Hacking M3 DS Real or CycloDS Evolution?

[Toni Plutonij]

I must apologize for the bias, but I have full faith in the M3 Real. With the release of the new Sakura firmware, it blows the CycloDS out of the water at a cheaper price. If you combine the M3 Real with an EZ-Flash 3-in-1 expansion pack and get GBA ExpLoader, you can't go wrong with GBA and NDS games. Throw on a few emulators and you've got yourself a powerful portable game console. Add some music and video files and play them within Sakura without the need for MoonShell and you have the most complete handheld console known to man. I haven't run into a single problem with my M3 Real that I haven't been able to fix, and as you can see the fanbase around here is very quick to respond. I can personally recommend the M3 Real and I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.

EDIT: Get the M3 Real from here. It's where I got mine and it's well worth it. Cheap, but really slow shipping. If that's not a big deal for you, then DealExtreme is your best choice.

Actually, you're wrong about one thing, the bolded thing, it's by far more inferior to M3 Real combined with official M3 GBA expansion pack..If you use EZ Flash with M3 Real, you loos extra GBA features!

And if he wants fast shipping, he really shouldn't be buying from DealExtreme, but if doesn't mind waiting, that's is the cheapest place to get it!

 

[da1writer]

Thanks Toni Plutonij!
Is this the forum I should stay on for M3 DS Real news/ updates ?
^What about the homebrew scene?

 

[Fat D]

I must apologize for the bias, but I have full faith in the M3 Real. With the release of the new Sakura firmware, it blows the CycloDS out of the water at a cheaper price. If you combine the M3 Real with an EZ-Flash 3-in-1 expansion pack and get GBA ExpLoader, you can't go wrong with GBA and NDS games. Throw on a few emulators and you've got yourself a powerful portable game console. Add some music and video files and play them within Sakura without the need for MoonShell and you have the most complete handheld console known to man. I haven't run into a single problem with my M3 Real that I haven't been able to fix, and as you can see the fanbase around here is very quick to respond. I can personally recommend the M3 Real and I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.

EDIT: Get the M3 Real from here. It's where I got mine and it's well worth it. Cheap, but really slow shipping. If that's not a big deal for you, then DealExtreme is your best choice.

Having both devices, I have to disagree. While Sakura is prettier, it still does not match the CycloDS Evolution in features or compatibility, and for media files, you could always use Moonshell 2. It does come at a premium price though, so you have to decide whether the money is worth it. Also, if you use an M3DS Real, by all means use an M3 GBA expansion, because that is where M3's real strenth lies. No other GBA Expansion offers both real-time clock and real-time save, both in hardware capabilities and software support.

 

[Acenima]

I own a dstt because it was cheap and it's good for my needs. Everyone is different. Dealextreme ships fast but I suggest reading the sites reviews ur buying from. Goodluck

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Thanks Toni Plutonij!
Is this the forum I should stay on for M3 DS Real news/ updates ?
^What about the homebrew scene?

GBAtemp is largest "flashing" community for NDS, GBA and Wii..It's not some kind of slogan, it's true..So EVERYTHING and ANYTHING you need, you'll find here!

No need for going anywhere else

If there is something new about any flashcart (including M3 Real), it'll be posted here too..All firmware updates, news everything!

EDIT: Homebrew scene http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showforum=177 ROM hacking and translating http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showforum=41

Anything you need, you'll find here..

 

[Skyline969]

Actually, you're wrong about one thing, the bolded thing, it's by far more inferior to M3 Real combined with official M3 GBA expansion pack..If you use EZ Flash with M3 Real, you loos extra GBA features!

Well I suppose he would lose them in a way, but GBA ExpLoader still allows you to play GBA games. And with GBA ExpLoader, you don't have to worry about losing saves. Just remember to reboot GBA ExpLoader once you've saved and shut off from a GBA game and save the RAM to a .sav file. That way, you don't have to worry about getting a save file erased like some people lament about with their M3 GBA expansion packs.

Not to mention, with the EZ-Flash, you can also use the Opera browser, and you can use rumble in games, provided you patch them to work with the EZ-Flash on an M3 Real... I think. Haven't used rumble for DS games in a while.

To each their own I suppose, but in my opinion I prefer the EZ-Flash over the GBA expansion pack because of what it offers that the GBA expansion doesn't have.

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Actually, you're wrong about one thing, the bolded thing, it's by far more inferior to M3 Real combined with official M3 GBA expansion pack..If you use EZ Flash with M3 Real, you loos extra GBA features!

Well I suppose he would lose them in a way, but GBA ExpLoader still allows you to play GBA games. And with GBA ExpLoader, you don't have to worry about losing saves. Just remember to reboot GBA ExpLoader once you've saved and shut off from a GBA game and save the RAM to a .sav file. That way, you don't have to worry about getting a save file erased like some people lament about with their M3 GBA expansion packs.

Not to mention, with the EZ-Flash, you can also use the Opera browser, and you can use rumble in games, provided you patch them to work with the EZ-Flash on an M3 Real... I think. Haven't used rumble for DS games in a while.

To each their own I suppose, but in my opinion I prefer the EZ-Flash over the GBA expansion pack because of what it offers that the GBA expansion doesn't have.

You obviously misunderstood something..

