Homebrew SCFW: Custom Firmware & Kernel for Supercard

[GoZiLlA998]

Hey, @metroid maniac , couldn't you and your fellow developer take a look at the Famicom Mini (and Nintendo Classics) series titles to see why they don't work despite applying a.p. patches? I got only white screen. My guess is that the switch from fast to slow rom does not happen, despite using the SC client software. Have any users been able to get them to start? I attach the anti piracy patches here for convenience if anyone would like to check them. Thanks for your commitment and dedication.

I just came here to say this. Yeah. I got the same white screen on Nintendo Classics. Everything else works great! Thanks @metroid maniac!

 

[boagamer]

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.

Not trying to stop you from continuing supporting this subpar cart but lesserkuma released a fix for modded "369 in 1" bootlegs that's soldered with CR2025 + diodes. Its also cheaper than supercard all in.

 

[stl25]

Still not able to load Metroid Zero Mission. Has anyone been able to get it to load successfully?

 

[metroid maniac]

If you find that a game is not working, the most helpful thing that you can do is test it using TwilightMenu++'s Supercard support.
I use TwilightMenu++'s same "gbapatcher" code to perform patching on ROMs which are loaded to the Supercard.
If a game works on TwilightMenu++ but not SCFW, it means that I screwed up somewhere. If it works on neither, that means that I can search for a fix and contribute to both projects.
Metroid Zero Mission does not work on either in my testing.

Currently working on a soft reset patch, I'm trying to write a more optimized one from scratch to avoid adding any more slowdown than needed.

 

[Peeteris]

This is amazing, you're a lifesaver!
You can't even imagine how happy I am for this, thank you!
I hope you and Archeychen will continue to work together to make the best out of mighty old Supercards.
Thank you!

 

[Nikokaro]

This is amazing, you're a lifesaver!
You can't even imagine how happy I am for this

Well, don't expect miracles. Games that didn't work before won't work now either. The only advantage is that you can use sheer roms directly, not modified with the client software on PC.

 

[davidleeks]

Well, don't expect miracles. Games that didn't work before won't work now either. The only advantage is that you can use sheer roms directly, not modified with the client software on PC.

i guess scfw without using the client PC software is the best feature for this Old SuperCard. It did modernized the 20 years old hardware with just the CFW.

 

[Apache Thunder]

Just got a SuperCard Lite (A DS Lite version with MicroSD support). Will this operate on that card?

One thing to note is this card doesn't have a sram battery and being a DS oriented card it supposedly supports NDS games if booted with a passkey of some sort....though I'm not really interested in using it for DS games.

It does use the same PC side software for patching GBA roms.

 

[metroid maniac]

Just got a SuperCard Lite (A DS Lite version with MicroSD support). Will this operate on that card?

Supercard Lite seems to use a slightly different SD interface. While trying to optimise the SD read code, I noticed some Lite-specific code paths.
I don't own a Lite so I can't determine whether or not these optimizations broke anything.
Of course, you can always try to run kernel.gba and see if it works... This won't make any permanent changes to the cart. Only flashing firmware will do that.

I also know that at least one variation of the Supercars Lite (rumble, maybe?) has little or no SDRAM and isn't capable of running retail GBA ROMs.

 

[Apache Thunder]

I see. Mine doesn't have rumble and confirmed that it does run GBA games so I got the better version of the two it looks like.

I found my Super Card Lite on eBay by the way in-case you are looking to get one. He's selling them for around $30 shipped last I checked....maybe a bit pricey but it's better then paying over 50 for an EZ flash product which I can't afford right now.

I'm guessing I'd need the firmware you made if I wanted to use SDHC cards...but I'm not too concerned about missing out on that. I can't think of enough GBA games I want to play that would require a larger then 2GB card right now.

EDIT:

I get this if I boot the kernal gba rom as is:

Either it's showing a fully corrupted folder tree or fat init fails.

But the odd thing is it seems to work fine if I prepatch the kernal file with the SC PC software like the other games....

On a related note I wonder if it's possible to write slot-1 software for this cart? Load GBA into it in a manner similar to GBAExploder which I think does something like this (but that old software isn't compatible with my SuperCard Lite).

It would be cool to be able to load GBA games to this via a slot-1 flashcart. It would avoid having to flash the firmware on mine I think.

I tested Sonic Advance unpatched via the SC prepatched kernal file. It does it's thing and boots the game but that one white screens. I booted an already patched GBA game. (Zelda a Link to the Past) and that one booted up fine....

EDIT2: Tried again with unpatched Link to the Past and that white screens. The auto patching seems to be failing on my SC Lite for some reason. I guess maybe I'd either have to wait till you make SC Lite compatible firmware (Not gonna risk bricking trying the firmware on it right now) or when/if Slot-1 NDS mode software is made.

 

[metroid maniac]

TwilightMenu++ already loads GBA games from a slot-1 cart's SD card to a Supercard. YSMenu on compatible carts also has this functionality.

 

[Apache Thunder]

Ahh I see. Would be great if there was a standalone app for that. I want one for my N-Cards but those cards require using a 19KB DLDI driver so I have to recompile newer homebrew that allows the older 32KB DLDI spec to use them on my N-Card. Twilight uses a crap ton of bootloaders (bootloaders need the fix for their DLDI code too) so I can't use that on them.

