Hacking Expansion packs

[Bri]

Well, the EZ4 lite deluxe uses as microSD, so it doesnt uses DS power for save data? As far as I know 3in1 doesnt have a MicroSD slot but reads everything and saves to slot one.. so that doesnt use DS power as well?

There is a technical reason why a slot2 cart can't store a save file onto a slot1 microSD until the DS is turned off then back on.

If the EZ4 lite deluxe has a microSD, it's possible that it doesn't have to use a battery for saves (assuming it can store GBA saves immediately onto its microSD rather waiting until the DS is restarted to store the save onto the slot1 microSD).

My guess is that all slot2 carts use the DS' power when playing games, etc. The cart's internal battery would only be used to store saves in the SRAM while the DS is turned off so that it can be saved to the slot1 microSD card when the DS is turned back on.

QUOTE(madridi4ever @ May 12 2008, 03:42 PM) EZ lite deluxe, I copied this info from somewhere, it said "does not include internal/integrated battery", so thats wrong?

Where did you copy it from?

-Bri

 

[Madridi]

hmmmmm good info.. thanks

what about RTC? lets say it doesnt have a battery for RTC, what does that mean?

Edit: Somewhere in those forums, I'll see if I can find that thread somewhere

 

[Minox]

hmmmmm good info.. thanks

what about RTC? lets say it doesnt have a battery for RTC, what does that mean?

Edit: Somewhere in those forums, I'll see if I can find that thread somewhere
The only games that need RTC is the Pkmn games and they can be patched to work good enough. Basically all it does is to keep the internal clock in the Pokemon games alive so that timebased events occur.

QUOTE(Bri @ May 12 2008, 09:58 PM) If the EZ4 lite deluxe has a microSD, it's possible that it doesn't have to use a battery for saves (assuming it can store GBA saves immediately onto its microSD rather waiting until the DS is restarted to store the save onto the slot1 microSD).

-Bri

The EZ FLash IV Lite deluxe backups save data from SRAM when you boot it up.

 

[Madridi]

hmmmmm good info.. thanks

what about RTC? lets say it doesnt have a battery for RTC, what does that mean?

Edit: Somewhere in those forums, I'll see if I can find that thread somewhere
The only games that need RTC is the Pkmn games and they can be patched to work good enough

QUOTE(Bri @ May 12 2008, 09:58 PM) If the EZ4 lite deluxe has a microSD, it's possible that it doesn't have to use a battery for saves (assuming it can store GBA saves immediately onto its microSD rather waiting until the DS is restarted to store the save onto the slot1 microSD).

-Bri

The EZ FLash IV Lite deluxe backups save data from SRAM when you boot it up.

Well I am interested in pokemon games, so clean roms have to be patched?

the save data in sram, so its not in microSD? ok what if you change the game? your save data is gone
(keep in mind I didnt get my IV deluxe yet, nor do I own any slot 2 device, so some questions might not make sense..)


@ Bri
Found the link
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=667...sion+comparison

 

[Minox]

hmmmmm good info.. thanks

what about RTC? lets say it doesnt have a battery for RTC, what does that mean?

Edit: Somewhere in those forums, I'll see if I can find that thread somewhere
The only games that need RTC is the Pkmn games and they can be patched to work good enough

QUOTE(Bri @ May 12 2008, 09:58 PM) If the EZ4 lite deluxe has a microSD, it's possible that it doesn't have to use a battery for saves (assuming it can store GBA saves immediately onto its microSD rather waiting until the DS is restarted to store the save onto the slot1 microSD).

-Bri

The EZ FLash IV Lite deluxe backups save data from SRAM when you boot it up.

Well I am interested in pokemon games, so clean roms have to be patched?

the save data in sram, so its not in microSD? ok what if you change the game? your save data is gone
(keep in mind I didnt get my IV deluxe yet, nor do I own any slot 2 device, so some questions might not make sense..)


@ Bri
Found the link
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=667...sion+comparison

I might not have said this clear enough. When you boot up your EZ FLash IV Lite Dekuxe (goddamn long name :S) it will back up the SRAM data to microSD by default.

 

[Madridi]

Oh ok that makes more sense.. Thanks!

 

[Bri]

the save data in sram, so its not in microSD? ok what if you change the game? your save data is gone
(keep in mind I didnt get my IV deluxe yet, nor do I own any slot 2 device, so some questions might not make sense..)

The way it works is that when you play a GBA game, it stores your save in the SRAM. Then you turn off your DS. The next time you turn your DS back on, the save that is in the SRAM is immediately stored to your slot1 microSD card. Then you can play another GBA game. So, no, you won't lose your save data.

-Bri

 

[Minox]

the save data in sram, so its not in microSD? ok what if you change the game? your save data is gone
(keep in mind I didnt get my IV deluxe yet, nor do I own any slot 2 device, so some questions might not make sense..)

