Homebrew SCFW: Custom Firmware & Kernel for Supercard

[N7Kopper]

This patch can probably integrated into the loading routine. That way nothing would need to be disabled.
The NES classic games don't work either.

The NES Classic games specifically attempt to save to SRAM, and softlock themselves with an error message if they succeed. Less sophisticated flashcarts need an anti-antipiracy patch.

 

[Jayro]

This is bad-ass, breathing new life into the shittiest GBA cart!

I'm still gonna get the Omega DE when I can though, so I can retire my first-gen EZ-Flash IV to my Gameboy Player for good.

 

[metroid maniac]

This is bad-ass, breathing new life into the shittiest GBA cart!

I'm still gonna get the Omega DE when I can though, so I can retire my first-gen EZ-Flash IV to my Gameboy Player for good.

I love my Omega DE but the lack of options for a decent cheap GBA flashcart has been bugging me enough that I wanted to do something to fix the situation some what.

I guess 256MB bootleg multicarts are an option too, but batteryless saving is a bit of a pain... Maybe there's a better solution there too.

 

[hippy dave]

I still wish there was a neat list of which games have slow down on the Supercard, would make it easier to decide whether to pick it up as a secondary cart.
Great work on this project anyway.

 

[Klikks]

I still wish there was a neat list of which games have slow down on the Supercard, would make it easier to decide whether to pick it up as a secondary cart.
Great work on this project anyway.

I started such a list when I found out about SCFW. Currently all games in this list were tested with 0.4.1 because 0.4.2 were released about 20 minutes ago.

Currently only 22 games tested. I can update the list as needed the more games I try, and of course update the entries for 0.4.2.

If someone wants to use it as a base for some other platform such as Google Docs, go ahead and do that, just make sure to send me the link. This is pure .CSV format so load it up in your favourite spreadsheet software and you should be good:

 

[metroid maniac]

For the record, if you want to test what slowdowns will be like for a particular game, you don't need to use a Supercard. mGBA is an accurate emulator which emulates slowdown very similarly to real hardware. Using the IO viewer feature, you can easily modify the IO register which controls cartridge speed.
All retail GBA games will set Cart 0 non-sequential to 3, cart 0 sequential on, and gamepak prefetch on.
Supercard-patched games will run with cart 0 non-sequential 4, cart 0 sequntial off, and gamepak prefetch on if it has been prefetch-patched.

 

[JORGETECH]

For the record, if you want to test what slowdowns will be like for a particular game, you don't need to use a Supercard. mGBA is an accurate emulator which emulates slowdown very similarly to real hardware. Using the IO viewer feature, you can easily modify the IO register which controls cartridge speed.
All retail GBA games will set Cart 0 non-sequential to 3, cart 0 sequential on, and gamepak prefetch on.
Supercard-patched games will run with cart 0 non-sequential 4, cart 0 sequntial off, and gamepak prefetch on if it has been prefetch-patched.

View attachment 419623

Interesting, I wasn't aware of this mGBA feature. I'm going to guess the different sequential and non-sequential settings are due to Supercard's use of slow SDRAM vs. the faster mask ROMs used in genuine GBA carts. Am I in the right direction understanding this?

EDIT: I would like to take the opportunity to make a suggestion about the GitHub releases, It would be helpful to separate the kernel and firmware releases so users know better when it's necessary to update the firmware since writing to firmware excessively can be a dangerous proposition.

As of right now I've been figuring out when I had to update the firmware by looking at the commits but I understand not everyone has the same understanding of the source code structure as I do.

 

[ak1nok]

Flashed a new kernel into the cartridge.
I have a strange problem after loading the duke nukem game. I rebooted the console and now when I turn on the console this happens:

 

[Flame]

I brought one of these Supercard SD. now how do I use it with a SDHC?

 

[metroid maniac]

I brought one of these Supercard SD. now how do I use it with a SDHC?

If it came with a standard capacity SD card, follow the instructions in the OP to load the kernel and then install the firmware. Once the firmware is installed, it'll be able to load the kernel from an SDHC card.

If you don't have a standard capacity SD card, you can load kernel.gba on a compatible NDS flashcart using YSMenu or TwilightMenu++. From there you will be able to install the firmware.

