Hacking EZ 3in1 with Acekard 2.1?

[tpformbh]

Want to buy the EZ 3in1 to go with the AceKard 2.1 I've just got, seen it on Deal Extreme for cheap.

But is it easy to use? I've read about battery problems with the EZ 3in1, problems sourcing the correct chips, errors with AKAIO etc and it seems more trouble than it's worth? Tried searching but some stuff is older and not much use.

As far as I can tell it reads the games off the AceKard's SD and flashes them to the 3in1, is that permanent until a new game is loaded or does it need doing each time?

Waiting for the DS to arrive, got the acekard and checked the SD and it's been setup with some AKAIO on there already, don't think it's the newest one though.

Am I ok to purchase the 3in1 or would you advise something else? It's just to run a few mario and sonic games?

Seen this thread and it's put me off: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=193521

Got the choice of black or white, not sure if either is older or newer though.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2967
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1894

Cheers

paul

 

[zero1221]

I don't know anything about the EZ 3in1, but you might want to wait and see how the Supercard DSTWO turns out.

The company behind the Supercard said that it will have built in GBA and SNES support.
How good the emulation will be is unknown and very little info has been released at all.

There is also the iPlayer for gba emulation, but I haven't tried it and don't know what games it supports.

Hope I helped a little.

 

[tpformbh]

I don't know anything about the EZ 3in1, but you might want to wait and see how the Supercard DSTWO turns out.

The company behind the Supercard said that it will have built in GBA and SNES support.
How good the emulation will be is unknown and very little info has been released at all.

There is also the iPlayer for gba emulation, but I haven't tried it and don't know what games it supports.

Hope I helped a little.

I've read that the EZ has 100% compatibility as it's not emulation it's just a (temporary) storage device i suppose. Only just bought the acekard and trying to do it cheap as possible, but thanks for the suggestion

 

[arielp]

Just got one from DX (black)
it is the latest batch (EZ3in1PLUS) with 512Mb(64MB) NOR, and 128Mb(16MB) PSRAM, 2Mb SRAM for save

on AK2i (on lite), with AKAIO 1.5.1

just plug the EZ and forget about it..100% compatible

there will be EZ3in1 Setting Menus on AKAIO.

- GBA- just load it for under 32MB, it will automatically run from PSRAM (load ROM and play, but volatile)
for > 16MB it will flash to NOR, takes about 1-2minutes to flash, but non-volatile
- Rumble - Works fine (kinda noisy), 3 rumble can be set from AKAIO setting
- Expansion RAM, works on Browser, Moonshell, SNESemulDS. etc.


just plug and play

 

[tpformbh]

Just got one from DX (black)
it is the latest batch (EZ3in1PLUS) with 512Mb(64MB) NOR, and 128Mb(16MB) PSRAM, 2Mb SRAM for save

on AK2i (on lite), with AKAIO 1.5.1

just plug the EZ and forget about it..100% compatible

there will be EZ3in1 Setting Menus on AKAIO.

- GBA- just load it for under 32MB, it will automatically run from PSRAM (load ROM and play, but volatile)
for > 16MB it will flash to NOR, takes about 1-2minutes to flash, but non-volatile
- Rumble - Works fine (kinda noisy), 3 rumble can be set from AKAIO setting
- Expansion RAM, works on Browser, Moonshell, SNESemulDS. etc.


just plug and play

Just arrived from DX today, unsure how I check if it's a plus version or the size of the mrmoy though?

 

[Gariscus]

Though it is extremely unlikely that you haven't received a plus here is how you can check:

Run this with your 3in1 in your DS: http://filetrip.net/f9372-GBA-ExpLoader-0-58b0.html

If it says [3in1pls] at the top of your DS's touch screen you have a plus.

 

[Masked Ranger]

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=130659

How to tell which version of 3in1 you have.

 

[tpformbh]

Thanks for the replies. Using an Acekard with AKAIO, i've not needed GBA ExpLoader (whatever that does) but will run it tonight and get back to you. The back of the packaging said something about 'storage doubled to 128mb'

 

[Another World]

But is it easy to use?

i've never had a problem. i use the native akaio flashing software. i've played about 400+ homebrews and 200+ roms with it. now, that doesn't mean that their aren't issues. real time clock won't work, some games might have issues, etc. over all if you pick on up for $20 or so bucks and you get 200+ roms to work, have you not got your moneys worth?

the 3in1+ has issues with everything. there are things you can do to get around it. gba exploader only has limited 3in1+ support. nor games should be booted from the acekard menu, etc.

your best bet is to buy the older 3in1 from realhotstuff.com. they are the last site (that i know of) who still have stock of the old cart. the 3in1new is the second generation card, the one i have, and i love it.

not to mention it doubles as a ram pack for stuff like quakeIIds, the opera browser, etc.

16 MEGS x 8 = 128 MegaBit.

Psram is 16 MEGS, nor is 32 MEGS. the 3in1+ has 64 MEGS of nor but akaio can not make use of the extra 32.

-another world

 

[arielp]

kinda weird,

mine arrive just a week a go from Dealextreme,

pop up the card, confirmed its the V1 3in1 (by looking "05/2007" printed on PCB thingy)

GBA Exploader 0.58b confirmed the same...

weird huh, DX still have the V1?

..
last time my friend bought from Focalprice, FP already have the plus version..

lucky me

 

[tpformbh]

kinda weird,

mine arrive just a week a go from Dealextreme,

pop up the card, confirmed its the V1 3in1 (by looking "05/2007" printed on PCB thingy)

GBA Exploader 0.58b confirmed the same...

weird huh, DX still have the V1?

..
last time my friend bought from Focalprice, FP already have the plus version..

lucky me

I've not got around to checking this one yet but I think it is V1, for whatever reason it says double memory on the back but no indication that it's a plus - possibly a 3in1new as mentioned before.. Will run that thing some time though and confirm. Not seen a single problem though.

If anyone can clarify what NOR set to 'Auto' does I'd be glad to know. From reading the wiki I thought this EZ 3in1 could either temporarily flash a game or it could store it if it was small enough? is there any option to do anything like this in AKAIO? Or am I gettnig the PSRAM thing confused.

One final thing, I don't 'patch' or alter any ROMs for the GBA, nor do I use GBA Exploder. Not seen any problems, so is AKAIO just doing all the work behind the scenes?

 

[tpformbh]

Anyone clarify this NOR / PSRAM thing? I think I must be using the PSRAM as it only takes a few seconds to write the GBA game to the 3in1 but it does it each time, and nothing shows up on the home screen if you take the Slot 1 Acekard out?

 

[Deleted member 114266]

Anyone clarify this NOR / PSRAM thing? I think I must be using the PSRAM as it only takes a few seconds to write the GBA game to the 3in1 but it does it each time, and nothing shows up on the home screen if you take the Slot 1 Acekard out?

If the GBA game is under 16Mb or MB (can't remember) you will use the PSRAM which is just like RAM in your computer. The game is loaded each time and if you power off your DS the game is lost which is why it is written each time, the game only takes a few seconds to load. NOR is like flash memory and is slow to write to. The game will be kept in memory when the DS is powered off. The main reason PSRAM is used instead of NOR is due to how long it takes to copy the game to NOR so if you are switching games it can be tedious.