[Visual Boy Advance GX] Use a real GBA through a Link Cable

Hi everybody,

I searched the Internet, but I didn't find anything. I am sorry if the answer already exists.

My question is quite simple : is it possible to use a real GBA as a controller, maybe even as a game source (if a cartridge is in it) through a Link Cable connected to a Gamecube controller slot ?

I know (and have tested) that that câble works with Dios Mios, so I figure it would be technically possible to use it with a homebrew. But I don't know if somebody has ever found that interesting enough to motivate the work. Does someone know something about this ? I think it would be *technically* possible to "extract" the driver from the original mIOS or something, but I don't know how difficult it could be (I know I couldn't do it, anyway).

EDIT : I insist on that : I don't mean the feature to simulate a connexion between several GBA, a GBA and the emulator, or something like that, but use juste one as a source/controller.

But I think using a real GBA as an controller may be quite useful for the gamers who want the most legitimate experience possible. And using that same GBA as a source device may be useful for those who want to play their games on a TV screen with a Gamecube controller, but do not have the Gamecube device to do so (you know, that thing that a all eight people on the planet had).

Thank you for the time reading, and more if you reply.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2013 09:58PM by Tangeek.

Quote
Tangeek
My question is quite simple : is it possible to use a real GBA as a controller, maybe even as a game source (if a cartridge is in it) through a Link Cable connected to a Gamecube controller slot ?

As far as I know, not much is known about how the cable works. Because of that, it is not possible to transfer data between it using homebrew.

Quote
Tangeek
I know (and have tested) that that câble works with Dios Mios, so I figure it would be technically possible to use it with a homebrew. But I don't know if somebody has ever found that interesting enough to motivate the work. Does someone know something about this ? I think it would be *technically* possible to "extract" the driver from the original mIOS or something, but I don't know how difficult it could be (I know I couldn't do it, anyway).

The cable doesn't work with DIOS MIOS, it works with the game that you were playing. I'm sure a few people were interested but no developers took the time or interest to figure it out. It seems plausible to do that but unfortunately there's nothing there. MIOS does not have "drivers" for the link cable; The game's that use it all control interface/data that the link cable uses. You can't "extract" drivers from those games either because it is not the same as drivers on a computer. You must do a lot of debuging and reverse engineering to figure out how the cable works. That's probably why no one has done it.

Quote
Tangeek
EDIT : I insist on that : I don't mean the feature to simulate a connexion between several GBA, a GBA and the emulator, or something like that, but use juste one as a source/controller.

It could be possible however you would basically need to make a homebrew GBA app that detects input then sends it to the link cable and then a homebrew app/interface for the Wii to take that data and turn it into Gamecube controls. You would need a way to send the GBA homebrew to the GBA using the link cable (which I'm pretty sure has some kind of verification, otherwise anyone could send GBA homebrew/roms to their GBAs.)

Quote
Tangeek
But I think using a real GBA as an controller may be quite useful for the gamers who want the most legitimate experience possible. And using that same GBA as a source device may be useful for those who want to play their games on a TV screen with a Gamecube controller, but do not have the Gamecube device to do so (you know, that thing that a all eight people on the planet had).

While it may be useful to a handful of people, I'm sure most people would go out and buy a Gamecube and a GBA player. It does exactly what you are describing. I'm not sure what you mean about eight people having, but I guess my point is that it's much easier to get those items than to figure out how to make it work for the Wii.

Quote
bg4545
The cable doesn't work with DIOS MIOS, it works with the game that you were playing. I'm sure a few people were interested but no developers took the time or interest to figure it out. It seems plausible to do that but unfortunately there's nothing there. MIOS does not have "drivers" for the link cable; The game's that use it all control interface/data that the link cable uses. You can't "extract" drivers from those games either because it is not the same as drivers on a computer. You must do a lot of debuging and reverse engineering to figure out how the cable works. That's probably why no one has done it.

I see. By extract, I did mean reverse engineering, hexadecimal viewer, and all that stuff, but I don't know much about that, so I prefered to use a generic word. I didn't know I should have talked about the game, and not Dios Mios, though.
(Not sure about the grammatical time I had to use there. Sorry if it's terribly wrong)

Quote
bg4545
While it may be useful to a handful of people, I'm sure most people would go out and buy a Gamecube and a GBA player. It does exactly what you are describing. I'm not sure what you mean about eight people having, but I guess my point is that it's much easier to get those items than to figure out how to make it work for the Wii.

Well, the thing is that, the GBA Player, I have seen it only once in my entire life. And I can't find it in any second hand store (even the best one that still has NES to sell). :'-(
I don't know if it's just my region that is unlucky (I live in Brussels), but the fact is the item seems quite rare.

That's why I think it would still be interesting to do that. And if it's not *useful*, it's still a great challenge, isn't it ? :D
No... ?
Really ?
Seriously though, I totally get it if nobody wants to take the time to do it if nobody uses it. I think it would be a beautiful thing to accomplish, but it's a kinda (very) weak argument.

By the way, when I say "the all eight people that had it", I just mean that the amount of people that had it is very small. The number eight is just random. I should first learn how to speak English well before making my own expressions. ^^

Thanks for the reply, anyway. :-)

I didn't understand your expression because here in the U.S. many people had and have Gamecubes. I, of course, can't speak for Belgium though so if they're hard to come by in your area then that's different.
I'm not saying it wouldn't be cool and a challenge but I personally don't have the knowledge to take on that kind of project and those who do aren't interested as far as I know. I would suggest seeing if you can find a GB player and Gamecube in an online store? You can try amazon.fr



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2013 01:06AM by bg4545.