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GBxCart Rw reader review
Recently, I managed to purchase a GBxCart Rw reader, and it turned out to be an extremely cool device. In this article, I would like to talk about it in more detail.
This reader comes in a simple bag:
Inside, there is the reader itself and an empty GBA cartridge shell:
The cartridge shell can be placed over the reader to protect the board, but unfortunately, it doesn't have a hole for the USB cable. The developer suggests that you make one yourself.
GBxCart Rw can do a lot of things.
Like any other reader, this device can create ROM images of GB/GBC/GBA games to your computer. It can copy save data from a cartridge to your computer and restore it back to the cartridge. It can also save photos from the Game Boy Camera to your computer.
But these are standard features that not only all readers can do, but also, for example, programs for Nintendo DS.
The distinctive feature of this reader is the ability to write games to pirate cartridges!
Where to buy?
I bought this device on the websiteZedLabz.
Its cost is approximately 3700 rubles.
Upd. As of 2023, it's not very clear how to order this board to Russia. If you really need a reader, consider the Flash Boy 3.2 Cyclone Dumper. It's a slightly outdated clone of this reader, but it works fine.
It should be noted that this store is located in England, and it's unknown if it delivers to Russia. But there is a great service global.cdek.ru. This service works as follows: first, you need to register on the site, then you will be given an address and details so that the warehouse workers can identify your order. After that, you order the product from the store (indicating the details you were given). When the product is shipped, you go back to the Cdek website and add the expected package. When the package arrives, you will be notified and can choose where to send the product.
This is very convenient and very cheap. The cost of such a package from England will cost you about 650 rubles, which is generally comparable to delivery within Russia.
What to buy additionally for GBxCart Rw?
The only thing missing in this device is a cable. The cable should be USB (type C) to USB (type A), but you probably already have this cable.
Please note, if you want to rewrite some pirate cartridges, you can rewrote these cartridges:
Preparation for work
First, you need to download the FlashGBX program from the store page insideGadgets.
Scroll down to the Download section and download the version of FlashGBX for your operating system. This program works on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.
You may need to install drivers and other programs:
1. Driver for Windows: CH340-Driver.zip;
2. Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Packages (x86 and x64) for Visual Studio 2015.
FlashGBX program
When you open the program, you will see this menu:
On the left, there is information about the cartridge, and on the right, there are action buttons and various menus.
When you insert the cartridge into the reader, you need to press the Connect button. Then (at the top) you need to select the version of the cartridge Game Boy / Game Boy Advance depending on the cartridge you inserted.
After that, the cartridge will be recognized, and data about the cartridge will appear on the left, while the other buttons on the right will become active.
Please note that after pressing the Connect button and connecting the cartridge, this button will change to the Disconnect button. Before removing the cartridge from the reader, you need to press the Disconnect button.
What do these buttons do?
Refresh – in normal situations, this button does nothing. It can be useful only if you changed the data on the left (ROM Size, Save Type, Mapper Type, or Cart) and pressing this button will return the data to its previous values.
Analyze Flash Cart – the most useful button. The program automatically detects the chip installed on your cartridge. This is needed to rewrite your cartridge, so you don't have to struggle trying to select your chip from a huge list.
Backup ROM – creates a ROM image of the game and allows you to save it to your computer.
Write ROM – allows you to write a ROM image to the cartridge (we'll talk more about this later)
Backup Save Data – creates a copy of the save data from your cartridge and allows you to save it to your computer.
Write Save Data – now this is a tab with three options:
Restore from save data file – writes save data to the cartridge (for example, the one you got using the Backup Save Data button).
Erase cartridge save data – completely deletes save data from the cartridge.
Run stress test – runs a memory test. It will report if there are any errors. Don't forget to back up your save data before the test!
If everything is fine, the message All tests completed successfully! will appear.
At the bottom right, there are two menu buttons: Tools and Config
When you press the Tools button, a submenu will open:
Game Boy Camera Album Viewer – a program for viewing photos from the camera. But if you press this button, the photos won't appear there. We'll discuss how to view photos from the GB Camera later.
Firmware Updater – firmware update for the device. We'll talk more about this later.
When you press the Config button, a submenu will open:
Check for updates at application startup – checks for program updates when the program starts. If a new version is available, you will be notified.
Append date & time to filename of save data backups – adds the date and time to your save data backups when you back them up. Very convenient for file organization.
Prefer full chip erase – always erases all information from the cartridge, not just part of it.
Verify written data – when you write a game to the cartridge, if this button is enabled, the written game will be checked against the original file after writing.
