spyro Orange(Spyro Fusion if in the EU) works, but since the Fast ROM mode has been patched out - you won't be able to navigate the main menu until all the resources are loaded properly. This'd take about 1 minute and 30 secs(you may hear audio crackling sounds during the entire white screen display) from the time the game boots from the GBA boot screen.

As for Super Mario Advance 4, can you elaborate? What exactly is the weird behavior causing issues?

 

[dysphoria]

View attachment 474682

Spyro Orange(Spyro Fusion if in the EU) works, but since the Fast ROM mode has been patched out - you won't be able to navigate the main menu until all the resources are loaded properly. This'd take about 1 minute and 30 secs(you may hear audio crackling sounds during the entire white screen display) from the time the game boots from the GBA boot screen.

As for Super Mario Advance 4, can you elaborate? What exactly is the weird behavior causing issues?

Ohh, I see, that's why those weird sounds appear. I also found out that Advance Wars 2 does the same thing after the title screen.

For SMA4, if you put an unpatched ROM, the game starts correctly, you still get the 'Save data is corrupted' message, and the save checking. However, when starting a new game, Mario is located at the bottom right of the screen and is stuck there. If you reset, two in-game saves are created with corrupted text, and both have Mario stuck on the map.

The solution I found is simply to use GBATA to patch the game. After that it works perfectly. I think this was always the solution when flashing this particular game becuause of the save type,

On the other hand, other games I found that get stuck on a white screen are both Pac-Man World games (unpatched and patched with SC software).

 

[Aoshii]

Is anyone else having problems with the save file persistence?

I always backup the content of my SD card but everytime I try to change the kernel for tests or upgrade, even if I restore my backup, all the games will have empty save files...
Is this a normal behaviour?

 

[accronomic]

I installed the firmware, but now none of my games load anymore, when they start up and the gameboy logo appears, the Nintendo logo is garbled and it stays stuck. Is there a way to fix this? And if not, is there a way to remove the firmware?

Post automatically merged: Dec 9, 2024

I installed the firmware, but now none of my games load anymore, when they start up and the gameboy logo appears, the Nintendo logo is garbled and it stays stuck. Is there a way to fix this? And if not, is there a way to remove the firmware?

 

[OmDRetro]

Is anyone else having problems with the save file persistence?

I always backup the content of my SD card but everytime I try to change the kernel for tests or upgrade, even if I restore my backup, all the games will have empty save files...
Is this a normal behaviour?

I may have an idea on what happened here.

Did you check if your sdcard has the file lastsaved.txt stored in the x:/scfw/ folder? If this file exists when you removed the sdcard after powering off, the contents of the SRAM chip is empty by then.

If I remember correctly, if the GBA is powered off for more than 15 seconds then powering up after that time frame will lead to auto-saving from SRAM with null saves(saving blank data). The window to save from power off is rather limited and I didn't get to thoroughly benchmark how long it would take to eventually write blank SRAM data.

For now, I'd say that the safest window for saving is within 15 seconds from power off.

Another scenario is if your SRAM battery has no or insufficient power which requires replacement. This means powering off and powering on, even if done in quick succession, will consistently lead to blank saves in which case you need to rely on soft reset (If supported by the ROM / Emulator).

I have additional pointers on Github. When you have the time, I suggest you read my comments:

https://github.com/metroid-maniac/SCFW/issues/4

How can I flash back my supercard to original software?

Post automatically merged: Dec 3, 2024

How can I flash my supercard back to original firmware?

I already answered this question on Github. Link: https://github.com/metroid-maniac/SCFW/issues/18

I installed the firmware, but now none of my games load anymore, when they start up and the gameboy logo appears, the Nintendo logo is garbled and it stays stuck. Is there a way to fix this? And if not, is there a way to remove the firmware?

Post automatically merged: Dec 9, 2024

I installed the firmware, but now none of my games load anymore, when they start up and the gameboy logo appears, the Nintendo logo is garbled and it stays stuck. Is there a way to fix this? And if not, is there a way to remove the firmware?

• Did you test your cart prior to installing SCFW?
  • Device inspection prior to installing this CFW is highly recommended (Like launching the self-diagnostics)
• When does the distorted Nintendo logo appear?
  • Does it happen when you power on the GBA with the flashcart inside?
  • Does it happen when you open a ROM?
    • Which ROM are you trying to run?
    • Did you try running the ROM in an emulator without skipping the BIOS?
      • If the ROM fails the header check on a GBA emulator then it won't work on the flashcart.

 

[Xyvir]

On saving, I have issues with ChuChu rocket, the saves seems to work for 2 or 3 sessions and then seems to get 'corrupted' represented by a flashing exclamation point on gamestart and all savedata being wiped.

