FlashGBX (by Lesserkuma)

for Windows, Linux, macOS

Introduction

Software features

Backup, restore and erase save data from Game Boy and Game Boy Advance game cartridges including Real Time Clock registers
Backup ROM data from Game Boy and Game Boy Advance game cartridges
Write new ROMs to a wide variety of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance flash cartridges
Many reproduction cartridges and flash cartridges can be auto-detected
A flash chip query (including Common Flash Interface information) can be performed for flash cartridges
Decode and extract Game Boy Camera photos from save data
Generate ROM dump reports for game preservation purposes
Update firmware of most insideGadgets GBxCart RW devices
Delta flashing support, useful for development by writing only differences between two ROMs (if named rom.gba and rom.delta.gba)

Compatible cartridge reader/writer hardware

insideGadgets GBxCart RW (tested with v1.3 and v1.4)

Installing and running

Windows Packages

Available in the GitHub Releases section:

Windows Setup: An installer that will add the application to the start menu and optionally create a desktop icon
Windows Portable: Have everything in one place including the config files

These work for installing fresh and upgrading from an older version.

Run using Python (Linux, macOS, Windows)

Installing

Download and install Python (version 3.7 or newer)
Open a Terminal or Command Prompt window
Install FlashGBX with this command:
pip3 install "FlashGBX[qt6]"

If installation fails, use this command instead:
pip3 install "FlashGBX[qt5]"
If installation still fails, you can install the minimal version (command line interface) with this command:
pip3 install FlashGBX
Pre-made Linux packages and instructions for select distributions are available here.

Running

Use this command in a Terminal or Command Prompt window to launch the installed FlashGBX application:

python3 -m FlashGBX

FlashGBX should work on pretty much any operating system that supports Qt-GUI applications built using Python with PySide2 or PySide6, pyserial, Pillow, setuptools, requests and python-dateutil packages. To run FlashGBX in portable mode without installing, you can also download the source code archive and call python3 run.py after installing the prerequisites yourself.

Note: On Linux systems, the brltty module may render GBxCart RW devices non-accessible. See the troubleshooting section for details.

Upgrading from an older version

Open a Terminal or Command Prompt window
Enter this command:
pip3 install -U FlashGBX

Cartridge Compatibility

Supported cartridge memory mappers

Game Boy
- All cartridges without memory mapping
- MBC1
- MBC2
- MBC3
- MBC30
- MBC5
- MBC6
- MBC7
- MBC1M
- MMM01
- MAC-GBD (Game Boy Camera)
- G-MMC1 (GB Memory)
- M161
- HuC-1
- HuC-3
- TAMA5
- Unlicensed 256M Mapper
- Unlicensed Wisdom Tree Mapper
- Unlicensed Xploder GB Mapper
- Unlicensed Sachen Mapper
- Unlicensed Datel Orbit V2 Mapper
Game Boy Advance
- All cartridges without memory mapping
- 8M FLASH DACS
- 3D Memory (GBA Video)
- Unlicensed 2G Mapper

