Hardware SuperCard microSD - White Screen on game start

[Sterophonick]

So, for the hell of it, but I bought a SuperCard microSD on AliExpress, along with a 2GB MicroSD card. This seems to be a relatively common issue, but I can't seem to get it to launch any ROMs, it just seems to boot to a white screen.

It isn't a particularly huge deal if the card is busted, but I kinda would like to see this working correctly.

The self-test mode outputs all tests as OK except for flash, which outputs flash id error: 00b9 0000c2ba \ flash ok!

Any information? Maybe I need a 1GB microSD card?

Post automatically merged: May 27, 2024

Update, I managed to get it to boot Super Mario Eorld by forcing the patcher as Windows XP SP3 and Run as asministrator.

The cartridge has also been formatted as FAT16 with a 64K allocation size, on Windows 11.

For reference, I'm primarily a Linux user and also this software is so awful it's hysterical.

Unfortunately out of all the games I have, Super Mario World and Sonic Genesis are the only ones that have worked, and they have slowdowns and graphical glitches. LMAO.

 

[moon_rabbit]

Try installing SCFW and using an SDHC micro sd.
You don't even need the software from the supercard.

The flash ID error is from changing to a compatible chip.
Chip commands seem to be the same.

 

[Nikokaro]

Of all the games tried, only two work? Very strange.
Have you patched them with its client software? If you want to use the official cfw, follow the attached guide carefully. For some games you have to exclude save states, restart and cheats; only normal saves. Read everything patiently and follow this guide scrupulously!

 

[Technicmaster0]

Make sure to use the right patching software. Not all versions of the software are compatible with all cards.

 

[Sterophonick]

@Technicmaster0 The software I was using was Super Card v2.71 for SD version, was using it the whole time throughout this.

 

[moon_rabbit]

@Technicmaster0 The software I was using was Super Card v2.71 for SD version, was using it the whole time throughout this.

It worked fine on Windows 10.

 

[Janni9009]

The patcher is semi-broken on Win10, SRAM patch most notably tends to fail. You also need to prefetch patch separately.
I would highly advise to use SCFW or SuperFW anyways as these auto-patch for you (including prefetch) and make saving less of a pain. Though installing these as firmware loses NDS-mode (you can alternatively just launch them from the stock kernel at the cost of SDHC support and immediate autosave)
TWiLightMenu can also use this cart as a GBAExpansionPak, including full patches for it.
Also reformat your card to 32k alloc, 64k can cause issues.

 

[Sterophonick]

The patcher is semi-broken on Win10, SRAM patch most notably tends to fail. You also need to prefetch patch separately.
I would highly advise to use SCFW or SuperFW anyways as these auto-patch for you (including prefetch) and make saving less of a pain. Though installing these as firmware loses NDS-mode (you can alternatively just launch them from the stock kernel at the cost of SDHC support and immediate autosave)
TWiLightMenu can also use this cart as a GBAExpansionPak, including full patches for it.
Also reformat your card to 32k alloc, 64k can cause issues.

Time to make a Windows 7 virtual machine lmao

 

[Janni9009]

Time to make a Windows 7 virtual machine lmao

Win7 or Vista might not work well either actually. The whole UAC stuff kinda mangled some patchers like the SC one. XP is recommended for legacy carts (especially those requiring drivers since none of them are signed). Personally been running XP MCE 2005 Update Rollup 2 with SP3 on hardware (Dell D820 and D430) for my carts, and haven't had any issues (even with really old LPT-based kits).

 

[Sterophonick]

Win7 or Vista might not work well either actually. The whole UAC stuff kinda mangled some patchers like the SC one. XP is recommended for legacy carts (especially those requiring drivers since none of them are signed). Personally been running XP MCE 2005 Update Rollup 2 with SP3 on hardware (Dell D820 and D430) for my carts, and haven't had any issues (even with really old LPT-based kits).

Got it.

 

[Sakitoshi]

windows 11 user here.
the patcher software (v2.71) just works, no compatibility mode or anything. i use the patcher only to apply the "patch" option as i use fastrestart.exe for the optimized restart patch.
@Sterophonick as a linux user, you may want to take a look at this: https://github.com/supercard-archive/supercard-sd-patcher

 

[Janni9009]

windows 11 user here.
the patcher software (v2.71) just works, no compatibility mode or anything.

Can you check if SMA2/Super Mario World fails to launch with a corrupted save message? If so, the software is not working properly (SRAM patch fails and needs to be substituted by GBATA).
If it runs fine, is your Windows install modified in a severe way? Because that's not normal. That part of the patcher is consistently broken on anything but my legacy XP or older machines.

i use the patcher only to apply the "patch" option as i use fastrestart.exe for the optimized restart patch.

Don't forget to leave Saver Patch on (or the software won't output the save-file required for the cart to save on stock FW) and separate from that, use prefetch-patcher! (else even games like DKC1 will frequently stutter)

 

[Sakitoshi]

Can you check if SMA2/Super Mario World fails to launch with a corrupted save message

no error at all. i can save and it loads normally next time i boot the game.

is your Windows install modified in a severe way? Because that's not normal.

no, stock lenovo legion laptop, upgraded from windows 10 to 11 through regular means as soon as i got offered the upgrade years ago.
i have more laptops i can test and i'm sure it will just work. the software does nothing special. maybe it needs some of those pesky visual basic runtimes, but i have a collection of those and install them whenever i get a new pc.
the only non-standard setting i have is uac lowered to the minimum level, so i can run apps as admin without being asked for confirmation. but i still need to right click and select run as admin.

use prefetch-patcher!

i only use it on games that really lag, the prefetch patcher uses more battery. besides this isn't my main flashcart, i got 2 ezflash iv, an omega de and some reflashable bootlegs.
i got a supercard micro sd for nostalgia, i had the full size sd one that sticked out a little back in 2006 when it was more common. sold it to fund my first ezflash iv several months after.


EDIT: forgot to add.
the only part of the supercard software that doesn't work on modern windows is the movie converter for the filmplay.gba. for that i have an xp virtual machine.
watching videos on the gba is always fun, that was the main reason i wanted a supercard again.

 

[Janni9009]

the only non-standard setting i have is uac lowered to the minimum level

That might be it. Pretty sure UAC stuff is what's causing SRAM patching to fail in the first place (as that's what it prompts for, but fails no matter the choice).