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[rash_462]

Hi. I'm having a problem with my Supercard. I've already installed the latest firmware and i'm using the latest convertor. For a first few days, the SC works fine for me. But now, everytime i want to play the DS/GBA games, i will have the white blank screen.

Sometimes, i managed to play the DS/GBA games after keep trying for more than 20 times or so. I also have much better luck playing the GBA games rather than the DS games.

I've also formatted (FAT)/disk checked/defrag my SD card. Sometimes when i'm in the test mode, i will get a SD Ram error. When i tried to play the GBA games in the DS mode, the Nintendo logo seems kinda messed up.

I've already cleaned the connector and yet the problem is still there. BTW i don't have other SD cards to test but my SD card works fine with the reader and the SC detected it with no problem whatsoever.

My DS firmware is V1 and i've once installed flashme and already uninstalled it back.

Also i don't know if it's worth mentioned, i've started to have the white blank screen when i've returned to the DS games select menu (by pressing the ABXY combo IIRC) to select other DS games to play.

I'm hoping you guys could give me advice on how to resolve my problem.

Thanks in advance.

[bitblt]

Well, from what you have described it could be any one of the following . . .

1) DS hardware malfunction
2) SD malfunction
3) Supercard hardware malfunction
4) Supercard firmware issue
5) Flashme firmware issue
6) Problem with rom patcher version, or actual roms

Lets try to narrow down the possibilities . . .

1) DS hardware malfunction

Remove supercard, passme, and any games from your DS.  Power up your DS and let is sit for a few minutes, and then verify basic operation (Picochat etc).  Next test a real DS game for a few minutes.  Then test a real GBA game for a few minutes, re-inserting the GBA game several different times to test the GBA slot.  All good?

2) SD malfunction

Use windows to format your SD as FAT, not FAT32, with no quick format.  Copy a large file to your SD, any file(s) about the same size as your SD. Then move the file(s) back to your PC.  All good?

3) Supercard hardware malfunction

Copy one patched GBA rom to your Supercard.  Power up your DS normally and test run your GBA game rom in GBA mode.  Try this several times looking for any white screen problems.  All good?

4) Supercard firmware issue

Insert passme into your DS slot.  Power up your DS then test the dual screen Supercard logo menu.  All good?

5) Flashme firmware issue

Remove passme. Power up in DS mode then test the dual screen Supercard logo menu.  All good?

6) Problem with rom patcher, or actual roms

Copy one patched DS rom to your Supercard.  Power up and test your DS game rom for several minutes looking for any white screen problems.  Test each additional game rom independently.  All good?

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Let me know at what point you run into problems.

[rash_462]

Well, from what you have described it could be any one of the following . . .

1) DS hardware malfunction
2) SD malfunction
3) Supercard hardware malfunction
4) Supercard firmware issue
5) Flashme firmware issue
6) Problem with rom patcher, or actual roms

Lets try to narrow down the possibilities . . .

1) DS hardware malfunction

Remove supercard, passme, and any games from your DS.  Power up your DS and let is sit for a few minutes, and then verify basic operation (Picochat etc).  Next test a real DS game for a few minutes.  Then test a real GBA game for a few minutes, re-inserting the GBA game several different times to test the GBA slot.  All good?

2) SD malfunction

Use windows to format your SD as FAT, not FAT32, with no quick format.  Copy a large file to your SD, any file(s) about the same size as your SD. Then move the file(s) back to your PC.  All good?

3) Supercard hardware malfunction

Copy one patched GBA rom to your Supercard.  Power up your DS normally and test run your GBA game rom in GBA mode.  Try this several times looking for any white screen problems.  All good?

4) Supercard firmware issue

Insert passme into your DS slot.  Power up your DS then test the dual screen Supercard logo menu.  All good?

5) Flashme firmware issue

Remove passme. Power up in DS mode then test the dual screen Supercard logo menu.  All good?

6) Problem with rom patcher, or actual roms

Copy one patched DS rom to your Supercard.  Power up and test your DS game rom for several minutes looking for any white screen problems.  Test each additional game rom independently.  All good?

----------

Let me know at what point you run into problems.

Thanks bitblt. Sorry for the late reply.

For the first possibility, my DS works fine for all the basic operation. It can boot up an actual GBA/DS cartridge/card normally. Also the pictochat works like a charm. I also had another DS and a GBA to test the supercard but the white blank screen is still there so we could eliminate the first possibility.