Currently supported flash cartridges

Game Boy
- 29LV Series Flash BOY with 29LV160DB
- BennVenn MBC3000 RTC cart
- BLAZE Xploder GB
- BUNG Doctor GB Card 64M
- Catskull 32k Gameboy Flash Cart
- DIY cart with AM29F010
- DIY cart with AM29F016/29F016
- DIY cart with AM29F032
- DIY cart with AM29F040
- DIY cart with AM29F080
- DIY cart with AT49F040
- DIY cart with HY29F800
- DIY cart with M29F032D
- DIY cart with MBM29F033C
- DIY cart with MX29LV640
- DIY cart with SST39SF040
- DMG-MBC5-32M-FLASH Development Cartridge, E201264
- Ferrante Crafts cart 32 KB
- Ferrante Crafts cart 64 KB
- Ferrante Crafts cart 512 KB
- FunnyPlaying MidnightTrace 4 MiB Flash Cart
- Gamebank-web DMG-29W-04 with M29W320ET
- GB-CART32K-A with SST39SF020A
- GB Smart 32M
- HDR Game Boy Camera Flashcart
- insideGadgets 32 KiB
- insideGadgets 128 KiB
- insideGadgets 256 KiB
- insideGadgets 512 KiB
- insideGadgets 1 MiB, 128 KiB SRAM
- insideGadgets 2 MiB, 128 KiB SRAM/32 KiB FRAM
- insideGadgets 2 MiB, 32 KiB FRAM, v1.0
- insideGadgets 4 MiB, 128 KiB SRAM/FRAM
- insideGadgets 4 MiB, 32 KiB FRAM, MBC3+RTC
- insideGadgets 4 MiB (2× 2 MiB), 32 KiB FRAM, MBC5
- Mr Flash 64M
- Sillyhatday MBC5-DUAL-FLASH-4/8MB
- Squareboi 4 MiB (2× 2 MiB)
Game Boy Advance
- Action Replay Ultimate Codes (with SST39VF800A)
- Development AGB Cartridge 64M Flash S, E201843
- Development AGB Cartridge 128M Flash S, E201850
- Development AGB Cartridge 256M Flash S, E201868
- DL9SEC GBA flashcart with TE28F128
- DL9SEC GBA flashcart with TE28F256
- Flash Advance Pro 256M
- Flash2Advance 128M (with 2× 28F640J3A120)
- Flash2Advance 256M (with 2× 28F128J3A150)
- Flash2Advance Ultra 2G (with 4× 4400L0Y0Q0)
- Flash2Advance Ultra 64M (with 2× 28F320C3B)
- Flash2Advance Ultra 256M (with 8× 3204C3B100)
- Flash Advance Card 64M (with 28F640J3A120)
- FunnyPlaying MidnightTrace 32 MiB Flash Cart
- insideGadgets 16 MiB, 64K EEPROM with Solar Sensor and RTC options
- insideGadgets 32 MiB, 1M FLASH with RTC option
- insideGadgets 32 MiB, 512K FLASH
- insideGadgets 32 MiB, 4K/64K EEPROM
- insideGadgets 32 MiB, 256K FRAM with Rumble option

