Hacking Castlevania PoR randomly freezes on DS Simply

[krdvmus]

nintendo ds (flashed)

ds simply

apacer micro sd 1g (FAT formatted)


Well... I don't think my ds simply is faulty because other games work fine.

In Castlevania PoR, the game freezes randomly at


1. teleportation tombs when accessing them.

2. the place where wind is trapped (when pushing 'start' button & come in and out between the room and next where the priest sells items)


There may be another freezing in the game which I don't know yet.

Anyone has tried Castlevania PoR please report here whether it works just fine or freezes.

I'm thinking of buying another micro sd like Kingston(made in japan) to see if it happens by my apacer micro sd.


EDIT: - It appeared that my Apacer micro SD 1G had caused all the freezes -

 

[OG LOCC NESS]

PoR seems to freeze alot for people that use MicroSD's. So It's probably not just that specific card.

 

[krdvmus]

PoR seems to freeze alot for people that use MicroSD's. So It's probably not just that specific card.

Well... some people seem to play PoR without freezing on M3 simply & R4 though.

I'm positive that I'm using clean roms so... the most suspect I think is micro sd.

 

[tama_mog]

I find it funny the trouble everyone goes through to play POR on flashcarts...they're willing to spend all this $$ buying new flashcarts and new microsd's but refuse to buy and support this great game. I can see the Chinese flashcart manufacturers laughing frantically while collecting the revenues generated by the new flashcarts. It really is worth the purchase guys, buying one game isn't going to hurt you....who knows, you may make it a habit and actually support games so nicer new games come out in the future.

 

[sti360]

^^ i agree
i bought this game already hehe
i have all the castlevanias

 

[False Hope]

Which format is your microSD is in?

I think FAT/FAT16 is the most compatible format compared to the FAT32 atm.

 

[tw8e60]

Only a small group of people are not having problems with PoR.
So don't get mad or sad.

 

[darksavior]

whoever has run it flawlessly, can you post what brand/size microsd is used?

 

[aslacker55]

I use a kingston 1gb micro sd card, formated Fat16 with 64k, and it runs Castlevania PoR without any freezing(played the game 2 hours straight). I also used an adata and transcend 1 gb micro sd, both of them works without freezing. Transcend does slow down at one spot in the Castlevania DoS intro. I highly recommend the kingston 1 gb micro sd.

 

[leetdude_007]

check the CRC of your backup. redownload your backup if you can.

0735 - Castlevania Portrait of a Ruin (US)
96DF4C4D

Happy new year!

 

[zneon]

I find it funny the trouble everyone goes through to play POR on flashcarts...they're willing to spend all this $$ buying new flashcarts and new microsd's but refuse to buy and support this great game.  I can see the Chinese flashcart manufacturers laughing frantically while collecting the revenues generated by the new flashcarts.  It really is worth the purchase guys, buying one game isn't going to hurt you....who knows, you may make it a habit and actually support games so nicer new games come out in the future.

First of all, PoR isn't even out in Europe or Oceania yet, so unless people from those countries want to spend an extra $X importing it, possibly paying customs, waiting a week or two for the shipment, etc. then they currently have no option to "just go buy it" at all. So don't assume that just because you can walk into a store and buy it that everyone else can too--I personally cannot do that, because it's not available in my country.

Secondly I own an original DoS cartridge for instance, but I still have it on my flash cart and would be annoyed if it didn't work on one. Why? Because I like being able to take my DS with me and not have to worry about carrying/losing a bunch of games for it as well. More games that don't work on carts means more crap I have to carry around, which could also easily be damaged/lost.

So no, I do not find it "funny" when a game like PoS doesn't work, I find it frustrating for the reasons above.

Edit: Oh yeah, and let's not forget that PoR on Amazon.com is US$34.82. When I buy that game, it will likely cost around AU$75, which equals US$58.70. So yeah, a "just buy it" for me costs almost twice as much as it does for you.

 

[False Hope]

nintendo ds (flashed)

ds simply

apacer micro sd 1g (FAT formatted)


Well... I don't think my ds simply is faulty because other games work fine.