For the second possibility, i've already formatted my SD card with the FAT format. I also can transfer files easily from/to the card. I've also run the disk check and the disk defragmenter and there is no error. So i guess we could eliminate this possibility too.

For the third possibility, i've put a few GBA games that's already been patched by the latest software converter which is the v2.51 and all games will boot to a white screen. Also i will have much better luck playing a GBA game if only it's already being load in the SRAM of the supercard, which means that i couldn't play the GBA games for the first time but there is a possibility that i could play that game after the consecutive reboot because it seems the SC still restore the GBA games in the RAM. Sorry if  my explanation is kinda confusing since i'm not an expert in the technical things. So we could eliminate this possiblity too.

For the fourth possibility, i could go to the SC-SD menu after booting up my DS with the passme inserted, but after i chose a DS rom games to load, it will load to a white blank screen.

For the fifth possibility, the SC-SD will also boot the SC-SD menu normally when the Passme is not even inserted because i have the flashme. At first i thought that maybe flashme is the one that causing the problem, i've uninstall it using the noflashme.nds and the problem is still there.

For the final possibility, i've put 3 DS patched games but i still got the white blank screens. I've also make a DS rom with an extension of .dsi so that it load with the supercard ram since i have better luck playing the GBA games this way. But i still got the problem.

Do you guys think maybe this problem was related with my SD card because when i'm entering the self test mode, sometimes i will get an error in the SD RAM. Then i'll format the card again, after a few tries with the blank white screens, i run the self test mode again and the error is there. But I don't have other SD cards to test this theory.

Also what do you guys think about when i run the GBA games in the DS mode, i will get a messed up nintendo logo and the GBA games will hang on that screen. Usually when this problem happen with an actual GBA cartridge, we just need to blow/clean the connector and the problem will go away. Is it related to the connector of the supercard? Because i've been cleaning the connector with a damp cotton bud and i still got the white screens after that.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks again bitblt.

[bitblt]

I find it interesting that it "sometimes works after ~20 trys".  I think we have narrowed it down to this . . .

1)  Some issue with SD

What type, size, speed SD do you have?  Perhaps there is a timing problem that is better handled by windows?  Can you get access to another SD?  I think Frys sells 128MB SDs for <$10.

2)  Some issue with the Supercard internal ram

Perhaps the Supercard ram has an intermittent problem?  Have you tried running a smaller game like Elf Bowling?  What happens when you run a small homebrew demo?

Also, when you do get a DS game running does it run properly for long period of time?

[Keroro]

Do you ever get the "do not find SD card etc..." error message ?
Because it look likes a problem some people, including me, have encounter.
Especially the "after 20 min trying..." thing : SC appears to do that a little before it totally don't work anymore.

To me, your SC is broken and you'd better contact the shop where you've purchased it for an exchange.

[pg65]

I was having problems with some games playing good on a laxer 128 SD, when the SD was replaced it stopped happening.

[rash_462]

Thanks guys for the feedback.

I'm using a 1 GB DNA brand SD card. I've never encountered the "did not found a SD card" message. BTW i've never tested a small sized DS roms and i was playing the AC:WW via the WFC before this problem starts to regularly occured. Is there a possibility that maybe Nintendo updated something using their online service so that they could detect that we're using a DS rom not an actual DS cartridge?

I've contacted my SC supplier and he said to return the SC back to him and he'll check the SC. If he finds the fault was with the SC, he'll replace it for me.

Thanks again guys. Really appreciate it.

[bitblt]

Is there a possibility that maybe Nintendo updated something using their online service . . .

Not impossible . . . but very unlikely.  That concept is why I won't buy a PSP.

[Blight]

no that's not it

I think there are three possibilities that are likely

1. your supercard is broken. could be anywhere as the thing has quite cheap hardware which could flip.

2. something may have gone wrong with the firmware. all the nintendo wfc games write to the firmware of the nintendo ds first.
if something went wrong with installing flashme an error could accour.
I suggest you install flashme v6 again and see if that works.
(this situation is even more likely if you once updated flashme v5 to v6.

3. you got yourself one of the bad voltage supercards.
as you said it works after 20 tries this is the only thing I can think of.
not much supercard with bad voltages were sold but if you bought your one second hand it may be a possibility.

so first try to install flashme on your ds again or even better if you can try your supercard in another ds. if that still doesn't work, get a new SC.

[rash_462]

Thanks bitblt and Blight.

I've tested my SC with another DS and a GBA and i still get the white blank screen. So i guess the fault is with the SC. I've already sent back my SC and i'm hoping that my seller will give me a good news.