Hacking All games freeze after a while

[krossgba]

I have had a ttds cartridge for a while now, and have purchased quite a few for my friends, however, I bought 3 for one of my friends together with 4gb sandisk cards. I put on the root: TTMENU (folder) and TTMENU.DAT (ver 1.10) along with 100 roms (different roms on each card). 1 of them was for him and the other 2 for other family members. I also put version 1.10 on mine, along with 100 roms, and all 4 memory cards had at least 600mb left for save files.
My friend told me the next day that they were all working fine, then a few days later he told me that his had froze, when trying to load a game, and now none of the games would load. He said he reset the DS and it took him to the menu, but no matter which game he selected, the screen froze at "loading" and the little square at the bottom left of the screen wasn't turning. The next day he told me that one of the other cards was doing the same, so I took the cards and tried them myself, none of the games would load. My TTDS was working perfectly so I tried both the memory cards in my cartridge, and I had the same problem, so this ruled out the TTDS.

I removed all the files, renamed all the .sav files that were in uppercase to the same case as the game file, formated the memory card, then replaced all the files, and replaced the system files, with new copies. They now work fine.
A few days later, a friend who I purchased a TTDS a while ago for, asked me if I could buy another 4gb memory card for him, and put some more roms on it, I did this and placed same files as above on it (his other memory card had older firmware on it), I gave it to him and the next day he told me it was fine, but then 2 days later he told me all the games had froze and would not work.

How can this be happening, does anyone know the reason. He has never had a problem with the memory card that has the older firmware on it, but as soon as I gave him the one with 1.10, it freezes after a few days. Something must be causing this to happen, as they all worked at first.

 

[krossgba]

forgot to say that all roms are trimmed using G6&M3DS Real trim tool.exe, and the cards are formatted FAT32 (was the only option I could see)

 

[woland84]

Don't put games in the root folder. There are problems it too many files are stored there.

 

[krossgba]

im sure i tried this with a previous TTDS cartridge, but when i started it up, the menu loaded but there were no games showing???

 

[krossgba]

i have tried putting the game roms into a seperate folder with my TTDS (which worked anyway), so if I get any problems with the others, I will do the same.
only thing is, for example

ROOT: TTMENU, TTMENU.DAT, 100 roms, 50 save files

The above starts freezing, so I remove files, format memory card, replace all files and replace TTMENU & TTMENU.DAT

it then starts working again, so surely if it was freezing due to the amount of files on the root, it should still not work after a format, as it has EXACTLY the same files on as before.

also, how come this problem hasn't happened to my TTDS, and mine are all in the root, same with a friends

 

[woland84]

Did you try swapping microsd from your DSTT to see if it works with other carts, or used other microsd with your DSTT?

 

[Bri]

About 95% of the time when someone has problems with freezing on the DSTT, putting the files into a folder instead of at the root fixes it. It is probably only freezing when it has to create a new save file (it's probably not able to add the new file to the file table).

Occasionally, a microSD/HC card will get corrupted because of the crappy microSD reader that comes with the DSTT. So, it's also possible that your microSD card got corrupted, and reformatting it probably fixed it. If it keeps happening even though your games are in a folder, you should try replacing the micro reader with another one.

If it continues, let us know and we'll help you track down the problem.

-Bri

 

[Nakura]

Yeah, the worst thing you can do is put all those games in the root folder.

 

[krossgba]

I fixed the problem above, by deleting the config file that was created in the root, must have something to do with them trying to enable cheats on the games?????

 

[Bri]

What config file?

If you ran the menu for the first time with all those games in the root, it may not have been able to correctly write out the TTMENU.SYS file it needs.

-Bri

 

[apocalypticvisio]

enabling cheats puts a .arp file there, starting up the system puts a .sys file. and if you put 100 games on the root, then you try out each game, you add 1 file each time. that's why it doesn't just freeze after reloading it. just put all the files in folders and it works like a charm, no freezing. it's a tried and true method and seems to work for everyone that go a working dstt. The reason this works is the limitations of the FAT file system and having files on the root. i guarantee if you try this and stop being stubborn, it will work. I understand that if someone told you to jump off a bridge, you hopefully wouldn't, but all we're saying is try putting the files in a folder. It takes like a minute to do.

 

[krossgba]

when I looked at my friends memory card there was a config.ini file on the root and all the games were freezing, the .ini file contained config info about cheats, after I deleted this file the games started working again. I have had my ttsd for a while now and it has 100 games on the root along with 100 save files and my games have never froze, I have now started putting all the games in a seperate folder, but i dont think this is the cause of the problem.

 

[genuisgeek]

i have all my games in a spereate folder yet i still occasionally get a freeze
although its not a common prob(occurs once every few weeks or so)
its prob just sometimes a malfunction which doesnt relate to anything

however, yea relation to prblems prob come from roots/config files/ systems files and all that mumbo jumbo

but its all a common prob in many flash carts that have a couple freezes but nothing to fret over

if its not a problem w/ ur cart just re-format it always solves it

 

[Damademan3]

just set it up /root/games/ for the games. Get them out of the root, the organization is a mess and it does not run right. however i took my dstt apart the other day and took it to a engineer at work today. He noticed the metal housing for the micro sd is soldered to the board as a ground and one of the legs became un soldered. I will have him fix it when he has time to see how mine works then. But i was having issues of freezing ect.

 

[shajal]

i put everything on the root i have no problems and its fast or should i say same as usual. anyway its because u have trimmed too many files and u probbably have a lot of cheats on that can cause the problem too. but i would say its trimming too many file.

 

[Wightslayer]

My friend is having the exact same problem with her DSTT. Everytime she starts a game it freezes at the loading screen.
I haven't personally looked at it yet, but what should I be looking for (eg roms in the root of the file) and what should I be doing to get rid of the problem? (eg. reformat)
An answer ASAP would be nice.

 

[Bri]

You pretty much named it. If the problem occurs suddenly after working for a while (particularly if the menu loads without any problem), it is usually because the roms are on the root of the microSD. Obviously, if that' the case, move them to a "games" folder. If the microSD card is nearly full, the DSTT may not be able to write save files, in which case delete some games. If all else fails, backup and then reformat the microSD card. Some have claimed that the Panasonic formatter works better than the Windows "format" for microSD cards.

-Bri


Posts merged

i put everything on the root i have no problems...

You will, eventually.

-Bri

 

[shajal]

then i should put the games on a folder not th roots

 

[Wightslayer]

Thanks for the prompt answer.
OK, what happens if it ends up that it still freezes after I put it in the folder? Could it be a faulty micro SD or the cart itself?

 

[Bri]

Yes, it could be either one. First try another microSD card with only a few games on it and see if you still have the problems. You could also try reformatting the microSD card and only adding a few games to see if that fixes it.

Usually (but not always) if there's a problem with the microSD card or the DSTT, you'll see problems in the menu and not only when you load games. If the problem occurs only when you load games, it's usually because the games are all on the root of the microSD card or because the microSD card is nearly full and it can't write save files.

-Bri