Hacking ismart mm -- POR problems

[Another World]

i really need some people to help me test and i do not need speculation. sorry for that statement but i'm running out of testing time! =P

using a 4gb class4 kingston formatted with the panasonic formatter. por worked at first, with cheats. after about 20 minutes i tried to use the game "start" menu and got a black screen. rebooted 3x, same problem each time, yet save continued to load. around the 4th or 5th time the game simply black screens after the intro "credits" (about 1-2 seconds after boot). i reformatted the msd card twice, put on a clean install of the ismart mm software, and a clean rom from the pc which had not been used. the game continues to black screen. its sort of acting like something is wrong with with the flash kit but i can't imagine what that could be. other roms/homebrew work just fine. in-game menu continues to work correctly for other games.

if anyone has an ismart mm would you be so kind as to run some tests for me?

thanks,
-another world

 

[Evo.lve]

Would love to help, but I don't have one.

Isn't the iSMM just a DS2/iPlayer clone? You could try it on a DS2, or if it's a GBA game an iPlayer?

P.S. Love your new sig.

 

[Gariscus]

Isn't the iSMM just a DS2/iPlayer clone?

It isn't a clone.

 

[jurassicplayer]

I tried Castlevania: POR on my iSMM for a while and saved (and died xD). Then I left it for at least an hour and retried the game and it seems to be working fine. Cheats still work, I can access the start menu fine. I tried rebooting a couple times and it is still fine (although it froze when I met Death and finished my chat with him...though I think it might be because of a cheat).
I'm using an 8GB class2 sandisk formatted with SD Formatter. Maybe there was a problem with an earlier batch? (I got mine within this week...and it was probably sent not too long ago).

 

[Mbmax]

Not sure if i can help on this, but if my memory is good, windirt told me a long time ago that this game require to have cheat code enabled during game and not at once the game is started. He told me that this game is protected against cheat codes and will corrupt the save if cheats are loaded at start.
Probably elixirdream could confirm or not that, i will ask him.

Now, if i have time i will give a try to see if i have the same issue.

 

[Another World]

i just checked and i do not have cheats enabled in the software menu, nor are any cheats selected in the database. i start the rom and i get the first 4 screens (advertisements, esrb stuff, etc). after the 4th one fades away i'm looking at two black screens.

this is really confusing me as i was playing the rom on this msd card for more than an hour before i had my first problem. since the problem i have reformatted and now everything is a clean install with files not previously used, and the problem remains.

the in-game menu will not load, looks like i'm locked up completly.

i've deleted the save file, the game recreates it, and then i black screen at the same spot.

next up is a few formats =P.

-another world

 

[Another World]

reformatted once with windows, then a full format with the panasonic formatter.
downloaded a fresh copy of the software.
put the software (v1.06) and a new copy of the rom on the msd card.

same problem! LOL. what gives?

i don't even had the cheat database on the msd card at this point.

------

put the file and software on a 2gb japanese kingston and its working.

could the crashing have damaged something on the 4gb kingston? i've tested about 50 homebrew files and 30 roms since POR crashed and they all work just fine. i've reformatted 9 times so far, and only POR is giving me problems (well combat of giants has AP issues, but thats different).

------

tested on another 4gb kingston and the rom is working. i'm really confused now how the rom is broken for that 1 msd card? it was working at first, then crashed, and now it won't work. EVERYTHING else i've tried is working on that same msd card. what explains this?

-another world

 

[Mbmax]

I have not even a clue. This is very strange.

Yesterday i tested POR on my iSMM. Played an hour on it with several settings and not noticied any problems.

Edit : Have you tried metroid pinball on this kingston to see if you get an error while playing ?

 

[Another World]

i took the same msd card, didn't format it or anything. deleted the .sav and put on the akaio firmware. popped it into my ak2i and POR is working just fine. after that i deleted the save again and put it back in the ismart mm and its freezing at the same point. lol.

i have two of the exact same 4gb kingstons, so i put the same file and firmware on that card and POR is working. put the file that was just working back on the other 4gb and i'm getting the black screen after the esrb info.

i'm not at "m" for testing yet but i'll try metroid pinball tomorrow. what error am i looking for? what should i expect to see happen?

-another world

 

[Mbmax]

You should have this error if there is a problem on your microSD :

 

[Another World]

Metroid Prime Pinball (U)(Mode 7).nds [AFA3B9BC]

game loads up, plays just fine. rumble is working with the 3in1.

here is the bug report i submitted to ismartds forum:

Spoiler

I have been experiencing an interesting issue that I had assumed to be microSD card related. I have just finished a long round of testing, debugging, and conversation with other iSmart MM users on IRC. It appears that the problem is related to the iSmart MM in some unexplained way.

Here is the problem:
Castlevania POR freezes to two black screens after the ESRB warning.

Items used for testing:
1x iSmart MM
2x Acekard 2i
1x 2GB Japanese Kingston
2x 4GB Class-4 Taiwan Kingston
Panasonic Formatter v2.9.0.5
Castlevania - Portrait of Ruin (U)(XenoPhobia).nds [96DF4C4D]

I was playing POR on the 4GB Kinston for about 45 minutes with cheats enabled. I think I had on the quick level-up cheat, max health cheat, and moon jump cheat. I hit the “start” button to load the game options menu so that I could equip a different weapon. I had already done this 2 previous times and it worked correctly. On the 3rd attempt the bottom screen of the DS Lite went black and the game froze with music still playing. I rebooted and tried to do the same thing 3 more times, each time the bottom screen froze. After the 4th reboot the game froze to two black screens after the ESRB warning shows.

