Hacking 3in1 integration with Acekard

[ribzer]

The only thing that doesn't work properly on the ez3in1+ is the rumble.
I reported that to ez team already.
The only guy who made a workaround to this issue is ywg.

The other version are also fully supported by wood r4, so akaio should also support them. if it's not the case, normmatt should ask ywg his sources.

But not only the plus, but the version of the 3in1 that came after the plus, which I think neither rumble nor ram work with. Post#154 by how_do_i_do_that gives a techinal explanation as to why it isn't working
http://gbatemp.net/t...e/page__st__150

AFAIK there is only 3 version of the ez3in1.
v1, v2 aka new edition, v3 aka Plus edition.
The gbasized format is a v1.

Those 3 version are fully supported under the last wood r4 as i said. If there is a problem under akaio, normmatt should just ask ywg about his source code.

As i said the only problem is, the rumble doesn't work on the Plus edition and ywg has found a workaround to fix that.

And ez team told me the Plus edition isn't produced anymore, it's the v2 that you will find now.

Ps : i'm not talking about PCB revision, i'm talking about code version. Every version has the sources released, it's on the ezflash wiki.

So you're saying that if I do end up with an EZ5C11 (the one that's being sold now), it would work just like a 3in1new (v2)? But it doesn't seem like that's how it works at all. Is what how_do_i_do_that said on that thread not true?

You seems to not understand what i said. I'm talking about code version not hardware PCB. EZ5C11 is the PCB version and it's a v1.
You can launch GBAexploader to see how it detect it just to be sure but it's a v1 and the code which can handle it properly is the v1 sources.

Now about the fact you bought a v1, it's probably an old stock. It's the v2 which are sold nowadays and v3 is no more produced.

I understand that there were only three version of code released while there are four hardware revisions. What I am saying is that what how_do_i_do_that said in his thread is that EZ5C11 (v4) has v1 hardware on PSRAM and NOR, and v3 (plus) hardware on rumble/ram. So when the loader looks at one of these things to determine what version you have, it shows up as a v1, but then it thinks the rumble and ram should work like a v1, and it doesn't. This is post #154 in the thread linked to in the quote. It's very long and somewhat technical, so I don't want to try to summarize the entire thing here.

 

[Mbmax]

Check the PCB picture in how_do_i_do_that thread and you will see :

EZ5C10 => 1/2007 aka ez3in1 v1
EZ5C5 => 3/2007 aka ez3in1 v1, gba sized
EZ5C11 => 7/2007 aka ez3in1 v1
EZ5C13 => 1/2008 aka ez3in1 v2, New edition
EZ5C3 => 3/2008 aka ez3in1 v3, Plus edition

So now tell me how the PCB EZ5C11 could act partly as a v1 and a v3 ? the v3 was realised after !

 

[ribzer]

Check the PCB picture in how_do_i_do_that thread and you will see :

EZ5C10 => 1/2007 aka ez3in1 v1
EZ5C5 => 3/2007 aka ez3in1 v1, gba sized
EZ5C11 => 7/2007 aka ez3in1 v1
EZ5C13 => 1/2008 aka ez3in1 v2, New edition
EZ5C3 => 3/2008 aka ez3in1 v3, Plus edition

So now tell me how the PCB EZ5C11 could act partly as a v1 and a v3 ? the v3 was realised after !

In the History and Manufacture section of how_do_i_do_that's post, it says

3in1 (v1 and phat) : Made in APR 2007, it is a stripped down version of the EZ-Flash IV. Ended due to supply issues of certain chips.
3in1 (v2) : Made in 2008, design revision to support new chips. Had the shorted production run.
3in1 (v3) : Made in 2008, Released during the second week of December, current make contains 64MB of NOR. Was a planned upgrade to the previous version.
3in1 (v4, aka EZ5C11) : Made in 2009 and early 2010, Made shortly after Multi-ROM mode was disabled. Nobody noticed until supplies of other versions ran out.

