Hacking DS RAM Expansions

[Jamstruth]

A little question about these. I know a minimal amount of homebrew requires them but I know it helps for stuff like internet browsing or Quake DS. and allows you to use the GBA Roms

1st Question: Is it such a big deal? Is it a handy thing to have along with your Slot-1 card or has the slot-1 card rendered these completely unneeded?
2nd Question: What is the best cheap and cheerful one? I have a Supercard DSOne SDHC to use as my Slot 1 card.

 

[granville]

I had a EZ Flash 3-in-1 expansion pack for a while with a SCDSOne as well. Slot 2 expansions are completely necessary for using the Opera DS Browser unless you have a DSi. The browser itself is crap. Although the DSi version is considerably faster.

Here are a few things I myself have used my expansion for-

- GBA compatibility (i love this feature)
- Ram expansion for SnemulDS (this helps games over 4MB to not stutter as badly)
- DS web browser (I hate this thing, but sometimes I need to check a site on the fly. there are third party browsers that don't require the expansion as well though)

I'm likely missing some features other people use. I hear Quake requires the expansion to get anywhere close to decent speeds, or maybe it needs it to boot at all. Never used a DS Quake.

At any rate, here are a few popular expansion choices-

- EZ Flash 3-in-1 ($20 at Dealextreme free shipping. This one includes rumble support)
- Ewin expansion (found it for about $13 at one site, similar to the 3-in-1, no rumble)
- M3 Real expansion (also can be found for $20, no rumble)
- Opera expansion (can only be used as memory expansion, no GBA support or rumble, needs to be bought with the DS Browser) I do NOT recommend this since the features are rather pathetic.

Basically the best feature set is the EZ flash. I myself own one and have used it for over a year. I can say it was great while it lasted. The issue is that the internal battery ends up dying after less that a year of use. You can still use it for memory expansion or rumble support after that, but your GBA games will no longer save after the battery dies. You can either buy a new one or try to replace the battery. I tried to replace the battery and somehow the EZ Flash shorted out my DS Lite (apparently the card was already bent inside and caused some sort of electrical screwup when I tried to put the card back together). It's not really worth trying to fix the card IMO, but it's a decent card while it works properly. I'm not sure about the new 3-in-1+ revisions or whether the batteries work better.

 

[Jamstruth]

Thanks dude, problem is I'm a UK resident so could do with some UK sites. I saw the 3 in 1 expansion on the site I got my SCDSOne from unfortunately it was out of stock (but was under £20)

Quake II for DS requires the RAM expansion, Quake 1 doesn't but I see the model textures loading occasionally (may be lack of RAM I don't know) Didn't realise SNEmul could benefit from this as well though as I've never noticed stutter on any games (mostly just graphical glitches)

 

[granville]

I will say that DealExtreme DOES say that they ship worldwide with no extra charge in their FAQ's. I'm a US resident, so I've never tested this. I imagine the prices would be more though, possibly double what they are in US Dollars to British Pounds.

The stutter in SnemulDS is only really for games over 3MB in size. The DS has 4MB of memory. 1MB is used by the emulator program and the other 3 is used to load SNES roms. The author added support for games over 3MB, but the data is having to constantly be streamed in and out of the 3MB of memory available. The result is that these games work, but there is a slightly noticeable "skipping" every couple of seconds.

I noticed this while playing the Donkey Kong Country trilogy. Basically, the screen will just kind of "freeze" for a microsecond every few seconds. It's noticeable enough to be annoying if you can't get used to it. Adding in the memory expansion seems to get rid of this stutter since the accessory has up to 16-32 extra MB to use.

I also believe the NeoGeo console emulator for DS, NeoDS, can use a memory expansion. I've never used it before though, so I can't comment on how it works for it. I think someone said it helps ease up slowdown or something in fighting games.

Of course, there's the added benefit of being able to run slot-2 only homebrew as well. Some emulators coded for the GBA are actually BETTER than the DS versions (PocketNES for example is better and more up to date than its DS port NESDS). Or there are some systems that never received a DS emulator (like the TurboGrafx-16 emulator, PCEadvance).

