Hacking 3-in-1 questions

[ralamzull]

I opened a post in forums.r4ds.net before it crashed and got an answer from one person who i guess had no idea what he was talking about... here goes

I am currently a happy owner of one R4DS with a 1gb kingston. When I purchased my card I was fully expecting to purches the EZ flash expansion one month later so I can play all my GBA games. What interested me in the 3-in-1 was the fact that I didn't need to keep track of two cards... only one... probably need a bigger one than 1gb for all my gba games but still... just one card. What concerned me was as I was reading up on it, it started sounding incredibly complicated... three different kinds of memory... sram, something and nor something or something... whatever... above my level of expertise. So I ask in the forums.r4ds.net .... forums.... about what people would recomend to me... well... I got ONE responce and it was some fellow telling me to get an ezflash 4 or something... his main reason for suggesting this to me is the fact that the 3-in-1 dumps your savegame when you switch roms... so... I couldnt let my wife use her gbasp to play her HM-MFOMT, then take the 3-in-1 and pop it into my ds to play my summon night without losing her gamesave... pretty sure that wouldnt go over too well with her... and unfortunately its one of those games that she never.... beats i guess... just keeps playing....

but then here I hear that you CAN save your gba game saves... and even transfer them into vba! which is perfect cuz thats where we are currently playing our roms!

so i guess question 1 is) was guy who answered me full of .... Stuff... or am I not understanding what you guys over here are saying...

and my other question in regards to the 3-in-1 is) if there are currently any cheating capabilites with gba games either via R4DS or through some other program/homebrew?

Last question was something I posted/heard about on another topic here and that is) with the 3-in-1 lite version... can I butcher say.... one of my pokemon emerald gba cart/cases and slip the 3-in-1 guts into it so that she can use it on her gba sp till we both get dslites?

thank you for allowing me to ramble on!

Ral

 

[Destructobot]

The 3-in-1 has three kinds of memory in it:

• 32 megabytes of NOR Flash memory. This memory will retain the data written to it when the power is turned off, but it takes a few minutes to write a game to it. If you want to use the 3-in-1 in a GBA, this is the memory you will be using. When you start the 3-in-1 like a regular GBA game it always loads the game that's in the NOR memory.
• 16 megabytes of PSRAM. This memory does not retain data when the power is turned off, but it can be written to much faster that the NOR. You can only load a game into PSRAM with a program that runs on the DS.
• 512 kilobytes of battery powered SRAM. This holds the save data.

You'll be using a program called the 3in1 Expansion Pack Tool to write games to the 3-in-1 and manage saves. With this program, you will be able to write wifey's game to NOR so she can play is on her SP, then play your games from PSRAM.

The saves for the game in NOR and the game you're currently playing from PSRAM are stored in different areas of the SRAM, so they won't overwrite each other. Saves are automatically backed up when you load a different game onto the cart, and you can back them up manually as well.

Many games (about two thirds) need to be patched to save on the 3-in-1. You should do that with GBATA.

Trust me, this all sounds more complicated than it really is.


As for cheating, only cheats that you apply directly to the game before loading it onto the cart and save editing will work.

You could probably get the 3-in-1 into a GBA cart, but it may take a LOT of butchering.

Here's a different option to consider: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4707

 

[IBNobody]

I opened a post in forums.r4ds.net before it crashed and got an answer from one person who i guess had no idea what he was talking about... here goes

I am currently a happy owner of one R4DS with a 1gb kingston. When I purchased my card I was fully expecting to purches the EZ flash expansion one month later so I can play all my GBA games. What interested me in the 3-in-1 was the fact that I didn't need to keep track of two cards... only one... probably need a bigger one than 1gb for all my gba games but still... just one card. What concerned me was as I was reading up on it, it started sounding incredibly complicated... three different kinds of memory... sram, something and nor something or something... whatever... above my level of expertise. So I ask in the forums.r4ds.net .... forums.... about what people would recomend to me... well... I got ONE responce and it was some fellow telling me to get an ezflash 4 or something... his main reason for suggesting this to me is the fact that the 3-in-1 dumps your savegame when you switch roms... so... I couldnt let my wife use her gbasp to play her HM-MFOMT, then take the 3-in-1 and pop it into my ds to play my summon night without losing her gamesave... pretty sure that wouldnt go over too well with her... and unfortunately its one of those games that she never.... beats i guess... just keeps playing....

but then here I hear that you CAN save your gba game saves... and even transfer them into vba! which is perfect cuz thats where we are currently playing our roms!

so i guess question 1 is) was guy who answered me full of .... Stuff... or am I not understanding what you guys over here are saying...

and my other question in regards to the 3-in-1 is) if there are currently any cheating capabilites with gba games either via R4DS or through some other program/homebrew?

