Help with SD Supercard - It just isn't loading

Radiator · July 06, 2005, 04:39:02 PM

Hi all.

I ordered and received an SD Supercard from Hopebuy last week - I've been reading about the SC for a while and it sounded like a good buy for GBA backups...

The trouble is I can't get it to load on my SP (or DS). I've tried re-formatting my SD card (FAT, default allocation, no label), and I've tried putting the firmware upgrade in the root of the card, but it still doesn't get past the Gameboy logo on bootup.

Can anyone help me out with this? Am I doing something wrong here - does something else have to be in the root of the card besides the games? If all else fails, what are my chances of getting a refund out of Hopebuy??

analogduck · July 06, 2005, 05:21:34 PM

I was about to start my own thread when I saw yours, Radiator. I may be experiencing the same problem. I too ordered my cartridge from HopeBuy last week. I just received my SuperCard SD today. I plugged it into my Nintendo DS and the Nintendo DS says "There is no Game Pak inserted." I cannot select the GBA Game Pak item. Apparently the card is not working.

Details:

A 512MB Kingston SD flash card has been inserted into the SuperCard SD.

The card is formatted as type FAT.

I have put the following items onto the SD flash card: 25 GBA ROM files ending in the .gba extension, 1 text file, 1 mp3, the SuperCard movie player from the SuperCard site.

It would appear from the post made by tShaman that it should be a simple plug and play operation, which leads me to believe that the cartridge is dead.
(See http://supercard.mine.nu/forums/viewtopic.php?t=414 for the post I am referring to).

Any helpful input on this would be greatly appreciated!

I should also mention that I have sent an email with the above information to the SuperCard people as well. I will post their replies here if they are in any way useful.

Deadmon · July 06, 2005, 05:55:44 PM

Uh, this may not help, but like you suggested, it might be the SD card.

I remember when I first got my supercard I put my CF card in the wrong direction >_>

analogduck · July 06, 2005, 06:03:09 PM

Okay. I just tried to flip the SD flash card the other way when inserting and it does not fit at all, so it looks like I was inserting in the proper direction. It actually clicks into place in the usual SD card fashion, giving a feeling of confidence. I have also pushed the SD SuperCard into my DS as firmly as possible without posing danger to the DS.

Still no go.

Still, thank you Deadmon, your input is appreciated.

Cypress · July 06, 2005, 06:27:32 PM

I think the problem is the Supercard... Seems like a defect...
Cause if it would be the SD the GBA would boot up and say: Can't
find the SD. Please turn off GBA

cory1492 · July 06, 2005, 11:31:29 PM

Dont know if it will help, but here is what I can say:
My SD card works fine (generic branded el cheapo 256MB) but if I put the SC SD into the slot without it the DS says the same as yours (no gamepak inserted...)

analogduck · July 07, 2005, 12:26:13 AM

Okay, that sounds plausible. I will borrow some SD cards from other peoples and plug them into my SuperCard to see if I can get it working. I will post the results as soon as I do.

Thank you for your suggestion.

Just curious - Does anyone think this might be because I used a large (512MB) flash card? Maybe I should have picked up a smaller card.

AsciiSmoke · July 07, 2005, 08:40:17 AM

I had exactly this problem, it turned out to be pretty silly reason.

The SuperCard felt like it was all the way into my GBA SP but it was wasn't. A good hard push, put it in flush with the edge of the console.

As you'll find the symptom your getting is exactly the same as when you boot your GBA without a cart in there.

If you find that you've got the supercard in right and your still not getting it to boot, try cleaning the connectors on your GBA / Supercard

Radiator · July 07, 2005, 09:02:23 AM

I have tried pushing the SC in as far as it can go, and also holding the SD in as far as I can - no luck for me so far.

I've tried a couple of SDs with the same results. I hope this isn't a general defect.

Anyway, I have emailed Hopebuy. Lets see what they say.

Radiator · July 07, 2005, 09:39:14 AM

Updates

I read AsciiSmoke's helpful post again and took the advice. I gave the pins on the SC a good polish with a drop of lighter fluid. My SP and DS still both agree that there's no cartridge inserted... Ah, well it was worth a try.

I have a reply from Hopebuy! They are advising me to make sure I'm using the SD Supercard software and NOT the CF software... Well I doubt that's the source of the problem, but at least they are trying to help, which is a good sign (For the record, I'm definately using the SD software).

Back to the drawing board then!

Any more suggestions/comments? I'd like to hear from more SD users. I'm still hoping the problems that Analogduck and myself are experiencing are isolated incidents.

AsciiSmoke · July 07, 2005, 09:45:06 AM

Well, it's a long shot but If you happen to be in the vacinity of Basingstoke / Fleet / Farnborough UK, I'd be happy to let you try my Compact Flash Version in your GBA

AsciiSmoke

analogduck · July 07, 2005, 11:37:30 AM

I have received two email responses from SuperCard. I will post them now. I have not yet contacted HopeBuy as my thinking is that they are just the reseller and probably would not be as effective in supporting the unit, but I could be wrong. I will email HopeBuy today and post their response here as well.

The first email I received from SuperCard was a little disheartening. It read:

Quote1.you must that the SD card insert to SuperCard.
2. SuperCard insert to NDS.
3 .turn on NDS.

Needless to say, not only had I already done all of this, but I also had detailed the fact very carefully along with the type and size of flash card, contents of the flash card and so forth. I figure that either they were too busy to read my email, or that the language barrier was proving a problem. I do not mean to insult them by saying this. Admittedly, I cannot read any of the many dialects of Chinese, so their ability to read any of my English is most helpful.

