Wii:GBA Link Cable Usage

Wii:GBALINK

This page contains various tutorials that go over different homebrew use cases for the GBA GameCube Link Cable. All of these tutorials are compatible with the GameCube GameBoy Player attachment.

GBA Link Cable Dumper

This app allows you to dump your GBA/GBA SP/GB Micro's BIOS and ROMs to an SD card or USB flash drive.

The GBA Link Cable has a very slow transfer speed - if you have either a DS/DS Lite with an R4 flashcart or a modded GameCube with the GameBoy Player attachment, they are superior methods to this.

Requirements

A model RVL-001 Wii console
An SD Card or USB drive
A GBA GameCube Link Cable
A GBA (SP)
- If you are using a GB Micro, then you will need an extra adapter
A GameCube controller
The GBA Link Cable Dumper app

Instructions

Extract the contents of the .zip file and copy them to the root of your SD card or USB drive
Insert the SD card/USB drive into the Wii
On the GameCube, plug the GameCube controller into port 1 and the GBA Link Cable into port 2
Remove any game inserted in your GBA/SP/Micro and then plug the other end of the GBA Link Cable into it
Launch the GBA Link Cable Dumper application in the Homebrew Channel
When prompted, turn on the GBA. You should hear a jingle after the bios screen if you did it correctly
Press Y on the GameCube controller to dump the BIOS
Once this finishes, insert a game you want to dump into the GBA and then press A on the GameCube controller
Both the GBA BIOS and ROMs will be saved to a folder named dumps on the root of your SD or USB.

GBA Link Cable Wifi Input Server

This application allows you to use your GBA/SP/Micro as a wireless controller on a PC emulator.

Requirements

A model RVL-001 Wii console
An SD Card or USB drive
A GBA GameCube Link Cable
A GBA (SP)
- If you are using a GB Micro, then you will need an extra adapter
A GameCube controller
A Windows PC
An emulator, such as Bizhawk
Your legally obtained ROM(s)
vjoy
The GBA Link Cable Wifi Input Server app and PC client

Instructions

Extract gba-link-cable-wifi-input-v1.2.zip to a folder
Copy the wii_server folder inside the extracted ZIP to sd:/apps on your SD card/USB
Run the vJoySetup.exe file and follow the steps through the installation wizard
In the Windows search bar, search for configure vjoy and launch the application that shows up
In the "number of buttons" section, change the value from 8 to 10
Insert the SD card/USB drive into the Wii
On the GameCube, plug the GameCube controller into port 1 and the GBA Link Cable into port 2
Remove any game inserted in your GBA/SP/Micro and then plug the other end of the GBA Link Cable into it
Launch the GBA Link Cable Wifi Input Server in the Homebrew Channel
When prompted, turn on the GBA. You should hear a jingle after the BIOS if you did it correctly
Go to your PC, and open the pc_client folder matching your PC's OS architecture
- This will be the x64 folder if your OS is 64-bit, or the x86 folder if it's 32-bit
Run the vJoyClient_x64.exe/vJoyClient_x86.exe file
When prompted, type your Wii's IP address
- This is displayed in the top-right corner of your Wii's screen
Open your preferred emulator and launch a ROM. You may need to do some additional controller mapping inside of your emulator.

If you are having trouble connecting the Wii to the server, double check to make sure both your Wii and PC are connected on the same network.

GBA Link Cable ROM Sender

This app allows you to send ROMs from your SD card or USB drive to your GBA/SP/Micro without using a GBA flashcart.

Because of the GBA Link Cable's transfer speed, all ROMs must be smaller than 256kB. All retail games are larger than 256kB, and so this method can only send homebrew applications.

Requirements

A model RVL-001 Wii console
An SD Card or USB drive
A GBA GameCube Link Cable
A GBA (SP)
- If you are using a GB Micro, then you will need an extra adapter
The GBA Link Cable ROM Sender app
A GBA homebrew ROM
7-Zip (Keka on Mac), if downloading homebrew from the above website

Instructions

Extract the contents of the gba-link-cable-rom-sender.zip file and place it on the root of your SD card/USB drive
Extract the homebrew by right-clicking on the file and selecting Show more options -> 7-Zip -> Extract here.
Copy the .gba ROMs into sd:/gba on your SD card/USB drive
Insert the SD card/USB drive into the Wii
On the GameCube, plug your GBA Link Cable into port 2
Remove any game inserted in your GBA/SP/Micro and then plug the other end of the GBA Link Cable into it
Launch the GBA Link Cable ROM Sender application in the Homebrew Channel
Choose a ROM to load.
When prompted, turn on the GBA. You should hear a jingle after the BIOS if you did it correctly
The application should load. You may now unplug the Link Cable from the GBA if you wish

GBA SID Send

This app allows you to send Commodore 64 SID music files from your SD card or USB drive to your GBA/SP/Micro to play them using the sid-the-kid SID player instead of a GBA flashcart.

Requirements

An RVL-001 Model Wii
An SD Card or USB drive
A GBA Gamecube Link Cable
A GBA (SP)
- If you are using a GB Micro, then you will need an extra adapter
Legally obtained SID file(s)
The GBA Link Cable SID Send app

Instructions

Extract the contents of the .zip file and place them on the root of your SD card/USB drive
Copy all of your .sid files to sd:/sid on your SD card/USB drive
Insert the SD card/USB drive into the Wii
On the GameCube, plug your GBA Link Cable into port 2
Remove any game inserted in your GBA/SP/Micro and then plug the other end of the GBA Link Cable into it
Launch the GBA SID Send application in the Homebrew Channel
Choose a SID to load
When prompted, turn on the GBA. You should hear a jingle after the BIOS if you did it correctly
The application should load. You may unplug the Link Cable from the GBA if you wish.