Hacking EZ-Flash V or R4 DS or SuperCard

[Rocher]

Hi, I just got my DS today, and I was wondering which card I should get. But I'm a complete noob at this lol, so I hope you guys can answer my questions.

1) What is better? Slot 1 cards or Slot 2?

2) Will I be able to use the web browser on EZ-Flash V, R4 DS, and/or SuperCard?

3) What would you recommend this noob buy? EZ-Flash V, R4 DS, or SuperCard? I read the reviews, and apparently EZ-Flash V is bronze, R4 DS has 9/10, and SuperCard is 8.5/10

So, any help here guys?

Hehe, thanks!

 

[Mooney]

Hi, I just got my DS today, and I was wondering which card I should get. But I'm a complete noob at this lol, so I hope you guys can answer my questions.

1) What is better? Slot 1 cards or Slot 2?

2) Will I be able to use the web browser on EZ-Flash V, R4 DS, and/or SuperCard?

3) What would you recommend this noob buy? EZ-Flash V, R4 DS, or SuperCard? I read the reviews, and apparently EZ-Flash V is bronze, R4 DS has 9/10, and SuperCard is 8.5/10

So, any help here guys?

Hehe, thanks!

1. Depends on what kind of ROMs you want to play.

2. Only if you get a slot-2 device with enough memory (You'll also need some third party apps).

3. I'd recommend an R4 and an EZ-Flash 3-in-1. That's the setup I use, and it has served me well.

 

[Rocher]

1) DS is the priority, GBA would be a nice addition.

2) What do you mean with enough memory? I don't understand XD.

3) I just want to buy one.

 

[Nero]

Hi, I just got my DS today, and I was wondering which card I should get. But I'm a complete noob at this lol, so I hope you guys can answer my questions.

Congrats on your new DS. Don't worry, everyone joined the scene at different times. I got into the GBA/DS scene after the F2A was released.Â

Expect me to answer your questions.

1) What is better? Slot 1 cards or Slot 2?

Nowadays, Slot-1 is the better type of Flashcart. The only disadvantage would probably be the lack of playing GBA ROMs.

2) Will I be able to use the web browser on EZ-Flash V, R4 DS, and/or SuperCard?

You can use a text Homebrew browser, made by developers. To use the official Opera Browser, you will need a Slot-2 Flashcart to complement your Slot-1

3) What would you recommend this noob buy? EZ-Flash V, R4 DS, or SuperCard? I read the reviews, and apparently EZ-Flash V is bronze, R4 DS has 9/10, and SuperCard is 8.5/10

Out of all 3 flashcarts, I say either R4DS or SCDS1. The R4 is an extremely popular Flashcart, with tons of people making 'Skins' for the R4, every day. The R4DS Forum is the most active one out of all the other Flashcart forums. The SCDS1 has Real-Time-Saving, which is the ability to save anywhere and anytime in a game. If that interests you, then the Supercards DS might be for you.


So, any help here guys?

Hehe, thanks!

~Nero

 

[Mooney]

1) DS is the priority, GBA would be a nice addition.

2) What do you mean with enough memory? I don't understand XD.

3) I just want to buy one.

In order to run the Opera DS web browser, you need a slot-2 memory expansion. The EZ-Flash 3-in-1 is a memory expansion, GBA flashcart, and rumble pack. The 3-in-1 can work with the R4 with the help of one little homebrew app.

 

[Nero]

1) DS is the priority, GBA would be a nice addition.

2) What do you mean with enough memory? I don't understand XD.

3) I just want to buy one.

In order to run the Opera DS web browser, you need a slot-2 memory expansion. The EZ-Flash 3-in-1 is a memory expansion, GBA flashcart, and rumble pack. The 3-in-1 can work with the R4 with the help of one little homebrew app.

Hence, the name: EZFlash 3 in 1 Expansion Pack
It's the cheapest solution to playing GBA games and using the Opera Browser.

It can also be used as a RAM expansion for other Homebrew, to improve certain features of it. (SNEmulDS, PicoDrive, DSLinux)

~Nero

 

[Rocher]

I guess I'm just gonna go with the R4 then. Thanks!

But wait, one more question:

Can I watch videos, listen to music, look at pictures etc, on the R4? What about EZ-Flash and SuperCard?

 

[sidneyyoung]

All those 3 cards run ds roms very well with virtually 100% compatability.

differences...

