Hacking Just bought a 3-in-1 for my R4

[drock360]

I always order from DealExtreme.com. It is a great site and it has free shipping. It is also very cheap, but my EZFlash took a while to arrive, about a week and a half.

 

[Jackreyes]

I got my 3-in-1 from DX too.
Good price and not too long waiting time.

 

[Rock Raiyu]

I ordered mine from DealExtreme. I wouldn't order from there though...(Took almost 3 months to get here o.O)

 

[turtleman]

I just ordered from NXPgame.com last night at 9:30, I got an email at 10:55 telling me that my product has been shipped. And the shipping was only 3 bucks! =D (not to mention, they're located in new york, and since I'm in jersey, I should be expecting it tomarrow)

 

[Grimalkin]

You can only store one game on the 3-in-1 in NOR ram(the rest is on your slot-1 and you usually load them in PSRAM). I usually don't recommend using just NOR ram because of how long it takes to load a rom (on first run only). Games that have the ability to link into another game (like Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen) can only do Pokemon Transfers while loaded into NOR, so that's my only exception and/or the game is 32 MB (since PSRAM is 16 MB max)

PSRAM is for people who have pirate syndrome like me where you can't stick to one game and consistently swap through many different games. PSRAM is automatically wiped every time you turn off your DS since it requires power to retain the memory. Good thing it's only used for the rom itself and not the saves

SRAM is automatically backed up into the slot-1 when you boot up your 3-in-1 with a different game (with NDStation, it'll automatically back it up on boot up, but I don't recommend the program cause it's slow and unreliable). Also, using the Restore from SRAM.bin option on Rudolph's/Whatever the new one is called, you can bring in VisualBoy Advance Battery Saves. Just make sure you 1) have the save file properly named in case-sensitive text, and you DO NOT have a SRAM.bin in your GBA/SAVES folder.

If you think about it, you'd never really have to use the NOR RAM ever, since there are so few 32 MB games that are good. There's no real point other than Pokemon, but, I'm not one to play Pokemon, so that's the end of story for me.

 

[sebast2600]

Grimalkin,

From what I can read on Dealextreme, the 3-in-1 EZflash expansion pack comes with 32 MB of NOR memory. You said some devices use PSRAM, which one? Is there another version of the 3-in-1 EZ with PSRAM, or are you refering to a completely different product? I would prefer to buy a PSRAM expansion pack too, if it's faster than the NOR expansion pack.

Thanks,
Seb

 

[Grimalkin]

ALL EzFlash 3-in-1 come with 32 MB of NOR memory. 16 MB of PSRAM and 4 KB of SRAM. There is no other 3-in-1. (well, there's a Phat version, but it's the same product)

Dealextreme is the most inaccurate when it comes to actual product description. But, nonetheless, I ordered mine from them as well.

 

[Mloteq]

I've been using 3-in-1 with rudolphs' loader for a while now,and while it has been mostly painless there were couple of times when the saves were lost(or,even weirder, save reverted to older version with less game progress).I'm pretty sure I did everything like readme said (patching when necessary etc) but maybe I did mess up something so my question is, under what conditions one would lose the saves (or have them revert to the earlier state)?

 

[sebast2600]

"Dealextreme is the most inaccurate when it comes to actual product description."

Well, it's the same description everywhere, even on the official website: "equipped with 256Mbit Nor-flash, 2-Mbit SRAM, and battery for game saves." The PSRAM size is mentioned nowhere, except on the following nice review:
http://www.emuboards.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=29839

Some people complain that the build quality is extremely poor and the device can break easily, though. Grimalkin, have you had any issues like that with your EZ 3-in-1?

Seb

 

[sebast2600]

Oh, and btw, what about the "GBA expansion pack" from the M3 team? Is it good? Does anybody know what kind of memory it has (NOR or PSRAM), and if it's compatible with the R4?

Thanks,
Seb

 

[Eyedunno]

Oh, and btw, what about the "GBA expansion pack" from the M3 team? Is it good? Does anybody know what kind of memory it has (NOR or PSRAM), and if it's compatible with the R4?

Thanks,
Seb

I believe that uses SDRAM (I think only the 3-in-1 uses either NOR or PSRAM), but no, I don't think it's compatible (yet) with anything but the M3 Real.

 

[Gman 101]

When I use GBALdr, do I have to do anything to the saves? Or is it very simple as to just loading up a rom to NOR and playing?

Also do Pokemon saves corrupt on the 3in1? My emerald version save corrupted and the game keeps telling me my save was corrupted and/or erased. I tried with different backups of the .sav file and it still comes up with that message.

 

[victorlammy]

"Dealextreme is the most inaccurate when it comes to actual product description."

Well, it's the same description everywhere, even on the official website:Â "equipped with 256Mbit Nor-flash, 2-Mbit SRAM, and battery for game saves." The PSRAM size is mentioned nowhere, except on the following nice review:
http://www.emuboards.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=29839

Some people complain that the build quality is extremely poor and the device can break easily, though. Grimalkin, have you had any issues like that with your EZ 3-in-1?

