Hacking DO NOT USE DISKWRITER v2.00b8!!!!

[Osmosis]

DO NOT USE DISKWRITER v2.00B8!!!!

PLEASE BACKUP YOUR GAMES AND SAVEDATA IN 1.06 BEFORE USING 2.02B1!!!

BEFORE YOU RMA YOUR SKY3DS PLEASE REFOMAT YOUR mSD AND USE DISKWRITER 1.06 TO START FRESH!!!

DISKWRITER 2.02B1 IS NOW WORKING!!!

Got bad news folks...

There's something terribly wrong with the Sky3DS DiskWriter v2.00b8.

Good news is DW2.02b1 is already out and fixes it.

Ditch 2.00b8 N-E-O-W!!! Not even worth the disk space.

If you had 2.00b8 working, then 2.02b1 is your best bet instead of 1.06. Again, BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP. Until you know you have an uninterrupted workable backup of games and savedata, don't reformat. Once you backed up, then reformat using 2.02b1. Just to be safe.

To fix the formatting of your mSD follow the below:

1. OPEN DISKWRITER 1.06>SELECT mSD>FILE>BACKUP GAMES>SAVE BACKUP
   
   Just your basic ROM backup before we do anything.
   
   
2. SELECT GAME>RIGHT-CLICK>BACKUP SAVEDATA
   
   Wouldn't hurt to backup the savedata just in case. Have to do this for each ROM individually.
   
   
3. While your mSD is still formatted in Diskwriter format:
   CLOSE DISKWRITER>OPEN EASEUS>RIGHT-CLICK THE MBR OF mSD>DELETE ALL PARTITIONS>APPLY>CLOSE EASEUS
   
   This just clears the partitions but doesn't break the MBR. If needed, you may restore the MBR in Diskwriter by using FORMAT. But you need to break the FAT12 partitions first so the MBR can clear porperly.
   
   
4. OPEN DISKWRITER 1.06>SELECT YOUR mSD>FILE>REFORMAT>CLOSE DISKWRITER
   
   Now your mSD MBR has been restored to its original FAT/16/32/NTFS state. This is important if your mSD reads UNKNOWN SIZE when you try to enter windows format.
   
   
5. OPEN MY COMPUTER>RIGHT-CLICK mSD DRIVE>FORMAT>RESTORE DEFAULTS>OK
   
   This returns your mSD back to the "original working state". If you see UNKNOWN SIZE at top, then you need to ReFormat in Diskwriter. Windows can now open this mSD and use it like normal. But you're not done yet...
   
   
6. OPEN UP DISKWRITER 2.02B1>SELECT mSD>OPTIONS>CHANGE TEMPLATE>SELECT YOUR TEMPLATE>FILE>FORMAT>CLOSE DISKWRITER
   
   Now you went from a clean state back into a Diskwriter FAT12 with the new partition system for 2.02b1 with the new template so any games you write back on will use it. Closing out just confirms the changes have been written and prevents any JIT errors.
   
   
7. OPEN DISKWRITER 2.02B1 AGAIN>RESTORE GAMES then if needed FILE>RESTORE SAVE DATA
   
   Just restore your games (needed for savedata purposes) and restore any savedata backups just in case.

If you really screw up, check the mSD in EaseUS. If you see the mSD with (FLOPPY DISK) instead of (MBR) open it up in Diskwriter and FORMAT it then go back to step 3.

Hopefully this helps people who are having issues with auto-cycling or no games appearing in icon.

When you do your triple insert for games to appear, please wait for blue light to stop blinking before ejecting.

I have tested Pokemon OR by putting it in RESERVE and bringing it back to POSITIVE and it doesn't break savedata. Do BACKUP GAME before you delete it from Diskwriter. You will need it to re-write it later. Doesn't matter if in POSITIVE or RESERVE.

 

[thorasgar]

You know what that "b" in a version stands for, right?

 

[Osmosis]

yeah... BETA

So stick to Diskwriter v1.06 until there's a functional v2.0.

 

[dandymanz]

Well, they've released 2.02. You can check it out.

 

[Osmosis]

Well, they've released 2.02. You can check it out.

Already am...

 

[sneef]

Glad to hear it wasn't just me.. SAME EXACT EXPERIENCE .... also some weird-ass overlapping partition shit going on.

in addition to the symptoms you described, the first time i inserted the microSD into my windows 8.1 laptop POST-diskwriter 2.00b8 (after having attempted to load the microsd in my sky3DS), Windows Autorun function brought up an Explorer window, as expected, but it had items that hadn't been on that microSD for days, and loaded a normal fat32 partition! (it's usually a tiny fat12 or fat16 partition with some setup.zip or exe file - can't remember exactly, but you all know what i mean - and the main section of the card is unmountable in windows' file system, only showing it's .3ds files within diskwriter)....

here in front of me was an explorer window with a nintendo3ds folder, a NAND.bin backup, and some sav files! i opened diskwriter to see what was up, and it said the volume wasn't formatted for that function (or whatever the standard message is, when you try to use a non-sky-3ds microsd with diskwriter). what the @#$@??? i used the "safely remove hardware and eject media" tool, and removed the microSD.. then after a couple seconds, i popped it back in, and this time it had the familiar small partition, and showed its roms in diskwriter...

anyway, there's something wrong with that version for sure... (by the way, i formatted my card using that version, if you didn't gather that already)

 

[Osmosis]

Yeah, there's also the problem of the mSD REFORMAT function going back to a FLOPPY DISK instead of a MBR file structure.

