Hacking Alternative firmwares for M3

[kot7k]

Hey gaboros ty for your support as always, i think im gonna try menudo.
Saw amaro in menudo thread and he made a pack for m3, is there any difference between what you tell us to do and his pack?

 

[zizer]

WoodR4 for M3 is optimal and update m3 is nothing

 

[Gaboros]

Hey gaboros ty for your support as always, i think im gonna try menudo.
Saw amaro in menudo thread and he made a pack for m3, is there any difference between what you tell us to do and his pack?

Basically you will change the original Wood AK Menu for MenuDO menu while with the original pack you would change the YSM3 menu to MenuDO menu. My advices you my loader the original use the YSM3 loader. The original files just contains the latest YSM3 so it has to same game compatibility.

It will still have the same issues like when you use my original WoodR4 for M3 because the loader files isn't change. For example it won't fix the fragmentation error but also doesn't screw up the game compatibility.

So if you like my YSM3 better use the original files. If you like my WoodR4 for M3 better use follow advice above.
Both of them will have the same advantages/disadvantages like the original YSM3 and WoodM3 just the menu changed to MenuDo.

 

[kot7k]

Mmmm, i have a problem, wanted to try menudo "as it is", so i just downloaded the m3real pack from their web and tested it but it wont load any game. At first i had a dual blank screen but now every time i try to boot anything it show violet screen for a sec and then back to games folder in menudo (awesome interface btw).

Anyone with any advice on that? (btw i had ysm3 before but i removed it for installing menudo, and now filetrip is down, what a fail by me xD)

 

[Gaboros]

Mmmm, i have a problem, wanted to try menudo "as it is", so i just downloaded the m3real pack from their web and tested it but it wont load any game. At first i had a dual blank screen but now every time i try to boot anything it show violet screen for a sec and then back to games folder in menudo (awesome interface btw).

Anyone with any advice on that? (btw i had ysm3 before but i removed it for installing menudo, and now filetrip is down, what a fail by me xD)

I didn't tried the original files just those which can implement my loader. This error occurred in my acekard when it doesn't found the loader file. It just returned to game folder of the menudo. Check the _menudo/donors/nds.ini file and you will see which loader it use and you can check you have the loader file or not.

 

[amaro]

Mmmm, i have a problem, wanted to try menudo "as it is", so i just downloaded the m3real pack from their web and tested it but it wont load any game. At first i had a dual blank screen but now every time i try to boot anything it show violet screen for a sec and then back to games folder in menudo (awesome interface btw).

Anyone with any advice on that? (btw i had ysm3 before but i removed it for installing menudo, and now filetrip is down, what a fail by me xD)

try my version of Menudo:
http://filetrip.net/f23731-menudo_m3real-01c.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/100154977/c5c7f9a/me...m3real.zip.html

 

[kot7k]

Mto obrigado

EDIT: just tested it now and it works like a charm, didnt want to make a new post for reporting it, so thanks again

 

[amaro]

Mto obrigado

não tens de quê
You're welcome

 

[jesquinas]

gaboros,why isnt possible load fragmented .nds or .sav games with wood R4 for M3?I suppose if flashcarts dont have this problem it could be possible to get in success with your wood.

Thx.

 

[Gaboros]

gaboros,why isnt possible load fragmented .nds or .sav games with wood R4 for M3?I suppose if flashcarts dont have this problem it could be possible to get in success with your wood.

Thx.

I get some informations about that issues from YWG. I found the source of this "bug" but I couldn't fix it currently. I say "bug" because it isn't a bug it is because the DMA design. Yes the flashcard don't have problem with it but that subset is not public.
Let me quote the worlds of YWG:

YWGthis is not a problem or bug. this is by design.
each flashcard has a protocol — the set of commands that allow control cart. there is 'dldi' subset that usually include cart init, sector read and sector write commands. and usually due dldi drivers are opensourced we have enough information about such commands.
but for games launching we need additional functionality — address translation. the game give us virtual address inside rom/save we need translate it to physical address on microsd. there are at least two approaches to do this:
1. cluster map tables that stored in additional memory in flashcart
2. on-the-fly fat processing by flashcart asic.
anyway there is a 'game' subset of control commands in any flashcart. and this subset is not public.
but there is simple idea that in case the rom and save files not defragmented the address translation is easy: we only need add the 1st sector address to virtual address. this idea implemented in woodm3.

