SN Systems ProDG / Nintendo GBA kit

Sorry babu, I wasn't trying to steal your thunder - I just had my kit to hand so thought I'd do the honours...

 

I am wondering whether our "source" is the same? My copy of ProDG went astray and I have managed to get hold of V1.0, but this kit mentions a later version in the manual.

The unit will be attached to a PC and not moved, I don't trust myself on the hoof! Bad enough having a PSP to drop yet alone a laptop, GBA dev kit and all the breakout stuff lol

 

hehe. don't worry. now I don't have to digg it up from the bottom my wardrobe ;-) (starting to get out of space to put things so I have to store it there )

 

My Kit came with ProDG version 1.11, but I'm positive there are later version to be had if you can find them.

In addition to the ProDG software, you'll almost definately need the AGB Developer Toolkit installed which contains the libararies etc, otherwise you may have troubles. I've not yet had a clean install using the installer package, but I've had the kit all up and running via a manual install.

See one of my earlier threads for more info - it may be of some use?
http://assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11313

I know what a nightmare it can be trying to obtain all the right bits, so feel free to PM me and I'm sure we can work something out :nod: .

 

just noticed:

So it's standard SCSI connector and none of the typical nintendo custom connectors.. nice, then I have 4 units

 

Yep totally! Nothing at all like the NGC ODEM Card which totally unique and difficult to come by. I use the Adaptec 1460 PCMCIA card for my GBA kit and it works a treat.....

http://assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12686

Just need to find a USB cable to power the break-out box and I'm all set :110: .

4 Units = nice work babu!!

 

best of all I got 3 of them for 'free' (I got them when biding on something else.. the seller wanted to get rid of them). :thumbsup:

 

Ha ha ha - A good days work there my friend. If they're all complete with boxes and stuff, you could probably get around £200 each! Who was this crazy seller - I demand names :lol:.

I guess you're the guy to ask if we ever need spare parts then right??

 

Unfortantly it was just the blackbox, cartridge and cable but none of the other stuff, still really nice
but I got a complete one too, I got for like £50-60 I think.
Wouldn't call him crazy just just a bit unlucky that none other then me seemd to find his auction, kind of feelt a bit bad about it afterwards.. =/
But I guess it was fair as that's how it works in a auction.

 

Did a quick check and my PSU says the same as jdc98
Thought my GBA unit looked sexier in it's pink transparent color :110:

edit: oh and the software for mine is 1.1b

 

If anyones after a mint one of these, It's up for sale for £250 ONO

Pics as soon as I can

Andy

 

jdc98, did you ever find the USB power cable for the black box? Curious.

Also Babu, if you still have the 3 incomplete units, I have opened my AGB dev unit and you'll see that there is little you need to do in order to get a standard AGB converted into a debugging unit. I shall check for you asap which is the grey/black connection, but the rest are clearly visible.

 

I've been looking for ages to get my hands on a cable in the UK, but in the end I bought one from the States. Still waiting for it to arrive so I've not yet had chance to test it. Thing is I could only find a 3.5mm DC jack, but need a 5mm one to fit the box....

My £3 purchase...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=180148354941&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=008

I hoping that it will work regrdless (with the use of some elastic band jiggery pokery), but if not I can always replace the jack with a larger one :nod:

I'll keep you posted just as soon as I hear more....

As for converting a regular GBA to a dev unit, is it really that simple? I've tried using the SNSys cart in my SP, but it fails to load the .ELF from Target Manager. I'm guessing that the power cables in your pics must perform a soft reset before it loads an image...? I've not gone as far as modding my retail unit to that extent in order to test it....

 

Let me know when your cable turns up! I'd like to see the result. As for the conversion, to be honest I have not tried it yet but have scanned the entire motherboard and everything is exactly the same as a standard AGB other than those 4 cable connections.I wasn't as software knowledgable as you, however the 2 cables appear to reset the unit. We can but try!

If it works then yahoo!

 

Yahoo indeed my good friend - it would make life so much easier using an SP with a backlit screen! That said I wouldn't want to de-solder the cables from my one and only dev unit, so I'm now on the hunt for a spare cable (shown in your top pic) or spare (*cheap*) dev unit - Babu do you have one a cheapie you'd like to sell?

I'll take some pics of my set-up just as soon as I get my hands on that cable....

 

parris > thanks for the pics, thought I did a check on what stuff I had and the only thing really missing is the interface card.


jdc98 > never send anything to another country before so I'm not sure how much work it would be. =/

 

The IS-AGB-Capture unit connects to another revision of Gameboy Advance motherboard. On the capture unit there are a number of features either removed or disabled. I'll see whether I can go inside the unit over the coming days and see what connection points are soldered. It too would presumably soft reset and is literally handing over the responsibilities of running titles to an external box. Might shed some light on the solder points in the development motherboard.

Tbh, the price of a cheap second hand AGB has dropped to peanuts so I may be tempted to test a genuine retail unit I mess around with. Not got time in the next few weeks though as I am back to my studies and straight into exams come Thursday.

 

Good idea - I might do the same. If only my soldering skills were up to scratch though... Would be interested to see the AGB-CAPTURE set-up too.

On a related note, I got the cable today and can confirm that it will work. I say will because the 3.5mm jack on the cable I got is far too small to fit the break-out box (It was worth the gamble for the price I paid). However I have managed to power the unit up from the cable via the means of "experimental twisted science" - don't ask :lol:

Found the correct cable today, but again it's in the states. There HAS to be one nearer to home (UK), but I just can't find one for love nor money!

http://cgi.ebay.com/NL0003-usb-to-5-5mm-jack-plug-charge-cable-5V_W0QQitemZ220142998669QQihZ012QQcategoryZ42322QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

Tried looking for a 3.5mm > 5.5mm converter too, but alas no joy on that front either.

Babu, I don't think the P&P from you to me would be too bad at all. If you have any spare items, feel free to PM me and we can go from there.

 

I got lots todo at work right now, but I can try to check with the post office this week (gha. just switched to dvorak and can't find the keys >_<)

 

Reviving this thread from the dead to post an image I should have posted a couple of weeks ago. I had 2 of these kits. Sold one on and kept the other. However, this unit is now up and running after developing a fault. Also thanks to Jon for sending a file I was missing from my dev HDD.



One of the Nintendo tech demos bundled with the AGB SDK.