In Castlevania PoR, the game freezes randomly at


1. the warp point when accessing it.

2. the place where wind is trapped (when pushing 'start' button & come in and out between the room and next where the priest sells items)


There may be another freezing in the game which I don't know yet.

Anyone has tried Castlevania PoR please report here whether it works just fine or freezes.

I'm thinking of buying another micro sd like Kingston(made in japan) to see if it happens by my apacer micro sd.

I'm a noob but this might help a bit...

From the M3Wiki Site..

"Format your cards with FAT16 Cluster Size 64k if your card is too slow. Try using FAT32 with 8192 or 16K cluster size if that's the case as an alternative if it doesn't work.

How to I format my card with a higher cluster size?

Go to: Start -> Run -> diskmgmt.msc

Select your SD card and right-click "Format"

* Volume Label: Whatever you like
* File System: FAT
* Allocation unit size: 64k


FAT32 Always select the highest cluster size your card can handle (1GB=8192; 2GB=16k; 4GB=32k).

FAT16 Always select the highest cluster size your card can handle (1GB=64k; 2GB=64k; 4GB=64k). "

 

[alundra]

Only a small group of people are not having problems with PoR.
So don't get mad or sad.

i was gonna buy a m3 simply, i thought this card is perfect in compatibility like the R4, but after reading this thread, i guess i have to go with the R4

 

[darksavior]

maybe the thread starter, krdvmus, didnt format the card properly as few in here have suggested. ive never heard of that brand he/she's using. aslacker55 brings me hope that PoR is possible. i ordered the m3 simply, and getting a 1gb kingston soon

 

[False Hope]

maybe the thread starter, krdvmus, didnt format the card properly as few in here have suggested. ive never heard of that brand he/she's using. aslacker55 brings me hope that PoR is possible. i ordered the m3 simply, and getting a 1gb kingston soon

Well the Apacer brand is supported on the R4DS, so it shouldnt really make a difference with the M3 Simply. Maybe he doesnt have the correct type Apacer MicroSD?? Not sure, but umm if Castlevania PoR doesnt work to well now, it will most likely be fixed in future firmware updates for sure..but for right now keep trying different format settings for your card as I recommended in my post before this one. If not, just get a new MicroSD card, your brand is unpopular/uncommon anyway, so you might as well.

 

[tama_mog]

I find it funny the trouble everyone goes through to play POR on flashcarts...they're willing to spend all this $$ buying new flashcarts and new microsd's but refuse to buy and support this great game. I can see the Chinese flashcart manufacturers laughing frantically while collecting the revenues generated by the new flashcarts. It really is worth the purchase guys, buying one game isn't going to hurt you....who knows, you may make it a habit and actually support games so nicer new games come out in the future.


First of all, PoR isn't even out in Europe or Oceania yet, so unless people from those countries want to spend an extra $X importing it, possibly paying customs, waiting a week or two for the shipment, etc. then they currently have no option to "just go buy it" at all. So don't assume that just because you can walk into a store and buy it that everyone else can too--I personally cannot do that, because it's not available in my country.

Secondly I own an original DoS cartridge for instance, but I still have it on my flash cart and would be annoyed if it didn't work on one. Why? Because I like being able to take my DS with me and not have to worry about carrying/losing a bunch of games for it as well. More games that don't work on carts means more crap I have to carry around, which could also easily be damaged/lost.

So no, I do not find it "funny" when a game like PoS doesn't work, I find it frustrating for the reasons above.

Edit: Oh yeah, and let's not forget that PoR on Amazon.com is US$34.82. When I buy that game, it will likely cost around AU$75, which equals US$58.70. So yeah, a "just buy it" for me costs almost twice as much as it does for you.

