Hacking 3-in-1 Questions

[Synchromatic]

Sorry if this was asked before, but I looked at different topics and reviews, and they didn't quite answer my questions.

I already ordered mine, but I have some questions about it.

1.) So it only holds 1 rom at a time. Does the 3-in-1 cart act like a normal GBA cart after I store a rom? Meaning, I can play without my R4 in slot-1?

2.) I have an Action Replay GBA. Would I be able to use it with the 3-in-1? If not, is there a possible way to get cheats onto my rom? I heard there's a program to do this.

 

[roflmywaffle]

Sorry if this was asked before, but I looked at different topics and reviews, and they didn't quite answer my questions.

I already ordered mine, but I have some questions about it.

1.) So it only holds 1 rom at a time. Does the 3-in-1 cart act like a normal GBA cart after I store a rom? Meaning, I can play without my R4 in slot-1?

2.) I have an Action Replay GBA. Would I be able to use it with the 3-in-1? If not, is there a possible way to get cheats onto my rom? I heard there's a program to do this.

First question: Yes and no. If you flash the game to PSRAM (16 Megabytes/128 megabits), you could do so very quickly, but the game would erase upon shutoff.

In contrast, for large games it can take 2 mins to erase & load a new game into NOR memory (32MB/256m), but it's there until it is erased- you could even give your friend your 3-in-1 to borrow, or (without the R4) use it like an original GBA game.

Second Question: You can patch cheats in the EZ4 client (permanently part of the new ROM) . As far as AR cheats, I can't give you an honest answer.

 

[Synchromatic]

Okay, I see thanks.

So I heard of three different things:

NOR, SRAM, and PSRAM

Can someone explain the differences of them to me? Are they memory to store the games?

Also, if the PSRAM erases the game upon shut-off, what would happen to my save? Would it be backed-up to my SAVE folder?

 

[Fat D]

NOR is the flash memory. it is written very slowly, but the game in there will be similar to a retail cartridge. It is stored until overwritten.
PSRAM is fast to write to, but the game is lost on power-off.
SRAM is where saves for both types go. They are stored until the battery dies (which will usually not happen before a few years have passed) or until they are overwritten by flashing a new game. In the latter case, they are backed up.

 

[Gene98]

i have question too...
Because of new FFTA2 won't be translated soon I want to re-complete the first game.
I am always using R4 manager and "3in1 ExpPack Tool 1.9" to play GBA games and i ONLY use nor mode because... It's just better (=
Till now it works perfectly
But not with ffta. When I want to save, after i pick file it just write error. I have tryed to patch and upload to 3in1 again. But I only spent 15 mins - the result is same.
Help please...

 

[Psyfira]

But not with ffta. When I want to save, after i pick file it just write error. I have tryed to patch and upload to 3in1 again.

FFTA needed an extra IPS patch to get it to save properly, I don't know if it's still needed on newer carts but it's worth a try. Get the correct patch for the region you have from No Frills, apply it with GBATA, then run it through the EZ-IV software.

 

[Gene98]

You saved me (=
thx a lot!