Hardware Is this 128gb sd card good for 3ds?

[ghjfdtg]

Loading time is also dependent on latency and speed. Higher capacity cards probably have higher latency but not necessarily lower read/write speed. But then again the theoretical speed the 3DS can handle is ~8 MB/s so speed is not relevant.

Something odd is going on with AGB_FIRM with these load times. Finding the root cause may explain the glitches aswell. A few seconds longer is normal and we can see these when booting NATIVE_FIRM but minutes is far from normal.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Loading time is also dependent on latency and speed. Higher capacity cards probably have higher latency but not necessarily lower read/write speed. But then again the theoretical speed the 3DS can handle is ~8 MB/s so speed is not relevant.

Something odd is going on with AGB_FIRM with these load times. Finding the root cause may explain the glitches aswell. A few seconds longer is normal and we can see these when booting NATIVE_FIRM but minutes is far from normal.

I can tell you the opposite extreme cases. This shouldn't be possible, but MiniTool Partition Wizard somehow manages to do this for the first following: a 4 GB partition in FAT32 + 64 KB cluster size will render the card unreadable to the 3DS. I think this happens because the partition table is incomplete with too large an allocation size coupled with too small of partition.

If you up the partition to 5 GB, GBA VC games will load in record times of 3-4 7-8* seconds. I can't test this against my n3DSXL factory Lexar 4 GB card in FAT32 + 32 KB as it currently has an EmuNAND for research purposes. While load times may not differ that much in the grand scheme, I don't recall my 4 GB Lexar loading GBA VC games that fast.

There's probably a combination of factors that makes this bug more likely to occur. While pinpointing the exact causes will remain a mystery, the best assessment is that partition size, cluster size, perhaps hardware (older cards), and data fragmentation all seem to somehow contribute to it.

* Edit - Original 3-4 sec measurements were counted with the less accurate "Mississippi" method.

 

[ghjfdtg]

Possible explanation for the 4 GB case: The driver is assuming lower or equal 4 GB is FAT16 which was not the case. That's a pretty dumb assumption if true.

4 seconds is about right if you assume the game is 32 MB big. The ones you tried are probably not. Would be pretty interesting to debug AGB P9 to see what's going on.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Possible explanation for the 4 GB case: The driver is assuming lower or equal 4 GB is FAT16 which was not the case. That's a pretty dumb assumption if true.

4 seconds is about right if you assume the game is 32 MB big. The ones you tried are probably not. Would be pretty interesting to debug AGB P9 to see what's going on.

I have to set the record straight as my measure times were off for the [5 GB + FAT32 + 64 KB]. Using a phone with a timer app, from the start of pressing (A) button or Open on the touch screen until Metroid Fusion's intro appears, I get an average time of ~7 seconds. For Minish Cap, it's between 7-8 seconds. My earlier assessments were counted with "Mississippi", but only for that specific setup.

MiniTool doesn't have a FAT16 option but does have FAT. Under FAT, the maximum allowed partition size is 4 GB with the default of 64 KB cluster size. Searching in [wikipedia] File Allocation Table, the entry FAT16B appears to fit the description with "Max. volume size 4 GiB (with 64 KiB clusters)".

The game sizes

• Metroid Fusion *.cia = 9.01 MB
  • *.gba rom = 8 MB (untrimmed)
• Zelda Minish Cap *.cia = 16.9 MB
  • *.gba rom = 16 MB (untrimmed)

Metroid Fusion load times using a 128 GB card

• 4 GB partition + FAT + 64 KB cluster size = 7 s
  
• 5 GB partition + FAT32 + 64 KB cluster size = 7 s
• 3.73 GB partition + FAT32 + 32 KB cluster size = 11 s
• 120.25 GB partition + FAT32 + 64 KB cluster size = 15 s
• 59 GB partition + FAT32 + 64 KB cluster size = 18 s
• 120.25 GB partition + FAT32 + 32 KB cluster size = 24 s
  
• 120.25 GB partition + FAT32 + 2 KB cluster size = 5 m

Sorry, Minish Cap times were not recorded for A-B comparison.

While the general trend holds true that having a smaller partition and larger cluster size reduces the GBA VC load time, the two entries highlighted blue points to a quirk. This may be related to the graphical glitch that's supposedly within the 59-63 GB range.

I'm not familiar with how Process9 works within the 3DS firmware and don't know how to interpret ARM code in real time. This is as far as my specialty goes in 3DS CFW & homebrew stuff. Even if the root causes behind the graphical glitch were determined, this doesn't guarantee that a solution can be implemented or is even worth the trouble doing so.

 

[Tackskull]

Ok guys, my samsung 128gb sd card is finally arrived. Now I have to do a fat 32 partition for the entire sd or is better to do some kind of other partition on it?

 

[TheToaster]

CHMM2, Themely, and Anemone3DS ← defacto homebrew theme manager.