1) R4 - often needs updates to fix non working roms, support for this card is not that good these days, fanboi pressure for everyone to get this cart is almost overwhelming ... no SDHC support

2) Ez5 - cheat engine/soft reset functions is not as good as other carts, but on a plus never needs an update to fix non-working roms.... again no SDHC support

3) SC-DS1 - easily has the best features (real time save for example), the support with supercard just gets better and better (they still support their slot-2 range handsomly) and never needs an update to fix non-working roms, only negative is that SC-DS1 V1/V2 were more fussy on what memory cards they used than others.. (though saying that all carts get a benefit from using japan made media) .... newer V3 scds-1 have SDHC support (a must for a modern mem based cart now)

 

[DarkAura]

I guess I'm just gonna go with the R4 then. Thanks!

But wait, one more question:

Can I watch videos, listen to music, look at pictures etc, on the R4? What about EZ-Flash and SuperCard?

It doesn't matter what cart you have, cuz Moonshell is the program that does it. The movies have to be in .dpg format, and you use either BatchPDG or dpgtools, which is included with the latest moonshell. Moonshell also plays a lot of different types of music files, and there is an image viewer integrated into the program. On the R4, Cyclo and other Slot 1s, there is a short cut right to it.

 

[Rocher]

All those 3 cards run ds roms very well with virtually 100% compatability.

differences...

1) R4 - often needs updates to fix non working roms, support for this card is not that good these days, fanboi pressure for everyone to get this cart is almost overwhelming ... no SDHC support

2) Ez5 - cheat engine/soft reset functions is not as good as other carts, but on a plus never needs an update to fix non-working roms.... again no SDHC support

3) SC-DS1 - easily has the best features (real time save for example), the support with supercard just gets better and better (they still support their slot-2 range handsomly) and never needs an update to fix non-working roms, only negative is that SC-DS1 V1/V2 were more fussy on what memory cards they used than others.. (though saying that all carts get a benefit from using japan made media) .... newer V3 scds-1 have SDHC support (a must for a modern mem based cart now)

So, you're recommending SuperCard? XD Hard decision then, in your review you depicted R4 as the worst, while so many people say it's the best.

 

[Boshinator]

I suggest an R4 plus an EZ Flash 3 in 1

 

[sidneyyoung]

All those 3 cards run ds roms very well with virtually 100% compatability.

differences...

1) R4 - often needs updates to fix non working roms, support for this card is not that good these days, fanboi pressure for everyone to get this cart is almost overwhelming ... no SDHC support

2) Ez5 - cheat engine/soft reset functions is not as good as other carts, but on a plus never needs an update to fix non-working roms.... again no SDHC support

3) SC-DS1 - easily has the best features (real time save for example), the support with supercard just gets better and better (they still support their slot-2 range handsomly) and never needs an update to fix non-working roms, only negative is that SC-DS1 V1/V2 were more fussy on what memory cards they used than others.. (though saying that all carts get a benefit from using japan made media) .... newer V3 scds-1 have SDHC support (a must for a modern mem based cart now)

So, you're recommending SuperCard? XD Hard decision then, in your review you depicted R4 as the worst, while so many people say it's the best.

As I said the fanboi pressure is overwhelming, it's like R4 owners don't believe other carts run roms too.

There's nothing wrong with R4, it's probably the most basic to use which can be a plus for some (under 9yr olds

) ,but is does lack the more advanced features other carts can offer and doesn't support SDHC mem cards... bottom line, it's a bit old now and R4 team suport is dropping... but for running DS roms with upto a max of 2GB it's absolutely fine.

 

[Rocher]

What is SDHC memory cards? And can you make a list for me that shows what features SC & EZV have but the R4 doesn't? Helps alot

Thanks!

 

[sidneyyoung]

Well the Ez5 doesn't really offer the best extra features, still a solid cart though for running roms ect, nought wrong with it.

The SCDS-1 features that I can remember that no-other cart has afaik..

1) Real Time Save
2) Multiple save slots
3) Various save methods, direct to mem card or battery backed saver ram.. both can be used in combo with 'RTS' ...feature no.1
4) Realtime cheat menu .. enter the cheat menu at any time during gameplay
5) Real time game guide .. open up a txt based file at any time during game play
6) In-built 'soft reset' for homebrew
7) Support that isn't dropped when they bring out newer carts, their old slot-2 are still superbly supported


Note, the 'In-Game Cheat Menu/Gameguide' though brilliant in function is basic in appearance and could definately do with an overhaul imo.


