Try to make a custom loader for SuperCard SD

[Archeychen]

The SuperCard is Jucky, not just because it's flash is too slow, but also it's official patcher patches badly, the patched game runs slow even on other cards.

But, TwilightMenu has a function that loads GBA games to the SuperCard and auto patch it.This patch, however, is better then the official one. It will still have some slow down issues, but much better than the official one.

Yesterday I tried to port it to gba, and make it a full standalone loader.

The loader can :
1.load the "run.gba" to the psram(sdram?)
2.patch the game with prefetch & wait state & game specific white screen patch
3.patch the game to make it Sram save.


But the main problem now is :
1.the code use libfat to load the game from sd card and:
1.1 the libfat is really slow, about 5~10X slower than the stok firmware
1.2 libfat for gba is broken on latest toolchain, I have to use an old version to compile it
2.the patching process is too slow,but I think I can improve it by saving the difference to a file rather than search and patch the rom everying time


the code and the toolchain can be found on github , just search ``ArcheyChen/SuperCard-SD-loader`

I'm new here and I can't post a link, so you have to search by your own.

The binary is uploaded, just unzip it, put it in your sd card, and rename your game to `run.gba`. Boot the loader, when it's done, it will tell you to press A to boot the game.

Finally, I can post a link now:
https://github.com/ArcheyChen/SuperCard-SD-loader

I forgot to add Makefile to it, just copy one from libgba's example
==================

If someone know how to improve the sd card reading speed, please contact me !!!!!!!!

 

[SylverReZ]

Post the GitHub link here instead of adding keywords to search. :/

 

[Archeychen]

Post the GitHub link here instead of adding keywords to search. :/

sorry,just posted. I can't post it before because the newcomer's 5 post restriction

 

[Nikokaro]

Shitty Loader?!? Hmm... Even the name is not very catchy. "If a good day starts in the morning..."
Isn't there a potential risk of bricking my flashcart? It is true that it is slow for some titles, but at least it works.

Have you tried any specific titles that usually give problems (e.g. Mario Kart)? If you say the software is always slow anyway, why should I use it?

Then I admit I don't understand how it works: does your loader have to be copied inside the Supercard software to replace the default one? So you no longer have to use the PC client software to patch gba games?

Hmm... I guess I'll wait until your software is perfected, or some brave soul acts as a guinea pig for this thankless experiment.

Anyway, thank you, and forgive my subtle irony.

 

[Archeychen]

Shitty Loader?!? Hmm... Even the name is not very catchy. "If a good day starts in the morning..."
Isn't there a potential risk of bricking my flashcart? It is true that it is slow for some titles, but at least it works.

Have you tried any specific titles that usually give problems (e.g. Mario Kart)? If you say the software is always slow anyway, why should I use it?

Then I admit I don't understand how it works: does your loader have to be copied inside the Supercard software to replace the default one? So you no longer have to use the PC client software to patch gba games?

Hmm... I guess I'll wait until your software is perfected, or some brave soul acts as a guinea pig for this thankless experiment.

Anyway, thank you, and forgive my subtle irony.

let me answer your question.

1. There is no potential risk.It won't change your firmware, it just a "sideloader".
2.Mario Kart till have some slow issue, but better than the official firmware. Because the patch enable prefetch .etc
3. Yes, you don't need a PC software to patch the game, because this loader does it for you.

4.about "guinea pig", yes. I not really a SuperCard user, just someone told me the issue of it (slowdown & need using PC software), so I'm trying to solve them.

5.this is still a prototype, so I call it "shitty", hope that someone can help me speed up the sdcard reading speed.

=================

Why not have a try? Won't do you any harm

 

[Nikokaro]

Thanks for the explanation. So will it be possible to save only via a normal .sav file (64kb), without being able to use save states? Since the save file is not created by the PC client software (as is normally the case), is it automatically created from scratch by your software on the flashcart? And do you have to use the "quick power cycle method" (quickly turning the console off and on) to save?

 

[metroid maniac]

Now I'm feeling the pressure to resume my previous efforts with a replacement Supercard kernel.

 

[Archeychen]

Thanks for the explanation. So will it be possible to save only via a normal .sav file (64kb), without being able to use save states? Since the save file is not created by the PC client software (as is normally the case), is it automatically created from scratch by your software on the flashcart? And do you have to use the "quick power cycle method" (quickly turning the console off and on) to save?

Emmm, well, currently I don't supports save the sram to .sav file. but it can be added pretty easily.
I can add it today.
Currently, it just keep the save in sram, so as long as you only use this loader to boot a single game, your save will be fine

 

[Nikokaro]

Is your loader compatible with all available GBA titles (J, EU, US)? What about the NES Classic (Famicom Mini) series? I have never been able to get them to work on the Supercard SD, even applying the respective anti-piracy patches.

