The EZ4 lite and subsequent models have not been made in years- it is mainly still the GBA sized EZ4. Still http://shop.01media.com/brand.asp?ID=434 apparently still has a couple.
I assume as you are asking for this you did some reading but in case you did not or others are reading you do not want an EZ4 lite compact- they were made as entry level DS carts when everybody likely still had full featured GBA cards.
I assume as you are asking for this you did some reading but in case you did not or others are reading you do not want an EZ4 lite compact- they were made as entry level DS carts when everybody likely still had full featured GBA cards.
wait, what? are you talking about the difference between the EZ4 lite regular and the plus version? please elaborate!
also, does this site ship to the US?
also im in the US that card comes out to about $60...
also, does this site ship to the US?
also im in the US that card comes out to about $60...
I poked around my usual shops, I can't find one. Looks like you're stuck w/ the GBA sized one or paying the $60 at Shop 01Media.
That said, I had a GBA sized EZ4 back when that was the only one available. When I got a DS Lite I "upgraded" to the Lite edition and gave the GBA sized one to my friend's daughter... Now I wish I hadn't. There is nothing wrong w/ the one I have now, mind you, except for the fact that I'd like to be able to use it in a GBA and/or a DS fat w/o having to mangle a GBA cart and transferring the EZ4's guts to it. Not trying to change your mind, but grabbing a GBA sized version is not w/o it's advantages and might be less of a disappointment if viewed that way...
MiniSD's can be a bit elusive though, but I still see them around from time to time (mostly the HK sites, and the bargin bin at Fry's).
That said, I had a GBA sized EZ4 back when that was the only one available. When I got a DS Lite I "upgraded" to the Lite edition and gave the GBA sized one to my friend's daughter... Now I wish I hadn't. There is nothing wrong w/ the one I have now, mind you, except for the fact that I'd like to be able to use it in a GBA and/or a DS fat w/o having to mangle a GBA cart and transferring the EZ4's guts to it. Not trying to change your mind, but grabbing a GBA sized version is not w/o it's advantages and might be less of a disappointment if viewed that way...
MiniSD's can be a bit elusive though, but I still see them around from time to time (mostly the HK sites, and the bargin bin at Fry's).
Apologies for the mini wall of text.
There are 4 models of EZ4. You did not ask but I will mention it anyway- with regards to DS roms themselves you can run just about everything up to April 2009 and there was quite a bit of good stuff in those early years. As from the space issues of the EZ4 lite compact they all have the same GBA support (that is to say with the occasional bit of prodding and the odd AP or hardware related patch just about everything should run).
EZ4 original (usually just EZ4)- this is the GBA sized one that uses miniSD (and you want miniSD as the adapters are terrible)
Anything with lite in the name is designed for the DS lite, the EZ4 lite is not quite flush but the others should be 1:1 dust cover style carts. As KidIce mentioned you can always swap the guts out of a DS lite cart and stick it in a GBA cart or attach a ribbon to it (I use my EZ4 lite in my original DS and GBA to this day).
EZ4 lite- marginally bigger than the DS lite slot. Uses microSD but otherwise the same as the EZ4 original.
EZ4 lite compact- made to allow DS games to work but sacrificed serious use GBA, some was later added but it is not worth it in this day and age unless someone has one going for next to nothing.
EZ4 lite deluxe- arguably the best model of EZ4- where the first two had 256Mbit (32 megabytes) of NOR memory and 128Mbit (16 megabytes) of PSRAM this has 384 Mbit (256 + 128) of NOR and 256Mbit of PSRAM.
For most this is probably the ultimate GBA cart if you need memory (if you are less concerned the EZ3 8Gbit is probably better for having compression and savestate support- though if you are hesitant to drop $60 on a cart you will probably not find such a thing unless somebody does not know what they have). This is also the only model that has a working DS browser patch but the DS browser has since been surpassed by DS homebrew so I tend to ignore that.
Quick aside- PSRAM writes very quickly (maybe 20 seconds for a large rom) but loses the data on reset/power down where the NOR writes slowly (several minutes) but holds the data when power is lost along with a few other quirks like needing the last bit of data to be deleted before the thing before it gets deleted (first in last out).
Example
1
2
3
4
To delete 2 you also need to delete 3 and 4, NAND memory (like your miniSD card) does not have this problem but it is too slow running GBA roms from.
For reference the average GBA rom is between 8 and 16 megabytes with only a handful being bigger. (these would be the so called 256Mbit titles). Although many are junk releases like the many games in one release, GBA videos of shovelware (apologies to fans of "Horse & Pony - Let`s Ride 2") some of those handful do include some notable games and rom hackers are often inclined to use the space (some of the fire emblem translations mainly) so make of that what you will.