Currently supported and tested reproduction cartridges

Game Boy
- 2006_TSOP_64BALL_QFP48 with AL016J55FFAR2
- 256M29EWH (no PCB text)
- 36VF3204 and ALTERA CPLD (no PCB text)
- DMG-DHCN-20 with MX29LV320ET
- DMG-GBRW-20 with 29LV320ETMI-70G
- DRV with AM29LV160DB and ALTERA CPLD
- DRV with AM29LV160DT and ALTERA CPLD
- ES29LV160_DRV with 29DL32TF-70
- GB-M968 with 29LV160DB
- GB-M968 with M29W160EB
- GB-M968 with MX29LV320ABTC
- S29GL032N90T and ALTERA CPLD configured for MBC1 or MBC5
- SD007_48BALL_64M with GL032M11BAIR4
- SD007_48BALL_64M with M29W640
- SD007_48BALL_64M_V2 with GL032M11BAIR4
- SD007_48BALL_64M_V2 with M29W160ET
- SD007_48BALL_64M_V3 with 29DL161TD-90
- SD007_48BALL_64M_V5 with 36VF3203
- SD007_48BALL_64M_V5 with 36VF3204
- SD007_48BALL_64M_V6 with 36VF3204
- SD007_48BALL_64M_V6 with 29DL163BD-90
- SD007_48BALL_64M_V8 with M29W160ET
- SD007_48BALL_SOP28 with M29W320ET
- SD007_BGA48_71TV_T28_DEEP with M29W640
- SD007_BV5 with 29LV160TE-70PFTN
- SD007_BV5_DRV with M29W320DT
- SD007_BV5_DRV with S29GL032M90TFIR4
- SD007_BV5_V2 with HY29LV160TT
- SD007_BV5_V2 with MX29LV320BTC
- SD007_BV5_V3 with 26LV160BTC
- SD007_BV5_V3 with 29LV160BE-90PFTN
- SD007_BV5_V3 with HY29LV160BT-70
- SD007_BV5_V3 with AM29LV160MB
- SD007_K8D3216_32M with MX29LV160CT
- SD007_T40_48BALL_71_TV_TS28 with M29W640
- SD007_T40_64BALL_S71_TV_TS28 with TC58FVB016FT-85
- SD007_T40_64BALL_SOJ28 with 29LV016T
- SD007_T40_64BALL_TSOP28 with 29LV016T
- SD007_T40_64BALL_TSOP28 with TC58FVB016FT-85¹
- SD007_TSOP_29LV017D with L017D70VC
- SD007_TSOP_29LV017D with S29GL032M90T
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL with 36VF3204
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL with AM29LV160DB
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL with K8D3216UTC
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL with M29W160ET
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL with L160DB12VI
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL_V9 with 29LV160CBTC-70G
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL_V9 with 32M29EWB
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL_V10 with 29DL164BE-70P
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL_V10 with 29DL32TF-70
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL_V10 with 29LV320CTXEI
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL_V10 with GL032M10BFIR3
- SD007_TSOP_48BALL_V10 with M29W320DT
- SD007_TSOP_64BALL_SOJ28 with 29DL164BE-70P
- SD007_TSOP_64BALL_SOJ28 with unlabeled flash chip
- SD007_TSOP_64BALL_SOP28 with EN29LV160AB-70TCP
- SD007_TSOP_64BALL_SOP28 with unlabeled flash chip
- SD007_TSOP_64BALL_SOP28_V2 with unlabeled flash chip
- SD008-6810-512S with MSP55LV512
- SD008-6810-V4 with MX29GL256EL
- SD008-6810-V5 with MX29CL256FH
Game Boy Advance
- 0121 with 0121M0Y0BE
- 100BS6600_48BALL_V4 with 6600M0U0BE
- 100SOP with MSP55LV100S
- 2006-36-71_V2 with M36L0R8060B
- 2006_TSOP_64BALL_6106 with W29GL128SH9B
- 28F256L03B-DRV with 256L30B
- 29LV128DBT2C-90Q and ALTERA CPLD
- 3680x2 with TH50VSF3680
- 36L0R8-39VF512 with M36L0R8060B
- 36L0R8-39VF512 with M36L0R8060T
- 4000L0ZBQ0 DRV with 3000L0YBQ0
- 4050M0Y0Q0-39VF512 with 4050M0Y0Q0
- 4050_4400_4000_4350_36L0R_V5 with 4050L0YTQ2
- 4050_4400_4000_4350_36L0R_V5 with M36L0R7050T
- 4050_4400_4000_4350_36L0R_V5 with M36L0T8060T
- 4050_4400_4000_4350_36L0R_V5 with M36L0R8060T
- 4350Q2 with 4050V0YBQ1
- 4350Q2 with 4350LLYBQ2
- 4400 with 4400L0ZDQ0
- 4444-39VF512 with 4444LLZBBO
- 4455_4400_4000_4350_36L0R_V3 with M36L0R7050T
- AA1030_TSOP88BALL with M36W0R603
- AGB-E05-01 with GL128S
- AGB-E05-01 with MSP55LV100G
- AGB-E05-01 with MSP55LV128M
- AGB-E05-01 with MX29GL128FHT2I-90G
- AGB-E05-01 with S29GL064
- AGB-E05-02 with JS28F128
- AGB-E05-02 with M29W128FH
- AGB-E05-02 with M29W128GH
- AGB-E05-02 with S29GL032
- AGB-E05-03H with M29W128GH
- AGB-E05-06L with 29LV128DBT2C-90Q
- AGB-E08-09 with 29LV128DTMC-90Q
- AGB-E20-30 with M29W128GH
- AGB-E20-30 with S29GL256N10TFI01
- AGB-SD-E05 with MSP55LV128
- B100 with MX29LV640ET
- B104 with MSP55LV128
- B11 with 26L6420MC-90
- B54 with MX29LV320ET
- BGA64B-71-TV-DEEP with 256M29EML
- BX2006_0106_NEW with S29GL128N10TFI01
- BX2006_TSOP_64BALL with GL128S
- BX2006_TSOP_64BALL with GL256S
- BX2006_TSOPBGA_0106 with M29W640
- BX2006_TSOPBGA_0106 with K8D6316UTM-PI07
- BX2006_TSOPBGA_6108 with M29W640
- DV15 with MSP55LV100G
- F864-3 with M36L0R7050B
- GA-07 with unlabeled flash chip
- GE28F128W30 with 128W30B0
- M36XXX_T32_32D_16D with M36L0R806
- M5M29-39VF512 with M5M29HD528
- M5M29G130AN (no PCB text)
- M6MGJ927 (no PCB text)
- MSP54LV512 (no PCB text)
- MX29GL128EHT2I and ALTERA CPLD
- SUN100S_MSP54XXX with MSP54LV100
- Unknown 29LV320 variant (no PCB text)"

Many different reproduction cartridges share their flash chip command set, so even if yours is not on this list, it may still work fine or even be auto-detected as another one. Support for more cartridges can also be added by creating external config files that include the necessary flash chip commands.

