Archive.org ROMs not running in GBC emulators

[Teone]

Hi everybody!

I'm still learning how things work with emulation and roms, and I want to ask your help to understand an issue.

I've found some .gbc bootleg ROMs at archive.org, and they run in their web emulator, but when I download them and try to play them at any Retroarch core I have, I only get white screens. Apparently archive.org uses a MAME emulator to run them, but even trying the current and 2010 MAME cores I couldn't make them work.

The files I'm speaking of are these two:

Metal Gear Solid II (合金装备II) and Digimon Fight (数码暴龙-格斗版), both by Sintax

Does anyone knows why?

 

[fake-kun]

Hi everybody!

I'm still learning how things work with emulation and roms, and I want to ask your help to understand an issue.

I've found some .gbc bootleg ROMs at archive.org, and they run in their web emulator, but when I download them and try to play them at any Retroarch core I have, I only get white screens. Apparently archive.org uses a MAME emulator to run them, but even trying the current and 2010 MAME cores I couldn't make them work.

The files I'm speaking of are these two:

Metal Gear Solid II (合金装备II) and Digimon Fight (数码暴龙-格斗版), both by Sintax

Does anyone knows why?

Retroarch's MAME cores are known to be bad. Try using standalone MAME.

 

[Zemus]

I could try and trace it back, but this doesn't look like a recoverable error. Archive.org pages preloaded a lot of files besides the downloadable ROMs, like configs and a custom MAME BIOS and whatnot...at least I assume that's why it says MAME. Best to look into what that site is actually doing or find another source for them.

It even crashes differently after resetting, throwing itself somewhere around FEA0 after a ret instruction. I tried replacing a few of the rets with nops, but it keeps hanging on different locations now...

 

[Clippy]

There's an emulator that's focused specifically on running bootlegs. Give that a go maybe.

GitHub - tzlion/hhugboy: A Game Boy (Color) emulator for Windows, based on GEST v1.1.1 by TM, with added support for unlicensed mappers, Unicode filenames, screenshots and some other stuff.

A Game Boy (Color) emulator for Windows, based on GEST v1.1.1 by TM, with added support for unlicensed mappers, Unicode filenames, screenshots and some other stuff. - GitHub - tzlion/hhugboy: A Ga...

github.com

 

[Zemus]

There's an emulator that's focused specifically on running bootlegs. Give that a go maybe.

GitHub - tzlion/hhugboy: A Game Boy (Color) emulator for Windows, based on GEST v1.1.1 by TM, with added support for unlicensed mappers, Unicode filenames, screenshots and some other stuff.

A Game Boy (Color) emulator for Windows, based on GEST v1.1.1 by TM, with added support for unlicensed mappers, Unicode filenames, screenshots and some other stuff. - GitHub - tzlion/hhugboy: A Ga...

github.com

Success!!

 

[Teone]

There's an emulator that's focused specifically on running bootlegs. Give that a go maybe.

GitHub - tzlion/hhugboy: A Game Boy (Color) emulator for Windows, based on GEST v1.1.1 by TM, with added support for unlicensed mappers, Unicode filenames, screenshots and some other stuff.

A Game Boy (Color) emulator for Windows, based on GEST v1.1.1 by TM, with added support for unlicensed mappers, Unicode filenames, screenshots and some other stuff. - GitHub - tzlion/hhugboy: A Ga...

github.com

I know this one, but thanks for sharing anyway! The problem is that I want to share them also to people like me, who use Linux retro handhelds, like RG35XX+ with Retroarch. :c

If I figured it right, the only way is to find different dumps or hacked version of these roms. The Matel Gear II, for example, have a "Cracked" version that works with common emulators in the Handheld Underground repository!

My problem was I took the roms from archive.org and not from hhug.me/dump/ list.

Now I need to find the English version of these games, or their translation patches...

 

[Zemus]

Another good resource! Here's "2003 Digitmon Sapphire" on my GBA.

It's a platformer where you use the creature from Bubble Bobble.

Post automatically merged: Jan 7, 2025

Problem solved, @Teone ?

 

[thecrow2313]

It's using a Javascript emulator something like this one here @ https://github.com/EmulatorJS/EmulatorJS

 

[Yousef Yousef]

Is this mostly the case with GBC or does it extend to PSX/PS2 roms also?

 

[Teone]

Is this mostly the case with GBC or does it extend to PSX/PS2 roms also?

I believe it's a problem specifically with taiwanese/chinese bootleg cartridges. They must have used some different hardware or have some proper antipiracy tool, and it makes these roms to need some special treatment if we want them to work on our regular emulators. I guess it's something along those lines.

 

[Yousef Yousef]

I believe it's a problem specifically with taiwanese/chinese bootleg cartridges. They must have used some different hardware or have some proper antipiracy tool, and it makes these roms to need some special treatment if we want them to work on our regular emulators. I guess it's something along those lines.

Understandable. Interesting to learn about.

 

[Clippy]

I believe it's a problem specifically with taiwanese/chinese bootleg cartridges. They must have used some different hardware or have some proper antipiracy tool, and it makes these roms to need some special treatment if we want them to work on our regular emulators. I guess it's something along those lines.

The irony of bootleggers implementing anti-piracy measures is deliciously palpable.

 

[MasterEn]

The irony of bootleggers implementing anti-piracy measures is deliciously palpable.

don't you see, it's like poetry. like when anakin blew up the Federation droid control ship,

to be slightly more serious. the bootleggers put in a lot of hard work on their games, they should be protective of them. :)