Best way to fix it is to run it through FORMAT and REFORMAT in diskwriter 1.06 a second time.

Just tried 2.02b1 and when I tried to write the second ROM got another JIT error prompt/crash.

So please don't use 2.0.

Stick to 1.06.

 

[Deleted-19228]

2.0 works great here. No issues and loaded 8~ games.

 

[Osmosis]

What OS & .NET are you running? x64? x32?

 

[dandymanz]

I too have tried. Prepared a new microsd, formatted using 2.02. Then write games into it. No issue so far.
I'm running on Winxp, but i write my games one by one, with verify option.

I do seem to feel that the new diskwriter seem to use up more space than the 1.06 version. I notice my starting sector has moved from 0x10000 to 0x40000

 

[Osmosis]

Using Win 7 ult x32 & .NET 4.5.2+updates

Hrm... seems to be working after a restart. Able to write multiple ROMs and they load up on O3DSXL.

The partition is back to what it was before. 512kb and unformatted partition.

So it seems to be a format issue in 2.00b8 which got fixed in 2.02b1.

So use 2.02b1 and if it doesn't work, stick to 1.06.



To fix your mSD try the following:

While mSD is still formatted as Diskwriter setup, load up EaseUS and right-click the MBR and DELETE ALL PARTITIONS. APPLY.

Now MY COMPUTER should see it as a FAT removable. If you try to format it using windows the disk size will read UNKOWN SIZE even if you RESTORE DEFAULT SETTINGS.

So don't format it with windows yet.

Now, open up Diskwriter and REFORMAT. Close Diskwriter. Go back to MY COMPUTER and it should have restored the disk size and will alow you to format the mSD. Select RESTORE DEFAULT SETTINGS>FORMAT>OK.

Now your mSD is back to "normal" or functional use. Take it back into Diskwriter 2.02b1 and it will prompt that it is not formatted properly. CHANGE TEMPLATE to latest template or whatever. Now just FORMAT it. Close Diskwriter and open it up one more time. Try writing two game to it.

For those still using 1.06b5 and wanting to use 2.02b1, please BACKUP GAMES and BACKUP SAVEDATA before you try the new 2.02b1. This way if it fails to work you can restore it in 1.06 and try again.

 

[Adeka]

I'm glad gateway and cfw doesn't have to deal with this bull.

What does the new diskwriter add?

 

[Deleted-19228]

Win 8.1 x64

 

[thorasgar]

I'm glad gateway and cfw doesn't have to deal with this bull.

What does the new diskwriter add?

Same bull different shit.

 

[dandymanz]

I'm glad gateway and cfw doesn't have to deal with this bull.

What does the new diskwriter add?

Hah, i actually feel the exact opposite. Gateway feels way too much like a project that's only developed to pass time. While Sky3ds is a real commercial product with constant updates. It also works similar to previous flashcards used on the NDS/GBA which is great.

That said, the new Diskwriter mainly adds support for you to have more than 31 games stored in your microsd card. The catch is you can have only 31 max active at a time, while the rest is stored in a "reserve list". You can use diskwriter to turn "on" or "off" the games when you want to play with them.

 

[Osmosis]

I'm glad gateway and cfw doesn't have to deal with this bull.

What does the new diskwriter add?

It changes the formatting of the mSD so you can now choose which 31 games you want to play, while having more games on a RESERVE list. This should make life easier so you don't break savedata when re-writing. It can also be used to re-sort your game list. A little tedious, but it should work nonetheless.

Oddly, some of my games I write new through 2.02b1 and when I play them still retain the savedata. Others just wipes clean, while I'm sure Pokemon will read as corrupted.

That's why RESERVE is so helpful. You can just put your game into storage on the mSD and avoid corrupt savedata.

So this means using more than 32GB is an option if you want to RESERVE more than the allowed 31 games.

What's actually impressive is how quick Sky3DS is dealing with this. Especially the 2.0-2.02 update. That was insane.

At least we got an update. How's your emuNAND 9.6 coming for GW?

 

[Adeka]

It changes the formatting of the mSD so you can now choose which 31 games you want to play, while having more games on a RESERVE list. This should make life easier so you don't break savedata when re-writing. It can also be used to re-sort your game list. A little tedious, but it should work nonetheless.

Oddly, some of my games I write new through 2.02b1 and when I play them still retain the savedata. Others just wipes clean, while I'm sure Pokemon will read as corrupted.

That's why RESERVE is so helpful. You can just put your game into storage on the mSD and avoid corrupt savedata.

So this means using more than 32GB is an option if you want to RESERVE more than the allowed 31 games.

What's actually impressive is how quick Sky3DS is dealing with this. Especially the 2.0-2.02 update. That was insane.

At least we got an update. How's your emuNAND 9.6 coming for GW?

The 31 game limit isn't a problem. it's how slow and painful it is to cycle through them.

They need to make it where pressing the button 5 times in a row skips 5 games. They will have me sold at that point.

 

[Osmosis]

I'm not fighting over symantecs of Sky3DS vs Gateway. You know the pros and cons. Go chew your own bone.

 

[Shadowtrance]

No issues with it here. It did as you said when i opened my sky sd the first time (old format), so it did a full backup and restore and is working fine.

Win 8.1 x64 Pro, whatever the latest .net is (all up to date), sandisk extreme pro 16gb.

 

[joepassive]

actually it worked pretty well.
i havent lost any progress at all.
but of course, i back up the saves first, then added them after the old backup thing, so it works.