¹ = Cannot always be auto-detected, select cartridge type manually

Troubleshooting

If something doesn’t work as expected, first try to clean the game cartridge contacts (best with IPA 99.9%+ on a cotton swab) and reconnect the device. An unstable cartridge connection is the most common reason for read or write errors.
If your Game Boy Camera cartridge is not reading, make sure it’s connected the correct way around; screws go up.
For save data backup/restore on Game Boy Advance reproduction cartridges, depending on how it was built, you may have to manually select the save type for it to work properly. However, the save data backup/restore feature may not work on certain reproduction cartridges with batteryless-patched ROMs. As those cartridges use the same flash chip for both ROM and save data storage, a full ROM backup will usually include the save data. Also, when flashing a new unpatched ROM to a cartridge like this, the game may not be able to save progress without soldering in a battery. See the Flash Cart DB website for more information.
Depending on your system configuration, you may have to use pip and python commands instead of pip3 and python3.
On Linux systems, you may run into a Permission Error problem when trying to connect to USB devices without sudo privileges. To grant yourself the necessary permissions temporarily, you can run sudo chmod 0666 /dev/ttyUSB0 (replace with actual device path) before running the app. For a permanent solution, add yourself to the usergroup that has access to serial devices by default (e.g. dialout on Debian-based distros; sudo adduser $USER dialout) and then reboot the system.
On some Linux systems, you may need the XCB Xinerama package if you see an error regarding failed Qt platform plugin initialization. You can install it with sudo apt install libxcb-xinerama0 etc. It was reported that this additional command is required on MX Linux: sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb-util.so.0.0.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb-util.so.1
On some Linux systems like Fedora, you may need to install the python3-pillow-qt package manually in order for the GUI mode to work.
On some Linux systems you may see the message “No devices found.” even though you’re using a USB cable capable of data transfers. This may be caused by a module called brltty (a driver for refreshable braille displays) that is erroneously interfering and taking over control of any connected USB device that uses the CH340/341 chipset. The solution would be to uninstall or blacklist the brltty driver and then reboot the system.
If you’re using macOS version 10.13 or older, there may be no driver for the insideGadgets GBxCart RW device installed on your system. You can either upgrade your macOS version to 10.14+ or manually install a driver which is available here.
Note that FlashGBX is not designed to be used with feature-stripped clone hardware such as the license-violating “FLASH BOY” series devices. These will not work as intended and have a considerable risk of causing damage as seen here.

Miscellaneous

To use your own frame around extracted Game Boy Camera pictures, place a file called pc_frame.png (must be at least 160×144 pixels) into the configuration directory. (GUI mode only)

Thanks

The author would like to thank the following very kind people for their help, contributions or documentation (in alphabetical order):

2358, 90sFlav, AcoVanConis, AdmirtheSableye, AlexiG, ALXCO-Hardware, AndehX, antPL, bbsan, BennVenn, ccs21, ClassicOldSong, CodyWick13, Corborg, Cristóbal, crizzlycruz, Crystal, Därk, Davidish, DevDavisNunez, Diddy_Kong, djedditt, Dr-InSide, dyf2007, easthighNerd, EchelonPrime, edo999, Ell, EmperorOfTigers, endrift, Erba Verde, ethanstrax, eveningmoose, Falknör, FerrantePescara, frarees, Frost Clock, gboh, gekkio, Godan, Grender, HDR, Herax, Hiccup, hiks, howie0210, iamevn, Icesythe7, ide, Jayro, Jenetrix, JFox, joyrider3774, JS7457, julgr, Kaede, kane159, KOOORAY, kscheel, kyokohunter, Leitplanke, litlemoran, LovelyA72, Luca DS, LucentW, manuelcm1, marv17, Merkin, metroid-maniac, Mr_V, olDirdey, orangeglo, paarongiroux, Paradoxical, Rairch, Raphaël BOICHOT, redalchemy, RetroGorek, RevZ, s1cp, Satumox, Sgt.DoudouMiel, SH, Shinichi999, Sillyhatday, Sithdown, skite2001, Smelly-Ghost, Stitch, Super Maker, t5b6_de, Tauwasser, Timville, twitnic, velipso, Veund, voltagex, Voultar, wickawack, Wkr, x7l7j8cc, xactoes, yosoo, Zeii, Zelante, zipplet, Zoo, zvxr

DISCLAIMER

This software is being developed by Lesserkuma as a hobby project. There is no direct afflilation with insideGadgets or Nintendo. This software is provided as-is and the developer is not responsible for any damage that is caused by the use of it. Use at your own risk!

lesserkuma/FlashGBX

lesserkuma

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