Hacking Acekard 2 + Ez Flash Expansion Settings

[Raymomofo]

Hi there,

Just received my ez flash 3-in-1 expansion today and have been playing around with some settings. I'm using the most recent version of the bliss menu for AK2. I'm hoping that some of you can enlighten me as to what some settings do.

So under patches and 3-in-1...

Rumble Level = Self-explanatory
NOR Mode = I have no idea. I understand what NOR is and everything, but what do the settings auto and always mean?
sRAM = Absolutely no idea.
RAM = Same as above.

Thanks for any help in this matter.

 

[Urza]

NOR Mode = I have no idea. I understand what NOR is and everything, but what do the settings auto and always mean?
Writes it to the cart, stays theres until a new ROM is written over.

sRAM = Absolutely no idea.
Writes the game to the cart, game disappears when the power turns off. Much faster than flashing to the NOR.

QUOTE

RAM = Same as above.

For Opera browser and a handful of homebrew that use it.

 

[Raymomofo]

Thanks for replying so quickly Urza.

Just a couple more questions. In the situation in which I have a game written to NOR memory and write a game to SRAM, will the one that's written to NOR be overwritten? Also, I see the SRAM saves are saved to the root of my memory card. Is it possible to direct these to save into a specified folder?

Thanks again

 

[Urza]

Just a couple more questions. In the situation in which I have a game written to NOR memory and write a game to SRAM, will the one that's written to NOR be overwritten?

No. They're stored in separate chips.

 

[Raymomofo]

Alright. So just straightening out a few things.

1) I understand now what happens when NOR mode is set to always, that being any selected game is automatically written to NOR memory. If my assumption is correct, how does 'auto' make a distinction between what games should be started in NOR and which should be started in SRAM?

2) From what I see, selecting SRAM writes a timestamped 512kb file to the root which doesnt appear to do anything...I tried playing a link to the past and saved, and it created a 8kb file in the same folder as its respective rom. Going with the theory that this is meant to happen (?), what purpose does the timestamped file serve?

Thanks again.

 

[gratefulbuddy]

NOR Mode:
Auto- games that can fit (up to 16MB) in PSRAM will be flashed there. Games that are too big (16MB+) for PSRAM will be flashed to NOR.
Always- games will be flashed to NOR every time, regardless of size.

SRAM button - backs up SRAM save data

 

[g3p3nk]

i actually have some questions regarding the use of bliss' customs for 3in1 too.
i have been trying to figure out how to upload the old save file into the ram so i could play it again?

last time i saved "kingdom hearts" to NOR (obvious as that game > 16mb), then i played KH abit and make a save.. how do you back up the save file? cuz i tried flashing "harvest moon" in NOR (was meant to flash it to sRAM), but anyways, now HM's replacing KH in NOR...
then i flashed KH into NOR again, and i couldn't continue from the last saved game (i assume the save file is replaced by HM's save file). now i take my KH save file (was backed up long time ago using gba exploader) the question then, how do i put this save file so that i can play this save file (using bliss' customs)?

now that i'm on a roll, i'll put a few more questions.. how do you back up from the sRAM, and how to restore it? (i believe it's saved automatically on sdhc, but i haven't got time to confirm the restoring saved file part).

so in short, my question would be, using bliss' customs, how do you "backup" and "restore" the save file both on NOR and sRAM?

thanks beforehand. hope the questions aren't too confusing ^^;

 

[gratefulbuddy]

IIRC, whenever a ROM is launched thru GBAEXPloader the previous games save info is copied from sram to the GBA_Save folder. If you would like to copy that SRAM info manually there is a button (can't recall the wording, but something like "Copy SRAM") that will allow you to do so w/o launching a ROM. Also there is a button ("Restore SRAM" IIRC) that does the opposite. Both of these options are available on the PSRAM and NOR screens, I believe.

 

[g3p3nk]

hmm i think i understand how to deal w/ those in GBA Exploader.
the question was, if bliss' customs can also handle those "backup" and "restore" save files without using GBA Exploader. cuz if bliss' customs can also handle those actions, then there is no need for me to use GBA Exploader, which can also do the same thing.

GBA Exploader is quite straightforward IMO, but bliss' customs, since it's an embedded function, i'm probably missing something. any clarifications on how to handle those stuffs using bliss'?

thanks~

 

[Another World]

gotta love when people don't read your full post and then post a follow up that has nothing to do with what you just asked.

have you tried posting in the bliss thread over at the ak2 forums?
http://www.acekard.com/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=3290

-another world

 

[gratefulbuddy]

I apologize if my confusion offended you, g3p3nk.
But most of what I said still holds true. When launching a rom, bliss' loader will back up the save data from the sRAM to a file with the ROM name (ie - "Backtrack.gba.sav") in the folder you have the ROM located. The sRAM button backs up the the save data in sRAM (different than the PSRAM you are flashing the games to) manually. You can then place this file (renamed of course) with the corresponding ROM and it will be utilized the next time you launch that ROM.

 

[g3p3nk]

woot! @gratefulbuddy

no no, you didn't offend me or anything ._. *now i feel bad T T*
so anyways, i think i know how to work w/ bliss' customs now..
so so so, tell me if my thinking is correct or wrong. as i'm currently in the office, i couldn't try now.


i'm going to use "fileName.gba" as my gba rom, and it's ak2 w/ bliss' customs.
i might confuse myself w/ the terminology here. correct me if i'm wrong, so i can contribute the knowledge to others too =]

playing on PSRAM? (the temporary stored one)

 

[gratefulbuddy]

AFAIK all GBA saves are stored in SRAM on the EZFlash 3n1 regardless of where they are flashed to. This is where sram patching comes in, as some original carts used different means of saving and thus the rom needs to be patched to save to the sram. When you launch a rom in bliss' loader there is a "Processing GBA Save" progress bar; that is the loader auto-backing up the SRAM data onto the microSD in the AK2. So if you want to manipulate this save or just make sure you have it for later (and don't want to launch another GBA rom just to get it), bliss has provided you the oppurtunity to backup the SRAM data manually. And yes bliss' loader looks for the gba save in the same directory the rom is in.

 

[popodom]

Hi there,

Thanks to all for your explanation. Can I ask one more thing ?
Is there a way someone of you makes us a little summary about saves using bliss ?
Something like this:
What happens with saves when:

• Game is loaded in NOR:
• Game is loaded in PSRAM:
• Button SRAM is pressed:
• Button RAM is pressed:
• DS is switched off from NOR GBA game:
• DS is switched off from PSRAM GBA game:
• GBA game saves data:

telling save is "copied from xxx to xxx" or sav is "created in xxx"

Hope someone can do this... thanks !

Popo