I'm having problems connecting Sonic Advance 2 to SA2B.

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azureprism
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I'm having problems connecting Sonic Advance 2 to SA2B.

Post by azureprism »

Is it possible to connect Sonic Advance 2 to SA2B? Every time I start the Tiny Chao Garden on SA2, hook my GBA up to the Gamecube and access the Chao Transporter, SA2 doesn't recognise that it's connected to SA2B. Is SA2 only compatible with SADX, or is my cart stuffed? I got it off eBay years ago so I can't tell if it's legit or not, but I also don't know if fake SA/SA2/SPP carts have issues connecting to the Adventure duology.
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Re: I'm having problems connecting Sonic Advance 2 to SA2B.

Post by chaoadventures »

I can confirm from personal experience that SAdv2 connects to SA2B just fine, I got some jewel chao from it actually. Haven't had my hands on a finished copy of the game in years though.

However, I can't say much about how fake carts react to being connected, since I have had a fake Pokemon Ruby and a fake Metroid: Zero Mission, both with their own connection issues.
For that, the best I can offer is to check whether or not the picture on your cart matches either of these or has something that makes it look blatantly off (other than gradual wear and tear):
Spoiler:
Image (USA)
Image (EU)
Image (JPN)
(I believe the GBA is region-free, actually, but those labels may help, I don't know.)
(But, if your cart is able to save data such as unlocking the TCG in the first place, than your cart is probably in the clear anyways, since that's a common problem for fake carts)
Another thing to watch out for, is the current status of your GBA's link cable port, and your GBA-GCN cable itself.

This is the thing that gave me trouble connecting any game I connected to my GBA to my GameCube 90% of the time, regardless of game.
I never found the exact source, but it affected every game I had. Connections were iffy unless I kept both my GBA and cables positioned the right way, and even then it was shaky.
The tension of accidentally disconnecting during a Pokemon trade had never been so intense.

If you haven't already, see if SA2B detects that you have a GBA connected when you don't have SAdv2 inserted. Try to drop off a chao, and see if it allows you to place a "phantom chao" on the GBA.

Also, I don't remember much about it, but I vaguely remember SA2B and SADX reacting oddly to the GBA games being connected when the games are paused before or during being detected.
Image


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azureprism
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Re: I'm having problems connecting Sonic Advance 2 to SA2B.

Post by azureprism »

There doesn't seem to be any difference between my cart and picture you posted of the NTSC one's label - the model code and images seem perfectly fine, and I've never had any save issues. Every character is unlocked and all five of them have all seven Chaos Emeralds. Nintendo handhelds were region-free until the 3DS, so that shouldn't be the thing causing compatibility issues. I wonder where my copy of Sonic Advance is - if that one also has a different label for the NTSC and PAL versions I'd be able to check if I knew where it was. Either way, it worked fine with my PAL copy of SA2B.

I do remember that a fake Pokemon Ruby cart I had at one point was not recognised by Pokemon Box, Colosseum/XD or any of the Gen IV games when using the dongle encounter method or attempting to transfer Pokemon through the Pal Park, though my legit Gen III games were recognised by them without a hitch.

My copy of SA2B works fine with detecting GBAs, loading the Tiny Chao Garden onto my empty GBA and like I mentioned before the one on Sonic Advance, with the GBA registering that it's connected to the Gamecube as soon as I step onto the Chao Transporter IIRC. That aside, which game should I be pausing before attempting a connection - SA2B or Sonic Advance 2?


edit: Should I be checking the writing on the cart's connection points?
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Re: I'm having problems connecting Sonic Advance 2 to SA2B.

Post by chaoadventures »

Er, when I say reacting oddly to being paused, I mean the games don't allow transfers when the GBA games are paused. As in,

While connecting, do this:
Image

Not this:
Image

The writing on the connection points seems like it would be too hard to read to even bother with checking it.

Also very important:

I just remembered, the GBA itself is region-free so it won't prove if it's a fake, but the gardens are. Assuming from your statements, you have a (most likely legitimate) NTSC Sonic Advance 2,
and that you are using a PAL SA2B. This would mean that they are simply incompatible (either deliberately or from unintentional regional data changes).
Image


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Re: I'm having problems connecting Sonic Advance 2 to SA2B.

Post by azureprism »

Thanks for the heads up on that, I'd forgotten about reading that people were having issues with getting the TCG downloaded from the catalog disc to work with non-Japanese copies of the Adventure duology. Now I'm wondering more than ever where my copy of Sonic Advance is - if I can find it and look at the label, seeing whether or not it has an ESRB rating on it should clue me as to what region it is. It's probably a PAL copy because of the TCG hooking up fine to my Gamecube, but it seems like it'd be weird for SA to work cross-regionally and not any of the others.
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