The second email I received this morning was a bit more encouraging, but still not quite appropriate:

Quoteyou can test it ,
1.Press "L+R"keys,when you turn on GBA
2.press"A"key ,it will test next.
3.you may get a report.

Unfortunately the only GBA I have is VisualBoyAdvance (software, that is). I don't own a GBA. I don't have high hopes for this as my NDS is not even detecting a cartridge, but I tried anyway:

I put SD flash card into the SuperCard. I put SuperCard into the Nintendo DS. I pressed L+R and turned on the Nintendo DS. I received the same message: "There is no Game Pak inserted."

I have emailed the SuperCard people back with my results as detailed here.

In response to some of the other input here:

My connectors are as clean as could be. My NDS is less than a month old and has only every had one cartridge in it, which I keep in there to cover the otherwise open and exposed hole. The SuperCard likewise is brand new. I visually checked each set of connectors and they look immaculate.

I am positive that both the SD card and the SuperCard are seated firmly and properly in position. The SD card clicks into place when inserted. Pushing in further results in the usual spring-loaded SD card eject. Prior to my first post here I inserted and re-inserted the SuperCard many times to ensure that it was seated properly in the NDS. Everytime yielded the same result of "There is no Game Pak inserted." I then pushed on the SuperCard until I heard it and the NDS creak under the stress. (Read: It's not going in any further without breaking something). Same result: "There is no Game Pak inserted."

Thank you for all of your input, AsciiSmoke. Unfortunately, I'm not living in the UK or I'd take you up on your offer of visiting to do a trial of swapping carts.

Radiator's email from HopeBuy said that he should check to confirm he is using the proper software for the SuperCard (SD version vs. CF version). I am not only using the proper software, but also am under the impression that the software is not necessary unless you are patching (which slows the games down and so is often undesirable) or playing a movie/mp3/etc. Is this true? In any case, I put the SD version of the movie player on my SD card. I have both patched and non-patched games on the card. I am under the impression that no other software goes on the SD card other than the movie player, correct? Doesn't the SuperCard have firmware to read the .gba files? In fact, even the movie player is a .gba file! What other software would need to go on the cart?

I will now go find some more SD cards and try them to be certain it's not my SD card which is the problem. Failing that I will pronounce the cartridge dead and attempt to get an exchange from HopeBuy.

Any other input is still welcome! =)

analogduck · July 07, 2005, 11:54:59 AM

Is it necessary to install the the kernel update from SuperCard's web site? How do you appy the kernel update? Do I just load the two files from the .rar onto the SD card? Shouldn't my SuperCard come with a kernel in firmware to read the .gba files? Does anyone think that I may be missing something that I needed to load on my SD card?

Thank you all. I'm just trying to be thorough prior to telling HopeBuy that I need an exchange. Shipping all the way back to China is expensive and time consuming.

Radiator: You said you cannot get your SuperCard to load on the GBA or DS. You have tried both then? If so, did your DS give the same error text that I am getting? ("There is no Game Pak inserted.")

Radiator · July 07, 2005, 12:54:27 PM

Quote from: "AsciiSmoke"Well, it's a long shot but If you happen to be in the vacinity of Basingstoke / Fleet / Farnborough UK, I'd be happy to let you try my Compact Flash Version in your GBA

Thanks AsciiSmoke, you seem like a decent guy. All my retail games work fine on both my SP and my DS, so I'm confident that the hardware isn't faulty.

Quote from: "analogduck"Radiator: You said you cannot get your SuperCard to load on the GBA or DS. You have tried both then? If so, did your DS give the same error text that I am getting? ("There is no Game Pak inserted.")

Yeah, it does. I don't consider it error text though, it just comes up with the message it gives when no GBA cart is inserted - i.e. it just can't detect the SC in the slot.

I would be interested in the answers to Analogduck's other questions - I thought the SC was basically plug & play, but I can't help thinking I'm doing something wrong. AFAIK, to apply the kernel update, you just copy the files into the root of the card - is this correct?

Thanks again for all the support the people on this board have given.

analogduck · July 07, 2005, 03:30:04 PM

Quoteanalogduck wrote:
Radiator: You said you cannot get your SuperCard to load on the GBA or DS. You have tried both then? If so, did your DS give the same error text that I am getting? ("There is no Game Pak inserted.")

radiator wrote:
Yeah, it does. I don't consider it error text though, it just comes up with the message it gives when no GBA cart is inserted - i.e. it just can't detect the SC in the slot.

Heh. Yeah, I almost put the word "error" in quotes because I'm under the same impression.

I just tried a second SD card (it was a Sandisk 512MB card). I received the same results. I will try one or two more SD cards in the SuperCard prior to returning it.

I went ahead and bought myself an EZFlash III from Jandman.com because I'm fairly certain this item is DOA and who knows how long it will take to resolve (negotiate an exchange, ship, etc.). I'm pretty bummed about all of this. I've now contacted HopeBuy and am awaiting a reply.

Quoteradiator wrote:
I would be interested in the answers to Analogduck's other questions - I thought the SC was basically plug & play, but I can't help thinking I'm doing something wrong. AFAIK, to apply the kernel update, you just copy the files into the root of the card - is this correct?

It is hard to believe that anything else would be necessary, as the box came with no instructions regarding loading up software, kernel updates, etc. Nonetheless, I can't help but feel as though I might be missing something.

I also would like to thank everyone for their input on this item. Your feedback has kept me sane. These cartridges (and their shipping charges from China) are not cheap. Any other ideas or input are still welcome.