The 3 in 1 for all intents and purposes is another 256Mbit NOR and 128Mbit PSRAM version of the EZ4 that also has rumble but uses DS slot carts to write to it rather than having a memory card onboard. The EZ4 can dump roms and run some of the older more quirky DS homebrew too but aside from dumping roms which is a technical thing there is nothing really that special there that has not been remade in another program, recompiled with DS slot support or otherwise made available for the DS slot device.
You might have seen something about the 3 in 1 plus in your research. This was made when an old source of chips dried up and the NOR chips to replace them were 512Mbit.
For various technical reasons (the GBA only sees a 32 megabyte window in the GBA slot necessitating fairly complex workarounds and then again for saving) nobody aside from a few old betas of the EZ5 kernel used this extra space and everything else just uses 256Mbit of it (I think even the stuff like the 3 in 1 dumping tool).
You can use the 3 in 1 as a standalone if you write GBA roms to the NOR, otherwise you will be booting your DS slot device, some homebrew (or if it has it onboard support) and writing to the ram every time. Equally only one GBA game at a time can be played where an EZ4 can have as many as you can squeeze on the memory card.
There are 4 models of EZ4. You did not ask but I will mention it anyway- with regards to DS roms themselves you can run just about everything up to April 2009 and there was quite a bit of good stuff in those early years. As from the space issues of the EZ4 lite compact they all have the same GBA support (that is to say with the occasional bit of prodding and the odd AP or hardware related patch just about everything should run).
EZ4 original (usually just EZ4)- this is the GBA sized one that uses miniSD (and you want miniSD as the adapters are terrible)
Anything with lite in the name is designed for the DS lite, the EZ4 lite is not quite flush but the others should be 1:1 dust cover style carts. As KidIce mentioned you can always swap the guts out of a DS lite cart and stick it in a GBA cart or attach a ribbon to it (I use my EZ4 lite in my original DS and GBA to this day).
EZ4 lite- marginally bigger than the DS lite slot. Uses microSD but otherwise the same as the EZ4 original.
EZ4 lite compact- made to allow DS games to work but sacrificed serious use GBA, some was later added but it is not worth it in this day and age unless someone has one going for next to nothing.
EZ4 lite deluxe- arguably the best model of EZ4- where the first two had 256Mbit (32 megabytes) of NOR memory and 128Mbit (16 megabytes) of PSRAM this has 384 Mbit (256 + 128) of NOR and 256Mbit of PSRAM.
For most this is probably the ultimate GBA cart if you need memory (if you are less concerned the EZ3 8Gbit is probably better for having compression and savestate support- though if you are hesitant to drop $60 on a cart you will probably not find such a thing unless somebody does not know what they have). This is also the only model that has a working DS browser patch but the DS browser has since been surpassed by DS homebrew so I tend to ignore that.
Quick aside- PSRAM writes very quickly (maybe 20 seconds for a large rom) but loses the data on reset/power down where the NOR writes slowly (several minutes) but holds the data when power is lost along with a few other quirks like needing the last bit of data to be deleted before the thing before it gets deleted (first in last out).
Example
1
2
3
4
To delete 2 you also need to delete 3 and 4, NAND memory (like your miniSD card) does not have this problem but it is too slow running GBA roms from.
For reference the average GBA rom is between 8 and 16 megabytes with only a handful being bigger. (these would be the so called 256Mbit titles). Although many are junk releases like the many games in one release, GBA videos of shovelware (apologies to fans of "Horse & Pony - Let`s Ride 2") some of those handful do include some notable games and rom hackers are often inclined to use the space (some of the fire emblem translations mainly) so make of that what you will.
The 3 in 1 for all intents and purposes is another 256Mbit NOR and 128Mbit PSRAM version of the EZ4 that also has rumble but uses DS slot carts to write to it rather than having a memory card onboard. The EZ4 can dump roms and run some of the older more quirky DS homebrew too but aside from dumping roms which is a technical thing there is nothing really that special there that has not been remade in another program, recompiled with DS slot support or otherwise made available for the DS slot device.
You might have seen something about the 3 in 1 plus in your research. This was made when an old source of chips dried up and the NOR chips to replace them were 512Mbit.
For various technical reasons (the GBA only sees a 32 megabyte window in the GBA slot necessitating fairly complex workarounds and then again for saving) nobody aside from a few old betas of the EZ5 kernel used this extra space and everything else just uses 256Mbit of it (I think even the stuff like the 3 in 1 dumping tool).
You can use the 3 in 1 as a standalone if you write GBA roms to the NOR, otherwise you will be booting your DS slot device, some homebrew (or if it has it onboard support) and writing to the ram every time. Equally only one GBA game at a time can be played where an EZ4 can have as many as you can squeeze on the memory card.
thanks for the very informative post! that cleared up alot of questions. I already have a supercard DSTWO, should I just buy a 3in1 and use gba exploader, or try to find an EZ4 lite deluxe? also, is the ez4 lite deluxe even available anywhere anymore? I can't find it anywhere, but I found the 3in1 at realhotstuff
Only the EZ4 original is made these days (even then I am not sure if new runs are still happening- they were a few months back though).
