Hardware Buying a GBA Flash Cart in 2013

[scotsman27]

I've recently ordered an EZ 3in1 and it should be arriving soon.

In the meantime I've read dozens of threads and FAQ's on this website but I'm still unsure on a few things.

I understand the differences between NOR and PSRAM and that pretty much every GBA game I have would be loaded from the PSRAM as they're all under 16MB.

However if I were to use a game on the NOR to utilise the 3in1 as an actual cartridge for certain DS games and then wanted to remove the GBA game from the NOR would the saves I made while it was on NOR be transferable when I load it from the PSRAM. (Or would I need to manually move them through folders on the slot 1 cart)

Also is it possible to do the reverse and take a ROM and save from the PSRAM and load it while using NOR?

 

[FAST6191]

Eh. This is where the 3 in 1 not having a loader might come back to bite you if you are not careful. If you cycle between programs to manage the 3 in 1 you might fall flat as one might grab a save and another would fail to or things might use different names.
For the most part though save data is save data wherever you store the ROM on a flash cart -- you can certainly write a game to the NOR (presumably for extra speed or to use on a GBA or something), play it for a while, dump the save back to the DS flash cart, delete the game from the NOR, play a few other different games and finally load the game you originally had on the NOR into PSRAM (assuming it fits) and have it carry on where you left off playing it on the NOR.
Depending upon the program you ultimately use you might have to fiddle a bit or direct it but that is the greatest extent of your troubles there and probably not one you will face (most of the programs people will point you at and built in stuff works quite well).

 

[scotsman27]

Thank you for that answer, I know my question wasn't worded too great.

Basically I just wanted to know if I could write say Pokemon Emerald (RTC patched of course) on the NOR, utilise it being on the NOR for another Pokemon ROM in the slot one flashcard, then remove it from the NOR and when I come to use it again on the PSRAM it would load the save without too much difficulty.

I'd be using an R4 with Wood 1.61 and GBA ExpLoader if that helps.

One final question, as I mentioned I haven't actually received my 3in1 yet, but I assume that while a game is on the NOR I would be able to continue writing games to the PSRAM and playing them, or would I need to delete the game on the NOR first?

 

[macmanhigh]

I got that clear look skin. thanks.

i tried to get other skins, like the pokemon skin. but it would not work. any clue why.

it is the pokemon one on here:

http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2283&start=45

U can also DL the EZSkinner and compile ur own....just edit the main .BMPs like the Desktop(WallPaper) Desktop Option(Options) and icons.....then run .bat file and it will create new "ezfla_up.bin" and flash again

 

[FAST6191]

I am not sure of the state of affairs when it comes to emerald RTC patches -- Ruby and Sapphire were done and have worked fine for years/basically since they were released but emerald was for a long time the last of the GBA library that needed patching. However I read various things on pokemon boards that someone finally got bored and sorted it. I really do not care about pokemon though so I never followed up on it properly.

As for the use the PSRAM when the NOR is full -- absolutely, aside from the PSRAM being 128MBit in size and so needing the 256 for some games/hacks it is one of the other reasons it is there. Also just in case others are reading when I said speed from the NOR I meant avoiding having to wait the 30 or so seconds it might take to write to the PSRAM and just launch straight away.
However I would take care to dump the save of the game from the NOR and restore it later -- the 3 in 1 does not have full save management by default. If you are going on the DS this should largely be handled and possibly even automatically but if you are going to ping between the DS and GBA you might run into issues if you do not manage the saves.

 

[scottg1234]

Thanks for the help you guys! this is awesome. I got it all set up and working. my little brother loves this thing. He does not mind the RTC not working for Emerald, so I might just mess with that later. as it seems kind of weird (not entirely sure if the fix will work only on PC emulators or the EZ flash), and i don't want to mess with my brother's game since he already started.

The only question I left is if you guys know of a goomba color tutorial. I have no clue what the readme is saying. and i found a video online, but it is in spanish and bad video quality.

 

[pasc]

SP 101... If you mean what I think you mean, your only option will probably be the M3 CF/SD or the EZ 3in1 cards (as far as I know).

The other card, (namely EZ IV) failed when trying to get it to work on it.

 

[NickRay]

I just found a EZ iv on my local Craigslist!!! He wants 30$ but im going to try and get it for cheaper. I'll honestly just put it up on ebay, so you guys keep your eyes peeled in the coming days.

 

[Nusdogg]

Thanks for the help you guys! this is awesome. I got it all set up and working. my little brother loves this thing. He does not mind the RTC not working for Emerald, so I might just mess with that later. as it seems kind of weird (not entirely sure if the fix will work only on PC emulators or the EZ flash), and i don't want to mess with my brother's game since he already started.

The only question I left is if you guys know of a goomba color tutorial. I have no clue what the readme is saying. and i found a video online, but it is in spanish and bad video quality.

What do you want to know about Goomba Color?

