Dsi gba emulator

[robots081495]

Hi I have the dsi and was very disappointed to see that is didn't have a gba slot. The dsi is very well capable of playing gba if it had an emulator to run the roms. My plan is to make a gba emulator for pc and then remake it so that the dsi will mistake it for a dsiware game. then all I have to do is copy it to the system memory and the emulator will apear on the main menu. I have lots of experience with programing, Qbasic, liberty basic, html, java, c, c++, and, python. I also have lots of experience programing robots, bs2, pic, java, propeller, picaxe. I have never made a emulator before and I also have never learned to make a dsi app before (I don't even know which language to use). Can someone point me in the right direction to programing emulators and dsi apps. P.S. if I succede I will make a snes, nes, and atari emulator for dsi.

[shashClp]

Good luck signing a dsiware rom :P

__________________
Emulator development blog

[lagunareturns]

i dont see the point of one when you could have bought the normal ds... the reason gba support was removed is because a large number of users just used a ds to play ds games and not gba, the idea was that if you wanted gba support then stick with an older ds, the other reason is new owners of a ds is very less likely to bother gba games hence it was dropped with the dsi

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

Couldn't a GBA emulator be run on a device like the R4 if it was a .nds file with the emulator compiled with the roms in one file like PocketNES files on a GBA flashcart? I read that GBA games can only be run from slot 2, but if it was done the way that I mentioned, it could be possible, right? Sorry if that sounds non-feasible, as I am no programmer myself and do not know all of the technical details of something like this. Back then, an idea like this would be pointless, but with the advent of the DSi, a GBA emulator makes sense.

__________________
http://thecloudofsmoke.deviantart.com

Originally Posted by BigIg

If I support the game company, then I won't won't be supporting the blank DVD business.

Decisions, decisions.

[lagunareturns]

a newly written and heavily optimised gba emu is needed to work on dsi (and even then not all games work), the older ds can play gba games as it has dedicated hardware to run gba games not an emulator, so the dsi wont miracously run gba games if you figure out how to make it load the roms as it has the dedicated hardware removed...

anyways you bought a dsi to play ds games only not to play gba, and i meant it that the only way its possible to run gba games is for a new emu to be written and if possible it needs to be optimised even further than the gba emu on psp before it run at proper framerates and even if it was done it will have at best the compatability of gba games wont be perfect, even though its close, the gba emu psp isnt 100% compatible with all games

[Squall-Leonhart]

an emulator is already in the works for DSI, to run gba games.

__________________

VBA-M | Xtemu | NGOHQ | Post Impact Productions | TNHW | XBCD 0.2.6 | Satanic666's Emulator Compiles
Don't be a NOOB, READ THE NGEmu/EmuForums Rules of Conduct
Need Help with ePSXe? This is your first stop!.
If you don't post all the required information, you don't get help.
Everytime someone posts a romsite, God kills a beautiful woman.

[Lex_Light]

Yes, but it's only for one flashcard, and that flashcard doesn't let you to run your DS Backups.

__________________
AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (1,81 GHz), 1,25 GB of Ram, nVidia GeForce MX/MX 400. (Yes, it's an old computer).
Sorry for my english, I'm Spanish.
Please, read the rules of Emuforums before posting. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Lex_Light

Because nobody wants to get your thread closed (and some reports, even BAN!).

Page to download roms and isos for free.
18 November 2009, at 19:59 : Nevar forget.

[Exophase]

Originally Posted by Squall-Leonhart

an emulator is already in the works for DSI, to run gba games.

iPlayer != DS

No one has done a GBA emulator for DS to this point so I don't expect it to suddenly happen now, even with DSi out. A "virtualization" approach is somewhat possible, as proven by some work done by LiraNuna, but has several technical challenges and limitations. A recompiling approach, complete with trapping memory accesses, would probably not work that well on a 66MHz ARM9 and the memory available would be quite a limitation. If you could access the DSi's 133MHz mode and 16MB of RAM then you'd have a better shot at it, but there'd need to be an exploit to do so first. Nintendo would very obviously never give the DSi SDK/dev tools to someone who wants to do a GBA emulator, much less would they allow it to actually be available on the shop.

[Squall-Leonhart]

http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/sho...d.php?t=247206

__________________

VBA-M | Xtemu | NGOHQ | Post Impact Productions | TNHW | XBCD 0.2.6 | Satanic666's Emulator Compiles
Don't be a NOOB, READ THE NGEmu/EmuForums Rules of Conduct
Need Help with ePSXe? This is your first stop!.
If you don't post all the required information, you don't get help.
Everytime someone posts a romsite, God kills a beautiful woman.