The way it works is that when you play a GBA game, it stores your save in the SRAM. Then you turn off your DS. The next time you turn your DS back on, the save that is in the SRAM is immediately stored to your slot1 microSD card. Then you can play another GBA game. So, no, you won't lose your save data.

-Bri

Why would it store the save in slot1 microSD card?

 

[Bri]

Minox_IX,

Do you own a EZ FLash IV Lite Deluxe? Is it possible that since it has a microSD card it doesn't need to store the save file in SRAM (it can write it immediately to its microSD)?

-Bri

 

[Bri]

Why would it store the save in slot1 microSD card?

I was assuming that the OP was listing slot2 carts that work with slot1 carts for GBA and store the files on the slot1 microSD. In that scenario, they usually don't have their own microSD slot (the other two listed don't have a microSD slot). But the EZ FLash IV Lite Dekuxe apparently does have its own so it would be able to store the save to the slot2 (I wonder if it can store to slot1 if you wanted it to).

Perhaps it can also store its save immediately to the slot2 microSD rather than waiting to reboot. I was under the impression that a GBA cart only had to wait to store the save if it was saving to a slot1.

-Bri

 

[Minox]

Minox_IX,

Do you own a EZ FLash IV Lite Deluxe? Is it possible that since it has a microSD card it doesn't need to store the save file in SRAM (it can write it immediately to its microSD)?

-Bri

I have one alright, and it doesn't write the saves directly to a microSD card.

First when you start a game it loads the .sav's from the save directory.
Then when you play it writes eventual savings to SRAM.
And when you boot it up again it'll backup the save from SRAM to the save directory again.

 

[Bri]

Does it play NDS games also if you have a Passkey in slot1?

-Bri

 

[Minox]

Does it play NDS games also if you have a Passkey in slot1?

-Bri

Yup, pretty good actually even though I prefer using my Scds1 for that.

 

[Bri]

OK, so it's not really a GBA expansion cart like the other two (it doesn't require a slot1 cart other than a passkey to operate). That's why I was confused!

-Bri

 

[TheWingless]

OK, so it's not really a GBA expansion cart like the other two. That's why I was confused!

-Bri
It's a really good option too because of the smaller price compared to the M3. The EZ 4 will also work like an expansion pak if you have the right patches/software/homebrew. It also has the same glossy coat I think. It also has that great GBA compatibility (except for Pokemon RTC!) and doesn't need passcards for GBA.
QUOTE256Mb PSRAM (32 Mbytes)
384Mb NorFLASH (48Mbytes)
32Mb Loader (4 Mbytes)
8Mb saver SRAM (1Mbyte)

There's a lot of PSRAM so you might never have to write to the NOR.

 

[Minox]

OK, so it's not really a GBA expansion cart like the other two (it doesn't require a slot1 cart other than a passkey to operate). That's why I was confused!

-Bri

It's a complete slot 2 flashkart which can be used for RAM purposes.
I understand why you were confused.

 

[Madridi]

yeah sorry this cart is only for gba I think..
by the way, would a M3 rumble ram pack be complimentary to that if it was used with cyclods?

(gba in lite deluxe, ram and rumble with m3 expansion)

 

[Minox]

yeah sorry this cart is only for gba I think..
by the way, would a M3 rumble ram pack be complimentary to that if it was used with cyclods?

(gba in lite deluxe, ram and rumble with m3 expansion)

I don't think that would work, but I've got another idea.

Use the EZ Flash IV Lite Deluxe for Gba and Ram and then you could buy an orignal rumble pack from Nintendo.

 

[Madridi]

yeah sorry this cart is only for gba I think..
by the way, would a M3 rumble ram pack be complimentary to that if it was used with cyclods?

(gba in lite deluxe, ram and rumble with m3 expansion)

I don't think that would work, but I've got another idea.

Use the EZ Flash IV Lite Deluxe for Gba and Ram and then you could buy an orignal rumble pack from Nintendo.

*Damn*.. already bought that with lite deluxe.. oh well lol..
Well I'm probably going to order ScDs1, edge, ewin expansion, and 3in1 tomorrow..
maybe dstt and acekard 2 (and rpg if I can find it somewhere cheap) later
I guess M3 rumble ram pack will have no use then huh..

 

[Bri]

If you already have a slot1 cart (or are going to buy one) why not just get a slot2 GBA expansion like the EZ 3in1 or the eWin 2in1? The eWin is about $14 delivered. If you want rumble, the best rumble pack is probably the eWin rumble (it's a separate cart, but rumble doesn't work with GBA anyway, and the eWin rumble pack is better than the one inside the 3in1). The eWin rumble costs all of $4.

BTW, rumble isn't as exciting as it sounds, if you've never used one. It works on only about 6 games, it eats up battery, it isn't very "rumbly" (particularly the 3in1), it's kind of loud (very loud in the case of the 3in1), and sometimes games that don't have rumble will set it off a-rumbling and it won't stop (particularly the 3in1). All in all, don't worry about rumble.

-Bri