Biere Gratuite
Offline
Paris
jefftheworld wrote:
Biere Gratuite wrote:

trough Goomba emulator, so no true chip

Goomba fully emulates all the sound? I always assumed it just redirected to the correct register addresses. Why would it emulate the original sound when it's easier to use the onboard hardware?

DMG & CGB have a Z80 type processor. GBA has a ARM7TDMI and Z80 for retro comp. Micro only has ARM7TDMI. So IMO, there's no onboard hardware that plays true chip GB sounds. IMO, Goomba emulate on software only.

jefftheworld
Offline
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Biere Gratuite wrote:
jefftheworld wrote:

Goomba fully emulates all the sound? I always assumed it just redirected to the correct register addresses. Why would it emulate the original sound when it's easier to use the onboard hardware?

DMG & CGB have a Z80 type processor. GBA has a ARM7TDMI and Z80 for retro comp. Micro only has ARM7TDMI. So IMO, there's no onboard hardware that plays true chip GB sounds. IMO, Goomba emulate on software only.

There's no proper reference but the wiki page says:

Even though it still has the required Z80 processor and graphics hardware necessary to run the old games, it is missing other circuitry necessary to be compatible with them.

Of course, that could be wrong but I've also heard that claim elsewhere, too. Even if it's true, it could mean that the audio pins - or other important audio circuitry - aren't wired to anything.

Last edited by jefftheworld (Oct 27, 2015 9:15 pm)

pselodux
Offline
Melbourne

Interesting. The FAT documentation suggests that it's suitable to run on a micro, so I wonder what it'll sound like.

catskull
Offline
NUMBSKULL
pselodux wrote:

Interesting. The FAT documentation suggests that it's suitable to run on a micro, so I wonder what it'll sound like.

It should sound exactly the same as any other GBA since it uses the GBA sound and not the GB sound.

yoyz2k
Offline
france

I'm not a gba expert, but this documentation seem to say the old sound register are available.
I think fat use directly this register : http://belogic.com/gba/registers.shtml
I'm really happy to see this guy on the youtube video, he made a good job.

jefftheworld
Offline
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Has anybody tested this with BennVenn's carts? I'd imagine they'd make a great, inexpensive option if they worked with it.

error
Offline

I've got a bennvenn on the way for this purpose. Fingers crossed, I'll let you guys know.

jefftheworld
Offline
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

BennVenn himself is probably the best person to ask. He could easily flash FAT on one of his carts and check it out.

rot
Offline
UK / FR

Jeez, so its uncommon in commercial gba games but it definitely is possible to manipulate the old hardware sound registers via software, and thats how goomba and FAT work. Therefore if goomba makes a noise on gba micro, then the gba micro must have the 'right' sound circuitry. I think there's some inconsistencies with the way goomba parses the data though so it maybe would sound weird. And the wav channels on gbc and gba are implemented pretty differently.

Anyway pretty cool that this tracker is back on track. Wait for years for a new gba music software and two come along at once what?

pselodux
Offline
Melbourne
jefftheworld wrote:

Has anybody tested this with BennVenn's carts? I'd imagine they'd make a great, inexpensive option if they worked with it.


Excerpt from email conversation with BennVenn:

That ROM you linked me to doesn't have a valid NINTENDO logo so wont boot on a real system. I've just patched it and flashed it and seems to work fine on my GBA now. Any idea why it has an invalid ROM header?

It works on my GBASP and my micro so should be fine for you too. Just if it was designed to be run in an emulator, it might use some emulator tricks that dont exactly work on real hardware.

So I think it needs to be patched in order to work on the BennVenn carts. I'm still waiting for mine to arrive but should be able to give it a test soon.

catskull
Offline
NUMBSKULL

That would explain why when I boot it on my ezflash IV it just shows a scrambled Nintendo logo. Does anyone know how I can patch the rom myself?

jefftheworld
Offline
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
pselodux wrote:
jefftheworld wrote:

Has anybody tested this with BennVenn's carts? I'd imagine they'd make a great, inexpensive option if they worked with it.


Excerpt from email conversation with BennVenn:

That ROM you linked me to doesn't have a valid NINTENDO logo so wont boot on a real system. I've just patched it and flashed it and seems to work fine on my GBA now. Any idea why it has an invalid ROM header?

It works on my GBASP and my micro so should be fine for you too. Just if it was designed to be run in an emulator, it might use some emulator tricks that dont exactly work on real hardware.

So I think it needs to be patched in order to work on the BennVenn carts. I'm still waiting for mine to arrive but should be able to give it a test soon.

Ah cool, if that's the only issue then it should be a simple patch. The contact info links on the devs site don't work currently so if anyone knows his deets you should let him know about this issue.

nordloef
Offline
sweden

Works on my ol $8 cart from dealxtreme. As long as I run it in the integrated multiboot system, so I need to add an additional rom to get FAT to boot.

catskull
Offline
NUMBSKULL

Good news guys! I patched the header and sure enough, it works on my EZFlash IV! Doesn't seem to be perfect, but it's definitely working!

Here's the patched rom: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2JWZb … sp=sharing

It's both patched for the header as well as for use with an EZ Flash IV.

pselodux
Offline
Melbourne

Is that an easy enough process that I can do myself? It's already on my the cart being sent to me but if I want to add extra sample kits I'll obviously have to patch the rom again.

PULSELOOPER
Offline
São Paulo, Brazil
catskull wrote:

Good news guys! I patched the header and sure enough, it works on my EZFlash IV! Doesn't seem to be perfect, but it's definitely working!

Here's the patched rom: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2JWZb … sp=sharing

It's both patched for the header as well as for use with an EZ Flash IV.

You sir is awesome.