Hacking UPDATED: M3DS Real with 6GB Micro SDHC Card

kafworld · Nov 15, 2007

UPDATED:

I have been testing the 6Gb SDHC card with the M3DS Real and come across a couple observations.

First, I can load approx 60 games and although they are slow to launch they will play.

Second, the 60 or so games total over 4.3GB because I loaded the largest games I could find megabyte-wise. I would expect a larger file-size game to load slower but even a tiny game loads slow, too.

However, I still have the problem of not being able to do the following:

1) Fill the card to capacity

or

2) Put more than 60 games on the card.

If someone knows what the problem is please post your suggestions here. I can imagine that an 8GB SDHC will only be worse. I'm very frustrated because I got the M3DS Real/6GB Micro SDHC combo in order to load tons of games on it without having to swap out all the time.

Deletable_Man · Nov 15, 2007

Aren't you limited by the number of files in one folder due to the FAT system or is my ancient windows experience leaking too far? Maybe do like a # - M folder and an N - Z folder?

Just trying to help!

EDIT: forgot my alphabet

kafworld · Nov 15, 2007

I will try this and see if it works. Makes sense but I do know the files have to reside in the NDS folder so I would be creating subfolders.

OSW · Nov 15, 2007

or maybe try format to fat32?

kafworld · Nov 15, 2007

Cars is formatted to FAT32. Maybe the long file names are the problem.

Kizmatti · Nov 15, 2007

i just got my M3 Real today and have been tryin to get all my files straight on the card.

im using an A-Data 4 gig micro sdhc card class 6 - newegg for 43 bucks

all my games load really fast with this card, even tested castlevania por, which i had probs with on my m3 simply and a 2 gig a-data

problem i have is all my games on my simply were in subfolders in nds folder, which worked great on the simply

this didnt work for me on the m3 real thou, anotherwords it wouldnt recognize the nds roms in sub folders. i had to remove them and place each nds rom file in the nds folder/ root of card

kafworld · Nov 15, 2007

Yeah, I just tried the subfolder of NDS folder trick and it didn't work. For some reason if I keep the total files to below 4GB it runs fine. It doesnt even matter if I load 70 small games or 40 large games. As long as it's below 4GBs it works. Which makes me think the M3DS Real can't handle the 6GB cards yet.

Deletable_Man · Nov 15, 2007

Ouch, I hope you can find a solution, kafworld.

However, I'm pleased to hear that your card runs fast, Kizmatti, as I just bought the very same one.

cory1492 · Nov 15, 2007

I'm noting some serious FAT driver issues in the latest kernel. *.gmc files are being written with an incorrect size in the FAT entry (gmc files seem to be created when you much around with cheats) and timestamps are being omitted from various files. Treat 2.50 and 2.51 as BETA, which they are apparently, if you are trying your stuff on those kernels I'm not surprised at all by any issues you'd find.

kafworld · Nov 16, 2007

Okay,

I've tried everything I can think of using four different M3DS Reals and four different 6GB SDHCs using the last three released M3DS Real English loaders (2.42,2.50Beta.2.51). Finally, I've got four different NDS Lites Im testing on.Each scenario delivers the same result:

1) Can load and see 125 games in game loading screen but when I click on game it freezes nds.

3) Can load and see 40 games and it works like a charm.

It's hard for me to believe this is a hardware issue since at the very least it loads 40 games. Basically it's behaving like a M3DS Simply and the only difference is that I can SEE the 125 games using a 6GB SDHC whereas on the Simply I couldn't.

I cannot believe I'm the only person having this problem especially for most of us on this site we have had other flash carts and know how they work. I just need someone to verify the same problem. I git this cart for the sole purpose of storing as many games on it as possible without having to swap so frequently like I do right now. I even have a M3Lite for my Slot-2 just to add more space.