Seb

Well the build quality is not perfect, it is slightly sticking out like 1 or 2 mm. I am not sure if it can be break easily, but it is tough enough for normal usage. Anyway, it it not supposed to be take out of the slot2 once you put it in, at least I couldn't find any reason to take my one out after install. And after all, hey, for $19 and it let you play GBA games, gives you rumble function and expansion pack ram, it's AMAZING!

 

[victorlammy]

You can only store one game on the 3-in-1 in NOR ram(the rest is on your slot-1 and you usually load them in PSRAM). I usually don't recommend using just NOR ram because of how long it takes to load a rom (on first run only). Games that have the ability to link into another game (like Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen) can only do Pokemon Transfers while loaded into NOR, so that's my only exception and/or the game is 32 MB (since PSRAM is 16 MB max)

PSRAM is for people who have pirate syndrome like me where you can't stick to one game and consistently swap through many different games. PSRAM is automatically wiped every time you turn off your DS since it requires power to retain the memory. Good thing it's only used for the rom itself and not the saves

SRAM is automatically backed up into the slot-1 when you boot up your 3-in-1 with a different game (with NDStation, it'll automatically back it up on boot up, but I don't recommend the program cause it's slow and unreliable). Also, using the Restore from SRAM.bin option on Rudolph's/Whatever the new one is called, you can bring in VisualBoy Advance Battery Saves. Just make sure you 1) have the save file properly named in case-sensitive text, and you DO NOT have a SRAM.bin in your GBA/SAVES folder.

If you think about it, you'd never really have to use the NOR RAM ever, since there are so few 32 MB games that are good. There's no real point other than Pokemon, but, I'm not one to play Pokemon, so that's the end of story for me.

The VisualBoy Ad Battery Saves you mentioned there, are you talking about the save files from the GBA emulator on PC? If yes, could you explain it with a bit more detail? better with an example as well. I do have a few save files from the GBA emulator that I would like to put it on the 3in1 if possible. Thanks a bunch ahead.

 

[Grimalkin]

yeah, the saves from Visual Boy Advance.

Start your GBA rom on your DS and save somewhere so that there is a GBA .SAV file on your SD card. Copy the name, case sensitive. At the same time, look for an SRAM.bin, delete it (if there's no SRAM.bin or you've never created one, don't bother looking for one).

On VBA, load your ROM and load your save. Go File>Export>Battery

Go to whereever your Battery saves are stored on your computer. Change the filename to the one you found on your DS. The filesize does not matter, Rudolph's tool will automatically pad it to the right size.

Copy and overwrite the file on your DS.

Run rudolphs or whatever his program is called now. Highlight your Rom where you want to import the save to and "Restore from SRAM.bin[or something like that, just restore it from somewhere]"

Since there's no SRAM.bin it'll just blank out the save file stored in the SRAM. Run the game, and it'll say no SRAM data found, and will automatically load up the SAV file loaded on your SD card because it thinks it's a real copy(since it had no data from the SRAM.bin, it needed something in it's place), and voila, you've successfully imported your VBA save.

EDIT:
If you have problems, try setting the VBA save type to FLASH 128k

 

[victorlammy]

yeah, the saves from Visual Boy Advance.

Start your GBA rom on your DS and save somewhere so that there is a GBA .SAV file on your SD card. Copy the name, case sensitive. At the same time, look for an SRAM.bin, delete it (if there's no SRAM.bin or you've never created one, don't bother looking for one).

On VBA, load your ROM and load your save. Go File>Export>Battery

Go to whereever your Battery saves are stored on your computer. Change the filename to the one you found on your DS. The filesize does not matter, Rudolph's tool will automatically pad it to the right size.

Copy and overwrite the file on your DS.

Run rudolphs or whatever his program is called now. Highlight your Rom where you want to import the save to and "Restore from SRAM.bin[or something like that, just restore it from somewhere]"

Since there's no SRAM.bin it'll just blank out the save file stored in the SRAM. Run the game, and it'll say no SRAM data found, and will automatically load up the SAV file loaded on your SD card because it thinks it's a real copy(since it had no data from the SRAM.bin, it needed something in it's place), and voila, you've successfully imported your VBA save.

EDIT:
If you have problems, try setting the VBA save type to FLASH 128k

Kool~ I will give it a go tonight. Thanks!
BTW, what is that SRAM.bin file anyway? is it like a temp file that the tool store the save? why does it need that?

 

[Grimalkin]

It's a temporary file that you can back up one of your saves to store or restore onto a NORFlashed game (or viceversa to PSRAM).

EDIT: Another practical use would be if a game only has one save slot, but you're sharing with a sibling. You can restore another copy if it was saved to SRAM.bin Effectively making infinite saveslots.