It’s not just emulators. Modern GBA flash carts like the , EverDrive GBA , and GB Operator (for PC dumping/play) also use derived versions of gba-db.bin .
If you use a pre-built emulator from a download site, the included gba-db.bin is likely a snapshot from the mGBA or VBA-M projects. gba-db.bin
gba-db.bin acts as a lookup table. The software (emulator or flashcart kernel) reads the Game Code from the ROM header, calculates a hash or performs a string comparison, and scans the gba-db.bin file for a match. Once found, the binary entry returns a value indicating the necessary save type. It’s not just emulators
Creating a save type database. · Issue #9 · profi200 ... - GitHub gba-db.bin