I then formatted the msd card using the Panasonic Formatter. I put on a new copy of the iSmart MM firmware from my PC back-up, and a new copy of the POR ROM also from my PC. I turned on the ds lite and booted the iSmart MM. The game once again froze to two black screens after the ESRB notice. It appears the save is being written correctly, and I have included that file in case it helps.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/2k0hhm

I then formatted twice in a row, once using Windows and once using the Panasonic Formatter.

To further debug I placed a fresh copy of the iSmart MM firmware and POR on a 2GB Japanese Kingston. The game boots and plays just fine. I then placed the software and game on an identical 4GB Kingston and the game again played just fine.

At this point I assumed that the other 4GB micro SD card was at fault. I then placed the AKAIO 1.8.1 firmware on the card. At this point nothing has been reformatted, and the iSmart MM firmware and the copy of POR are the same as what was freezing on the iSmart MM. I placed the msd card into an AK2i and tried it on my DSL and DSi XL. POR loads right up and plays just fine. I placed the same msd card into another AK2i and had the same positive results.

The problem is that the 1st 4GB Kingston (where the game originally crashed) will not allow me to play POR on the iSmart MM, but the same files on the same msd card work correctly on a different Flash Kit!! I’ve formatted multiple times and tried new files from my PC back-up, and by downloading a fresh copy off the iSmart homepage.

The problem is not the micro SD card, the problem is something related to the iSmart MM. I have no way to explain this behavior and have to assume that something internal to the software is causing the problem. Is there some type of listing that is internally stored to speed up booting perhaps? Something internal to the internal flushable area which could have been corrupted?

I should also add that each time I put the firmware on I let it “update.” Also I have tested over 40 ROMs and 30 Homebrew projects since this POR problem and they all work just fine from the same micro SD card.

That is my bug report, back to testing!

-Another World

-Another World

 

[Mbmax]

I'm wondering something, do you own a dstwo AW ?
Could be interesting to test this kingston on it.

Thanks for your test on MPP.

 

[RoMee]

The dstwo did have the same (random freezing) issue with POR a while back, but the SC team fixed it (EOS 1.04)

 

[Another World]

but what i am experiencing is not random freezing.

i do have the scds2 let me run that test as my last test for tonight (its 5am here!)

dropped the eos firmware onto the msd, put it in the scds2, por works just fine. lol.

-another world

 

[Mbmax]

Take your time AW. Let that for later.

I just finished my lunch here. lol

Edit : ok. seems that there is a kernel issue. Thanks for the heads up. George will ask for a fix.

 

[Another World]

i just don't see how this is happening. using a fresh copy of the ismart mm software and a fresh copy of the rom this should not happen. even if it was the kernel, i would assume it was storing data on what msd card (my volume name perhaps?) was running the file. but once the msd is formatted and a fresh copy of the software (not previously used) is put on that "database" (if it exists) would not even be there. it also makes no sense that the same msd, same rom, without a reformat, works just fine on two other flash kits. its making me think that i somehow corrupted something internal to the ismart mm.

i'll admit i don't have that much of an understanding as to what the software is doing, what it stores, etc. i haven't asked many questions about it yet.

-another world

 

[Evo.lve]

I heard you tried it on the DS2 and it worked fine.
I'm guessing a loader issue with the iSMM, or an issue with the hardware itself.

 

[Another World]

if it was the loaders it wouldn't work when i put the same rom (that is giving issues) on a different msd card with a fresh copy of the ismart mm software. then i reformat the problem msd, put on a new copy of the rom (fresh dl this time) and a new copy of the software (grabbed from ismartds.com) and it continues to black screen. unless that "update" file that runs is flashing something internally that is now corrupted. it has to be related to the ismart mm hardware itself but what explains that everything works fine on a different msd card? i'm looking at a little over 15 flash kits (and i have more) and i have never had a problem like this. it has me really confused =P

-another world

 

[Evo.lve]

I'm sorry, I lost you at "confused".

It's probably a problem with the hardware that emulates a real game cartridge...

Oh wait, if it was, it wouldn't even boot up.

I'm confused now.

I'm guessing this will go into the review. I can picture it now:

- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Fail/Problems(ROM fails to work on certain microSD cards)

EDIT: Normally, I would say that it's a problem with the loaders, the hardware, the blah blah blah, but the fact that it works on another mSD card totally blows it all out of the water.

My only theory now is that your microSD card isn't reading a system file or whatever fast enough to register the game as a real cartridge (at least that's how I think it happens)... Maybe the graphic capabilities is too much for a slow SD card or whatever, have you tried GSDD or Sims 3, or other games with similar graphics?

I've also got a 4GB Kingston Class 4 Taiwan, and GSDD doesn't work on it/is too slow/unresponsive/laggy/whatever. Nor does POR for that matter.

 

[Mbmax]

My opinion on this is it's a problem on the rom loader and the patched mode.
Some microSD got a very bad access time to data. This game need to be properly patched or you run into trouble with those type of microSD.
An iSMM hardware failure ? i don't think so. You should have trouble with much more games.