I personally own many games and would prefer to keep games on flashcarts as well since it's more convenient overall, so I can agree with that point....although 1 extra cart that stays in slot 1 isn't exactly all that much extra crap. What's your point about the paying more for imports? Same for me whenver I buy products from Japan. And the message was meant for people buying the m3 simply or r4 expecting POR to work when they already have a flashcart. The $$ you spend on the m3 simply + a microsd is still more than POR after all your import fees and my original message was more slated for people that already have a flashcart and upgrading to a slot1 card with m3 simply or r4. And stop getting "frustrated" at not getting a rom to run perfectly on a flashcart, you're pirating after all (especially in this case since you don't own the game) and the energy can be better spent either 1) playing other ds games (every other game works so far according to tests flawlessly) or 2) being patient and wait for POR to be released in Europe.

 

[looopz]

I have a sandisk 1gb microsd (formated to FAT, standard cluster size) and DS Simply and have been having similar problems with warp point, but have been able to work around them. I have noticed that if I wait for the character animation to stop before accessing the warp point, it works fine. So far I have played it for about 1.5 hrs anyway and it seems ok (and no problems with the wind either).

I'll try messing with the cluster size tonight and see if that makes any difference.

 

[krdvmus]

I have a sandisk 1gb microsd (formated to FAT, standard cluster size) and DS Simply and have been having similar problems with warp point, but have been able to work around them. I have noticed that if I wait for the character animation to stop before accessing the warp point, it works fine. So far I have played it for about 1.5 hrs anyway and it seems ok (and no problems with the wind either).

I'll try messing with the cluster size tonight and see if that makes any difference.

I formatted my Apacer micro SD 1G with various settings and none of them helped me.

Apacer micro sd is listed at R4 website, which made me decide to purchase it, but it doesn't work well with this game.

It seems that Sandisk is not an exception although it's also in the list at R4 website.

From some people I hear that Kingston 1G (made in Japan) has no problem when playing this game.

Now, I strongly believe that there must be compatibility issues related with some micro sd cards.


I just posted this topic to help users get right micro sd cards for their lovely M3 Simply.

I think it is important to know what brand of card is working properly on your m3, R4, SCSD, whatever...

Actually I don't mind whether Castlevania PoR works or not.

I'm not a big fan of Castlevania series.

 

[schlub]

Castlevania PoR works fine on my SanDisk 1GB, FAT32. It even worked fine on my semi-faulty Kingston 1GB (when the M3 DS would actually read the card, the game worked, I beat the first painting with no problems, warps and all)

Just double checked on the SanDisk, warping and and paintings work fine. My rom was trimmed with DS-X manager if that is any help.

 

[zneon]

I personally own many games and would prefer to keep games on flashcarts as well since it's more convenient overall, so I can agree with that point....although 1 extra cart that stays in slot 1 isn't exactly all that much extra crap. What's your point about the paying more for imports? Same for me whenver I buy products from Japan. And the message was meant for people buying the m3 simply or r4 expecting POR to work when they already have a flashcart. The $$ you spend on the m3 simply + a microsd is still more than POR after all your import fees and my original message was more slated for people that already have a flashcart and upgrading to a slot1 card with m3 simply or r4. And stop getting "frustrated" at not getting a rom to run perfectly on a flashcart, you're pirating after all (especially in this case since you don't own the game) and the energy can be better spent either 1) playing other ds games (every other game works so far according to tests flawlessly) or 2) being patient and wait for POR to be released in Europe.

Yes, I understand there are plenty of reasons it's not "that bad", it's not as bad as your dog dying and so forth. That's all well and good. But in case you hadn't noticed, this is the "M3 Adapter" board in the "Flashing Hardware and Software" forum section of GBAtemp. I think everyone knows already that you can buy original carts, it's not really useful information to come into a forum *about* flash carts and make light of other peoples' problems telling them to "just go buy it". I'm sure that thought has occurred to everyone with a ROM problem before, so there's not really any point coming in here and telling people that like they couldn't think of it themselves, it's not helpful.

Plus, the fact that you think you can tell people to just go spend x money and time that they quite likely *already decided* they didn't want to try and spend, is pretty insulting to me. If I decided that if I can't get the ROM to work that I'll go buy/import it, I can do that without your help, and if I decided not to do that, then your post doesn't tell me anything and just looks down on me for my decision. What's the point?