Hacking Does the EZFlash 3 in 1 need a microSD card?

[Xelia]

I ordered one earlier, and I assumed it had internal memory, but I'm not sure...

 

[Destructobot]

All files are stored on the slot 1 flashcart. The 3-in-1 only holds the game that is currently in use.

 

[leetdude_007]

the 3-in-1 has RAM with battery, so your game stays in there along with your save. When you reboot your DS, the save file is written to the slot-1 microSD, assuming that you have done something to invoke to the 3-in-1 software to write to the microSD (such as saving within the GBA game).

Now worry about other things: the long term battery life of the 3-in-1 and future competing 3-in-1 competitors (like the one that should be coming out from the M3 team)

 

[Xelia]

Its saves to the slot one?! I have an M3 Simply, I'll need to get a 2GB card I guess. :\

 

[Destructobot]

When you reboot your DS, the save file is written to the slot-1 microSD, assuming that you have done something to invoke to the 3-in-1 software to write to the microSD (such as saving within the GBA game).

That's not quite how it works. You use a program like the 3in1 Expansion Pack Tool or GBALdr to write games to the 3-in-1 and manage saves. The saves are written to the .sav file on the slot 1 cart automatically when you load a different game onto the 3-in-1, or you can back up the save manually at any time. It does not write the save to the .sav file when you reboot.

All games and saves are stored on the slot 1 cart, and written to the 3-in-1 when needed.

 

[KidIce]

the 3-in-1 has RAM with battery, so your game stays in there along with your save. When you reboot your DS, the save file is written to the slot-1 microSD, assuming that you have done something to invoke to the 3-in-1 software to write to the microSD (such as saving within the GBA game).

Now worry about other things: the long term battery life of the 3-in-1 and future competing 3-in-1 competitors (like the one that should be coming out from the M3 team)

The battery only keeps the save, not the game. The 3-in-1 has three different types of memory: battery backed SRAM for saves, RAM for use w/ Opera, and NOR for burning GBA games. Or that was the EZ Team's intent anyway and if you use the EZ5's "OS" to manage what's on the 3-in-1 that's how it works.

If you use Rudolph's tool to manage the 3-in-1 you can either burn your games to NOR or load them in to the RAM meant for Opera. NOR is non-volatile and anything you burn there will stay there regardless of if the battery fails or not. The Opera RAM is volatile and not backed up by the battery and anything you load in to it will be gone when you power down your DS. In either case the save from your GBA game will still be in the battery backed SRAM. BTW, SRAM is not of a suitable size to put GBA software in.

Also, I wouldn't worry about the longevity of the 3-in-1's battery. It recharges when you DS is on (and obviously it's in it) for one, and if the EZ Team's past offerings are any evidence I've had an EZ2 for years and the battery has yet to fail on me.

 

[joshwaan2k]

Hi Guys

I'm thinking of purchasing the following from Dealextreme.

EZFlash V + Kingston 1GB Japan TF + EZFlash 3-in-1 for NDS Lite Combo

I want to play NDS and GBA with it. Do the GBA games with this setup display on the bottom screen or top?

Does it make the GBA screen bigger with the 3 in 1?

Cheers

Josh

 

[4saken]

I want to play NDS and GBA with it. Do the GBA games with this setup display on the bottom screen or top?

Does it make the GBA screen bigger with the 3 in 1?

Cheers

Josh

The screen it is on depends on the settings in your DS firmware (this can be changed using the DS firmware settings). It does not make the screen size bigger however

 

[joshwaan2k]

Hi

Np at all, that's what I thought you could do. Is the background black or white when playing a GBA ROM with the 3 in 1?

 

[Psyfira]

The background is Black.

 

[science]

Hi Guys

I'm thinking of purchasing the following from Dealextreme.

EZFlash V + Kingston 1GB Japan TF + EZFlash 3-in-1 for NDS Lite Combo

I want to play NDS and GBA with it. Do the GBA games with this setup display on the bottom screen or top?

Does it make the GBA screen bigger with the 3 in 1?

Cheers

Josh

Thats my exact setup!

 

[rock_light]

hey how does this work with an r4 ds.
what kind of software do you use to get the roms onto it?

it somehow read files from slot one micro sd right?
so this is some kind of built in feature activated when i launch the slot-2 in a nintendo ds or do i need a special .nds rom?

is it like my ez-flash II powerstar and needs some kind of usb plugged into it? (which it doesnt look like)
does it also make my ds games rumble? i assume thats what its mostly for...

and once i store a gba game on it, can i still use the other features like rumble and browsing? also once a gba game is on can i use it on my gba?

these are a lot of questions so thanks and sorry.

 

[FAST6191]

Most of these have already been done many times but

3 apps now do it:
Cory1492's gbaldr, uses the NOR. (takes a while to copy but stays there across sessions, 32 megabytes available.
Rudolph's app: uses the PSRAM (limited to 16 megabytes)
Chuckstudios new app: does both NOR and PSRAM.
All apps stickied and discussed on the EZ5 section of the EZFlash forums:
http://ezflash.sosuke.com/

PSRAM launches after writing while NOR should be able to launch normally.

No, no linker is needed.

DS roms can be patched to use rumble, DS games do not rumble. (link above has stuff for this)

Browsing (requires a patch for the R4 or to use rudolph's app) can be done and rumble is seperate.
They are DSlite sized carts but NOR stuff should work in GBA or DS in GBA mode.

 

[Destructobot]

Rudolph's app does both PSRAM and NOR.

 

[samsungken]

the 3-in-1 has RAM with battery, so your game stays in there along with your save. When you reboot your DS, the save file is written to the slot-1 microSD, assuming that you have done something to invoke to the 3-in-1 software to write to the microSD (such as saving within the GBA game).

Now worry about other things: the long term battery life of the 3-in-1 and future competing 3-in-1 competitors (like the one that should be coming out from the M3 team)


The battery only keeps the save, not the game. The 3-in-1 has three different types of memory: battery backed SRAM for saves, RAM for use w/ Opera, and NOR for burning GBA games. Or that was the EZ Team's intent anyway and if you use the EZ5's "OS" to manage what's on the 3-in-1 that's how it works.

If you use Rudolph's tool to manage the 3-in-1 you can either burn your games to NOR or load them in to the RAM meant for Opera. NOR is non-volatile and anything you burn there will stay there regardless of if the battery fails or not. The Opera RAM is volatile and not backed up by the battery and anything you load in to it will be gone when you power down your DS. In either case the save from your GBA game will still be in the battery backed SRAM. BTW, SRAM is not of a suitable size to put GBA software in.

Also, I wouldn't worry about the longevity of the 3-in-1's battery. It recharges when you DS is on (and obviously it's in it) for one, and if the EZ Team's past offerings are any evidence I've had an EZ2 for years and the battery has yet to fail on me.

Is there any confirmation that the EZ Flash 3-in-1 actually comes with a rechargeable battery inside? A few other people have reported the battery dying, and actually checking the battery model number only to find that it is actually a CR1220 non-rechargeable variant. I've only had mine for a couple of days, so it's too soon to tell if there will be any big issues with it later on.