 

[Technicmaster0]

I also know that at least one variation of the Supercars Lite (rumble, maybe?) has little or no SDRAM and isn't capable of running retail GBA ROMs.

As far as I know the rule of thumb is that the supercard rumble series doesn't have enough RAM for GBA games while the non-rumble cards have enough. I think that there are also rumble versions of the other sizes

 

[Apache Thunder]

Ok tried loading GBA games to the SC Lite via YSMenu on my R4i Gold Pro. They run but appear to still need to be patched by SC's PC software...so this method is inherently inferior to this project. (I suspect Twilight's version might have same limitation?)

So I'd say there'd still be value in having a DS version of this kernel for loading games onto the SC cart via a slot-1 flashcart.

Also noticed the SC Lite doesn't appear to have enough SRAM for 64MB games. Darn. No watching Shrek GBA movie on my DS then.

At least the 10 minute Family Gun Funniest Moments rom runs.

EDIT: I did noticed Pokémon Emerald would show corrupt save and reset when booted prepatched via SC's kernal but if I boot it by loading it in via YSMenu that it actually works. (reports corrupt backup save but the main one still worked). Odd. I guess YSMenu boot method results in slightly better save compatibility.

RTC battery message shows in either case though. Not surprised since SC Lite doesn't have a battery,.

EDIT: Just tested and was able to DLDI patch the R4i SDHC version of YSMenu to run on my N-Card. (Put the nrio.dldi into all the SRLs found in the TTMenu folder too). Was able to send GBA games to my SuperCard Lite via my N-Card. Turns out YSMenu is ancient enough that it still uses the 32KB DLDI standard.

So hey I suppose I can use YSMenu for this on my favorite flashcart. YSMenu likely can't boot NDS games but for GBA stuff this is all I care about.

 

[rolas]

Quick check on this titles:
- Mario Kart
- Mario Tennis (white screen)
- Double Dragon Mod

 

[Egoistamamono]

Good job, at least there is no need to patch using the software anymore. Can you add features like cheats or skins?

 

[Acrobatic-Donkey-653]

Hi, first thankyou for making this homebrew.
I discovered an issue with autosave.
The case is when after playing game and turn off the console without reset first (for saving sram data to sdcard), then at next play session the kernel will automaticaly save SRAM data and overwrite existing save data. Unfortunately because from last session i didn't reset, the SRAM data is lost because no power to hold the data. But kernel still saving this empty SRAM data to sav file. When game loaded. The save game is Lost.
Maybe add empty SRAM data detection and cancel auto save if SRAM is empty.
Thanks, sorry for bad english

Post automatically merged: Mar 2, 2024

Hi, first thankyou for making this homebrew.
I discovered an issue with autosave.
The case is when after playing game and turn off the console without reset first (for saving sram data to sdcard), then at next play session the kernel will automaticaly save SRAM data and overwrite existing save data. Unfortunately because from last session i didn't reset, the SRAM data is lost because no power to hold the data. But kernel still saving this empty SRAM data to sav file. When game loaded. The save game is Lost.
Maybe add empty SRAM data detection and cancel auto save if SRAM is empty.
Thanks, sorry for bad english

 

[metroid maniac]

Hi, first thankyou for making this homebrew.
I discovered an issue with autosave.
The case is when after playing game and turn off the console without reset first (for saving sram data to sdcard), then at next play session the kernel will automaticaly save SRAM data and overwrite existing save data. Unfortunately because from last session i didn't reset, the SRAM data is lost because no power to hold the data. But kernel still saving this empty SRAM data to sav file. When game loaded. The save game is Lost.
Maybe add empty SRAM data detection and cancel auto save if SRAM is empty.
Thanks, sorry for bad english

There is no easy way of telling whether SRAM is empty or not. It's just data, games can store anything there,.

However, when the soft reset patch is added, it should be possible to detect whether the kernel was booted by soft reset or normal power on. Therefore, it should be possible to add an "autosave only on soft reset" toggle, for users with dead batteries.

 

[sifafi6706]

Mainly Pokemon games, Leaf Green and Quetzal seem top be struggling the most for some reason. Sorry seems like I have 2 different sign ins

Temporary workaround for large 32mb games (like pokemon romhacks): use GBATA's Rom Trimmer, cut down the rom size before copying it to sd. Reduces load times as well.

just tested it, so far works on Run&Bun 1.07 & Quetzal 0.7.

 

[Acrobatic-Donkey-653]

There is no easy way of telling whether SRAM is empty or not. It's just data, games can store anything there,.

However, when the soft reset patch is added, it should be possible to detect whether the kernel was booted by soft reset or normal power on. Therefore, it should be possible to add an "autosave only on soft reset" toggle, for users with dead batteries.

Yes my SC battery is dead. Autosave only on soft reset will be usefull.

Also on another issue. If game have multiple save slot, looks like the kernel will write only one save file, i tested with klonoa game, have save on slot 1 and 3. Load save from slot 3. Reset. Kernel will write .sav file. Relaunch the game, that save will loaded on number 1 slot.