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Patch Database Setup

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laqieer edited this page Jul 4, 2026 · 1 revision

Patch Database (patch2) Setup & Updates

FEBuilderGBA's patch database — the ~44,000 binary/ASM patches you install from the Patch Manager — lives in config/patch2/. Since a change in mid‑2026 it is delivered over git from a separate repository (laqieer/FEBuilderGBA-patch2) instead of being bundled into the download.

Why is config/patch2/ empty on a fresh download?

A freshly‑extracted standalone build ships five empty stub folders — FE6, FE7J, FE7U, FE8J, FE8U — under config/patch2/. This keeps the download small; you fetch the patches once, on first use.

If you open the Patch Manager before fetching them, it shows a friendly notice:

The patch database has not been downloaded yet. Use Check for Updates / Initialize Repository to fetch it.

This is expected — it is not an error. Follow one of the methods below to download the database.

Method A — in‑app (WinForms)

  1. On the Welcome screen, click the update button ("Update FEBuilderGBA to the Latest Version").
  2. Even when the core app is already the latest version, if config/patch2/ is empty the update dialog offers a "Git Patch2" button (Gitでパッチデータを更新します).
  3. Click it. If Git is not installed, the app offers to auto‑install Git first, then clones the patch database.
  4. Restart FEBuilderGBA afterwards to apply the new patches (patch definitions are loaded at startup).

Avalonia GUI: a discoverable in‑app initialize/update flow is not available yet (the update checker is currently a stub). The Options window can set the remote URL, but use a manual method below to fetch the database for now.

Method B — manual (any platform)

Delete the empty stub folders under config/patch2/ first, then choose one:

  1. git clone (recommended — supports fast incremental updates later): 
    git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/laqieer/FEBuilderGBA-patch2.git config/patch2
  2. Download the zip: get FEBuilderGBA-patch2 master.zip and extract its contents into config/patch2/.
  3. Reuse a populated config/patch2/ from an older FEBuilderGBA release.

Updating later

  • In‑app (WinForms): the same Git Patch2 button performs a git fetch + git reset --hard (only changed files are transferred). Restart to apply.
  • Manual: cd config/patch2 && git pull.

Using a custom / mirror remote

The patch2 git source defaults to github.com/laqieer/FEBuilderGBA-patch2. To use a different remote (for example a private mirror), set a custom submodule_patch2_url value in config.xml; when present it overrides the default GitHub remote.

Troubleshooting

  • "Open Patch File" shows an error / the patch list is empty → config/patch2/ has not been fetched yet. Use Method A or B above, then reopen the Patch Manager.
  • The Git Patch2 update fails → confirm network access to the patch2 remote; the repo is public, so no credentials are needed. Re‑run with a clean config/patch2/ to force a fresh clone.

See also: Getting Started · Reporting Bugs · the in‑repo Update Guide.

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