Hacking Some Questions about the m3 GBA Expansion Pack

shadow21x · Feb 19, 2009

Hello everyone.

I have been doing a lot of research over the last couple of days and now, I just need to hammer down a few unanswered questions before I can make a purchase. First though, some background info.

I am using an R4 as my Slot-1 device and would like only to play GBA games. I have no need for rumble/browser, hence why the EZ-Flash 3-in-1 is not an option for me. I would have gone with the 3-in-1 if it weren't for the battery problem that a lot of people seem to be having with them, and I don't want to have to worry about my saves and such. Which leads me to my first question about the m3 GBA Expansion pack:

1) I have read that the battery recharges itself using the DS's power. If this is true, then how much faster does the DS battery drain? I can get about 14 or so hours on the lowest light setting, for comparison's sake, can someone suggest how many hours I will be able to run the DS with the m3 GBA EP?

2) Maybe this should have been #1, but is my r4 going to be able to work with the m3 GBA EP? I have read about the exploader tool, but there's a lot of grey areas regarding the m3 and whether or not it will work.

3a) Does the RTC function work properly? For example, games like Pokemon.. will they run well?
3b) Is there a list somewhere that shows compatibility with this Slot-2 device?

4) How does saving work? Is it problematic or simple? Automatic or manual?

Here are a few links I have been looking at:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18873
http://www.consolesource.com/ecomm/catalog...ack-p-2821.html

and I guess:

5) I live in Canada. If you think that the m3 GBA Expansion Pack is the right device for me, which website should I order if from? Feel free to make suggestions.

Thanks for any help. In the meantime, I will continue to comb through the forum in hopes of finding some answers. It's really weird how no sites really have much information on the m3 GBA EP..

gosp · Feb 19, 2009

shadow21x said:
Hello everyone.

I have been doing a lot of research over the last couple of days and now, I just need to hammer down a few unanswered questions before I can make a purchase. First though, some background info.

I am using an R4 as my Slot-1 device and would like only to play GBA games. I have no need for rumble/browser, hence why the EZ-Flash 3-in-1 is not an option for me. I would have gone with the 3-in-1 if it weren't for the battery problem that a lot of people seem to be having with them, and I don't want to have to worry about my saves and such. Which leads me to my first question about the m3 GBA Expansion pack:

1) I have read that the battery recharges itself using the DS's power. If this is true, then how much faster does the DS battery drain? I can get about 14 or so hours on the lowest light setting, for comparison's sake, can someone suggest how many hours I will be able to run the DS with the m3 GBA EP?
Well if you don't use it, there's no problem. If you use it and then don't use it, it'll start recharging. Battery life is varies a lot, and I'd say 9-10 hours if you're playing GBA all the time. It lasts at least for a whole shift of work before going red.

2) Maybe this should have been #1, but is my r4 going to be able to work with the m3 GBA EP? I have read about the exploader tool, but there's a lot of grey areas regarding the m3 and whether or not it will work.
EXPLoader works, but you miss all the fun stuff like RTS and cheats. Those come with the M3 Real.

3a) Does the RTC function work properly? For example, games like Pokemon.. will they run well?
Yes but you need an M3Real
3b) Is there a list somewhere that shows compatibility with this Slot-2 device?
Everything except Pokemon Platinum, and that's just the clock. Patch it.

4) How does saving work? Is it problematic or simple? Automatic or manual?
It's automatic and unproblematic in the M3 Cart. With GBAExploader I'd assume it'd be a little less stable.

Here are a few links I have been looking at:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18873
http://www.consolesource.com/ecomm/catalog...ack-p-2821.html

and I guess:

5) I live in Canada. If you think that the m3 GBA Expansion Pack is the right device for me, which website should I order if from? Feel free to make suggestions.
Kick Gaming

Thanks for any help. In the meantime, I will continue to comb through the forum in hopes of finding some answers. It's really weird how no sites really have much information on the m3 GBA EP..

shadow21x · Feb 19, 2009

Thanks for the reply.

So basically, if I want to avoid all hassles and stuff, I should just forget about the r4 and grab a bundled m3 Real + GBA Expansion.

Something like this one:
http://www.kickgaming.com/real-perfect-bundle-p-277.html

How is that one any different from this one here?
http://www.kickgaming.com/real-rumble-pack-bundle-p-276.html

Under features, it also says GBA compatible so I am wondering how they are different, and the 2nd one costs $10 less.

