All Topics  
Game Boy Advance flash cartridge

 
Game Boy Advance Flash Cartridge

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Game Boy Advance flash cartridge
 
 
  Topics Game Boy Advance flash cartridge Topic Home

A Game Boy Advance flash cartridge is one of several cartridges
Cartridge (electronics)

In various types of electronic equipment, a cartridge can refer to one method of adding different functionality or content; for example, a video game played on a video game console; or a method by which consumables may be replenished, such as an ink cartridge for a printer....
 containing flash memory
Flash memory

Flash memory is a non-volatile memory computer storage that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products....
 that have been developed for use in the Nintendo
Nintendo

is a global company located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
 Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance

The is a 32-bit Handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo; resembling Sega's 8-bit Game Gear. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color....
. These cartridges enable homebrew
Homebrew (video games)

Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods....
 applications and games to be used on a GBA. The capacity of the cartridges ranges from 64 Mbit
Megabit

A megabit is a unit of Computer data storage, abbreviated Mbit .1 megabit = 106 = 1,000,000 bits which is equal to 125,000 bytes....
 up to 8 Gbit
Gigabit

Gigabit is a unit of Computer data storage, with the symbol Gbit .1 gigabit = 109 = 1,000,000,000 bits The gigabit is closely related to the gibibit, which is unambiguously equal to 230 bits = 1,073,741,824 bits....
 (Commercial carts range from 32 Mbit to 256 Mbit). Sizes of cartridges are always measured in megabit
Megabit

A megabit is a unit of Computer data storage, abbreviated Mbit .1 megabit = 106 = 1,000,000 bits which is equal to 125,000 bytes....
s or gigabit
Gigabit

Gigabit is a unit of Computer data storage, with the symbol Gbit .1 gigabit = 109 = 1,000,000,000 bits The gigabit is closely related to the gibibit, which is unambiguously equal to 230 bits = 1,073,741,824 bits....
s as opposed to megabyte
Megabyte

Megabyte is a SI prefix-multiple of the unit byte for digital information computer storage or transmission and is equal to 106 bytes....
s and gigabyte
Gigabyte

Gigabyte is an SI prefix-multiple of the unit byte for Computer data storage. Since the giga- prefix means 109, gigabyte means 1,000,000,000 bytes ....
s. More recent cartridges use external memory cards as memory, in place of onboard memory, such as Compact Flash, Secure Digital, etc.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Game Boy Advance flash cartridge'
Start a new discussion about 'Game Boy Advance flash cartridge'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


A Game Boy Advance flash cartridge is one of several cartridges
Cartridge (electronics)

In various types of electronic equipment, a cartridge can refer to one method of adding different functionality or content; for example, a video game played on a video game console; or a method by which consumables may be replenished, such as an ink cartridge for a printer....
 containing flash memory
Flash memory

Flash memory is a non-volatile memory computer storage that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products....
 that have been developed for use in the Nintendo
Nintendo

is a global company located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
 Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance

The is a 32-bit Handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo; resembling Sega's 8-bit Game Gear. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color....
. These cartridges enable homebrew
Homebrew (video games)

Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods....
 applications and games to be used on a GBA. The capacity of the cartridges ranges from 64 Mbit
Megabit

A megabit is a unit of Computer data storage, abbreviated Mbit .1 megabit = 106 = 1,000,000 bits which is equal to 125,000 bytes....
 up to 8 Gbit
Gigabit

Gigabit is a unit of Computer data storage, with the symbol Gbit .1 gigabit = 109 = 1,000,000,000 bits The gigabit is closely related to the gibibit, which is unambiguously equal to 230 bits = 1,073,741,824 bits....
 (Commercial carts range from 32 Mbit to 256 Mbit). Sizes of cartridges are always measured in megabit
Megabit

A megabit is a unit of Computer data storage, abbreviated Mbit .1 megabit = 106 = 1,000,000 bits which is equal to 125,000 bytes....
s or gigabit
Gigabit

Gigabit is a unit of Computer data storage, with the symbol Gbit .1 gigabit = 109 = 1,000,000,000 bits The gigabit is closely related to the gibibit, which is unambiguously equal to 230 bits = 1,073,741,824 bits....
s as opposed to megabyte
Megabyte

Megabyte is a SI prefix-multiple of the unit byte for digital information computer storage or transmission and is equal to 106 bytes....
s and gigabyte
Gigabyte

Gigabyte is an SI prefix-multiple of the unit byte for Computer data storage. Since the giga- prefix means 109, gigabyte means 1,000,000,000 bytes ....
s. More recent cartridges use external memory cards as memory, in place of onboard memory, such as Compact Flash, Secure Digital, etc. memory cards.

These cartridges remain the best-known way to create and distribute homebrew
Homebrew (video games)

Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods....
 games for the GBA (the other being the GBA Movie Player
GBA Movie Player

The GBA Movie Player, abbreviated GBAMP, is a device that reads CompactFlash or Secure Digital cards to upload data onto the Game Boy Advance....
, which can run specially designed homebrew programs but cannot run illicit copies of commercial GBA Game cartridges due to the lack of onboard RAM for fast data access).

Linkers

Efa With Usb
Games are written to the cartridge with a device called "linker". Depending on the brand of flash cartridge, the linker either connects to the GBA's serial link port and writes to the cartridge through the GBA or connects to a mini-USB slot on the cartridge itself and writes directly to the flash cartridge. These linkers usually connect to a PC
Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator....
 through a USB or parallel plug on the other end. Most linkers that connect to the GBA link slot are capable of copying ROM information from commercial Game Boy Advance software cartridges. Some more recent flash cartridges use digital media cards (SD,MMC,CF, etc.) in which files are placed via a card reader
Card reader

A memory card reader is a device used for communication with a smart card or a flash memory card.A business card reader is a scanning device used to scan and electronically save business cards....
.

Flash card adapters

Recently a number of devices have been released which use popular flash memory cards such as SD
Secure Digital card

Secure Digital is a non-volatile memory memory card format developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., SanDisk, and Toshiba for use in portable devices....
 and CF
CompactFlash

CompactFlash is a mass storage device format used in portable electronic devices. For storage, CompactFlash typically uses flash memory in a standardized enclosure....
 for storage. These have proven popular since the development of techniques to run Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS

The is a dual-screen handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in 2004 in video gaming in Canada, the United States, and Japan....
 software from a GBA cartridge, due to the smaller size of DS games and the low price of these cards compared to conventional GBA flash cartridges. Examples of such devices include the M3 and Supercard.

Software

There are those that use a program called to write games to the cartridges. However, some people (especially people with older computers) use other software to write games to the cartridge. An example of this software is X-ROM Frontend by .

Some flash cartridges use specialized software designed for the specific cartridge, such as Power Writer and USB Writer software for the Flash2Advance Ultra cartridges. This presents several conflicts in regard to homebrew, as Power Writer uses a large database for proper naming and saving of games. ROMs that are not in the database (such as emulators or any other GBA homebrew) are prone to saving issues, and editing the database manually is difficult and involves the use of a hex editor
Hex editor

A hex editor is a type of computer program that allows a user to manipulate Binary file computer files. Hex editors that were designed to edit Disk sector, or parse, data from floppy disk or hard disks were sometimes called sector editors or disk editors....
. Such cartridges often have a proprietary interface, making it difficult or impossible to use operating systems other than Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces ....
 for writing to the cartridge.

External links

  • PHWiki:Category:GBA Flash Cards