On the matter of the lite deluxe shop 01 linked above is the only place I have seen them for sale in several years now (they are a bit expensive but they are good shop- they even used to sponsor GBAtemp).
As for what to get (considering you have a DSTwo) that is up to you- the iplayer/iSMM/DSTwo GBA emulator is an impressive technical feat and I can certainly have a good time as a result of it. The 3 in 1 could then do a fair line in capping the whole thing off and catching anything that falls through the cracks.
If you sprung for the DSTwo over something like the cycloDS, an AKAIO capable device, EZ5 or even SC one to have the "best" as it were (not that the other 4 can be considered slouches*) and that reflects how you feel about things then an EZ4 will do you proud for years to come.
*just for the sake of clarity I like the DSTwo and iSMM but seeing them being lauded as DS wondercards above all else usually causes me to utter a dismissive "right... carry on then".
On the matter of the lite deluxe shop 01 linked above is the only place I have seen them for sale in several years now (they are a bit expensive but they are good shop- they even used to sponsor GBAtemp).
As for what to get (considering you have a DSTwo) that is up to you- the iplayer/iSMM/DSTwo GBA emulator is an impressive technical feat and I can certainly have a good time as a result of it. The 3 in 1 could then do a fair line in capping the whole thing off and catching anything that falls through the cracks.
If you sprung for the DSTwo over something like the cycloDS, an AKAIO capable device, EZ5 or even SC one to have the "best" as it were (not that the other 4 can be considered slouches*) and that reflects how you feel about things then an EZ4 will do you proud for years to come.
*just for the sake of clarity I like the DSTwo and iSMM but seeing them being lauded as DS wondercards above all else usually causes me to utter a dismissive "right... carry on then".
I found the 3in1 here http://realhotstuff.com/expansion-pack-new...odel-p-397.html
however at the top it says it is a hardware predecessor to the PLUS version, what does that mean? is this the card im looking for or no?
however at the top it says it is a hardware predecessor to the PLUS version, what does that mean? is this the card im looking for or no?
That have bothered end users there have been three models of EZ 3 in 1
The original
One of the tweaks which is what that site seems to carry.
The 3 in 1 plus
Each was made as old sources of a given chip dried up and each necessitated a hardware respin and a new SDK and thus recompile of a few tools. I already took care of the 3 in 1 plus but generally speaking it means the cart has double the NOR memory although nothing uses it these days as it makes life complex*.
*rather than simply having a rom and save and using the normal hardware to launch you have to have a rom, engineer a special save patch or window for it, make a window for the NOR bank for the ROM and maybe a loader as well all of which you have to do on top of the normal fairly complex (on the DS anyhow) patching process.
The original
One of the tweaks which is what that site seems to carry.
The 3 in 1 plus
Each was made as old sources of a given chip dried up and each necessitated a hardware respin and a new SDK and thus recompile of a few tools. I already took care of the 3 in 1 plus but generally speaking it means the cart has double the NOR memory although nothing uses it these days as it makes life complex*.
*rather than simply having a rom and save and using the normal hardware to launch you have to have a rom, engineer a special save patch or window for it, make a window for the NOR bank for the ROM and maybe a loader as well all of which you have to do on top of the normal fairly complex (on the DS anyhow) patching process.
umm... ok... so is the 3in1 on realhotstuff the one im looking for? is it inferior to the other 3in1s?
I just read your post and the english seems a bit off so I don't really understand what you're saying...
I just read your post and the english seems a bit off so I don't really understand what you're saying...
D
Deleted-236924
Guest
...Melter said:
GBA flashcarts used to go for more than a hundred bucks back in the days, and even then you would consider yourself lucky to find one for that price.
I would think $60 would be a good price for that, but there's no point in paying 60 bucks for a lite-sized one when 0shippingzone has GBA-sized ones for little more than 30 bucks.
It does take around a month to arrive, but if you already have other games to keep your busy until it arrives, it's really worth it.
I recommend the EZ-IV over the EZ-3in1.
Both of those use a battery to keep the save files until they get written to the SD.
However, that also means once the battery runs out, you cannot save anymore.
That's where the EZ-IV comes in. With the EZ-IV, you can add a soft-reset patch to your rom which will let you reboot to the EZ-IV main menu (The EZ-IV saves the .sav file to the miniSD at this point.)
You won't need to turn off the system, which means that even if the battery runs out, you can still save with this method.
With the 3in1, if the battery runs out you have next to no alternative way of saving.
I'm not sure if turning the DS off then on quickly would allow SRAM to keep the save file in memory long enough for the save file to be backed up.
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