[Exophase]

Dude, iPlayer != DS. I don't want to have to repeat myself again. That emulator (which is a port of mine, btw) only works because the card it requires has a dedicated CPU and dedicated RAM. That's what's running the emulator. Not the DS.

[Squall-Leonhart]

aha,

If we could get a hacked firmware onto the DSI, that would make it easier to control the cpu speed?

__________________

VBA-M | Xtemu | NGOHQ | Post Impact Productions | TNHW | XBCD 0.2.6 | Satanic666's Emulator Compiles
Don't be a NOOB, READ THE NGEmu/EmuForums Rules of Conduct
Need Help with ePSXe? This is your first stop!.
If you don't post all the required information, you don't get help.
Everytime someone posts a romsite, God kills a beautiful woman.

[Mdkcheatz]

Originally Posted by lagunareturns

i dont see the point of one when you could have bought the normal ds... the reason gba support was removed is because a large number of users just used a ds to play ds games and not gba, the idea was that if you wanted gba support then stick with an older ds, the other reason is new owners of a ds is very less likely to bother gba games hence it was dropped with the dsi

Please understand that the DSi fails horribly, as there is deffinitly a DS game that REQUIRES the GBA slot...

Thus your argument goes out the window.

Originally Posted by Squall-Leonhart

aha,

If we could get a hacked firmware onto the DSI, that would make it easier to control the cpu speed?

Hacking the firmware of a DSi is near impossible... but NOT impossible :P

The answer would be yes. But how much so is a different answer. If you look at the PSP, standard firmware has the CPU clocked at 222MHz... customized firmware can control the CPU speed to a maximum of 333MHz... Recent tests suggests that the PSP Go can be clocked to about 480MHz.

A hardware mod show that a standard DS lite CPU clocks at 50MHz and can be overclocked to 100MHz

__________________

[adult swim]

---

Last edited by Mdkcheatz; October 12th, 2009 at 02:02.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

[lagunareturns]

Originally Posted by Mdkcheatz

Please understand that the DSi fails horribly, as there is deffinitly a DS game that REQUIRES the GBA slot...

and so what, there are games coming out that has features only for dsi, its not like with the psp where they stop production of older psps to prevent the use of custom firmware... at least no you have a choice to buy a ds or dsi, unless you are a dumb user and doesnt do research so they dont do an informed purchase but how is that nintendos fault...

also i can see why they dropped gba support... its not as if you can buy the games from a normal retailer anymore and the games are no longer production as well so it wise to drop a feature where 90% of people who buy a dsi wont ever want to use

[Squall-Leonhart]

A hardware mod show that a standard DS lite CPU clocks at 50MHz and can be overclocked to 100MHz

uh.. no.

There are 2 cpu's in the DS(lite)/DSi
ARM 7 and 9 in the DS(Lite)/DSI are 33(7)/66(9) and 66/133 respectively.

though i believe it only ramps up to 133 when you enable WPA2.

__________________

VBA-M | Xtemu | NGOHQ | Post Impact Productions | TNHW | XBCD 0.2.6 | Satanic666's Emulator Compiles
Don't be a NOOB, READ THE NGEmu/EmuForums Rules of Conduct
Need Help with ePSXe? This is your first stop!.
If you don't post all the required information, you don't get help.
Everytime someone posts a romsite, God kills a beautiful woman.

---

Last edited by Squall-Leonhart; October 12th, 2009 at 20:31..

[Mdkcheatz]

Originally Posted by lagunareturns

and so what, there are games coming out that has features only for dsi, its not like with the psp where they stop production of older psps to prevent the use of custom firmware... at least no you have a choice to buy a ds or dsi, unless you are a dumb user and doesnt do research so they dont do an informed purchase but how is that nintendos fault...

also i can see why they dropped gba support... its not as if you can buy the games from a normal retailer anymore and the games are no longer production as well so it wise to drop a feature where 90% of people who buy a dsi wont ever want to use

Correct me if I'm wrong, I havn't confirmed this, but you can still buy old PSP's brand new (excluding the Original) Just as you can get older DS's brand new (exclusing the original). [this doesn't mean you can't get the original brand new :P) whereas official retailers do not seem to sell either of them anymore...

10% of buyer's is a LOT of people, I don't see why they don't just release two versions of the DSi, one with the GBA slot and a cheaper version without, they clearly have the resources need to do so and will even make a little more money as people will buy both just for whatever reason, incuding collector's purposes.

Originally Posted by Squall-Leonhart

uh.. no.

