geckojsc
Offline
London, UK

Hey guys, I recently got a backlit Gameboy as a present, and I bought a 64M flash cart from Kitsch Bent. It was running fine with LSDJ for about 3 days or so, then the software crashed and gave me a memory dump. I didn't have time to capture it, because the screen turned white.
I reset the Gameboy and my song was all garbled, then I got another error screen which I took a rough picture of (though I doubt this is a software problem):

I think that the ROM is somehow corrupting, and the sav file may corrupt as a result of this. Of course, I could be completely wrong, I don't know that much about hardware. I guessed this might be a problem with the battery, although from what I understand, a low or faulty battery should only be affecting my save data. Maybe it's related to this topic?

I've tried flashing on 3 devices: my new laptop (64-bit Windows 7 with the GB_USB.exe), my Raspberry Pi and my old laptop running Linux (with ems_flasher), using different cables and using fresh sav files, but had the same result every time: I've found that if I wait for 1 or 2 days and then try to write a ROM, it transfers correctly, but then glitches and breaks again after 5-10 minutes of use. After that, the Gameboy never gets past the Nintendo logo.

if I try to write to the cartridge without waiting for a long time, the rom isn't transferred in-tact. The name may contain a few wrong symbols, and the file size may be wrong, and the Nintendo logo comes up garbled.

Here's some notes from my Twitter:

  • Oh noes, my #lsdj save file got corrupted. The songs seem still intact, but any device or emulator I try it on grinds to a pixelly halt.

  • Yaay, I recovered my songs from the .sav using http://code.google.com/p/lsdmanager/ , copied them into a blank .sav file, and everything is working fine. :D

  • Can't flash to my cart. When I write a rom, the title is 90% intact but with a few wrong letters. Gameboy boots to a garbled Nintendo logo

  • If I switch pages on the gb_usb software, then switch back (or close and open it) the rom no longer appears in the list, like it's not there

  • Gameboy cartridge decided to taunt me by successfully flashing, starting LSDJ and working for 2 minutes before stalling and corrupting again

  • Seems like it became more reliable after leaving it untouched for a day, then messed up again after a little use.

Any suggestions on what the problem may be, or if this is something I could fix myself? I would try replacing the battery, but I don't want to mess with the cartridge in case I have to return it to Kitsch.
Any help, info or comments are appreciated! Thanks :)

Last edited by geckojsc (Jan 21, 2013 8:07 pm)

Alley Beach
Offline
clovis CA

try using a different gb? that worked for me

geckojsc
Offline
London, UK

Mmh, I've tried with both my GBA SP, and my Classic, but still got the same behaviour.

Saskrotch
Offline
Chicago IL

Have you tried saving the SRAM to disk, formating the cart, then reloading LSDJ and the sav?

Or you could try different versions of the LSDJ rom, and letting it create a sav file on its own, taking THAT save, using LSDManager to put your songs on it, and see how that works

geckojsc
Offline
London, UK

I rescued my old songs and copied them into a new sav file (generated by an emulator). I've also tried generating a fresh sav file with no songs and flashing that, although I haven't tried different versions of LSDJ yet, I will give it a try tomorrow. smile

Is there any way I could completely clear the SRAM so that LSDJ generates a new sav on the hardware instead of using an emulator?