Issue with Sachen 4 in 1 GB cart

[Ludwig]

I got one for free with a copy of crystal quest

When i turn it on it says "Game Boy" and underneath "Sachen (R)" but it doesn't go beyond this point. I have no idea what to do with it, i don't even know how to get into the card to see if something broke, which i considered since it goes in a little harder than a normal cart.

I'm using it with a GBA SP AGS 101

Any ideas?

[burn_654]

Try it on an older model gb? It's possible they found a way to block whatever sneaky pirate method it was using to run by the time the gba came out...just speculating of course.

[Parodius Duh!]

try the dudes at famicomworld, they know everything about this pirated stuff!

[jb143]

Have you tried cleaning the contacts yet? I've seen games not gets past the first screen before because of dirty contacts. I've even seen gbc games display the "this game is meant for the gameboy color only" message. After a good cleaning it started right up and played fine.

[Ludwig]

I will get some new batteries tomorrow, my original GB ran out. I will also try cleaning again, this usually is the first thing i do but maybe i was to quick.

[Ludwig]

They actually do not work on a GBA. I'm very surprised to see that. Thanks for the help (enlightenment).

[jb143]

Interesting. I would think it's more them not quite following recommended programming practices than Nintendo intentionally locking anything out on the GBA. It's been a while since I've looked at the GB tech docs but there are lines along the of "To ensure proper compatibility...follow these rules to a tee."

For instance(semi-related), the Scrolling Nintendo Logo when you boot up a GB game, that's required to be hard programmed into the GB Rom. If it's not there then the game won't run. If it is...well, then unless you're licensed to do so, you're using Nintendo's copyrighted logo in your game without permission and they can come after you.

[Ludwig]

For instance(semi-related), the Scrolling Nintendo Logo when you boot up a GB game.

Well it doesn't have that. While on the GBA it's scrolling the proper logo and got "sachen" at the bottom, on the original GB a "sachen" logo scrolls like the GB logo would. I'm not sure about this at all but i had that thought too, and if you say you've read something along those lines them i'm willing to believe that this is probably the cause. :)

[jb143]

Well that's even more interesting. I read that in a GB tech doc and thought of trying to find a way around it(was making a homebrew game)...it looks like maybe they did.

That could be the reason that it's not working on the GBA since they obviously don't run the part of the program that scrolls the logo. They could still check though and since it's different it's causing issues. However, since you say it displays sachen at the bottom, then I would assume they at least wanted it to work on the GBA. I'm not very familiar with the inner working of the GBA to do anything other than guess though.

[Ludwig]

To make it all complete i thought i should post some pictures, just in case someone else finds this with the same issue some day.

Cart (Zipball, Deep, Crazy Burger, Small Gorilla):
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/gbsachen-1.jpg

GB:
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/gbsachen-2.jpg

GBA:
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/gbsachen-3.jpg