 

[Phamaral]

Wow! I've wanted to play Yoshi's Island on my GBA SP for years now. On the supercard it would whitescreen but I just tried your kernel and it works perfectly! Couldn't even notice any slowdowns yet. Thanks!

 

[tk9]

Holy smokes, this is badass. My supercard can finally graduate from being an extra RAM for twilight menu exclusively.

By the way, how's the saving method? Still the same with OG firmware?

 

[metroid maniac]

Holy smokes, this is badass. My supercard can finally graduate from being an extra RAM for twilight menu exclusively.

By the way, how's the saving method? Still the same with OG firmware?

If autosave is enabled, the save file will be loaded when you select the game and saved when you next boot the kernel.
If autosave isn't enabled, you have to select a .sav file in the file browser to load or save it.
Autosave is enabled by default.

 

[davidleeks]

Just tested the latest 0.4.3 version, thanks for the update, it is much faster loading and now i am able to play the Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival, yes!!!

 

[ak1nok]

I've tried everything, doesn't want to work. After installing the firmware on the cartridge, the first boot allows you to start the game. But after rebooting the console, the firmware does not even start, only errors.
If you run the firmware from the original supercard menu, everything works perfectly. Checking the cartridge also does not show any errors.

 

[remori]

SCFW is a custom firmware and kernel for the Supercard SD.
Currently it is in a preview state with minimum functionality.

Installation
Download the current release and copy the scfw folder to the root of your SD card.
That's it! You can now use the kernel by loading scfw/kernel.gba from the official firmware.
You can also select the firmware.frm file from within the kernel to flash SCFW to the Supercard's firmware. Because the firmware is minimal and the kernel is loaded from the SD card, updates to the firmware should be rare. You can enjoy kernel updates without updating the firmware.

Current features

• Can browse files
• Can load a GBA ROM
• Can flash a Supercard firmware.
• Automatic SRAM, waitstate, and prefetch patching (buggy)
• Automatic SRAM loading & saving
• Manual SRAM management
• SDHC

Planned features

• Nicer file browser
• Support for more filetypes with builtin goomba/pocketnes etc.
• NDS mode
• Code cleanup, lots of it.
• Soft reset patch
• Faster loading speeds
• Cheats

dude , firmware.frm get my supercard briked!

 

[Technicmaster0]

I've tried everything, doesn't want to work. After installing the firmware on the cartridge, the first boot allows you to start the game. But after rebooting the console, the firmware does not even start, only errors.
If you run the firmware from the original supercard menu, everything works perfectly. Checking the cartridge also does not show any errors.

It might help to clean the contacts of the supercard with IPA

dude , firmware.frm get my supercard briked!

you can restore the original firmware with flashmp and a Slot-1 flashcart

 

[remori]

It might help to clean the contacts of the supercard with IPA

you can restore the original firmware with flashmp and a Slot-1 flashcart

It might help to clean the contacts of the supercard with IPA

you can restore the original firmware with flashmp and a Slot-1 flashcart

yea i was , before i made this account .. this is my first post ..

so hard to restore with flash mp , many times .. and back to old version , then i update to 1.85 then the select+L+R+B (or B) not apear normaly for any games! what this is?! and i cant save or load game ... even i using SCFW .

 

[tk9]

If autosave is enabled, the save file will be loaded when you select the game and saved when you next boot the kernel.
If autosave isn't enabled, you have to select a .sav file in the file browser to load or save it.
Autosave is enabled by default.

So even if my SC's battery is dead I can still save?

Post automatically merged: Feb 21, 2024

yea i was , before i made this account .. this is my first post ..

so hard to restore with flash mp , many times .. and back to old version , then i update to 1.85 then the select+L+R+B (or B) not apear normaly for any games! what this is?! and i cant save or load game ... even i using SCFW .

Since your are back to using the OG firmware, you'll have to patch Roms using the SC patching software. That patcher includes the patch for manual saving using the button combination and for real time save and of course an SRAM(kinda) patched ROM. It'll produce 3 files per 1 patched ROM.

This flashcart is really tedious to use without the SCFW tbh.

 

[davidleeks]

yea i was , before i made this account .. this is my first post ..

so hard to restore with flash mp , many times .. and back to old version , then i update to 1.85 then the select+L+R+B (or B) not apear normaly for any games! what this is?! and i cant save or load game ... even i using SCFW .

what is your memory card capacity? the old firmware only can read up to 2GB