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→Emulators: NO$GBA --> No$GBA
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||[[No$|No$GBA]]
||Windows, MS-[[DOSemulators|DOS]]
||[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm 2.9b]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}(i) ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
* (i) means incomplete: these emulators will not recognize the games they're connected to. Normally, after choosing "Connection/to Game Boy Advance", the e-Reader should have "(Game Name) Game Data" pre-loaded in its internal EEPROM memory and appearing in a tiny black box on-screen, but this can't happen in either [[No$|No$GBA]], [[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]], or VBA e-Reader mods. Without this step done, scanning e-Cards will just yield an error message.
:e-Reader/GBA game pack emulation in these emulators can be still reached by ripping a save game from '''real e-Reader hardware''', with this step already done. Using this save with the e-Reader BIOS, it's possible to connect to the GBA game pack, and scan e-Cards... though it's a very less-than-ideal solution and only pre-baked e-Reader save files for Super Mario Advance 4 (U), Pokémon Emerald (J), LeafGreen (J) and FireRed (J). No known emulator to date completely emulates this feature without this dirty fix.
* No known emulators yet support e-Reader / GameCube connectivity.
===No$GBA (v2.4+)===
'''Example - Super Mario Advance 4:''' (tutorial by Shugo Takahashi from gbatemp)
You'll need a save file for the e-Reader BIOS GBA ROM with the SMB4 Level Card Program already saved. ([http://www.zophar.net/download_file/20656 Link], US). NONo$GBA's emulation for this connection scheme isn't complete enough sadly and you'll need real hardware.
Then to set up NONo$GBA. Place the GBA BIOS file in NONo$GBA's root and run NONo$GBA. Open any ROM (right now it doesn't matter) and immediately go edit the settings by pressing F11. Go to the Controls tab and define your control layout for both Player 1 and Player 2, then click on Options and click "Save Options". Close out of NONo$GBA. It should now have created several files and folders in the root folder you placed it in. Open NONo$GBA.ini in Notepad and find the "SAV/SNA File Format" setting. Change this to "Raw" and save it. Go place your SMA4 SAV and the e-Reader SV2 in the BATTERY folder. Make sure they share the same names as the SMA4 and e-Reader ROMs you have.
Open NONo$GBA and open the e-Reader ROM. Change "All machines" to "1st machine". Then press F11 and change "Number of Emulated Gameboys" to "2". DO NOT SAVE THE OPTIONS HERE. IT WILL CRASH ON STARTUP EVERY TIME IF YOU DO. (If you screw up and save the NO$GBA options after you've enabled two Game Boys, then open NONo$GBA.INI ini and find the "Number of Emulated Gameboys" option. Change this to "-Single Machine" and save.)
After enabling two Game Boys, click "File" and "Cartridge Menu (FileName)" and open your SMA4 ROM, this time selecting "2nd machine". If you did this right, then SMA4 should be loaded on the left side with sound and the e-Reader should be loaded on the right side without sound. Navigate to the SMB3 main menu and check to see that your save file loaded properly. (If either the SMA4 ROM or the e-Reader ROM don't have the proper saved data, make sure that you changed the save type in NONo$GBA.INI ini to "Raw", the save files are the same names as their ROM counterparts, and that SMA4 is on the left screen while e-Reader is on the right screen. If their screens are flipped, then either restart NO$GBA and follow the instructions more carefully or open BATTERY and change their save types around, that is .SAV to .SV2 and vice versa.) Go to "Level Card" and then move Mario/Luigi onto the swirling panel in front of the castle to open a menu. Move up to "Level Card" and select it to be taken to the e-Reader communication screen.
Next use the Player 2 controls you mapped out to navigate the e-Reader menu to "Access saved data". "Super Mario Advance 4" should be displayed as the saved data.** This should take you to a communication screen just like SMA4's next to it. Hit A on SMA4 to begin communication. Go to "File" and then "Load e-Reader Dotcode" in No$GBA and navigate to the .RAW Level Card dotcode files you downloaded. Double-click one and the e-Reader should accept it and send it back to the SMA4 ROM. The SMA4 ROM will then tell you that a Level Card was received.
Now here's the catch. SMA4 will not let you save a level permanently and then scan more levels until you beat the level you just scanned at least once. So you either have to beat the level now in the emulator or load the save back onto your real game, beat the level and then repeat this entire process for the next level. It's cumbersome, I know, but in the end, when you have all the levels scanned in and you've played them all it'll be well worth it; these are some of the coolest levels in the entire Super Mario series!
If you choose to beat the level using your original game cartridge, another emulator or are just ready to transfer your save file back, then press Start in No$GBA on SMA4 and hit "Save". It will take you back to the title screen. Go back into Level Card and check to make sure the level you just scanned is still on the level list. Close out of NONo$GBA and go into the BATTERY folder. Copy the .SAV file from SMA4 and paste it somewhere else: you can import it in other emulators or even real cartridges.
===VBA-M===
You might be faced with a "Memory Error" screen in-game. That's because VBA didn't detect the save type correctly. You'll need to do that manually, by going to Options, Emulator, Save Type, then choosing EEPROM, and 128K rather than 64K. Reset, and press A and just wait for the SRAM to be formatted (a good minute). Press A when you're done and you can go to the in-game title menu.
Whenever the game tries to scan e-Cards, unlike with NONo$GBA a window will always pop up asking you to choose your e-Card dump (can be only a RAW file in VBA's case). It's more straightforward here, and the NES compatibility is even better. That said it's more of the same. Read the No$GBA section for more info.
Check under Emulator if "Save e-Reader RAW Files" is checked. "Pause when Inactive" needs to be disabled if you ever intend to link between e-Reader and a GBA game pack. The 1.73 mod works with Pokémon games.