Anyhow I feel like the first of many who will come across this problem and am just looking for some help. Hopefully a M3 Team member will see this but I doubt it. I was really hoping to fix this and have it ready for Thanksgiving because my bro leaves overseas after that. Sux bad!
Thanks for reading!

cory1492 · Nov 16, 2007

QUOTE(kafworld @ Nov 15 2007 said:
1) Can load and see 125 games in game loading screen but when I click on game it freezes nds.

3) Can load and see 40 games and it works like a charm.

1) what happened to your #2?

2) why start multiple topics about the same thing, and spam your post without a #2 to both threads? Just because you are impatient doesn't mean you will get answers faster by doing such things.

3) try subfolders with no more than 40 games in them? Expect bugs that get more and more obscure as time goes by in any new products' release.

BTW: I suspect the total FILES (aka: saves plus games) should not exceed a specific number, most likely 256 (aka: 128 games, 128 saves - though it's more likely to be closer to 64 or so) and that total path length (aka: number of bytes in the characters of the current directory + number of characters in the files name) probably has similar restrictions (128 char total or so).

Not to mention, 6G cards haven't been around long, perhaps 4G is the max their method of sector seeking is currently capable of 100%.

Just a curiosity, could have sworn I saw someplace to only use FAT (not FAT32) on M3R for the time being.
QUOTEI git this cart for the sole purpose of storing as many games on it as possible without having to swap so frequently like I do right now.

I purchased a brand new, untested product because I have faith that the M3 team will eventually get any initial bugs sorted, not because I suspect they are some type of programming gods who push initial or beta software that have no problems. Realize, you "dun git" a brand new product that is only weeks old, and that M3 has never had perfectly working software on any of their products for the first while after launch (and I'm sure you could find people to attest to persistent/nagging bugs that still need correcting after all this time.)

kafworld · Nov 16, 2007

Sorry to offend Cory. Im a first time poster and thought I was being helpful in divulging this info. You bet im pissed that I went and bought 4 new cards/memory cards costing me hundreds of dollars because the M3 Team advertised it as an M3DS Simply that can read SDHC cards. It seemed while you were flaming me you were also giving suggestions or pointers at the same time. It was hard to figure out with you so high on your soapbox. You should get down and mingle with the commoners now and again. The M3DS Real has been available in other parts of the world for months now and I have never heard of the problem I'm having> My guess is because, like you said, the 6GB cards are brand new to the world.

So, as someone who knows the rules, laws or posting and forum etiquette: who do I complain to in order to get my problem resolved because the M3 team doesn't care to listen. I ask this humbly and would appreciate your advice even if you feel it necessary to flame me at the same time.

kafworld · Nov 16, 2007

Btw, placing subfolders within the NDS folder do not work. I think that was my #2.

roadbusta · Nov 16, 2007

Try posting your problem on the G6 flash and M3 flash "Official support site".

http://gba-nds.com/

You'll have to register to use the forums.

Also, you might try to PM the user "G6team". I assume, as the name suggests, that they represent G6/M3 team on these forums, so they might be able to help you. Then again, I might have assumed wrong

kafworld · Nov 17, 2007

Ive tried that already and no response that's why I'm bringing my problem straight to you guys. I know that if there is any way this can be resolved it's with your help.

Now it's time for the full disclosure and why I'm so stressed about it. I waited before purchasing the Real, waited until I saw the 08 2.51 update and assumed most of the bugs would have been worked out. I've had such great success with the M3DS Simply. It works perfectly with a 2GB card. So I pulled the trigger on ordering many, many Reals along with 6GB SDHC cards to go as a package. Ive spent thousands of dollars and now I'm worried that it was a mistake. I'm banking on the fact that I'm either missing something or the guys at M3 will get wind of the problem and fix it.
I tested it on enough Reals and mem cards to know this is not an anomaly.

Anyhow, I appreciate all of your suggestions and input. Judging by the number of views this thread has received it's getting attention. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before the problem is resolved.

