Hacking Huge problem with my 3in1...

[RhymeBomb]

Hello everybody. I'll spare you the long story and just get right to the basics, point by point style...just for fun:

1. I purchased a CycloDS Evolution and a 3in1 V Expansion Pack many months ago.
2. The DS games worked fine with CycloDS and the GBA games loaded with the expansion pack, but I never really tested the GBA games until months later.
3. At this point I tried getting into some GBA games. However, the saves would not remain after I turned the DS off, and I got the "SRAM save data not found, Can't process to SAV file" with ExpLoader.
4. I found some help on the internet. People said it was because of my battery which was apparently dead. I found a solder-less guide to replacing it, and did so successfully. The games were saving.
5. A month later, they stopped saving. This is where I'm at today.

Any ideas? I'm at wit's end.

Just to be certain...are there any files or updates I should be using with this 3in1? I can only seem to find CycloDS firmware, but never 3in1 slot-2 firmware. Also, the .gba files can just be copied straight onto the microSD card, right? No patching involved? No dummy/placeholder .sav files?

 

[RhymeBomb]

Well...this is unfortunate.

 

[Mbmax]

Which version do you own ?
v1, v2 or Plus ?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

You can always spend another 20 bucks and get a new one if you feel you screwed it up somewhere and don't want to try to fix it.

If your one of those pokemon playing idiots, it was probably because you didn't RTC patch the pokemon game to work. Not patching your pokemon games will give you a battery is dry message even if the battery still works. If that was the case for you to replace your battery, we can't do anything about it right now.

Check the metal tabs to see if they probably came loose or broke off, check it to confirm.

How long ago is "many months," some people consider 2 monthos a long time ago.

 

[RhymeBomb]

I'm afraid I don't know what version it is. I took this terrible picture though, if it reveals anything...

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/1570/0920091953.jpg

how_do_i_do_that: What is this Pokemon business you speak of? I do indeed have a Pokemon game on my SD card (Platinum). I don't and have never had any GBA Pokemon games on it, though. I highly doubt it makes me an idiot for not anticipating something like this...

As for how long ago "many months" is...I worded it ambiguously on purpose. I can't remember

Longer than six months, shorter than a year.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Most people I come across playing gba pokemon gloss over a large amount of things like RTC and patching requirements for some games to work on flashcarts. It is unfortunate alot of them have been playing other games for a while, which makes it worse when they want to ignore everything and think they are the only ones with this problem.

GBA pokemon games have the RTC chip in the cart, while the RTC chip is in the DS for those games.

Follow the first link in my sig. There are reference pictures you will be able to identify what you got.

GBA flashcarts require more knowledge to get things working because there is no autopatching like the DS flashcarts.

 

[RhymeBomb]

Thanks. Where it says to look for the code, mine says "EZ5C11" which, reading further into the thread, seems to be version 1. If I ordered another one from realhotstuff, would I for sure get one of the newest ones?

The battery connection is as stable as it was after I reinstalled it.

By the way, looking at the guide again...I don't suppose I'm supposed to leave the bottom tab of the battery holder thingy a little bit open so it is touching the black box thingy below it?

Sorry about my terrible description. There's two tabs (one over, one under) that battery, and I have the bottom one of mine completely covered in electrical tape like the top one in this picture. I read it again and it doesn't seem to be an issue, but I'm grasping at straws anyway, so...

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

RHS currently sells version 2 and 3:
version 2: http://www.realhotstuff.com/expansion-pack...sion-p-397.html
version 3: http://www.realhotstuff.com/expansion-pack-plus-p-194.html

version 2 is better supported by any flashcart.


Then your issue would be patching the games since that version would have a failing battery by now and you already replaced the battery.

EEPROM save type games require SRAM patching. GBA pokemon games require a RTC patch. All patching tools are in the download section.

To find out what games use EEPROM save type and the like, you can use G-Online:
http://gbatemp.net/newgon/?dat=gba

Save type is listed at the bottom like so:

 

[RhymeBomb]

Thanks so much for your continued assistance.

I ordered the V3. If I understand you correctly, I should be patching the games that appear in that list before I put them on my SD card? Other than that I can continue putting the games in as straight .gba files?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

just use G-Online to find out if your game your planning to play requires patching so you don't get problems with saves, other than that plenty of games do not require any patching.