So we have to redesign the DMA section. But unfortunately this section is written in assembly language and I do not know a lot about this language and I can not redesign it. This parts controls the chip/processor.

So if anyone know a lot of about the assembly language and he is able to help me/us redesign this section to load fragmented nds/saves as well just send me a P.M. please!

Edit: currently I trying to make the loader to "defragment" the nds/save file if it is fragmented. But that is much more harder then I first thought.

 

[kot7k]

Mmmmm just an idea, other "unnoficial" firmware such as YSM3 doesnt have that problem, so maybe you could try to contact yasu for solving that problem.

 

[Gaboros]

Mmmmm just an idea, other "unnoficial" firmware such as YSM3 doesnt have that problem, so maybe you could try to contact yasu for solving that problem.

YSM3 was not done by Yasu. He is made it for DSTT and R4.
Anyway I don't have to source code of YSMenu and I can not work with it. And I think even if I have the source code the two firmware just can not be compared.

We have to redesign this firmware. Or its DMA section or we have to found an other way on the loading with the current DMA.

 

[Gaboros]

YSM3 6.47 released:

http://filetrip.net/f23840-YSM3-6-47.html

Changelog:

Spoiler

extinfo
removed 5007 - My Hero Doctor (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5022 - Imagine Zookeeper (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5032 - Madagascar Kartz (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5061 - Best Friends Tonight (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5062 - Imagine Party Planner (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5063 - Dreamer Series Zoo Keeper (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
fixed 5463 - My Fashion Girls Style (K)
fixed 5464 - Pucca Power Up (K)
fixed 5465 - Princess In Wonderland (K)
fixed 5466 - Tomicar Hero Rescue Force DS (K)
fixed 5467 - Naruto Shippuden Naruto vs Sasuke (K)
fixed 5525 - Emergency 2012 (G)
fixed 5526 - Jewel Master Cradle of Athena (U)
fixed 5527 - Vampire Moon The Mystery of the Hidden Sun (U)
fixed 5528 - Michael Jackson The Experience (U)
fixed 5529 - Sora no Otoshimono Forte Dreamy Season (J)
fixed 5530 - Dragon Ball Kai Ultimate Butouden (J)
fixed 5531 - Gyakuten Kenji 2 (J)
fixed 5532 - Inazuma Eleven (I)
fixed 5533 - Inazuma Eleven (S)
fixed 5334 - Inazuma Eleven (E)
fixed XXXX - Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow (S)
fixed XXXX - 7 Wonders 2 (E)
fixed XXXX - Ghost Trick (E)

infolib
removed 5007 - My Hero Doctor (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5022 - Imagine Zookeeper (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5032 - Madagascar Kartz (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5061 - Best Friends Tonight (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5062 - Imagine Party Planner (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
removed 5063 - Dreamer Series Zoo Keeper (U)(SUXXORS) PATCHED
added 5007 - My Hero Doctor (U)
added 5022 - Imagine Zookeeper (U)
added 5032 - Madagascar Kartz (U)
added 5061 - Best Friends Tonight (U)
added 5062 - Imagine Party Planner (U)
added 5063 - Dreamer Series Zoo Keeper (U)
added 5525 - Emergency 2012 (G)
added 5526 - Jewel Master Cradle of Athena (U)
added 5527 - Vampire Moon The Mystery of the Hidden Sun (U)
added 5528 - Michael Jackson The Experience (U)
added 5529 - Sora no Otoshimono Forte Dreamy Season (J)
added 5530 - Dragon Ball Kai Ultimate Butouden (J)
added 5531 - Gyakuten Kenji 2 (J)
added 5532 - Inazuma Eleven (I)
added 5533 - Inazuma Eleven (S)
added 5334 - Inazuma Eleven (E)
added XXXX - Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow (S)
added XXXX - 7 Wonders 2 (E)
added XXXX - Ghost Trick (E)

As always thanks for the infolib, savlib and extinfo.dat for RetroGameFan!

Enjoy!

 

[jesquinas]

Edit: currently I trying to make the loader to "defragment" the nds/save file if it is fragmented. But that is much more harder then I first thought.

