Hacking Getting My First Flash Cart

[Collin C.]

So I just got a SP for the first time in a few years, and I really want a flash cart for a wide variety of games (mainly hacked Pokemon). I know I'm incredibly late to the GBA hacking scene, so I'm having some trouble figuring out where I can get one that fits my needs that follow.

Works in all GBA systems

Plays 2nd gen Pokemon games with nighttime and saving working

Can link multiplayer to an actual game


These realistic expectations? I can buy used, too, as long as I can find a legit seller.

 

[Foxi4]

At this point in time your best bet is an EZ-Flash IV - it's a good quality solution that shouldn't cost you too much and does most of what you want it to do. The only problem is that it does not have an RTC and as such will not support any clock-related functionality, but there are patches that fix this pesky problem. One of the flashcart that had an RTC built-in is the M3 Adapter Perfect and those are relatively rare - they pop up on auctions from time to time and can be found in the odd shop, but getting one is a lot of effort (and often money) for little in return since patches fix the RTC problem anyways.

EDIT: Well-spotted, DanTheManMS - mistake corrected.

 

[Collin C.]

This stuff is so confusing to me. I've only had minimal experience with Wii homebrew. Mind linking the best patches and/or guides for me? I found a Chinese shop with it for $17, but the only US store I saw was $40 (can't link; on 3DS). Now that I know which to look for, I think I can find better prices possibly from the US.

 

[DanTheManMS]

Foxi4 has it right except for this part:

The only flashcart that ever had an RTC built-in is the M3 Adapter Perfect

This is incorrect. The EZ-Flash III had an RTC for example, and so did my Flash2Advance Ultra cart (though it has since died), the X-rom carts, and a few others I'm forgetting. Like you said however, finding any cart with an RTC in today's day and age is going to be exceedingly difficult.

 

[DinohScene]

I gots a Supercard SD, M3 CF and M3 SD and an EZ4
I used to have an EZ1 and 2, Xflash and Flash2Advance.

I can highly recommend the EZ4 (I personally like bigger carts but that's me)
Best card I ever had and still have.

 

[Foxi4]

This is incorrect. The EZ-Flash III had an RTC for example, and so did my Flash2Advance Ultra cart (though it has since died), the X-rom carts, and a few others I'm forgetting. Like you said however, finding any cart with an RTC in today's day and age is going to be exceedingly difficult.

Completely forgot about those, mostly because they don't often pop up in Google searches - well-spotted, sir.

One of the forum members here sent me this link, but I'm not entirely sure if this version of the M3 contains the RTC chip and whether or not the shop is genuine or not, so I'd love to know if this is RTC-equipped. The description says it is, but there were so many M3 revisions that it's hard to make heads or tails with them all. If it is, it just might be what you're looking for, but I have no idea how compatibility looks like on this thing - I know the EZ-Flash IV is near-perfect.

This stuff is so confusing to me. I've only had minimal experience with Wii homebrew. Mind linking the best patches and/or guides for me? I found a Chinese shop with it for $17, but the only US store I saw was $40 (can't link; on 3DS). Now that I know which to look for, I think I can find better prices possibly from the US.

GBA patches usually come in the IPS format and are easy to apply with a patcher, you won't run into any trouble just using Google to search for them and you probably won't do it often unless you'll be looking for trainers or mods (then again, you're interested in ROM hacks, so probably you will run into those). There's whole repositories of this stuff online, no shortage of sources to download from, not to mention that some ROM sites provide pre-patched ROM's.

 

[FAST6191]

17 sounds like one of those too good to be true prices, or they will nail you on shipping, It has happened before when a company did not realise what they had but I do not imagine it happened here.

That M3 Foxi4 linked is their model with limited GBA support, most teams did one early in the DS lifetime to get the cost down. It is not a good choice if you want pokemon and pokemon hacks.

As for patches have a go at http://gbatemp.net/threads/buying-a-gba-flash-cart-in-2013.341203/page-18#post-4756995

If you have a DS or DS lite and a DS flash cart then you can also get a 3 in 1. However if you are set on linking then, if you just want to trade pokemon then you can probably use an emulator, you are going to need a GBA.

