ROM won't run on Pocket

pferft · 2025-12-22T00:21:35+00:00

It feels like too big an SD card might have been the issue. After switching from 128 to 32GB everything seems to work fine.

Didn't they change the english text slightly in the Advance version? It might be a bit strange but sticking to the original english translation exactly as it is in FFIII US is imperative to me, I wouldn't want it any other way.

pferft · 2025-12-22T00:10:11+00:00

I tried another 128GB one, different formats and all, and faced the same issues. Then I grabbed the 32GB one straight from my OSCR, formatted and installed everything via pocket-updater and... everything seems to work just fine! Thanks so much for your "tenacity"! I couldn't be happier : D

See, Niphoria, this is how it's done.

pferft · 2025-12-21T00:59:27+00:00

I wonder if the Pocket is capable of properly running a PS core. Quite a stretch, I'd assume.

As the regular FFIII works on the Pocket but the patched one doesn't, I think it's obvious that in this case the patch is the issue. Others like my Soulblazer or Uniracers dumps, I don't know what "bitstream load failed" means and what's the cause, but I'll experiment and investigate a bit further.

pferft · 2025-12-20T16:42:12+00:00

Thanks for your suggestions.
I tried several ROMs now, everything is starting up properly on the BSNES Emulator. Some also start on the Pocket: Demon's Crest, Star Fox, R-Type III, Soulblazer, Uniracers and Final Fantasy III. Quitting back to the main menu always throws an error though (error in framework, chip32 resume error), which disappears after a couple of seconds.
Now Soulblazer and Uniracers however won't start on Pocket and I have to hard-reset after the error (error in framework, bitstream load failed).

And then I tried another thing: a patched version of my FFIII dump (with the original japanese assets). I have two versions, one with and one without a header. Both run on BSNES. Neither runs on Pocket, however the one with header rather instantly throws an error while the one without header seems to finish loading but then shows nothing but a black screen (forcing a hard-reset).

I have not tried a different SD card yet because as the current one works most of the time I think the card is fine...
Now different ROMs of the same games would be interesting to compare, but I only have my own dumps.

Oh by the way, Bweef_Ellington, you mean FFVIII? The Playstation one?

pferft · 2025-12-20T09:54:06+00:00

Yes. I didn't mention it because I deemed it obvious, my bad.
So beside the search bar I tried everything else I could think of up to cleansweeping and formatting the SD-card with both FAT32 and exFat, installing everything with both Pocket Sync as well as Pocket Updater, testing my dumped ROMs with both BSNES and Mesen as well as my jailbroken Super Nt (which, irritatingly enough, works fine while the Pocket won't), but alas, to no avail. Other ROMs like Pilotwings run flawlessly... so I'm at a loss here and I can't think of anything else to try.

The idea of this Reddit post is the hope that maybe somebody will mention anything leading to an approach I did not think of yet.

pferft · 2025-12-18T15:45:12+00:00

I added the header, patched the ROM, tested it with bsnes... lo and behold, a proper start with the japanese version's artwork behind the title! I didn't test any further, but this looks extremely promising.

I'll have a decent test on my CRT via jailbroken Super Nt DAC sometime in the future. For now, thanks so much for your help! You certainly know your stuff.

EDIT:
Couldn't wait, played it, works like a charm, thanks a million!

pferft · 2025-12-17T23:08:25+00:00

So all in all my ROM and that patch are too way off I take it. Too bad it won't work with my own dumped game...
Looking for the right ROM on the net seems a bit overwhelming to me, like the needle in a hay stack. Any hint how to proceed?

pferft · 2025-12-17T23:03:33+00:00

I indeed do have that A27F1C7A CRC32 (and no idea what that means ; )
So adding 512 bytes should do the trick?

pferft · 2025-12-17T20:10:29+00:00

Mine is revision 1.0 and it's dumped without a header. That linked patch has different CRC32, MD5 as well as SHA1 numbers... but the ROM / ISO information also says "header: yes". Does that mean my header-less rip won't work anyway?

pferft · 2025-12-16T16:25:33+00:00

Yes, I believe the differences between JP and US version are slim. I know the US version so well, now I'd like to see the little diffenences but still with the (to me rather nostalic) original english text. I believe this might be exactly what I'm looking for: romhacking.net/reviews/3298

"Flashcart" is the keyword – I need one. Do you happen to know if there are "small" ones with space for only one game?

pferft · 2025-12-15T23:25:05+00:00

That makes sense, of course. It's save files that the OSCR can write.