Also, I read this passage in one of the reviews for the m3 Real Perfect bundle that made me a little bit uneasy. Any thoughts about this?

GBA function is a little spotty, as you can;t have more than a few saves at a time (before they disappear entirely), unless you back them up. This has to do with the method in which the games are ran and flashed.

Thanks all

gosp · Feb 19, 2009

I've never ever had a problem with the GBA Saves on the M3 real. The perfect bundle is what you want, The rumble ram pack works for the browser but not gba games.

shadow21x · Feb 19, 2009

Thanks for your help dude.

Last thing.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14165
Comes with:

1. M3 DS Real NDS/NDS Lite Cart
2. 2 x Translucent Replacement Casing for Slot-2 Cartridges
3. Slot-2 Rumble Pack
4. 256M GBA/Slot-2 Expansion Pack

COST: US$42.85 incl. shipping
Ships in 2-5 business days

http://www.kickgaming.com/real-perfect-bundle-p-277.html
Comes with:
* 1 x M3 DS Real (Black)
* 1 x M3 DS Real Rumble Pack (Black)
* 1 x M3 DS Real GBA Expansion Pack (Black)
* 1 x USB TF/microSD Reader
* 1 x M3 DS Real Card Case

COST: US$51.94 incl. shipping
Ships in 36 hours

Seems to me that they are the same. Any reason to go with the Kick Gaming one over the DX one? If it's just the shipping time, I can deal with that if I will save $10.

thedicemaster · Feb 19, 2009

the difference is shipping time.

about the pokemon game mentioned earlier: it's emerald, not platinum.

and the saves: the expansion itself can only hold 1 save.
but every time you load the m3real with the same SD card&firmware you used to boot the GBA game it will copy the save to your microSD.
if you use a different slot-1 card it will be every time you load GBAexploader.

shadow21x · Feb 19, 2009

Cool, that makes sense.

Any other words of wisdom from anyone before I go ahead and buy this? Anything I should be aware of that doesn't function properly? Wifi DS games do work, right?

I'm actually going to grab it from kick gaming anyway because it shows that they do have it in stock, whereas DX doesn't, and reading some of the reviews.. DX sometimes takes weeks before it's shipped.

Fat D · Feb 19, 2009

if I recall correctly, Emerald works fine on the M3 GBA Expansion Pack, as that one DOES feature a real-time clock, unlike other devices, for which the game needs to be patched to emulate a clock, with Emerald lacking such a patch.

shadow21x · Feb 19, 2009

Also (and I don't know if this is the proper place to ask or not)

But is Sakura the only firmware other than the m3 stock that can be run on the m3 real? I ask because according to the compatibility page, SNEmulDS does not work properly with Sakura.. and I really want a SNES emulator on it. Is this the only way to play SNES? With an Emulator? The only other option for a Snes emulator is outdated since 2005 and doesn't really have a high compatibility rate.

I read somewhere that the m3 real OR Sakura's menu has built in emulators.. am I just dreaming or did I actually read that somewhere?

paul3100 · Feb 20, 2009

shadow21x said:
Also (and I don't know if this is the proper place to ask or not)

But is Sakura the only firmware other than the m3 stock that can be run on the m3 real? I ask because according to the compatibility page, SNEmulDS does not work properly with Sakura.. and I really want a SNES emulator on it. Is this the only way to play SNES? With an Emulator? The only other option for a Snes emulator is outdated since 2005 and doesn't really have a high compatibility rate.

I read somewhere that the m3 real OR Sakura's menu has built in emulators.. am I just dreaming or did I actually read that somewhere?

I can tell you now compatability with snes roms on the ds isn't good and thats with any snes emulator on the DS! , any built in emulator is just going to be SnesDS or SNEmulDS and are no different from the stand alone emulators.

Problem is the ds is so under powered that to get the snes or genesis for that matter to run exeptable requires a lot of clever coding and even then its never going to be perfect for most games! So don't worry about that when purchasing a cart as pretty much all slot one cards these days played homebrew/emulators perfectly :-)

PS: just bought my self an ez flash v i to go with my ez flash 3 in 1+ . i really reccomend this package as it seems to get the most support for the 2 carts combines and really is a complete package! , rumble/gba support/extra memory for browser support and tbh when not using gba games take it out if battery life bothers you.

regards , paul

thedicemaster · Feb 20, 2009

there are 2 emulators built into the m3real touchpod firmware: one for GB games, and 1 for nes.
they run as gba games, so they require a slot-2 GBA expansion.