There are 22 cpu's in the DS(lite)/DSi
7/9 and 7/9
33/66 and 66/133

though i believe it only ramps up to 133 when you enable WPA2.

Did not realize D:

Go to know that ;p;

__________________

[adult swim]

---

Last edited by Mdkcheatz; October 12th, 2009 at 17:40.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

[lagunareturns]

psp 1000 and 2000 series are no longer on sale new, trust me, i have went 30 retailers and before finding a psp2000... at they time (about 4 months ago) they only stock the psp 3000, that is if they stock anything for the psp (yes there are retailers selling nothing for the psp)

[Mdkcheatz]

Originally Posted by lagunareturns

psp 1000 and 2000 series are no longer on sale new, trust me, i have went 30 retailers and before finding a psp2000... at they time (about 4 months ago) they only stock the psp 3000, that is if they stock anything for the psp (yes there are retailers selling nothing for the psp)

Note how I excluded official retailers, which the rule not only applies to older versions of the PSP, but the DS as well... Go to stares like Walmart, all you see is the DSi... if they still have the older version, it's because they still have to sell their remaining stock....

If you go online, you can find older version of the PSP like mad:

PSP - Google Product Search

*Excluding the original.

__________________

[adult swim]

[lagunareturns]

i dont go on whats avaialble online, as it may advertise products they may or may not be in stock as its up to their supplier.

maybe its the same with the ds with dsi being in production only, still as you have pointed out, getting a normal ds isnt impossible so why complain about dsi lack of gba support and the lack of gba slot... its not that the retailers have complained like they are with the psp go right now and anyways name more than 25 ds games that need gba slot support

also its not as if its a deal breaker for an 90% people who want to buy a ds

[Mdkcheatz]

Originally Posted by Steven Totilo

But DSi owners won't have a Game Boy Advance slot. What will they lose?

More than you might think...

* Rumble: Nintendo has offered two rumble packs for the DS, one each for the GBA slots on the original DS and the DS Lite. The original was packaged with "Metroid Prime: Pinball." The device could provided a small jolt (which also elicited an unintentional and annoying buzzing sound). Developers never used this add-on in a key way, offering it as a minor extra affect for games as disparate as "Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time" and "Air Traffic Chaos."
How can Nintendo overcome this? There doesn't appear to be a way to expand the new DS for rumble packs, but it's not clear anyone will be upset. On the other hand, there's this:

* GBA Cartridge Expansion: At the time of the DS' launch, Nintendo designers suggested that DS cartridge games could support expansions, like add-on levels. In Japan, Nintendo released one product like this, a song pack for the music game "Daigasso! Band Brothers." The concept didn't catch on, though some DS Pokemon games were programmed to unlock connect if GBA cartridges were connected.Earlier this year, the idea of expanding via the GBA slot took new life. New York-based Activision studio Vicarious Visions finished crafting a guitar-grip add-on for use with "Guitar Hero" games on the DS. The add-on was shaped to work with the DS and DS Lite slots, and essentially hacked them to allow the grip to transmit commands from four fret buttons. The lack of a GBA slot in the DSi renders the "Guitar Hero DS" games as perhaps the only DS games unplayable on the new model.

How can Nintendo overcome this? The DSi's SD Card slot should allow developers to explore offering more "Daigasso!"-style expansions. Imagine a downloadable new level for "New Super Mario Bros.," for example. But the DSi does not have any port that seems like it can be used for anything like the Vicarious Vision's DS grip. The DSi does, however, include wireless connectivity. In theory, a DSi guitar grip could snap onto the system but send its commands to the system through that wireless connection. That, of course, will require the grip to have a power source, which isn't cheap. Activision has a problem on its hands.

* GBA Gaming: The GBA line-up includes celebrated "Pokemon" games, re-makes of every NES/SNES "Mario" side-scroller, two excellently-reviewed "WarioWare" games, and the two-game "Golden Sun" role-playing game series. The cartridges for those games will not plug into the DSi.

How can Nintendo overcome this? The GBA games could be offered through a DS download service, to be played off of an SD card. But if such a solution was implemented, it could not support GBA games that had carts built with special sensors like the solar-powered "Boktai" or the roatation-based "WarioWare: Twisted."

Source: How Losing A GBA Slot Will Affect DS Gaming (Sorry, ‘Guitar Hero’!) » MTV Multiplayer

There are only downs to removing the GBA slot. Nintendo is just cutting back money. And all it takes is one game, no?

__________________

[adult swim]

[Exophase]

Like I said, Nintendo would be barely saving any money on the cut. It's just the cost of a connector on the motherboard. Probably no more than a few cents per unit.