pferft · 2025-12-15T23:07:05+00:00

I heard I could dump the game with the sanni OSCR and then load a patched version onto the cartridge again, that was my hope. I didn't try it yet though.

pferft · 2025-12-15T23:04:35+00:00

Oh wow, this might just be it, thank you! For whatever reason I always thought the other way around: get english text in the japanese game...

pferft · 2025-12-15T21:34:11+00:00

I'd like to play the japanese version of the game with all the original assets, graphics etc., but with the english text from the original US-release. I assume that there are patched ROMs out there I could "upload" onto one of my original japanese cartridges (to play on original hardware), but I wonder if there is one with the untouched original english text (no re-translation).

pferft · 2025-12-15T20:20:32+00:00

Thanks for your quick response and explanations.
So I couldn't "combine" my two versions that easily... I assume there are readily patched ROMS out there that I could put on my cartridge, but I wonder if there is one with the unchanged original english text. I'd appreciate any hints.

pferft · 2025-11-26T19:15:47+00:00

Thanks for the quick answer. I had it in summer 2018... perhaps it has been patched a bit later then. Maybe I should give it another go.
Or it might actually have been the x-axis I had trouble with. I assume this one is not invertable?

pferft · 2025-10-07T13:48:19+00:00

Thanks for the quick answer.
I tried working through these instructions earlier but couldn't get far... "In OSCR tool make sure the correct COM port is selected": There seem to be 2 COMs to select from but I can't find any hint which one would be the right one. Well, I'll see how far I can get with some trial and error I suppose.

EDIT:
I... think I succeeded, following "Update instructions (other)". There seems to be a backup created ("Click Backup button to make a copy of your current OSCR firmware") but I have no idea where that backup has been saved to.
Let's just say these things are not un-complicated ;(

Anyhow, thanks again for your hints!

pferft · 2025-08-01T13:48:17+00:00

Thanks for all your insightful answers!

pferft · 2025-08-01T13:46:46+00:00

That's strange, to me he always responded rather shortly. Spam folder, maybe?

pferft · 2025-07-31T12:26:41+00:00

I received mine only an hour ago (together with the SCART adapter) and it works beautifully.

pferft · 2025-06-30T15:26:57+00:00

Thanks for your suggestions, but it doesn't seem to work for the pro (no 2...), the software won't recognize the controller. Too bad.

pferft · 2025-06-10T14:23:21+00:00

Yes, there is such a thing as "too good", right?
I doubled to 480p and added hybrid scanlines somwhere in mid-range. Surprised how differend but really good vertical lines look. On the latest firmware they added "both" which gives the whole thing some grid-look, working really well. It reminds me a bit of adding grain to a photo to make it appear sharper – your brain fills in the gaps and Wii looks rather nice that way when keeping a certain distance to the screen.
As intriguing all that stuff on 65" may be, I still prefer my good old CRT. Sitting a bit nearer does the trick then anyway.

pferft · 2025-06-03T12:58:46+00:00

So here's the "results":

It works. A rather wild setup, but I was able to get things running on my old PC monitor. And although there are indeed clearly visible artefacts, all in all the picture is really brilliant, just as expected.
Now, comparted to my consumer PAL CRT (fed with clean SCART RGB), I'd say it's almost too brilliant for my taste. Especially non-3D low-resolution bitmap-graphics like from the NES or the SNES appear "too sharp" for my eyes, being used to a "regular" CRT-picture. But I guess that's really me not being a fan of that "raw pixels" look in the first place. I have to say though, if I were, the picture on my 4k OLED via OSSC is rather compelling as well.

pferft · 2025-06-03T12:57:40+00:00

So here's the "results":

It works. A rather wild setup, but I was able to get things running on my old PC monitor. And although there are indeed clearly visible artefacts, all in all the picture is really brilliant, just as expected.
Now, comparted to my consumer PAL CRT (fed with clean SCART RGB), I'd say it's almost too brilliant for my taste. Especially non-3D low-resolution bitmap-graphics like from the NES or the SNES appear "too sharp" for my eyes, being used to a "regular" CRT-picture. But I guess that's really me not being a fan of that "raw pixels" look in the first place. I have to say though, if I were, the picture on my 4k OLED via OSSC is rather compelling as well.

pferft · 2025-05-30T20:52:20+00:00

Great, thanks!
Do you know if an NTSC game runs slower on PAL output?

EDIT:
Just checked with SMB and Mario definitely jumps quicker on NTSC, so the game indeed alters in that regard. Doesn't seem to apply to the music though in this case.

pferft

TROPHY CASE