My sorta drop dead date is 12/17/2007. If it can't be resolved by then I'm truly screwed this holiday season.

Kizmatti · Nov 17, 2007

Yeah we ruled out using subfolders in my first post in this thread. If the Real wont recognize more than 40 files in the NDS folder or recognize sub folders within NDS, it doesnt pay to use a card bigger then 2 gigs, till this is fixed, or if it even can be.

i have a 4 gig card and ill add some more roms, basically fill the card and see what happens. i really dont carry more then 20-25 roms at one time on my flash carts at least not all NDS anyways. i have 20-25 NDS roms and tons of gba, and homebrew stuff as well.

but like i said ill fill my 4 gig with NDS only and see what happens, and post back the results.

To be honest i think there is alot of bugs they need to work out with this card.

Couple things ive noticed already, is soft rest doesnt work on quite a few NDS roms, and every gba rom that ive tried setting realtime save to seems to hang on loading or it will load the game but the real time save feature just doesnt work.

I havent tried download play yet, but will soon test this with the wife's DS.

cory1492 · Nov 17, 2007

Tried using the file browser ("my card" button) with sub folders instead of the NDS/GBA buttons? As far as I can tell games run fine that way... example being
:/Test/mygame.nds
created a save for it at
:/Test/mygame.0
and ran fine from the "my card" button.

Don't have a 6G card though to verify whether it is an issue after the 4G mark.

kafworld:
My initial reply was much kinder, before I realized you had copy/pasted an in thread post to a new thread after waiting a whopping 2 minutes. Such things are generally called spam (and I have yet to meet someone who likes spam, visions of soapboxes used to defend actions or otherwise.) No one here that I know of can do what you want, which is hold GBAlpha accountable for the bugs you are seeing, but it is a good bet they know of them already from the posts here. Generally, M3 do actually read their emails when you use the contact info on m3adapter.com to get a hold of them, and it's quite likely they are having to source some of the relatively new larger SDHC cards to try and fix the issue.

kafworld · Nov 17, 2007

Cory1492: You are a god! Your solution worked perfectly. The NDS Roms also loaded quite fast, too. I'm blown away at how simple the work-around is.

Just so there is no confusion, your suggestion was to place folders in the root folder of the mem card and NOT in the NDS folder suggested in the M3DS Real manual . I placed no more than 40 games in each folder (ex. NDS_ROMS_1, NDS_ROMS_2, etc) for a total of 160 games. To launch the games I navigate from within the main GM Manager menu to the "MyCard" folder. Once there, I can see the folders I created, open them and see all the games just as they would appear in the "NDS" folder. Click on a game and it launches quickly. However, it will not give you the option menu of adding cheats, soft resetting or creating backup saves. It does create a save file where the rom is located which is perfect. Seems like a software glitch that hopefully the M3 Team will resolve soon.

So, thanks to Cory1492 he found a work-around to the problem within 24 hours. I know I'm not suppose to hold you guys at GBATemp accountable for products but you saved my hide and I appreciate it. Plus, I learned my lesson about multi-posting. It's a good thing there are members like Cory to keep the forums here on track and a great resource.

cory1492 · Nov 17, 2007

Don't know about godliness, just spouting suggestions. Hopefully it is just some bugs that will not last long, and I'm glad the suggestion worked out

I guess it comes down to keeping the most used/ones you want the extended options for in the /nds folder then.

kafworld · Nov 17, 2007

my thoughts exactly. 50 games in the NDS folder seems to be the magic number. Any more and the game freezes when trying to load. I don't care too much about cheats, slow motion option, etc but my kids and customers will. Until there is a true fix your suggestion works flawlessly as I have now tried it on all of my M3DS Real/6GB SDHC combo cards.

Thanks again.

Hacking UPDATED: M3DS Real with 6GB Micro SDHC Card

Active Member

Old Man

Active Member

Wii King

Active Member

Active Member

Active Member

Old Man

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Similar threads

Popular threads in this forum