I converted Pokemon Red Color Hacked version over to GBA file, and it shows this screen saying "This game can only be played on a GameBoy Color or GameBoy Advance console." I'm thinking like "I AM playing it on a GBA console!!!!!" It seems to work, but thats all its showing me after converting. Well, I tried it on VBA and transfered it to my EZ Flash IV card, still the same result.

Also, I was told to not use EZ Client. But thats what I used to transfer it to my EZ Flash. Is that why it's showing that message?

 

[jumpman1229]

SOMEONE HAS THEM IN STOCK!! GO HERE NOW AND THANK ME LATER!
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/EZ-iV-EZ4-GBA-Linker-for-GBA-DS-DS-Lite/1021368765.html

Picked up 2 of them

 

[Nusdogg]

R4iGold3DS also has them as well. Get them while they last.

 

[jumpman1229]

R4iGold3DS also has them as well. Get them while they last.

That's the guy from R4iGold3DS that sent me the alliexpress link. Same dude

 

[Nusdogg]

That's the guy from R4iGold3DS that sent me the alliexpress link. Same dude

Oh really? Lol. Good to know.

 

[jumpman1229]

Oh really? Lol. Good to know.

Haha yeah. Luckily I got mine in a trade for a Gameboy Micro 2 weeks ago, but I want an extra to keep and the other to trade later down the road

 

[Nusdogg]

Haha yeah. Luckily I got mine in a trade for a Gameboy Micro 2 weeks ago, but I want an extra to keep and the other to trade later down the road

Your EZ Flash from a trade?

 

[jumpman1229]

Your EZ Flash from a trade?

Yup! Traded my gameboy micro and Kirby's Epic Yarn to a guy for an EZ-Flash IV brand new

 

[Fuyumi]

Got my EZ Flash IV Deluxe from 0.shop
http://shop.01media.com/info.asp?IDorSKU=0&productID=33276

Fit it into a GBA cart and it's working fine, albeit looking rather ugly, but I don't have time to make it nicer anyway. Just fiddling around to get the stupid Darth Vader off my screen.

If I put Moonshell in, will it allow me to play songs and videos on my SP?

Btw, I used this guide here:
http://ezflash.sosuke.com/wiki/?title=EZFlash_IV_Tutorial

And using Method 1C, I set up my flash cart. Saving works and all and I manage to copy my old save files from VBA into it. I heard about saving writing into the SD cart only if I allow if to save and no skip by pressing "L", that's what I'm doing now. And ofcourse, the loading for the game to start

So wondering, what's NOR memory and how do I ulitlise it? I heard that you can't delete say NOR no. 5 without delete the other NOR files behind is (6, 7, 8) Is that true?

 

[FAST6191]

Moonshell is a DS program so no chance of using it on the SP. There are not really any music or video programs worth going to if you are used to phones/idevice/tablets/DS/PSP world save perhaps some of the MOD players. Still http://gbatemp.net/threads/is-there-a-gba-music-player.327021/ and http://gbatemp.net/threads/videos-to-gba.353001/ if you must know the ones that are available.

The skip the save thing is mainly only useful if you want to lose whatever progress you made since last save though I would be tempted to punch multisave into line at that point.

NOR memory. As you have a lite deluxe (which has 32 megs of PSRAM aka the size of the largest dumped commercial ROM) it mainly has one use and that is to write games to it that you can then load quickly rather than wait for the loading to happen.
From the GBA loader press select on whatever GBA ROM you want to write to it and it will write it. After you press the top icon when everything has loaded/saved you will get another folder that says "EZ-Disk" or something like that, everything else is actually the contents of the NOR.
Also on the NOR screen if you press start it will delete everything on it, if you press select it will delete the last on the list*. All this should be confirmed on screen. For the lite deluxe you have 48 megs of it to play with.

*If you encounter NOR elsewhere it might do it that way you describe depending upon the setup. Here though it is known as first in, last out aka FILO so with 5 files to delete say 3 you will have to lose 4 and 5.

 

[Darkipod]

Is a deluxe better then a IV?

 

[FAST6191]

EZ4 miniSD vs EZ4 lite deluxe

Pros of the lite deluxe
Has 384 (128+256) Mbit aka 48 megabytes of NOR memory.
Has 256 Mbit (32 megabytes of PSRAM). Largest dumped GBA game is 32 megs by the way.
Uses microSD. Not such a plus when it was built but in 2013 when finding miniSD is a pain it is a definite plus.

Maybes, depends upon the person you are.
Is a copy of the DS lite dust cover. Needs a mod (see above or just file it and attach a ribbon) to fit in anything with a full size GBA slot (basically everything that is not a DS lite).

Cons.
Was more expensive than the others.
Uses a smaller SRAM battery that you may end up having to replace more often.

Much like the other EZ4 models they have no real time clock, onboard cheat support is suspect at best and the real time save feature that the EZ3 had never made it across either.
--

Throughout all this "the EZ4 has become rarer than rocking horse shit" debacle they have been available for purchase from shop.01, a long running shop in very good standing for around $60 USD plus shipping. The EZ4 lite (same specs as the EZ4 save for being almost DS lite sized and uses microSD, also a lesser battery tends to be used) seems to be available from the same place.