What you do with the 128 GB card in question once you get it:

1. Reformat in FAT32 + 64 KB cluster size.
2. Full Write + Verify Test the empty card with H2testw; to protect yourself from receiving a counterfeit.
3. Delete the *.h2w test files if it passes without issue.
4. Build a temporary or bare-bone test custom firmware setup. Don't use your main setup yet until after testing is concluded. You can use this kit here.
   • You hold off copying your main setup to save time getting your results.
5. Install several GBA VC and launch them. See if you get this image glitch like this.
6. Shuffle 10 themes with homebrew theme manager of choice: check with ON/OFF power sessions.
   • You may need to debug by deleting the theme extdata and trying again. See Section VI from this post.

If either GBA VC or themes do not react well with 64 KB cluster size, you reformat and drop it down to 32 KB.

Is there anything else 64KB clusters affect other than GBA VC games (slight graphics glitch) and theme switching (which I dont use anyway, I only use one theme)? Because if those are the only 2 things that are broken with 64KB clusters, then it doesnt seem too bad.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Ok guys, my samsung 128gb sd card is finally arrived. Now I have to do a fat 32 partition for the entire sd or is better to do some kind of other partition on it?

The rest of your thread pretty much covers how to check and format the card.

Is there anything else 64KB clusters affect other than GBA VC games (slight graphics glitch) and theme switching (which I dont use anyway, I only use one theme)? Because if those are the only 2 things that are broken with 64KB clusters, then it doesnt seem too bad.

My previous write-up basically sums what up can go wrong using 64 KB cluster size: AGB_FIRM (GBA VC) and theme shuffle.

Not mentioned before on this thread, but 64 KB cluster size use to also graphical glitch playing DS games on the SD card through nds-bootstrap (TWLoader, discontinued). This is no longer the case with current nds-bootstrap (TWiLight Menu++) as these load *.nds roms differently now in FAT (I think in RAM??).

Other than that, I did not find any other negative side effects.

 

[TheToaster]

The rest of your thread pretty much covers how to check and format the card.


My previous write-up basically sums what up can go wrong using 64 KB cluster size: AGB_FIRM (GBA VC) and theme shuffle.

Not mentioned before on this thread, but 64 KB cluster size use to also graphical glitch playing DS games on the SD card through nds-bootstrap (TWLoader, discontinued). This is no longer the case with current nds-bootstrap (TWiLight Menu++) as these load *.nds roms differently now in FAT (I think in RAM??).

Other than that, I did not find any other negative side effects.

I just confirmed that the new 128GB SD card can do 10 theme shuffles with no problem and I tested 5 GBA VC games, all with no graphical glitches using 64KB clusters. I am transferring my files right now and I will update this post when I have successfully copied my main setup to the new card.

 

[TheToaster]

The rest of your thread pretty much covers how to check and format the card.


My previous write-up basically sums what up can go wrong using 64 KB cluster size: AGB_FIRM (GBA VC) and theme shuffle.

Not mentioned before on this thread, but 64 KB cluster size use to also graphical glitch playing DS games on the SD card through nds-bootstrap (TWLoader, discontinued). This is no longer the case with current nds-bootstrap (TWiLight Menu++) as these load *.nds roms differently now in FAT (I think in RAM??).

Other than that, I did not find any other negative side effects.

I have now finished copying my main setup onto the 128GB 64KB cluster card. Everything seems to be working perfectly, GBA VC doesn't glitch and themes work. In fact, it actually seems a bit faster than my old 32 GB card. Haven't experienced any slowdowns or anything during gameplay (other than a few homebrew games taking a little bit longer to load). Works perfectly. Thanks for all your help.

 

[LowEndC]

using the right cluster would show you the correct size of available storage when you plug it into a computer.

this
right here

 

[Maxkhoon]

I am using SanDisk and Kingston previously,card often corrupted (after doing pc transfer) frustrate the f out of me so I bite the bullet and bought an expensive Samsung Evo card , no problem since.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

I am using SanDisk and Kingston previously,card often corrupted (after doing pc transfer) frustrate the f out of me so I bite the bullet and bought an expensive Samsung Evo card , no problem since.

Did you ever scan the empty SD cards with H2testw for hardware issues and fakes?

 

[Maxkhoon]

Did you ever scan the empty SD cards with H2testw for hardware issues and fakes?

My fault on my part but all these card is bought at the reputable walk in store should be no issue .. I will do that for my next card thanks for the tips ..

 

[SomeGuy4Twenty]

I once bought a cheap 32 sd card from EMTEC and it kept giving me errors too (games would give me "generic" errors and the custom theme would go back to the default theme when i powered on the console), i used the H2testW twice and i had no errors whatsoever... Then i swaped that one with the 32 GB card (from sandisk) from my phone and all my problems were gone. I just bought a 64 GB card from sandisk on a real life shop and now im scared it will give me errors. I sure hope not.