 

[Jamstruth]

Importing isn't something I do often but I'll think about it. It just means I wouldn't be able to play Quake II over my holiday in a week, oh well.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I'm using an old DS Phat from 3-4 years ago so the expansion needs to be GBA size, I took a quick look and could only find the Lite versions of the expansions.

 

[Another World]

the gba sized pack is no longer made. good luck trying to get one in a UK store. dealextreme does not carry it any longer as the old stock is sold out.

http://www.realhotstuff.com/expansion-pack-size-p-212.html

RHS claims they still have them. it might be worth the e-mail to see if they would ship it internationally to you. i know you can do priority flat rate envelope to the UK for 11.95. you might want to mention that to them if they quote you an expensive shipping price.

another choice is the more expensive m3 lite. it is a gba flash linker, has nds passme, and can be used as ram expansion. it comes with a few shells, one is a gba sized one. i'm using mine in my gb micro currenly. i still feel that it is worth every penny. i paid $91 for mine and never regretted it. it is another kit that is becoming increasingly hard to find.

http://www.ishopvideogame.com/M3-Perfect-Lite-p-1610.html

-another world

 

[Jamstruth]

Buggrit, curse my outmoded electronics. My DS has served me well since the EU release, its been scratched up, battered and still only has a slightly scratched touch screen, one dead pixel and I broke the hinge... Don't want/need to change it.

Great, oh well no RAM expansion for me unless I buy the browser then (assuming I can find it) I guess

 

[dajavax]

you can also get the supercard sd... or minisd... i had the minisd with a ds phat... the sd one is bigger and the minisd is gba size... and it's great... it's basically a slot-2 flashcart with included RAM expansion... i actually got that as my flashcart because of the RAM expansion as it was more powerful and could play gba games... then i lost it... and i got a slot-1... for the GH games that require the grip

... it's compatible with the supercard dsone... i once took my brother's and it worked with the snes emulator and with moonshell 2 with my DSONE in slot-1 and his MiniSD in slot-2...

EDIT: $13.52 USD http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2734

 

[Jamstruth]

Found them at my usual haunt for my DS extras but was unsure about whether they had a RAM expansion.
They're there but seem a bit overpriced. The simple one you're giving there with no rumble is out of stock but has a price of £36.11 (Here) Full SD size one is in stock and on for £30 (Here) and finally the MiniSD with rumble (probably the one I'd go for) is £32.20 (Here)

SO if they all include extra RAM I'll consider it. Being supercard they'll be more likely to work with my card. I don't need to get a miniSD to load with stuff in order to use them do I? Or can I just load the GBA files in my SCDSOne and it'll boot them on the slot 2 (whenever I do it on my SCDS it shows the GBA logo)

 

[dajavax]

it has rumble or RAM expansion... they don't have both... so the rumble one has no RAM expansion and the normal one has no rumble :S... so if you want both things those supercards are not the option... and you don't need the miniSD... but i recommend it for storing the gba games there... i'm not sure how they work when using them from a slot-1 with a ram expansion but i'll check it out in a while... i think the saves are a hassle in that way... i recommend getting it from the site i gave you... it's really really cheap compared to how i got it and compared to the other editions (the big one is more expenive)... it also has free worldwide shipping (not even import rates)...

 

[Jamstruth]

Completely free? Seriously? Dude, awesome.
Will try asking my Dad tonight (he has the credit card)

 

[dajavax]

btw... tried the gba... i haven't gotten it to work from the slot-1... so... i guess you do need a mini-sd... or get a micro sd and a micro-mini adapter

 

[Jamstruth]

Could you maybe try GBA Exploader or something? Maybe that'd work.
I already ordered it, considered finding a small microSD (like 64mb if they exist) but decided against it. I'll mostly be using it for playing Quake, Quake 2 and internet browsing.