Last question was something I posted/heard about on another topic here and that is) with the 3-in-1 lite version... can I butcher say.... one of my pokemon emerald gba cart/cases and slip the 3-in-1 guts into it so that she can use it on her gba sp till we both get dslites?

thank you for allowing me to ramble on!

Ral

GBA Cheating through the 3-in-1 is limited to games 2500 and below, I think. It's done through the EZ4 Client software. (The client does the same thing as GBATA (patches saves), and there's a debate on which to use.)

Honest? If you want to cheat, you should use VBA to alter the savegame and then copy it back over.

I've never used the 3-in-1 myself, but I own its big brother - the EZFlash 4 Lite Deluxe. The 3-in-1 is basically a stripped down version of the EZ4LD with rumble support.

One thing I'll warn you about, though... If you use the 3-in-1, DO NOT RELY ON THE BATTERY-BACKED-UP SRAM! The 3-in-1 tool should let you dump the SRAM contents. Do this often.

 

[Destructobot]

There is no debate about whether to use the EZ4 Client or GBATA. Patch every game with GBATA if possible. The EZ4 Client WILL cause lost saves when running games from PSRAM. Even if you don't apply any patches, just running a game though the EZ4 Client to trim it can cause it to lose saves.

Some games that use 1024Kbit Flash saves have to be patched with the EZ4 Client, and you can't run them from PSRAM after that (it won't let you), but everything else can be patched with GBATA.

I have yet to see any reports of saves being randomly lost that aren't caused by the EZ4 Client. In my experience, the saves on the 3-in-1 are as secure as they are on any flashcart.

 

[ralamzull]

Here's a different option to consider: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4707

 

[ralamzull]

oh crap, your right... I see that you need to plug one end of that flash cable into the sp... where the heck does the other end plug?

 

[ralamzull]

I just found this: http://www.r1.com.mo/index.php?mod=Develop...Tools.ware&id=7

I like the price.
Like the features.
Was quoted above as being the bigger badder version of 3-in-1.
Is only $8 dollars more, gotta get another card though.

Theres gotta be a drawback or catch somewhere... where am I missing it?

oh! I just found it... dslite only... well... *dremmel tool whines in background* time ta get ta guttin' *begins hunting for least liked gba cart*

 

[Destructobot]

They claim that it comes with a USB cable, even though the pictures show a parallel port (printer port) connecter. If your computer has both types of connecters you should be fine, as long as it's a Windows PC. Those flashcarts tend to have little or no Mac or Linux support.

I was under the impression that you already had a DS Lite, and you were just going to mod the 3-in-1 to fit your wife's GBA. If you have the phat version, just get the GBA sized 3-in-1, then get a lite sized one later if you want it.

RealHotStuff.com has the GBA sized 3-in-1, and they have very fast shipping, but it will be about $8 more than getting the lite sized version from dealextreme.com. I got my 3-in-1 from Real Hot Stuff and I highly recommend them. If you do buy from them, try the coupon code "RHS07" (without the quotes). I don't know if it still works, but if it does it will get you 5% off the price of the cart.

Edit:

Theres gotta be a drawback or catch somewhere... where am I missing it?

They charge more than $18 for shipping to the US.

 

[ralamzull]

oui...

 

[ralamzull]

well im about to purchase the 3-in-1 gba size from real hot stuff.
Found a gba size ez flash IV mini sd, for 34.50 usd at bamboo gaming, and a 2gb kingston mini for 25.60, but shipping is 20 friggin bucks so... no...

but what size are most gba roms after trimming, cuz right now none of mine are trimmed? Just wondering how many I can store plus saves with the room I got on my 1gb kingston...

anyway guys... thanks for the help...

and once I get my 3-in-1 figured out I'll start up a tut on getting started with it... just cuz of how confusing this whole experince has been for me.

 

[Icarus]

I think it's about time to make an official thread about this and with a sticky maybe?

 

[adit_flea]

Can ez flash 3in1 play kingdom heart com or another 32mb gba games???

 

[xcalibur]

Yes, ut you have to load it to NOR storage which takes like 5 mins