Homebrew OPEN_AGB_FIRM discussion thread

[admin]

open_agb_firm

open_agb_firm is a bare metal interface for natively running GBA games and homebrew using the 3DS's built-in GBA hardware.

open_agb_firm is also a complete and better alternative to GBA VC injects (AGB_FIRM), allowing for:

• Launching GBA files directly from the SD card
• Writing save files directly to the SD card
• Automatic save type configuration using an included database
• User configuration, such as gamma settings
• Button remapping
• Border support for 1:1 scaling mode
• And more to come!

Disclaimer

open_agb_firm is currently in alpha. While open_agb_firm is relatively stable and safe to use, some quirks that have not been fixed. See Known Issues for more information.

Additionally, we are not responsible for any damage that may occur to your system as a direct or indirect result of you using open_agb_firm.

Patches

open_agb_firm supports automatically applying IPS and UPS patches. To use a patch, rename the patch file to match the ROM file name (without the extension).

• If you wanted to apply an IPS patch to example.gba, rename the patch file to example.ips

Known Issues

This section is reserved for a listing of known issues. At present only this remains:

• Sleep mode is not fully implemented.
• Using SELECT+Y to dump screen output to a file can freeze the screen output sometimes.
• Save type autodetection may still fail for certain games using EEPROM.
• Lack of settings.
• No cheats and other enhancements.

If you happen to stumble over another bug, please open an issue or contact profi200 via other platforms.

Hardware Limitations

open_agb_firm using the 3DS's built-in GBA hardware. Unfortunately, this comes with limitations compared to GBA emulators. This is a list of limitations we can't solve in software or are very hard to work around.

• >32 MiB (>256 Mbit) games and homebrew.
• Games with extra hardware built into the cartridge (except real-time clocks). Patches are required.
• Proper save autodetection (can't find save type during gameplay).
• GBA serial port (aka Link Cable).
• >32 KiB (>256 Kbit) SRAM (homebrew games/emulators).
• Reboots are required for switching between games.
• No save states. Very difficult to implement because no direct hardware access.
• Sound has lots of aliasing issues. No known workaround (hardware bug).

Link to official Github. (Official project by profi200) **LATEST BUILD IS 2023-10-6**

I made a little video xD

Note: I did not make this software nor am I involved. This is just a discussion thread.