Limit voltage to 3.3V when detecting Game Boy flash cartridges – some flash cartridges use the wrong chip, which requires 5V (not 3.3V) voltage to work. To prevent the wrong voltage from being applied, this button exists. Actually, the program itself can detect such subtleties, but just in case, the developers added a software button that prohibits applying higher voltage to the cartridge.
Limit baud rate to 1 Mbps for GBxCart v1.4 devices – limits the data transfer rate from the computer to GBxCart RW v1.4 to 1 Mbps. This feature is needed in very rare cases if something is unstable.
Always generate ROM dumps reports – when you create a ROM image of your cartridge, you can get additional information. This button enables getting such information on a permanent basis. After the ROM image is copied to the computer, a menu with the Open Dump Report button will appear.
When you press this button, additional information will appear.
Use No-Intro file names – when you create a ROM image of the cartridge, the file name will look something like this: THE LOST VIK_ALVP-0.gba. If you activate this function, the name will be changed to the one taken from the No-Intro database. In the case of my game, it became: Lost Vikings, The (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es).gba.
Re-enable suppressed messages – resumes showing all messages that you disabled. For example, when you back up a ROM image of a game, a message appears at the end saying that the backup is complete. There is a checkbox "Don’t show this message again".
If you enable this option, such a message will no longer appear. But if you want it to appear again, press the Re-enable suppressed messages button.
Show configuration directory – opens the explorer with configuration files for cartridges (don't touch or delete anything there!).
GBxCart RW Firmware Update
When you start the program, it may offer to update the device. You can also do this by pressing the Firmware Updater button.
A menu will open:
If you press Yes, another window will open:
You need to press Install Firmware Update, and another window will open.
These are the instructions for flashing the GBxCart RW. It says:
1. Disconnect the device.
2. Hold the small button on the board and, without releasing it, insert the USB cable into the GBxCart RW.
The button is located here:
3. Keep the button pressed for another 2 seconds until the "Done" LED lights up on the board.
4. Press Ok.
After that, the console firmware will start.
After the firmware is complete, a window will appear:
That's it, you've flashed the GBxCart RW.
Game Boy Camera Viewer
To view photos, you need to press the Backup Save Data button in the main menu and save this file to your computer. After the saving process is complete, the program will ask if you want to open this save in the GB Camera Viewer:
After you click the Yes button, the GB Camera Viewer menu will open, where you can view the photos:
In the Color Palette tab, you can change the color palette of the photos. In the photo above, you can see the palette from the classic Game Boy DMG.
On the right is the Saved Picture Zoom button – you can choose from 1x to 10x. A photo saved on your computer can be zoomed up to 10 times.
Save With Frame – saves the photo with a frame.
At the bottom, there are several buttons:
Game Face – photos that you used for the built-in games in the Game Boy Camera.
Last Seen Image – the last image.
Save This Picture – save a specific image (saved in png format).
Save All Pictures – save all images (also saved in png format).
Open Save Data File – open a save file from the GB Camera (for example, you can open the file we created earlier when we pressed the Backup Save Data button).
Close – close the viewer.
How to Write Your Own Game Boy Advance Cartridge?
This is the most interesting feature of this cartridge.
You just need to press the Write ROM button, select the desired ROM image, and the writing process will begin. For a 32-megabyte file, the process will take about 20 minutes!
But there are difficulties.
The first thing to understand is that it does not allow rewriting original Nintendo cartridges! It can rewrite pirated cartridges from AliExpress. In theory, it can also rewrite old pirated cartridges, but it depends on luck.
Where to buy such cartridges can be found in our article: How and Where to Buy Game Boy Advance Game Cartridges.
And if you, for example, buy a Mother 3 cartridge from AliExpress, you can write any game on it, as this cartridge has a size of 32 megabytes, which is the maximum size for a GBA game.
But it's not that simple. Unfortunately, the main problem remains, and that is saving.
There are 3 types of saving on GBA cartridges: SRAM, Flash, EEPROM. Accordingly, different games support different types of saving, and different cartridges have different chips. The most ideal option is to buy a cartridge with SRAM saves, because you can patch any game to support this type of saving. But you cannot patch a game from SRAM to, for example, EEPROM; such programs simply do not exist. The problem is that it is not clear which cartridge from AliExpress has SRAM memory. The aforementioned Mother 3 cartridge uses 512k Flash saving, so to make saves work, you need to write a game with the same type of saving on it.
Update. Read the article: How to Add a Battery to a Cartridge from AliExpress?
Update 2. All problems were solved after the release of the GBA Auto Batteryless Patcher program.
I recommend watching my video review.
Conclusion
This is an extremely cool device with amazing features. But for the most important function – writing your own GBA cartridges – you need to choose the optimal cartridge, either with the same save memory or with SRAM memory, so you can use a program that will modify the ROM image of the game specifically for this memory.