 

[Collin C.]

I had seen the M3 Perfects from that site, but I probably won't ever use it with a DS, so I was unsure about those. So $40 is a realistic price for a EZ IV?

 

[Collin C.]

http://www.r4seller.com/ezflash-iv-...multimedia-flash-cart-for-gba-spnds_p453.html

This website trustworthy? They have some good wholesale prices with no minimum.

 

[Lemmy Koopa]

Foxi4 has it right except for this part:



This is incorrect. The EZ-Flash III had an RTC for example, and so did my Flash2Advance Ultra cart (though it has since died), the X-rom carts, and a few others I'm forgetting. Like you said however, finding any cart with an RTC in today's day and age is going to be exceedingly difficult.

On the topic of RTCs...
EFA Linker had a clock as well. I can confirm this.
Those fuckers would kill the SRAM saves after a few years though. I remember not being able to save after a year or two unless I kept it in my DS at all times because it would keep it charged for some weird reason.
My M3's battery is virtually dead and saves disappear after a day of not using the card, so I turn it back on right after I'm done with a game to back up saves to the SD card.

Basically, I'd avoid any RTC flash cards without a memory card or a separate SRAM for save files.


Also Foxi, the M3 Pro has limited SRAM of like, 4MB I think?
It's very limited and that's why they're still in stock because no one buys them. The M3 Perfect has 32MB to support like 99% GBA roms besides ones that obviously exceed that.

 

[Charli]

On the topic of RTCs...
EFA Linker had a clock as well. I can confirm this.
Those fuckers would kill the SRAM saves after a few years though. I remember not being able to save after a year or two unless I kept it in my DS at all times because it would keep it charged for some weird reason.

Uh, that does not sound good. I was considering to get an EFA II (if still available somewhere), but not being able to save after few years would be a no go.

 

[Lemmy Koopa]

Uh, that does not sound good. I was considering to get an EFA II (if still available somewhere), but not being able to save after few years would be a no go.

You're supposed to charge the battery by leaving the cart connected to the USB, but it doesn't work. Saves would die INSTANTLY after turning off if I played on anything other than my DS, because like I said, it would keep the charge on the battery for some reason if I left in my DS.

RTCs use the battery as well, and between that and the SRAM, it will die faster than it can recharge and eventually will have no charge left. It's why those pokemon games clocks die out after a few years.

 

[Charli]

You're supposed to charge the battery by leaving the cart connected to the USB, but it doesn't work. Saves would die INSTANTLY after turning off if I played on anything other than my DS, because like I said, it would keep the charge on the battery for some reason if I left in my DS.

RTCs use the battery as well, and between that and the SRAM, it will die faster than it can recharge and eventually will have no charge left. It's why those pokemon games clocks die out after a few years.

Thanks. Guess I'll look into getting an EZ4 then as well. I'd be perfectly fine with charging the card every now and then if it was working.

 

[Armadillo]

Just throwing it out there as it seems to be forgotten a lot, but the G6 Lite (M3 teams line of cards with built in memory), also has RTC and shifts the saves to non-volatile storage on a soft reset, so they are still around even if battery goes. Came with 4 shells, 3 ds lite sized and 1 GBA size one as standard.

Interface is not great, but makes a nice gba card if you come across one. That's what mine has been relegated to.

 

[cracker]

I highly recommend Real Hot Stuff. They are reliable and quick to ship. Get a microSD to miniSD adapter with your order and find a real cheap legit 2GB (or NON-HC 4GB) microSD to use with it.

Also a note on saving problems: both the EZ4 and m3 carts support hotkeys to reboot to the loader menu to save to the micro/miniSD. Their software has this patching option.

 

[Collin C.]

All dat info tho

Yeah, I think I'll just have to buy it for $40. At least it's from the US. Luckily, I picked up a new shell for my 101 parts laying around, so I can sell this 001 and buy a flashcart. Kinda funny the flashcart costs more than the console, though.

 

[Lemmy Koopa]

Is the EZ4 back in production or is this still old stock?

 

[Plstic]

It's back in production but they are putting different NOR chips in I think. I've heard some people have had problems with them.