[Feature Request] e-Reader support

[Sanaki]

I'm not sure if something like the disc control menu could be used to implement this. I know the e-Reader works fine in standalone, though it can be a bit annoying switching between a large number of cards. Personally, if it can be implemented, I'd rather see it done without using a subsystem, since that would prevent achievement handling and would limit the ability to switch cards around easily during play.

[negativeExponent]

i cant find a way to do that without using subsystem. maybe some sort of menu would do and then switch using core options, but that would mean the cards would be on a specific folder and filename.

i have a libretro-only optimized port. ill try if i can do anything related to it and then push it here (assuming i did not pull e-reader out from source)

[Sanaki]

Would it be possible (though perhaps not reasonable) to implement m3u (and thus disc control) specifically for cards with the e-Reader rom loadable as a bios? I'm just guessing here, since I haven't looked at the involved code at all. Auto-paging in order after each read without using the disc control menu would probably be viable (though less preferable) for most uses as well, if that was somehow more feasible.

[negativeExponent]

if we use the m3u, the e-cards and the rom would be in the file which would mean its possible to accidentally insert the rom when you are suppose to insert the e-card instead.

[Sanaki]

That was why I wondered about the e-Reader rom being used as a required BIOS file (for cards only, not required for the core in general) instead. Then it isn't part of the m3u.

[negativeExponent]

e-cards, the last time i looked at them is suppose to be inserted anytime. loading it as a bios wont work and as a subsystem as well. m3u is probably more viable, if the rom itself can be avoided to be inserted instead. ill take a lot sometime and probably use the m3u as a temp working concept unless someone can pitch in another way.

[Sanaki]

I think something may have been lost in translation here. The e-Reader itself has a rom (standard gba format), which is used to access the e-Reader hardware. Cards can technically be swiped at any time, but they're only registered when the correct option is chosen from the menu. Even for things like the link to the gamecube, you load up the e-Reader system rom, use the transfer option in that rom to get the specialized reader program from the gamecube game loaded into memory, then select the option on the gamecube to trigger watching for card swipes on the reader program. In standalone VBA-M, you can select a card to swipe at any time and it will be read only when the reader goes looking for a card.

[negativeExponent]

bah you should talk to upstream. im sure they have great devs there.

[Sanaki]

For what it's worth, I opened this issue with no expectations. It would be a nice feature, but if it's not viable at the moment, that's fine. I appreciate the attention to it regardless. If you're being sincere about upstream being more appropriate, I can do so. I had assumed libretro implementations should be handled in the libretro repo.

[negativeExponent]

what you are refering to is just one use of the e-reader, which is to load games from a series of cards like demo cards and those nes games. What i am refering to is the general use of e-reader which requires a working link emulation and 2 gba's

these type of cards would work m3u style:

[Sanaki]

Ahh, then yeah, I wasn't even considering the netplay aspect (or joybus for that matter, since that seems unlikely any time soon). I was literally just referring to direct loading the cards in that fashion, since right now the only functional way to load those is to generate save files post-scan in standalone to manually swap out for the core.