Hmm, got your message about the IPS...
Well, there are a couple of possibilities.
1. The ROM might not have been the right one (some ips files need a ruby rom, some firered, but you probably already knew that).
2. The ROM might not have been clean, did it already have a patch on it?
3. If it was a Ruby hack, then it might have required the rom with a MUGS intro (this one drives me insane. I can never find a hack with the MUGS intro...).
But yeah, all the hacks here are ips files, and they usually work.