GBA Flash, Linkers, Carts, ROMs etc

[crtcmp]

However, they usually have a few features missing, like the real-time clock and advanced savegame management.

Hi, new member here, I just wanted to say thanks for the useful post, i'm also new to the whole gba homebrew/modding scene. The main reason i want to get into this is so i can play some of those games i never got around to buying at the time of release and are hard to find now, but being able to make backups of the games i own would be nice too.
I also have some questions.
First, will i be able to put ANY gba or gb rom i downloaded on the card, and then just play like it was a normal, official cartrigde? If the rom has been tested and works fine on an emulator, that is.
Second, the part i quoted worries me a bit. Does it mean that i wont be able to save my progress in some games, and is the realtime clock important for some games?
Third, can I backup GB games too if i find the cable you're speaking of?
Fourth, if i one day buy a DS, will i be able to use the miniSD for the DS too, and will i be able to play GB games on that as well, possibly with an emulator?

[DanTheManMS]

We're treading on thin ice here, but I'll try to answer your questions while still staying within forum rules.

GBA files will run natively on the slot-2 device fine. GB and GBC files must be run via an emulator, of which the most popular and compatible is Goomba Color. You can create a Goomba Color compilation right now and test it in VBA to see how it will function. See the PocketHeaven Wiki entry on Goomba for instructions on using the Goomba frontend to create a compilation.

Similarly, if you got a linker cable you could dump your own GBA cartridges but not GB or GBC ones, as those use a different processor that runs at a different voltage. Same with dumping save files. Note that you can also dump/restore save files to/from official cartridges with a homebrew application called cart_save, so you no longer need a linker cable to do this.

To be honest I'm not really sure what I meant by "advanced savegame management" hehe. You'll be fine with any slot-2 device, as they should all save correctly. Real-time clock is only important for a few games, most notably some GBA Pokemon games that use the RTC for time-based events like berry growing and nocturnal Pokemon catching.

If you get a DS and want to use your slot-2 device, you will have to buy a slot-1 NoPass device to launch it in DS mode before you can launch DS binaries. Without the NoPass it will function exactly the same as it does in your GBA. There are a couple GB/GBC emulators for the DS as well, the most notable being Lameboy.

For what you want to do, I'd suggest a NAND-based device. Of these, since it will be used primarily for GBA gaming, I'd suggest either an M3 Perfect (not Pro) or an EZ-Flash IV (be careful which version you get as some can't run all GBA games, I think it's the Compact you want to avoid but I'm not sure). Look into these two and see which one you wish to buy.