if2a, the Intelligent Flash2Advance software

This is again a bugfix release:
- the 'device or resource busy' problem under Linux is now documented
- some big-endian problems for OSX users are solved
- no more ultra's SVD problem
- the multiboot command is repaired
- ...and few other bugs (check svn logs)

The faq has also been updated.

posted by Spooo

This is another bugfix release:
- proper code to fix gba headers has been added - thanks to devkitpro's project,
- updated screen progression,
- the command line options -W -n were not properly working,
- the command line option -Y has been added for the cartmap to be re/built,
- the option -W will no more generate a cartmap.

posted by Spooo

News: if2a-0.94 has been tested and is working under win98se - For f2a-pro users, you may want to try it since if2a gives more features than the original pro driver.

Be aware that there is still no GUI yet. GUI will come, in the meantime we hope that you'll still find this tool useful.

posted by Spooo

Quick update.

Some of the USB linker code has been updated for OSX portability. Please check the downloads section for the if2a-0.94.1 source code.

posted by Spooo

Time for an update !

New options are now available that allow to add and remove roms on the fly. It takes now less time for adding or replacing roms. Please note that these features have only been tested using Flash2Advance Pro carts using pro-loaders or PogoShell, since this feature is not yet Powerwriter compatible.

Also, the win32 version no more relies on the official drivers from Flash2Advance for firmware uploading.

There is a preliminary port for MacOSX too. Further work is still needed though, but the basic functions for Pro carts should be working. Feedback is welcome !

Documentation is now also available, you can check it out in the documentation section.

posted by Spooo

Hello! It's high time we do a status update on the project as many things have been going on since the last news heading. Here we go ...

Bug fixing has progressed at a rapid pace, with Spooo fixing nasty bugs in ROM writing code (that would occur on very special boundary conditions). Keep in mind that bugfixing is all the more efficient as users report the problems they encounter! This bugfix release (0.93-pre0) is available in the downloads section.

The USB firmware loading code has been completely rewritten thanks to contribution of a much generic EZ-USB firmware loader by Stephan Meyer, the libusb-win32 maintainer. Thanks Stephan! This allows us to have much cleaner code as well as a generic way of loading firmware on Linux and win32.

A new feature has landed in the trunk : dynamic adding and removal of ROMS. This means that you can give if2a a list of ROMS and it will manage to find some room on your cart (empty slots) or propose you with a list of ROMS to delete (complete with stats of space gained). Really impressive ! This features is still experimental (that's why it's not in official releases) but shows a lot of potential. This will finally remove the need to always keep in mind ROM burning order and would allow a fully dynamic cart layout !

An if2a OSX port, based on the old one done by Eli Curtz, is in the works. The porter, while very active at the beginning, seems to have less time now. Maybe he'll rise up while seeing this news :)

Not an if2a news in itself but the official f2a site now mentions the hidden boot menu that we discovered ... 4 months ago ! It allows to perform cartridge tests and fully erase the cart, thus solving lots of problems users of the crappy Powerwriter were encountering.

posted by Vince

The new website is now in place. While simple, it aims at being a complete and reliable source of information. In particular, check out the documentation and downloads sections. If you experience any browser problem, please report it (see Contact). Enjoy:)

posted by Vince

A new version of if2a is available. Here are the news :

• ANSI-C port (for pure Win32 without cygwin)
• Few bugs corrected (especially when burning big roms)
• Tested to work with Pogoshell at least with Pro carts (using option -L)

Go get it in the download section !

posted by Spooo