Recently I have been encountering problems and manually solving them. I came into this thread to look around and noticed many people with similar problems to mine. Because of this, I have decided to type up a summary of the emulation problems I have come accross and how to solve them. That's why I have only just joined the forums. Anyway, here you go.
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Intro
Over the previous six months or so, many ROMs of new Pokemon games, Soul Silver and Heart Gold versions (remakes of 2nd generation GameBoy Colour game, Gold and Silver), have been released. Starting out in Japanese, being patched into English, and recently having completely English ROMs is excelent. However, there are bound to be problems with these kind of things.
Because many people are having problems with emulating these games, I have made this summary of how to fix many problems I have come accross whilst playing this game so far. All of these I have come accross in the emulator: No$GBA. Here is how to fix these problems. All directions are in said emulator.
1. The Saved Data Cannot be Accessed
When you load the ROM for the first time, the emulator may come up with a screen saying something about being unable to access the save data, and having to reboot your DS. Well, this does not work, however, there is a simple solution to this. First, go to Options >> Emulation Settings. Under NDS Cartridge Backup Settings, choose FLASH512KBYTES. Click OK, then go to Options >> Save settings. Finally go to File >> Reset Cartridge.
2. Black Screen of Death
The common error in the ROMs of these games is the so called Black Screen of Death. This will happen when you finish creating or select a file. You will hear the sound/music but the screen of your emulator will be completely black. To fix this, you need to enable an Action Replay code that fixes the bug. Go to Utility >> Cheats. Then in the first box put this code:
020DE16C E1A00000
020D3FA8 E1A00000
In the second box type in a memorable name for the code, such as Black Screen Fix. Finally, select the option at the bottom saying that it is an Action Replay code. You will need to activate this code every time you play.
3. The ROM Image has Crashed
Occasionally, you will get a pop-up saying The ROM Image has Crashed and the emulator will close itself. You will find that when you reload the ROM, you are not at the last save point. The emulator will have wiped the entire previous sesdion in order to prevent some kind of (unexistant?) bug. This can really piss you off, especially if you'd been constantly saving for the last half our in order to prevent that kind of thing happening/having much impact.
Now this is an unstoppable problem, however, it is preventable. Before it crashes, most of the time, there will be a sign that something is wrong. For me, common signs have been the icons on the touchscreen menu dissapearing, and when walking through tall grass you appear to be walking above it, rather than through it (no movement of the grass, and you can see your feet). If you get a sign like this, CLOSE YOUR EMULATOR! It will mean you will be at your last lave point, but it's not as bad as losing your entire session.
4. Evil Whitney!
A problem I have recently come accross is problems with the ROM image constantly crashing after I defeated Whitney. Other people have said about this as well. I did some experimenting and this is what I managed to work out. Once you have defeated the third gym leader, Whitney (located in Goldenrod City), this will start to happen. When ever you accept any item off of anyone, be it a pokemon, flowerist, passer by, shop keeper, the game will go all glitchy, but you won't notice it. The next time you save, you will see. A couple of seconds after the save is completed, the ROM image will crash. This also occurs when you save after using a TM/HM (and possibly after exchanging phone numbers, though I'm not sure. But probably not worth the risk). To prevent this, you must close the emulator as soon as the saving is completed, before the ROM image has a chance to crash. An alternative option is to reset the cartidge, but it is safer to close it. One you reload it, you should not encounter this problem again, until you accept another item, use a TM, etc.
5. GBA BIOS
Never, ever change the Reset/Startup Entrypoint to GBA BIOS. If you do this and save the options, you've screwed up. Or at least, you will think you have when you realize that every time you load the ROM, the ROM image crashes. However, there is a way around this, and you do not need to reinstall the emulator. You can manually reset the settings without even using the emulator. Go to the folder or location where your NO$GBA emulator is. It should have thrown five pieces of junk into the same location. BATTERY, SLOT, etc. Find the on that is only named NO$GBA, and the icom is a notebook with bits and bobs and cogs or whatever surrounding it. Hover over it and it should say something about Configuration Settings, and be approximately 2KBs large. Delete this file, or move it to a different location. When you load the emulator, it will be unable to locate the settings, and replace them with the default ones. Change them as neccissary, and never make that same miststake again.
6. Freezing on Knockout
Quite often I noticed that when I knocked out an enemy, the game just stopped and did absolutely nothing, but when I closed and reopened the emulator. After a while, I realized that without the sound enabled this would always happen. To fix this easilly, just right click on the emulator screen and click sound. You should hear the target make its cry, then faint.
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That's all I've come accross so far. I'll add any more I find or add any needed detail. Mail me if you want something to be added.
Thanks