Looking for some help getting the Balance Age to work

[katman_44]

Hi! I just finished playing through GS1 with the balance age patch and had no issues.  Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to get TLA working.  I used a clean rom to patch it, but the rom won't get past a black screen once i load it up on VBA. If anyone has any ideas I'd really appreciate it!

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Which?
GSTLA Reloaded v1.63.ips = http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=87
GSTLA The Balance Age v1.34r.ips = http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=71

I have not experienced any problems with them when I just tried.
But anyway, if you open Tools/Memory Viewer, what is the string at 080000A0? Mine was: GOLDEN_SUN_BAGFE

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We might need more information.
In the end, I am confident we'll somehow be able to help. Since I know too much about the game data/how to get around....


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There's one quick thing I'd like you to tell me... When you go to Tools>Memory Viewer... and put in the address "08000468" ... what is the 32-bit you see at that address?
If it is 08F9EE50, then the ROM ripper included some bootleg stuff. (You can see it by holding L+R and booting the game.) I doubt this is your problem, since the version I tested has that.
If it is 0801319D, then there shouldn't be any bootleg stuff. (What the original value should be.)

And second, sometimes using Atrius's editor can reposition some things causing the game to read it incorrectly. (Since if you're reading 16-bits, it needs to be at a 16-bit aligned address... and same with 32-bits needing to be 32-bit aligned.)
This can happen with innate psynergies, which can cause a boot crash... (This might not be your problem, but if I haven't reproduced your problem yet, then who knows.)

[katman_44]

That's awesome! Thank you for the help!

I had GOLDEN_SUN_BAGFE at string 080000A0

and I had 08F9EE50 at "080000468" as well, so I guess I have a ROM with some bootleg stuff in it.

Edit: I was using the GSTLA Reloaded v1.63.ips file

Got a different ROM, tried it again, and same problem.  The ROM doesn't have any bootleg stuff based on what you're telling me.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

And that's cool... About the string, since it's more me just making sure you got the right version. Instead of accidentally getting a different localization or something.

Well, yeah.... I doubted that was the problem, but I was simply curious. = I'm thinking people are more likely to get that ROM than the authentic clean ROM. Which is fine, but it is also worth keeping it in mind. (Just in case.)
And by "it not having any bootleg stuff"... it's mainly assuming others have not altered it by any other means. (I have yet to notice.)


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I kind of want to see a video of you patching/trying it... Because I'm not sure exactly what's going on... (I could look for obvious things I would not normally think of such as VBA's auto-patching being accidentally used where not intended/etc... but that's just one simple example (not necessarily the answer) of something that might go amiss unless watching.) What patching program were you using? I tried Lunar IPS, and I think it works fine.
Main point is it can be hard to do anything unless I see the error for myself. :( Etc.


Almost want to ask to run a checksum of both the ROM and the Patch. In case something got corrupted during downloading... I doubt it, though. (e.g. Do you have a slow connection? Or is an anti-virus messing with it?/etc.)

Or funny mistakes I might make sometimes, where you do something to one ROM, and you open a different one while not realizing it. (Again, another example... I've done this type of thing plenty of times in my past, it's almost embarrassing.)

Or maybe there's an emulator that doesn't support something. (Who knows! So this could be asking for the version of the emulator.)

Basically enough examples to prove how a video could be quite useful, even when there's little to show.


And I'm also assuming the unpatched TLA ROM boots?

[Rolina]

Are you using the batch for TBS, or for TLA?  Balanced Age has a patch for both GS1 (TBS) and GS2 (TLA), so you'll want to make sure you're patching the right game with the right patch.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Naw... That's not the problem.... OP says TBS worked fine, and that TLA has problem.

"GOLDEN_SUN_BAGFE" clearly says he's using GS2/TLA (U) version ROM.

And GSTLA Reloaded v1.63.ips is for GS2/TLA.

The question is whether he's applying it correctly or not..... A video could verify that. ...
I want to assume he is, but just to be sure.
Anyway, for unsolved cases, a video is usually recommended anyway, so....
Sometimes there can be one small detail that is left out that is essentially to solving a case, and since we're not physically at your computer, we may never see it. Which is the point of a video.
I'd go so far as to say to have the downloading of both the ROM and the patch also in the video, but it depends.... = Though this site definitely doesn't allow links to ROMs, I am not sure what the policy was on videos beyond leaving the url/site name out. (Should the fact that the site was even visited also be left out, or would that be OK as long as the url/name isn't shown?) , so it's probably best to leave any details on ROM sites to a minimum.

[Caledor]

I also tried another rom (first result from a basic google search) and had no issues. I'd say it's either the rom or the emulator. I'm using VBA-M for reference. BTW the black screen is what used to happen to me some time ago (years) whenever i edited my italian rom with Atriu's editor. I remember creating a patch to fix that issue (it simply reversed the bytes changed by the editor) that booted with the rom automatically whenever i opened it in the emulator, but i think i haven't used that trick for a while and the issue someday vanished on its own...

[katman_44]

I honestly have no idea how to record a video that meets the file size requirements. What program should I use?

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

File-size requirements? = I was thinking you could upload it on youtube, and link it here. [ youtube ] url [/ youtube ] Assuming any file-size requirement on youtube is okay.

CamStudio (http://camstudio.org/) is one option for recording video. Not sure if it is the best or not.... as I rarely ever have a need to record my screen. (But I do often do screen shots. ... Like of memory viewer... but that only requires using the "print screen" button on the keyboard. (With or without Alt held. Since Alt is for window only.), and maybe a paint program like Paint.NET for editing.) - I have yet to know of any video editing software I'd use, unfortunately.... I can maybe try to look later.


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As for video content, hoping it's enough information that I can do exactly what you do and see what happens. (If I don't spot any problems first.)
Once I can produce the error, I can then work on a solution. , provided that one needs to be worked on.

(Another thought:  Maybe show the directories of where the files used are located as well (And all the files in the directory, so I guess you could technically move these files to a separate folder independent of everything else.)... in case such things like having spaces in a file path conflicts with anything (unlikely?)/ but pretty much anything unexpected as such.... It probably doesn't matter, but it's part of increasing the chance I could reproduce the problem.)

Another thought 2: If worse comes to worse, I'm also not sure if it should be shown that GS1 is working via the same means.


Should you want to verify your files aren't corrupt, you can use this: http://onlinemd5.com/ (So we can compare checksums... to help narrow down every potential possibility.)
Up to three times, depending on which you do:  Fresh ROM, Patch, Patched ROM.