[how_do_i_do_that]

If you bought one now it would likely be the EZ5C11.

[madridi4ever]

Thanks for the info, so I have two new ones huh..
Any clue where to find 3in1+?

[how_do_i_do_that]

you can try the trade section here and ask for the 3in1+ specifically. Someone might sell it to you, you meet the minimum needed for the section. unless you got a warning or something.

[caribou007]

Is this 4th version like the predecessors to the +, without the issues that the + had/has?

What issues are still around between the 3in1+ and AK2i?

Edit: Just read more into the topic. I see the v4 is actually the worst now, with no rumble or ram mode, and possibly a high failure rate. =(

Edited by caribou007, 09 October 2011 - 06:29 AM.

[how_do_i_do_that]

caribou007, on 08 October 2011 - 11:36 PM, said:

Is this 4th version like the predecessors to the +, without the issues that the + had/has? Already answered that in the Q&A section.

What issues are still around between the 3in1+ and AK2i? None, since it is not widely available anymore. Whatever issues it has/had is an AKAIO problem at the time the 3in1+ came out.

Edit: Just read more into the topic. I see the v4 is actually the worst now, with no rumble or ram mode, and possibly a high failure rate. =(

Edited by how_do_i_do_that, 09 October 2011 - 08:00 PM.

[caribou007]

Okay, thanks how_do_i_do_that. I reread the Q&A and I understand a bit more now. If I'm not mistaken, according to the Q&A, GBAExploader is not needed/used with an AK2i-3in1 (any version, including EZ5C11?) pairing because AK2i has integrated loaders. So, the integrated loaders of the AK2i are now the preferred method? Are the compatibility issues fixed? Is the AK2i able to use the 3in1 (EZ5C11) as a RAM expansion, for running the Opera web browser or homebrew designed to utilize RAM expansions such as  SNEmulDS? What about auto-saving of GBA saves? I might have unknowingly bought a EZ5C11, but I won't know which version it is until I receive it in the mail. How is AK2i compatibility lately with the different versions of 3in1?

Edited by caribou007, 10 October 2011 - 06:50 AM.

[how_do_i_do_that]

I don't use  SNEmulDS, so I can't really say if it works or not with v4.

Using the integrated loader over an external loader is a user preference. Anybody that wants to say that using an integrated loader saves them space, really a whold half megabyte, is normally too cheap to get a decent sized microSD. I don't care what you use, as long as you pick a way and stick with it for whatever you want to do, it makes troubleshooting easier.

As for the "unknowingly bought a EZ5C11", not possible since it will be the only thing you will be able to get. You would have to have gotten a previous version at the time when they were on the market or from another user in the trading section to have one.

Autosaving for gba games is automatic on PSRAM mode games. For NOR mode saves, under  AKAIO it is automatic for the first restart only, after that it is the user responsibility to back it up.

Edited by how_do_i_do_that, 10 October 2011 - 08:21 AM.

[caribou007]

So what's still broken on a 3in1v4-AK2i setup? Rumble, and possibly the RAM expansion? Since you never said otherwise, I take it the auto-save functionality you describe is the same on the other hardware versions.

[how_do_i_do_that]

What's still broken in the 3in1v4-AK2i setup is an  AKAIO problem, if there is one. You will have to ask the AKAIO team for that one. This is an advanced guide (as in self help) to the 3in1, not tech support.

AKAIO : The way I explained the automatic autosave is how it works under the AKAIO loader. Relying on the autosave to get your save is mostly an invitation to trouble after you had it for a few years and the battery starts to fail.
Exploader : PSRAM mode is automatic, NOR mode is manual. There are also a manual backup option for PSRAM as well.

If the browser can't detect the 3in1v4, you would immediately get a memory expansion error, it is not rocket science. Same thing for rumble mode under AKAIO. If your not going to try it with a rom that has those features, your wasting my time with what ifs.

[caribou007]

i'll be testing it when it arrives in the mail, by asking you these questions i'll know what to expect so i can test it for faults immediately. i'm going to email the  AKAIO team today, i'll even update this post when and if i hear back from them, but maybe they'll never reply, that's why i asked here. this is auxiliary information that many people may find helpful and if they ever search for it they are likely to find this topic and the answers they need.

[how_do_i_do_that]

It is better to ask in the AK section here first, you will get a nicely worded answer maybe, the  AKAIO team in most cases as bad as I am. No problems means no answers. Our real lives come first.

[ribzer]

Can anyone tell me what the differences between 3in1+ and v4 are? The wiki on the 3in1 says that the 1st version was stopped due to supplier issues, and the second was stopped for the memory upgrade, but there is nothing about why the plus was stopped.

I have read that v4 does not work even as well as the plus, but have found nothing concrete on this. On the other hand, I saw the source code was released for the plus, but did not see any released for v4. So if there is no new code for v4, then it must use the same code as the plus, right? So why would the cart function worse?

Unless I am mistaken and I just missed the code release.

So if anyone knows, are the changes between plus and v4 hardware or software or both?

[how_do_i_do_that]

The 3in1+ was stopped because of 2 things, EOL (End Of Life) of the DSL and the firmware on the EZ-Flash Vi stopped supporting the multi-rom mode. v4 is a 32 MB NOR, not a 64MB like the v3.

This is what multi-rom mode looks like on the EZ-Flash Vi that still supported it:

Warning! Spoiler inside. 

Edited by how_do_i_do_that, 27 February 2012 - 06:57 PM.

[ribzer]

Thanks for the explanation.

So if the changes were purely hardware changes, and there were no software changes, then do you know why v4 has more problems, or was that mostly in people's heads?

On another note, if the only hardware change was the reduction in memory, couldn't they have just gone back to making new3in1? (I'm guessing it would have caused them a lot of work to reprogram whatever current firmware they had on their own carts to go back to the old version.)

[how_do_i_do_that]

It is based on a v1 but has some v3 hardware, giving to a mess of issues.

Things like, in  gba exploader, with a v4 you can't access the rumble and ram mode because it is not the same as a v1 on a hardware level; so the addresses are not the same.

Edited by how_do_i_do_that, 27 February 2012 - 08:35 PM.