The fact that the picture of the EZ5C11 says it's from 2007 doesn't surprise me, since the Q&A section says

Q: Why does the EZ5C11 doesn't work like the EZ5C10?
A: The EZ5C11 technically comes AFTER the EZ5C3, even though it is basically a minor revision of the EZ5C10. It is that small difference that makes any existing loader, integrated or not, to not fully support it completely. As is the case where gba exploader doesn't give access to the rumble/ram modes for a EZ5C11.

Also, that some hardware came from v1, and some came from v3. All we can determine from the picture is that the part with the date on it was the part based on the v1.

 

[Mbmax]

Then i wish to know who gave him this information because ez team never told me that.
BTW, i can easily verify that next week.

 

[jimmyemunoz]

Mbmax please verify this, so we can see what the true information is. And find out why rumble and ram don't work with the EZ5C11 too?

 

[Mbmax]

Mbmax please verify this, so we can see what the true information is. And find out why rumble and ram don't work with the EZ5C11 too?

Wood R4 doesn't handle that properly ? anyone tried ?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

I'll change whatever is incorrect. if you can verify it.

 

[Mbmax]

I should have an answer soon.

 

[Mbmax]

The current version of the pcb is EZ5C11, so how_do_i_do_that is probably right. I'm quite suprised that ez team never told me that.

Ok, so. I asked for a sample. I need to test this ez 3in1 version with the ez5i kernel first, to see if the v1 sources are compatible.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

I went back some more and checked the boards and compared the pin outs on the EZ5C11 to the others and it matches both the v1 and v2. The EZ5C11 pinouts for the rumble match v2 rather than the v3.

Tested the EZ5C11 in other carts that have the rumble and ram etc.

The EZ5C11 rumble does work under AKAIO and i/CycloDS, the only 2 other flashcarts that does support rumble. test was done with metroid pinball, Star Fox Command and Dirt 2.

I don't use the browser and don't feel like spending a day looking for the rom on the net to test it.


The EZ5C11 was probably the interm development test board before they ran out of some chips.

 

[Mbmax]

There was a problem to sent me the sample, so i decided to ask directly ez team to test themself.

Please tell me what is the problem with the EZ5C11. Precise example are appreciated of course.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

The problems show up when using a NON-integrated loader flashcarts.

Examples of flashcarts with no integrated loader support for a 3in1:
1. Supercard slot1 series (DS2, DS1, mini, etc)
2. M3 slot1
3. R4 (non Wood firmware)
4. Edge
5. every other flashcart that isn't a AK2i or a Cyclo or a EZ-Flash V/i or not using some Wood version

What do all these have in common is that it requires loader app to either set/config or use the 3in1. Due to the EZ5C11 nature that it is only looks and acts like a EZ5C10 for PSRAM and NOR only. The problems show up for those that like to use rumble and/or the browser features of the EZ5C11. The EZ5C11 looks and acts like the EZ5C13 for rumble/RAM modes. Why is this a problem? the only external loader that supports the rumble/RAM modes is GBA ExpLoader, most other loaders only support the PSRAM and some barely the NOR mode. With dev on ExpLoader stopped at 0.58b, nobody else can currently can update the loader to support the EZ5C11 correctly due to the slight differences. With this, there is no access to the Rumble/RAM mode screen on ExpLoader.


Other problems, based on what some people report:
1. fails to show up, non detectable by a slot1 flashcart
2. NOR stops working after a few weeks of play, fails to show up on the DS screen after that
3. SRAM on some doesn't seem to work, even after replacing the battery and testing it with a known clean game with a save type of SRAM. save keeps dissappearing.


Is that enough? or do you need something else?

 

[Deleted-236924]

Lol, there goes myself not reading every other post before quoting someone, disregard this.

 

[Mbmax]

Thanks how_do_i_do_that.

So, there is no problem at all with akaio, wood r4, cylcods and EZ5 &5i with the EZ5C11 ?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Not from what I can tell, the 8 EZ5C11 I got all work as they are suppose to, so I can't really tell you how the other problems are coming up for others. Likely bad batches or something. The 3in1 supply is going to likely dwindle down now that Paypal gave everyone the finger.