I've even had this happen on TWM++ using gbarunner so I don't think it's specific to the supercard but some nonstandard way chuchu is saving or something. Trying SRAM Patches doesn't help either.

 

[Aoshii]

I may have an idea on what happened here.

Did you check if your sdcard has the file lastsaved.txt stored in the x:/scfw/ folder? If this file exists when you removed the sdcard after powering off, the contents of the SRAM chip is empty by then.

If I remember correctly, if the GBA is powered off for more than 15 seconds then powering up after that time frame will lead to auto-saving from SRAM with null saves(saving blank data). The window to save from power off is rather limited and I didn't get to thoroughly benchmark how long it would take to eventually write blank SRAM data.

For now, I'd say that the safest window for saving is within 15 seconds from power off.

Another scenario is if your SRAM battery has no or insufficient power which requires replacement. This means powering off and powering on, even if done in quick succession, will consistently lead to blank saves in which case you need to rely on soft reset (If supported by the ROM / Emulator).

I have additional pointers on Github. When you have the time, I suggest you read my comments:

https://github.com/metroid-maniac/SCFW/issues/4

Thanks for the help OmDRetro!

Will make some tests and try to benchmark it with this info in mind!
I've checked the battery and it seems to have power (3V), so maybe its something related with the SRAM saving.
I have the "lastsaved.txt" file in the right directory, but it really seems that after sometime from power off, it will always write (in my case) blank saves.

I've tryied also to disable the "autosave after cold boot" option but still the same.

----
Got to read the info you mentioned and this part:

"As for the saves itself, it definitely is more reliable to do a soft-reset for Pokemon games. If you want your saves to work after a power cycle, be sure to SAVE AT LEAST TWICE in one playthrough before power cycling."

I know its very soon to say, but will this behaviour be addressed in the future or its something related to hardware limitations of the SC?
Also, if I understood well enough, I need to Save the game Twice before doing a soft reset of the card, then it will save to SRAM after boot and only then can I safely turn off the DS, right?

Thanks again!

 

[Erencikefe]

Is it possible to play Gameboy and Gameboy Color games on scfw? I could do that on my Supercard before i patched it with scfw.

 

[OmDRetro]

Thanks for the help OmDRetro!

Will make some tests and try to benchmark it with this info in mind!
I've checked the battery and it seems to have power (3V), so maybe its something related with the SRAM saving.
I have the "lastsaved.txt" file in the right directory, but it really seems that after sometime from power off, it will always write (in my case) blank saves.

I've tryied also to disable the "autosave after cold boot" option but still the same.

----
Got to read the info you mentioned and this part:

"As for the saves itself, it definitely is more reliable to do a soft-reset for Pokemon games. If you want your saves to work after a power cycle, be sure to SAVE AT LEAST TWICE in one playthrough before power cycling."

I know its very soon to say, but will this behaviour be addressed in the future or its something related to hardware limitations of the SC?
Also, if I understood well enough, I need to Save the game Twice before doing a soft reset of the card, then it will save to SRAM after boot and only then can I safely turn off the DS, right?

Thanks again!

The expectation is that lastsaved.txt should not be present which means all of the contents from SRAM is properly saved into the SDcard. The recommended practice is to power on the GBA after turning it off after playing a ROM(which is also known as a power cycle).

The line item "autosave after cold boot" only affects soft reset. If left on(set to 1), this means that the SuperCard will automatically offload all SRAM data to the intended *.sav file when you soft reset back to kernel menu. This method is much more reliable if you're unsure if the SRAM battery is empty.

Is it possible to play Gameboy and Gameboy Color games on scfw? I could do that on my Supercard before i patched it with scfw.

Yes, but only the pre-release builds support those extra features

 

[Erencikefe]

The expectation is that lastsaved.txt should not be present which means all of the contents from SRAM is properly saved into the SDcard. The recommended practice is to power on the GBA after turning it off after playing a ROM(which is also known as a power cycle).

The line item "autosave after cold boot" only affects soft reset. If left on(set to 1), this means that the SuperCard will automatically offload all SRAM data to the intended *.sav file when you soft reset back to kernel menu. This method is much more reliable if you're unsure if the SRAM battery is empty.




Yes, but only the pre-release builds support those extra features

When you release a new version of scfw with all those emulator supports, if i wanted to update my flashcart all i need to do is opening firmware.frm file right? It would automatically update it?

 

[OmDRetro]

When you release a new version of scfw with all those emulator supports, if i wanted to update my flashcart all i need to do is opening firmware.frm file right? It would automatically update it?

No. The pre-release kernel is just a kernel update and in order to load it you simply need to extract the contents to your SD card. The SCFW firmware should recognize and load it. It's basically plug-n-play

The current version on GBATemp is WSwan-B for now.