..probably forgotten something

 

[Rocher]

1) Real Time Save means like on those VBA emulators, it saves wherever you want?

2) What does multiple save slots mean?

3) Why would I need various save methods?

4) Awesome

5) WOOT I will use this for sure if I get SC

6) What is soft-reset?

7) Hopefully.

 

[sidneyyoung]

@Rocher


1) yes
2) if a rom has only 1 save (example pokemon) you can create up to 4 saves for the 1 rom and choose between them at will, excelent if you share your ds with family ect
3) well if there is ever a save problem with a new rom, you have more methods to get round problem
4) I agree
5) Yes, i love to use it too on my SC-CF
6) resets back to the main scds-1 menu, instead of having to turn on/off ... all carts support this function more or less with ds roms, but with homebrew scds-1 is the only one I know of that does this automatically
7) With my aged SC-CF, they have never let me down with DS-rom compatabilty for years now and the 'real time' features they introduced for their slot-2 as well as their slot-1 was kind of gob-smacking, maybe slot-2 will get RTS too ??? (I hope).. though they did abandon GBA on it ages a go, and not many forgive them for that, but i never bought it for gba anyway, I knew it was crap for gba.

 

[Rocher]

Shit yes, SuperCard might just win now

 

[ahamilton9]

I just have one question to add:

I myself have already purchased a SuperCard (it's en route) but realized after the fact that I will need RAM expansion. Am I correct in assuming the E-Z Flash 3 in 1 will provide RAM when requested by PROGRAM (say moonshell, snesDS or DSOrganize's browser which keeps locking up as of now) and compatibility is not based on the slot 1 cart? Because if the SuperCard One I just bought will not work with this slot 2 expansion, I'd like to know soon.

Thanks in advance.

 

[golden]

Yes, the EZ 3in1 will suffice for your RAM needing programs. Use Rudolphs 3in1 tool program to get it working with your supercard.

 

[cutterjohn]

The only drawback in the EZFV v. SCDS1 SDHC(just got mine yesterday, also own an Cyclops DS Evolution that needs to go back for replacement) is that the DLDI driver for the SCDS1 SDHC is pretty awful.

The stock one that comes with the OS, including 3.0 is partially and won't run some apps e.g. lmp-ng & dslinux(starts, but alot of things fail), scummvm, etc.

There IS a new replacement dldi driver that you can replace the default dldi driver with from dldi.drunkencoders.com. Download, rename to dldi.bin and replace the one in the scshell directory with it, however I have found that dslinux STILL does not work properly with that driver either. Either letting it auto-patch or manually patching with it and I'm pretty sure that it's not just the dslinux build as I tried an 11/27/07 build and had problems then tried a 12/14/07 build and had problems still even with a complete erase/install cycle.

I imagine that it'll be fixed before long, but if you're looking to use some homebrew stuff, it's something to be aware of.

Seems not quite as compatible with some homebrew as the few apps that I got to test with my Evolution, but for me the SCDS1 is a backup card. Ran every NDS ROM that I tried, and using Rudolph's app enabling the 3in1 as RAM it was also able to run the DS Browser.

I'm not at all certain of the status of the EZFV dldi driver, but presumably it's in better shape by now considering it's a much older card than the SCDS1 SDHC...

RAM Expansion: 3in1's great if all you want it for is RAM expansion and maybe some light GBA gaming. Rudolph's expansion pack tool is also my favorite to use with it. (16MB PSRAM, 32MB NOR flash, 2mbits of SRAM(IIRC)).

There are also other options, e.g. the ewin expansion pack available at sky2k.com (never ordered from them) for c. $14 when I checked the other week. (This is NOT supported as extra RAM for DSLinux according to their wiki, but it DOES have 32MB of PSRAM which is better than the 3in1.)

Alternatively there is the slightly more expensive EZ Flash IV Lite Deluxe(must be the deluxe version). The advantage of this one is that it takes microSD cards too and can be used to run NDS stuff in a pinch as well as GBA stuff. 32MB RAM, 48MB NOR flash. c. $42 @ realhotstuff. (DSLinux wiki lists it as having only 16MB of PSRAM for some reason though...)

M3 Perfect, really the best for GBA stuff, but it's pricey at around $80-90 or so at most places that I've seen that still carried them.