and if any homebrew isn't compatible you can always try touchpod, or a homebrew launcher(such as flashcartOS)
and for the m3real there's also the possibility of launching itouch firmware(you can get it from isakureal)

carterman · Feb 20, 2009

To whoever said that saving with ExpLoader would likely be more problematic - not really. I've lost more saves using the M3 Expansion with the M3 Real than I have with ExpLoader on my Acekard (thanks to that helpful pop-up save dialog when you run ExpLoader).

hdofu · Feb 20, 2009

If you have a working r4 why not just get an ewin unless your really intereted in pokemon or want to have more then 2 gbs of games.

shadow21x · Feb 20, 2009

Actually the pokemon would be great because my little brother loves my DS and loves pokemon games.. so I would prefer to be able to play it.

Just a few more questions in general.. I'm going to stray from the topic a little bit here but help me out guys, I don't want to make a thread in each forum. You guys seem overall well educated when it comes to this stuff so I will give it a shot here:

1) The EZ Flash 3-in-1 - How does it save when it comes to GBA games? It saves it directly onto the slot 1 micro sd, right? So in my case, using an R4 and 3-in-1, all I would have to do is save, turn off the ds and turn it back on, start exploader and it will copy it to the sd? I guess what turned me off from the 3 in 1 was the battery, I assumed that it didn't write it to the SD so I thought when the battery died, the save files would be gone. However, if that's not the case then maybe I should reconsider buying the m3 in favour of a 3 in 1.

2) What exactly is the pokemon emerald problem? I've tried to read up on it but different threads say different things. Do you need an expansion pack with a battery so it keeps track of the clock? What is the patch, and what does it do?

3) Real time saving: Is this when you can save a game any time you want? Like a save state of an emulator? Because if so, then I don't really need this. I'd rather play games the way they are meant to be played, otherwise I wouldn't be able to control myself and save after every achievement in case I need to re-do something that otherwise you wouldn't be able to re-do. Since I don't need this, then I don't really need the m3 perfect combo do I?

I'm sure I will come up with a few more questions but for now that's all I got

thanks for any help.

hdofu · Feb 20, 2009

shadow21x said:
2) What exactly is the pokemon emerald problem? I've tried to read up on it but different threads say different things. Do you need an expansion pack with a battery so it keeps track of the clock? What is the patch, and what does it do?

you can just patch it to run it with anything that works as a slot 2 device, there exists a clock patch out there for it

aphirst · Feb 21, 2009

shadow21x said:
1) The EZ Flash 3-in-1 - How does it save when it comes to GBA games? It saves it directly onto the slot 1 micro sd, right? So in my case, using an R4 and 3-in-1, all I would have to do is save, turn off the ds and turn it back on, start exploader and it will copy it to the sd? I guess what turned me off from the 3 in 1 was the battery, I assumed that it didn't write it to the SD so I thought when the battery died, the save files would be gone. However, if that's not the case then maybe I should reconsider buying the m3 in favour of a 3 in 1.
Because of the nature of the technology, once you load a GBA game, booting the DS into GBA mode, all the NDS hardware becomes inaccessible. As a result, no matter what Slot-2 device you use, saves simply cannot be directly written to the Slot-1's MicroSD. All Slot-2 Expansions have built in save memory, which is automatically backed up by the appropriate Slot-1 Firmware/Homebrew.

2) What exactly is the pokemon emerald problem? I've tried to read up on it but different threads say different things. Do you need an expansion pack with a battery so it keeps track of the clock? What is the patch, and what does it do?
The "problem" is that running an unpatched Pokemon Emerald ROM on Slot-1 hardware lacking a real-time-clock is that you get an error every time you load the game. The patch removes the clock detection routine from the ROM. The M3 GBA Expansion *does* have a real-time-clock, so as a result with the M3 and its Expansion you do not need the patch.

3) Real time saving: Is this when you can save a game any time you want? Like a save state of an emulator? Because if so, then I don't really need this. I'd rather play games the way they are meant to be played, otherwise I wouldn't be able to control myself and save after every achievement in case I need to re-do something that otherwise you wouldn't be able to re-do. Since I don't need this, then I don't really need the m3 perfect combo do I?
It is exactly like you say, a save-state. But bear in mind that (from my experience) the M3 Perfect combo is the best GBA option (100% compatibility, works with Pokemon saves, real-time-clock), and that the option is in no way forced on you (enable/disable

).

