I just tried it a few more times. It's still as flaky as ever with
version 1.21. If you're getting a "No response from GBA" message and
absolutely no activity on the GameBoy, there's likely some software
conflict preventing access to the port correctly.

Quick check: Make sure you're letting the "GameBoy" logo finish
bouncing and sparkling before trying to send data.

Try hitting "Stop" on UserPort while Xboo Communicator is doing
nothing. If things are OK on the software side, Xboo Communicator
should close immediately when the UserPort service stops. If it
continues to sit there, you have a software problem. A fresh reboot
usually fixes this. If (heaven forbid) it's a startup program causing
the problem, supress some startup programs by holding down shift from
the time that the Welcome screen appears to the time the hard disk stops
chattering and you can use Windows. If that doesn't help, do safe mode.

If Xboo Communicator closes when UserPort stops, but there's no activity
at all on the GBA, there's no problem with Xboo Comm. reaching
UserPort. If possible, test other (old) parallel port peripherals using
UserPort to see if UserPort is malfunctioning. If data written to the
port addresses opened by UserPort reach the parallel port and
vise-versa, you either have a hardware problem or a timing problem.
(Or, of course, you might have the wrong port address range.)

If you get any activity at all from the GBA (corrupted logo, good logo
then fail, logo then freezeup, etc.), you have some sort of timing problem.

Hardware: Double-check the cable. Make sure the GBA can link to other
GBAs properly. Play with BIOS settings for the port.

Timing: Start with a fresh boot, play with the delay settings, close
non-essential processes in Task Manager, try setting the UserPort driver
and Xboo Communicator to "Above Normal" priority level, mess with BIOS
settings. (Don't use "Realtime" priority; a frozen process on realtime
will completely freeze the entire system. Use "High" with caution;
you'll still be able to kill a runaway process with Task Manager, but
it'll be goshawful slow.)

-joemck

Joe McKenzie wrote:

>I also made an XBOO cable. Sometimes it seems sort of random whether or
>not it works, because the CPU has to try to handle timing while
>multitasking under Windows. It also seems to vary greatly from one
>computer's port to another's. A few tips I've found to help, in no
>particular order:
>-Play around with the delay settings.
>-Reboot.
>-What version of Xboo Communicator are you using? I used to use 1.19,
>which sometimes worked, sometimes gave data errors. Now I have 1.21
>(labelled as 1.20 on Devkitpro.org, states itself as 1.21 when started),
>and it seems to work 100% of the time, even when I send a 160 KB
>multiboot image. The version history doesn't say anothing about
>changing timings, but maybe it's just the particular build...?
>-Try changing your parallel port's mode in BIOS setup. My Toshiba
>laptop seems to do best on ECP mode.
>-Change XP's driver for the parallel port. There seems to be a "Printer
>Port" driver and an "ECP Printer Port" driver. Either driver seems to
>be compatible in either mode from BIOS setup, but it might have some effect.
>-Close as many excess processes as you can. Try running it in Safe
>Mode. The less multitasking your machine's doing, the better chance
>your data will transmit properly.
>-Try a DOS boot disk with nocash's original XBOO.COM. Remember to try
>the different speed modes and delay settings. (I haven't tried it with
>the ME-version DOS you get from telling XP to make a system disk. I use
>real MS-DOS 6.22 for all DOS-mode stuff.) Also note that XBOO.COM does
>NOT fix the header data, like Xboo Communicator does. Your multiboot
>image MUST have the proper Nintendo logo data.
>-Try a different computer. It's weird -- my Toshiba P4 laptop works
>fine, but the family PII sends the logo and then fails, and my old 486
>doesn't seem to be able to do it at all.
>-Maybe try the Linux version of Xboo Communicator, using a Linux "live
>CD" like PuppyLinux or Knoppix.
>
>It seems the XBOO simply won't work with some computers no matter what.
>It probably has to do with the parallel port controller on your
>motherboard. If this proves to be the case for you, consider making an
>"Intelligent Cable" (PIC-controlled) or buying one of the commercial
>multiboot cables. Those are far more reliable since they do the timings
>themselves instead of relying on your motherboard.
>
>-joemck
>
>Jake Johnson wrote:
>
>
>
>>Hi, I have made an XBOO cable and am having trouble getting it to
>>work. I have tested the cable since I constructed it and the
>>multi-meter verifies that it is built right. I am using WIN XP and the
>>XBOO communicator with user port. The userport.sys has been placed in
>>the right directory and the port I am accessing is 0378-037F(which is
>>my parallel port). When I try to use the XBOO communicator it tells me
>>that the gba is not responding. Does anyone else use this? Any ideas?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Jake
>>
>>
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