 

[Archeychen]

Is your loader compatible with all available GBA titles (J, EU, US)? What about the NES Classic (Famicom Mini) series? I have never been able to get them to work on the Supercard SD, even applying the respective anti-piracy patches.

I don't know, really.

I just port the patches I can get to the loader.

Maybe you can try it yourself.

 

[Nikokaro]

Now I'm feeling the pressure to resume my previous efforts with a replacement Supercard kernel

Why don't you cooperate with this kind user? It is useless to develop two similar and alternative parallel projects. Union makes strength. It is an excellent idea to use an external loader, without going to modify the original kernel internal to the Supercard SD, which is highly risky.

Maybe you can try it yourself.

Hmm... I will have to get a new 2 gb micro SD before I do that. In the meantime, I am waiting for other users to report their positive results, if any. As the British say, "better safe than sorry."

 

[metroid maniac]

Why don't you cooperate with this kind user? It is useless to develop two similar and alternative parallel projects. Union makes strength. It is an excellent idea to use an external loader, without going to modify the original kernel internal to the Supercard SD, which is highly risky.

Actually, we already have been discussing this a little off-site. You can also thank SiliconExarch for tracking down a version of DevkitARM with working Supercard SD support to make this possible.
I'd like to replace the original firmware for a more seamless experience and because it would be necessary to enable SDHC in the future (if it's possible - I don't think I could do it personally). But it certainly wouldn't be a requirement.

 

[Archeychen]

Why don't you cooperate with this kind user? It is useless to develop two similar and alternative parallel projects. Union makes strength. It is an excellent idea to use an external loader, without going to modify the original kernel internal to the Supercard SD, which is highly risky.


Hmm... I will have to get a new 2 gb micro SD before I do that. In the meantime, I am waiting for other users to report their positive results, if any. As the British say, "better safe than sorry."

To be honest,

1. I promise that the loader won't break your SuperCard or your SD card.
2. Buying a new 2GB SD card is not worthy, comparing buying a 2048Mbit multi-rom bootleg. You can flash a custom menu to it , and it's faster than supercard

 

[Nikokaro]

1. I promise that the loader won't break your SuperCard or your SD card.

Lad, after all, we don't know each other: you could be a wolf in sheep's clothing and feign innocence. Some time ago there was a certain "New Super Mario something" circulating online in .gba (or .nds, I can't remember) format that was actually a virus, so-called Trojan horse, that if used would overwrite malicious code on the DS kernel rendering it unusable. How that could happen, or whether it is actually an exaggeration, I have no idea.

2. Buying a new 2GB SD card is not worthy

Regarding the 2 gb micro SD, in my country you can find many used ones on ebay for a few euros, so no problem.

 

[Nikokaro]

Hey @Archeychen , I hope you didn't get mad at my wisecracks?
I apologize if I came across as offensive; I had not taken cultural differences into account.
Come on, I'll try it eventually, especially for certain racing games (GTA series, Mario Kart, Crash Racing etc.) currently unplayable. Have you implemented writing saves to SD via .sav file yet?
Honestly, I place a lot of hope in your software.

 

[metroid maniac]

Hey @Archeychen , I hope you didn't get mad at my wisecracks?
I apologize if I came across as offensive; I had not taken cultural differences into account.
Come on, I'll try it eventually, especially for certain racing games (GTA series, Mario Kart, Crash Racing etc.) currently unplayable. Have you implemented writing saves to SD via .sav file yet?
Honestly, I place a lot of hope in your software.

It won't be possible to improve ingame performance beyond what is already possible with the prefetch patcher, so you can use that to gauge your expectations.

 

[whoisme]

I think it's a very good idea to try to improve this flashcard, I've been reviewing the code, I would appreciate it if you could provide some type of documentation, I'm used to high-level languages so I get quite lost with this.

All the best.

 

[iShootuPewPew]

This project is really cool! I just bought an EZ Flash Omega because my SC was starting to have issues (it still boots games fine tough), I really wanted to play a Pokemon ROM hack (TooManyTypes) and it just didn't work no matter how I patched it. With your loader it just works!
This is a good starting point, keep up the good work!

 

[Expbot]

Hi, I tried the loader and it worked. But is only for one file, when I tried to put it on a folder with the game it fail to load.

 

[Archeychen]

I think it's a very good idea to try to improve this flashcard, I've been reviewing the code, I would appreciate it if you could provide some type of documentation, I'm used to high-level languages so I get quite lost with this.

All the best.

Well, I don't have a doc either, but I can tell you something I know:

the SC has "MODES", but only 3 were used in this project.
1.media mode, this mode maps the rom addr to access SD card, so if you want to "read" a file, you must be in this mode
2.RAM mode, this mode you can't access to SD card, but you can, directly, write data to ROM, just like writing a normal RAM
3.RAM_RO mode, this mode you can't access to SD card, the ROM is write only, but he data is the same as in RAM mode, normally use to boot the game. But the SRAM is r/w able, so that u can load the savefile.

Good luck hacking~