I've always had problems with various flashcarts (EZ5 and AK2) saves on some GBA games with an EZ3in1. Plus the rumble on the 3in1 sucks.

I got my M3 Perfect bundle for about £28 (only about £8 more than an AK2 + EZ3in1), and I now have *no* problem, plus Real-Time-Clock.

Fat D · Feb 21, 2009

hdofu said:
shadow21x said:

2) What exactly is the pokemon emerald problem? I've tried to read up on it but different threads say different things. Do you need an expansion pack with a battery so it keeps track of the clock? What is the patch, and what does it do?

Click to expand...

you can just patch it to run it with anything that works as a slot 2 device, there exists a clock patch out there for it

Wait, there is an Emerald clock fix now? Last time I checked, there were only ones for Ruby and Sapphire.

powered_by_tux · Feb 21, 2009

Fat D said:
Wait, there is an Emerald clock fix now? Last time I checked, there were only ones for Ruby and Sapphire.

Unfortunately, there is none, at least there was none the last time I checked.

As you noted correctly, there is only one for R/S but not for Emerald. I have been looking for an Emerald clock fix for quite some time and even tried to do one myself based on the GBATA's clock fix and my mediocre hex editing abilities. Nothing worked however. Even if there was one, it is not guaranteed that it will work with the German version.

shadow21x · Feb 21, 2009

aphirst said:
shadow21x said:

1) The EZ Flash 3-in-1 - How does it save when it comes to GBA games? It saves it directly onto the slot 1 micro sd, right? So in my case, using an R4 and 3-in-1, all I would have to do is save, turn off the ds and turn it back on, start exploader and it will copy it to the sd? I guess what turned me off from the 3 in 1 was the battery, I assumed that it didn't write it to the SD so I thought when the battery died, the save files would be gone. However, if that's not the case then maybe I should reconsider buying the m3 in favour of a 3 in 1.
Because of the nature of the technology, once you load a GBA game, booting the DS into GBA mode, all the NDS hardware becomes inaccessible. As a result, no matter what Slot-2 device you use, saves simply cannot be directly written to the Slot-1's MicroSD. All Slot-2 Expansions have built in save memory, which is automatically backed up by the appropriate Slot-1 Firmware/Homebrew.

2) What exactly is the pokemon emerald problem? I've tried to read up on it but different threads say different things. Do you need an expansion pack with a battery so it keeps track of the clock? What is the patch, and what does it do?
The "problem" is that running an unpatched Pokemon Emerald ROM on Slot-1 hardware lacking a real-time-clock is that you get an error every time you load the game. The patch removes the clock detection routine from the ROM. The M3 GBA Expansion *does* have a real-time-clock, so as a result with the M3 and its Expansion you do not need the patch.

3) Real time saving: Is this when you can save a game any time you want? Like a save state of an emulator? Because if so, then I don't really need this. I'd rather play games the way they are meant to be played, otherwise I wouldn't be able to control myself and save after every achievement in case I need to re-do something that otherwise you wouldn't be able to re-do. Since I don't need this, then I don't really need the m3 perfect combo do I?
It is exactly like you say, a save-state. But bear in mind that (from my experience) the M3 Perfect combo is the best GBA option (100% compatibility, works with Pokemon saves, real-time-clock), and that the option is in no way forced on you (enable/disable

).

Click to expand...

I've always had problems with various flashcarts (EZ5 and AK2) saves on some GBA games with an EZ3in1. Plus the rumble on the 3in1 sucks.

I got my M3 Perfect bundle for about £28 (only about £8 more than an AK2 + EZ3in1), and I now have *no* problem, plus Real-Time-Clock.

wow, couldn't have asked for a more informative post, thank you. I have now decided that I do indeed want the m3 real perfect combo. I read a lot about the 3-in-1 and it appears the the 3-in-1 plus, which is what is being shipped now, isn't fully compatible with non ez flash carts (rumble and browser dont work?). I don't know if that's been fixed yet or not, but whatever.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the 3-in-1 and comparing it to the Perfect, I will order this tonight.

Plus, I'm kinda excited about trying out Sakuras

EDIT:

Just wanted to add a thank you to all the helpful members here.. and having the patience to explain it to a slot-2 noob. I am going to order this thing tomorrow, and I look forward to being an active part of this community once I get the m3 real perfect!

Thanks

Hacking Some Questions about the m3 GBA Expansion Pack

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