Hacking EZF4lite microSD slowdown

[IxthusTiger]

I just recieved my EZF4lite microSD and I noticed its slower than the Supercard CF. Games take longer to load up, for example, Animal Crossing takes longer to load when you start the game and enter/exit buildings. Obviously, the Castlevania video stutters a lot, but surprisingly, the Metroid Prime Hunters videos do not stutter. However, the game hiccups when openeing a door because that's when the next room is loading. I also noted slowdown in game when you kill a hunter and a door is unlocked. Ouendan takes a little longer to load songs, and hiccups when going in and out of menus.

Is this a general problem with EZFlash carts? Is it just with this new cart? Is it my media? I'm using a SanDisk 1GB microSD.

Anyone have experience with this or have any ideas to make it faster?

 

[Darkspark]

Oh damn. I will have the same setup as you soon.

I can guarantee to some extent that it is the microsd card. They write faster than bog standard SD cards, bu only at a max read and write of about 5mb per sec.

If you look at newer SD cards (not micro sd) they can read/write at speeds of around 10-20mb (66x or 150X, you might have seen this stated as). It doesnt worry me though. I had a slow SD with my Supercard SD, so Im not too worried about the speed.

Im interested to know why there was a move from minisd cards to micro sd cards, which were already very small. The smaller the circuitery, the faster speeds that you should be able to obtain.
It does not seem to be the case here.

 

[ZildjianKX]

Im interested to know why there was a move from minisd cards to micro sd cards, which were already very small. The smaller the circuitery, the faster speeds that you should be able to obtain.
It does not seem to be the case here.

Well, in this case, to fit in the DS Lite slot...

 

[hocuspocus]

are you using superkey? if so what loader are you using none are working for me =[

 

[master456]

IIRC from looking at published stats it looked like the premium versions of microSD cards were 3x - 4x faster on average over there standard counterparts. I picked up an Ultra Sandisk for 15 dollars more then the standard.

 

[IxthusTiger]

are you using superkey? if so what loader are you using none are working for me =[

I used MML and I'm running FlashMe v7

Damn... Ultra microSD? What am I gonna do with the regular ol' SanDisk 1GB microSD?? Are you sure that's what it is?

 

[darkandlong]

I'm pretty sure its the micro SD card. Madden didn't hiccup in game between plays with my mini SD cards on my EZ4 Regular, but it does slightly with this Sandisk micro SD one.

I'll have to pick up a highspeed card later on.

 

[Redux]

EDIT: Deleted. Found the answer.

 

[IxthusTiger]

WHAT? WHAT ANSWER?? I NEVER SAW YOUR FIRST POST!!

 

[IxthusTiger]

So I read on the EZ forums that I should format in 16k clusters. Is that right?

 

[Tir]

IIRC from looking at published stats it looked like the premium versions of microSD cards were 3x - 4x faster on average over there standard counterparts. I picked up an Ultra Sandisk for 15 dollars more then the standard.

Do you have an EZ4L yet to test with? I want to know if it's any better with the "ultra" cards.

This is why I don't rush into buying the first thing that's released, I let others test things for me.

I figured the regular microSDs would be slow.

 

[IxthusTiger]

Your MOM is slow.

 

[cornaljoe]

Format with 32k clusters.

 

[IxthusTiger]

O_O HEY I know you!!

 

[zragnarok]

theres no slowdowns with my ez4lite+kingston 512mb microsd...

 

[master456]

IIRC from looking at published stats it looked like the premium versions of microSD cards were 3x - 4x faster on average over there standard counterparts.  I picked up an Ultra Sandisk for 15 dollars more then the standard.
Do you have an EZ4L yet to test with? I want to know if it's any better with the "ultra" cards.

This is why I don't rush into buying the first thing that's released, I let others test things for me.

I figured the regular microSDs would be slow.

Yup I have one. What do you want me to test?



Whats weird is from published stats a lot of manuf. "regular" cards appear to be on-par with SanDisks Ultra microSD. I noticed Transcend, Kingston, and another brand are within 1MB SanDisk Ultra line. I couldn't find a speed rating for the regular SanDisk microSD card.

 

[Tir]

IIRC from looking at published stats it looked like the premium versions of microSD cards were 3x - 4x faster on average over there standard counterparts. I picked up an Ultra Sandisk for 15 dollars more then the standard.
Do you have an EZ4L yet to test with? I want to know if it's any better with the "ultra" cards.

This is why I don't rush into buying the first thing that's released, I let others test things for me.

I figured the regular microSDs would be slow.

Yup I have one. What do you want me to test?



Whats weird is from published stats a lot of manuf. "regular" cards appear to be on-par with SanDisks Ultra microSD. I noticed Transcend, Kingston, and another brand are within 1MB SanDisk Ultra line. I couldn't find a speed rating for the regular SanDisk microSD card.

I think the Castlevania intro is best for testing, give a rating how it performs like they do on the M3 wiki for media cards: http://m3wiki.emuparadise.org/index.php/Media_Card

"The Castlevaniaawn of Sorrow opening movie should be a reliable, repeatable measure. On a scale of 1. Sound isn't even reliable - 2. Still frames only - 3. some dull sections are smooth - 4. Breaks up when Soma throws a fireball - 5. doesn't drop a single frame."

 

[ultim]

master456
You got a ez4 lite right? can you test if it makes any difference if u use a regular microsd and a ultra microsd card please.
I just wanna know if it makes any difference in loading times and gameplay (any slowdowns)

 

[darkandlong]

I think the Castlevania intro is best for testing, give a rating how it performs like they do on the M3 wiki for media cards: http://m3wiki.emuparadise.org/index.php/Media_Card

"The Castlevaniaawn of Sorrow opening movie should be a reliable, repeatable measure. On a scale of 1. Sound isn't even reliable - 2. Still frames only - 3. some dull sections are smooth - 4. Breaks up when Soma throws a fireball - 5. doesn't drop a single frame."

The Castlevania movie is not an acceptable benchmark of media for the EZ4, as I haven't read that any EZ4 users state that the FMV plays smoothly. I've tried a 60x A-data (which is supposed to playback perfect with a M3) and 150x Stargem mini SDs, and now a standard Sandisk micro SD. In all three instances the movie skips pretty badly. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any card that plays the intro flawlessly on the EZ4.

 

[darkandlong]

Yup I have one. What do you want me to test?



Whats weird is from published stats a lot of manuf. "regular" cards appear to be on-par with SanDisks Ultra microSD. I noticed Transcend, Kingston, and another brand are within 1MB SanDisk Ultra line. I couldn't find a speed rating for the regular SanDisk microSD card.

Just from quick testing, here's two things you could test if you feel like it:

-As the OP stated, Metroid Prime Hunters "hitches" a little when you open a door to a new area
-Madden NFL 06 seems to hiccup right after a play is selected and the camera switches to the teams lining up presnap.