Link cable trouble? Pokemon sapphire/ruby help

[Kiyomi]

For some reason my sapphire and ruby games will not trade. It will trade just fine with red and blue (original versions of pokemon), but not with the sapphire and ruby. Any ideas as to why?

[BWS-1]

Maybe it is the link cable, not the games. I used to have a 3rd party link that would allow me to connect 4 different types of handhelm consoles, it was working fine for game boy games used in a GBA to play or to trade with an other person, but once using the GBA pokemon games, I couldn't established connection. I called technicle support, they told me it was probably because the GBA wasn't made to be able to do such linking with a 3rd party cable ... and that I had to buy THE GBA link cable whenever I wanted to play with a buddy using GBA games ... so yeah, it might just be it! You tell me

[Kiyomi]

But the thing is it would trade with the blue and red pokemon version. That's the confusing part.

[BWS-1]

Ha, then ... have you tried with other games? The cable might still be the problem. You are saying you have a problem with exchanging data from a GBA game to an other, yet, don't have problem when it comes to transfer data from a GBA game to a GB game, right? And, you don't have problems with a GB game to an other hopefully?

[Kiyomi]

No, I am using the same GBs each time. One is a GBA SP, the other is a regular GBA. When I put ruby in the GBA SP and sapphire in the GBA it will not trade. When I put sapphire in the GBA SP and ruby in the GBA it will not trade. When I put red or blue (old versions of Pokemon) in either the GBA SP or the GBA it will trade.

[BWS-1]

ha, well then you probably need a new GBA link cable. Since with a 3rd party cable, using GBAs to play GB games, it will be sopported, but the GBA games are quite picky when it comes to links, and so it is why they will only work when using a NINTENDO GBA link cable ... gah, silly uncompatibility *shaky fist at Nintendo

...

*goes back to play Advance Guardian Heroes

[Ultrawolf]

You need a GBA advance cable. I'm assuming you are using the old black link cables and not the new GBA ones. That could be your problem right there.

[Kiyomi]

The cable I have is a shiny purple. It said it was a universal cable (but this was a little bit ago). It has 4 connector thingies. Two small ones (like for a pocket GB or a GBA) and 2 large ones (like for the original GB). My question is why would it trade in red and blue using the GBA and GBA SP if the link is the problem? Or are the sapphire and ruby games themselves (not the GBs) programed to only "listen to" a specific type of cable?

I'll try getting a new cable and see if that works. I sure hope it's not the game because I have so many Pokemon now. All I need to do is catch Latias, Latios, the Regis, Feebas (+ evolve it to Milotic), trade from Ruby version, then get the hard ones that require extra stuff like Jirachi. So I am pretty close, if I could just trade.

[Ultrawolf]

Yeap you have an old cable. You will need a GameBoyAdvance cable. Ruby/Sapphire are not compatible with the cables that are compatible with the older gameboys. What you have is a gameboy link cable. You need to buy a new cable that is marked specifically to work with gameboy advance games. Your cable in short is outdated .
Link Cableness
That's what you want.

edit: Hehe fixed the link

[Kiyomi]

Man, that is a long link. Thanks, though. That is a big relief, since it's not the games or the GBs themselves (because those are more expensive). And it's only like $10, so no big deal.