Ok, so I just bought my first prototype from Dain.  It's a GB cart and supposedly the ROM on this one hasn't been dumped and checked.

I know there are a few people around here with the necessary skills and hardware to do this, but unless it costs multiple thousands of dollars to get a good setup, I'd like to join the ranks of Game Boy "archivist" who would like to start ripping cartridge ROMs.

I looked into this a little before but all of the information I found was quite old.  Oh well, that migth be ok if that's all there is.

So, anyone out there able to assist me?  Do you have dumping hardware you'd be willing to sell?  Or, if you have experience, could you assist in giving any advice on how to setup a usable hardware enviroment since in this day and age, we're using considerably different PC hardware that rarely plays nice with old tech?

Anyway, I know I'm just getting started but I am definitely capable of reaching this goal.  I just need a bit of assistance and pointing in the right direction.

Thanks guys!

You can try this: https://www.tindie.com/products/J...
Also a Kazzo for SNES works well. All you would need is a Super Gameboy cart I believe?

You'd need a GameBoy adapter for the Retrode. I've personally had scattered results so far with that in terms of dumping certain carts.

BennVenn makes a reader device specifically for GameBoy, though I've yet to try that.

Hmmm, that cart flasher scares me a little.  I see from the description that it both flashes and writes, but I'd rather no plug a very rare proto into something that could erase over my EPROM. I know that EPROMS need to be first erased but for the  just-in-cases I'd like to avoid that.

Can anyone confirm that you can dump .gb roms from a SNES dumper with the game converter?  That's... interesting.  That doesn't quite add up in my mind, unless the tool actually knows that it's using a Game Boy Player cart and is then translating the GB data from the cart.

 

They have their own flash carts that can be written to. To my knowledge it can not be used to write to Nintendo dev carts.
 

I don't think you can dump through a Super Game Boy. It is possible to dump through an N64 GB Transfer Pak and an Adaptoid or a Retrode with appropriate adapters. A rooted Retron5 will work as well. Personally, I would use my Bung GB Xchanger or PS Xchanger. I'd be happy to loan you the GB Xchanger if you have access to a computer with a parallel port.

--deleted and reposted with quote.--

Thanks CZ, but I think I might look for one of these, or something comparable.  Do you have any experience with the above-linked J Rodrigo Cart Flasher/Reader?

If not, you have any clue where I might find one of those Bung GB Xchanger devices for sale, or are they old and basically tough to find?

I appreciate the offer, but I think I might get into ROM dumping and archiving, so I kind of need my own hardware.
 

It was the PC linker for Bung's GB/C flash cart, the Dr. GB Card... among other things (GB Pocket Voice, original GB/C games, etc). Nintendo shut down Bung so it's thoroughly obsolete (GB/C only; no USB). The PS Xchanger is still useful for sending N64 ROMs to my V64jr512 without a PC (uses the Playstationnlike an N64 CD-ROM drive).

Many of the GBA linkers supported GBC and some might even have supported USB so they would be better if you had to buy something. I like the idea of the Retrode or rooted Retron5 more.

It's been awhile but I think it was Steve that had used the SNES dumper in conjuction with the Super GameBoy cart to dump a GB game. Some one along my journeys was doing this. Had posted a similar thread a few years ago and had it as an answer back then ( may have been off assemblers)

I know that the SNES has access to some part of the ROM or the SGB has access to some part of SNES memory to do things like load the SNES version of Space Invaders from the SGB game pak, but I think there would be a catch-22 where the dumping device would need some kind of SGB-specific logic and may require modification.

For other systems:
For NES I use a Kazoo from InfiniteNESLives but a CopyNES is better. I recall Kevtris suggest he was bringing CopyNES functionality to the Analog NT Mini, which would be an even better option.
Some cheap Super 8 /Super UFO flashcart has a top slot so I assume it can dump games, though it's also used for passing through special chips (something even SD2SNES and Super Everdrive can't do). IIRC, it's from Super UFO, who also made the SNES Game Station and N64 CD64. Other options are Retrode, Retron5, Bung Professor SF, Super Wildcard DX2, etc.
For N64 dumping I use my Bung Doctor V64, V64jr, and GameShark Pro but all three require a parallel port. There's also CD64, Mr. Backup Z64, Retrode, etc.
For GBA I use various DS flashcarts with the correct DLDI patch to dump from the GBA slot (note: doesn't work for GB/C).
For GameCube and Wii there's always the softmodded Wii (obvious choice) but I used to do it with the Broadband Adapter and the PSO exploit (or Samson's AR Loader + memory card SD adapter).
For Nintendo DS/i I use a Datel Max Media Dock.
For 3DS I use a Gateway 3DS but I think there are softmods that can do it these days.

Of course, desoldering the ROMs and using a ROM programmer/reader with the appropriate adapters works for NES, SNES, Game Boy, Virtual Boy, etc. Not N64 and later though.

You can use a made-for-the-purpose Retrode GB adapter plugged into the Genesis/MD slot of a Retrode to dump GameBoy ROMs. I've used it to dump some of my GB prototypes without issue.

That being said, it doesn't seem to by default give accurate dumps with all of my regular GB protos, nor does it work with flash-based cartridges as far as I know (which won't be an issue for standard GB prototypes, but would be a problem if you get into GBC and GBA).

*edit for clarity

I can verify that the cart flasher from tindie works! I got it to work with windows 7 and that's how I dumped my proto of Cannon Fodder. I would recommend it especially for the price. Order it with the case though, I had bad luck printing the models from thingiverse. I also use Kazzo and that works pretty well.

Retrode with GB adapter is the way to go. No software needed. Just copy and paste the ROM sometimes you need to maybe just adjust the INI file. I haven't tried any of the other methods mentioned. I would imagine if a super GameBoy was included in the mix you would not get a true dump of the ROM

Curious, game roms (.GB, .NES, .SFS, etc). Have header bytes, correct? These dumpers. Do they output roms playable on emulators or are they straight binary dumps?

Yes they work on emulators no problem.

If you dumped the ROM chips themselves from an NES or SNES game you might have to borrow/create a header to make a properly formatted ROM. It's usually going to be the same as the final game, assuming it was ever released. Most platform-specific dumpers will create a header if necessary.

 

Ok, thanks.  I ask because I'm not affraid of dumping bins and then rolling my own header generator but that would be more work. I'm sure such software already exists but, eh, it's some times more fun to DIY.

 

Yeah, and those platform-specific dumpers are just as often creating a header based on what you tell it about the cart, so it's still DIY in a way. For example, the Kazoo can't just tell what mapper your NES Game is or whether it uses battery-back SRAM, SRAM, etc. RetroN5 can.

Ok, so the retrode looked nice but is discontinued, so I guess I'll pass on that. If the Retron5 is pretty good/reliable, I think that will be my option. Question, how do you dump from it? I just looked over the official site and there's nothing about dumping roms. Is it a hidden/undocumented feature, or will I need to search elsewhere for user-created extension tools?

My understanding is that you can do this by rooting it. Look up "RootroN5" (IIRC). I don't have one myself. Hopefully it isn't just for playing ROMs.  

I have a joey joe-bags. It worked great for standard games, but not for gbc prototypes. It just dumped the same block over and over again. I contacted Ben and he said he would help me, but the prototype is still not dumped.

https://bennvenn.myshopify.com/...