I dont understand you.The fragmentation issue with the .nds ROM happens when you copy it to microSD.Its not possible avoid this as soon as is Windows driver
who is selecting the clusters for storing the file.Windows find the first free cluster and begins storing the .nds file in the next free clusters.The process for storing a .sav file is done by the software card but I suppose that the process is similar.
In other words: I dont think that you can say to Windows to use this or that cluster.Do u understand me?

Thx.

 

[Gaboros]

Edit: currently I trying to make the loader to "defragment" the nds/save file if it is fragmented. But that is much more harder then I first thought.

I dont understand you.The fragmentation issue with the .nds ROM happens when you copy it to microSD.Its not possible avoid this as soon as is Windows driver
who is selecting the clusters for storing the file.Windows find the first free cluster and begins storing the .nds file in the next free clusters.The process for storing a .sav file is done by the card but I suppose that the process is similar.
In other words: I dont think that you can say to Windows to use this or that cluster.Do u understand me?

Thx.

Yeah, yeah you are right. I have also thought about this. Maybe what I want to do isn't possible at all. It was just an idea. An alternative solution to fix this issues but I currently can not get it working.
Currently I don't know any working solution to fix this. I have a lot of test version on my computer but they don't work well.

Edit: that is why the easiest way is format your card and put every file back. Currently without defrag I don't have any fragmented files.

Edit2: under "defrag" I do not mean the typical defrag. I thinking about maybe it could make a copy of the sav/nds and rename and overwrite the original one. In this way the file will be on a different cluster... but I don't know this could be working. Maybe this is a fully bad theory. I was just thinking about. I will see if I get it working.

 

[kot7k]

Mmmmm just an idea, other "unnoficial" firmware such as YSM3 doesnt have that problem, so maybe you could try to contact yasu for solving that problem.

YSM3 was not done by Yasu. He is made it for DSTT and R4.
Anyway I don't have to source code of YSMenu and I can not work with it. And I think even if I have the source code the two firmware just can not be compared.

We have to redesign this firmware. Or its DMA section or we have to found an other way on the loading with the current DMA.

Who made it then? Whoever did it had solve that issue, so if according to YGW the problem is that we dont know the 'game subset of control commands in m3, the one that made ysm3 should know or should have found some workarround for that problem.

Note: if you meant that you made YSM3, its clear that ysmenu handle this problem in a different way and thats why it doesnt have such a problem, so would be nice to know how he (yasu) does it.

 

[Gaboros]

Mmmmm just an idea, other "unnoficial" firmware such as YSM3 doesnt have that problem, so maybe you could try to contact yasu for solving that problem.

YSM3 was not done by Yasu. He is made it for DSTT and R4.
Anyway I don't have to source code of YSMenu and I can not work with it. And I think even if I have the source code the two firmware just can not be compared.

We have to redesign this firmware. Or its DMA section or we have to found an other way on the loading with the current DMA.

Who made it then? Whoever did it had solve that issue, so if according to YGW the problem is that we dont know the 'game subset of control commands in m3, the one that made ysm3 should know or should have found some workarround for that problem.

Note: if you meant that you made YSM3, its clear that ysmenu handle this problem in a different way and thats why it doesnt have such a problem, so would be nice to know how he (yasu) does it.

The original YSM3 made by toro. I just made some fixes on it and ported the r4patch.dat of RetroGameFan. I mean if you use the original m3patch.dat (patched r4patch.dat) some of the games doesn't work. For example Golden Sun.
The problem with YSMenu and YSM3 that is we don't have the source code just same files and ips patch. And from them we can not read out informations like this.

We need somebody who can redesign the DMA section or we just have to leave with this "bug". Its working and much better even the original firmwares.

 

[jesquinas]

I think that YSmenu has the fragmented problem too.I have had the "load error code= ? (i dont remember the number)" and I solved it reformatting the card.

Thx.

 

[kot7k]

Dunno about before, but right now, if i replace ysm3 for woodr4 for m3 (just the firmware) most of the backups wont load for fragmentation problems (either savs or nds), while on ysm3 they work without any problem.

And im sure my flash is fragmented cause it has some really big backups (256~ mb) and obviosly they dont work with woodr4 for m3

 

[VentusVanitas]

YsMenu (or YSm3) has the problem with frag, but it is no where near as bad as Woodr4 for m3.

I wish i was a coder, so i could help you out gab, but i'm sadly not

-VentusVanitas