There isn't anything that EZ Flash 3-in-1 offers over M3 GBA expansion! One interesting fact for you, GBA ExpLoader can be used with M3 GBA Expansion as well (at east it used to, I'm not sure if the support was dropped)..
When you play GBA games with any kind of expansion, you have to reboot to transfer your save to microSD, that's the way that GBA games work on NDS! People that got lost their GBA saves obviously forgot to reboot the system, because battery on the expansion doesn't hold too long..

I played bunch of GBA games on M3 expansion, and NEVER had any problems, or lost saves!

And also, M3 Expansion is here to be used as Opera browser expansion (and also as RAM support for Sakura), so it eases up on microSD usage!

EZ Flash isn't offering anything more then M3 GBA Expansion, but same and less!

 

[da1writer]

Actually, you're wrong about one thing, the bolded thing, it's by far more inferior to M3 Real combined with official M3 GBA expansion pack..If you use EZ Flash with M3 Real, you loos extra GBA features!

Well I suppose he would lose them in a way, but GBA ExpLoader still allows you to play GBA games. And with GBA ExpLoader, you don't have to worry about losing saves. Just remember to reboot GBA ExpLoader once you've saved and shut off from a GBA game and save the RAM to a .sav file. That way, you don't have to worry about getting a save file erased like some people lament about with their M3 GBA expansion packs.

Not to mention, with the EZ-Flash, you can also use the Opera browser, and you can use rumble in games, provided you patch them to work with the EZ-Flash on an M3 Real... I think. Haven't used rumble for DS games in a while.

To each their own I suppose, but in my opinion I prefer the EZ-Flash over the GBA expansion pack because of what it offers that the GBA expansion doesn't have.

You obviously misunderstood something..

There isn't anything that EZ Flash 3-in-1 offers over M3 GBA expansion! One interesting fact for you, GBA ExpLoader can be used with M3 GBA Expansion as well (at east it used to, I'm not sure if the support was dropped)..
When you play GBA games with any kind of expansion, you have to reboot to transfer your save to microSD, that's the way that GBA games work on NDS! People that got lost their GBA saves obviously forgot to reboot the system, because battery on the expansion doesn't hold too long..

I played bunch of GBA games on M3 expansion, and NEVER had any problems, or lost saves!

And also, M3 Expansion is here to be used as Opera browser expansion (and also as RAM support for Sakura), so it eases up on microSD usage!

EZ Flash isn't offering anything more then M3 GBA Expansion, but same and less!

What does this mean (in bold)? Whenever I play regular DS carts I don't leave it in standby/sleep mode (while playing, just closing the lid), I literally save and then completely shutdown. Is this ok to do (whenever it comes to the GBA games that will be on the M3)? Is there steps that need to be followed in order to not lose my saves?

 

[Toni Plutonij]

What does this mean (in bold)? Whenever I play regular DS carts I don't leave it in standby/sleep mode (while playing, just closing the lid), I literally save and then completely shutdown. Is this ok to do (whenever it comes to the GBA games that will be on the M3)? Is there steps that need to be followed in order to not lose my saves?

Sorry for confusing you..

Let me explain..

When you play NDS game, you just simply save the game, and shut the NDS off, save gets memorized on microSD automatically..Well, with GBA games, it's a bit different, you see, for NDS to be able to play GBA games, it has to go into GBA mode, to get into GBA mode, it needs to use slot 2, that's where GBA Expansion comes in..
Basically, when you use M3 Real with GBA Expansion, you start GBA game from your M3 Real that gets copied to GBA Expansion (slot 2), then, slot 1 (M3 Real) stops working, and you use only GBA Expansion (you play from it), when you finish your playing, you save game and turn off NDS..but your save isn't transferred to the microSD, but it's kept on the temporary memory in GBA Expansion, in order to get it transferred to microSD, you need to boot your M3 Real, and save will be transferred automatically!

If you forget to do that right after the gaming, you might loose your progress, because battery doesn't hold for too long (like weeks)..

I hope you understand what I'm trying to say, if you didn't get it, just tell me, and I'll try to explain again..

 

[da1writer]

Naah, that sounds pretty easy to me, I'll PM you (if it's ok) or post here again if I run into any issues regarding it.
One more question and it should set me,
How do you "dual boot"?
I'm guessing I install the M3 firmware first and then Sakura. While booting up the M3, hold A to choose which one I want?
Is that correct?
Thanks for helping me so far Toni Plutonij

!

 

[Joe88]

all you do is place the SYSTEM folder on the root dir of your microsd card
when you boot it up the first time it will ask you which one you want to boot by default
and that firmware will always a boot

if you want to change the default boot just hold A on boot to get that menu again

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Naah, that sounds pretty easy to me, I'll PM you (if it's ok) or post here again if I run into any issues regarding it.
One more question and it should set me,
How do you "dual boot"?
I'm guessing I install the M3 firmware first and then Sakura. While booting up the M3, hold A to choose which one I want?
Is that correct?
Thanks for helping me so far Toni Plutonij

!
No problem man, feel free to PM me, or post here for whatever you want/need/have to ask!

About the dual boot, Joe88 answered it! Official firmware actually has both GUI's within, so you choose on your first booting!
Here is the latest firmware: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?download=4808

QUOTE(Joe88 @ Apr 13 2009, 01:18 AM) all you do is place the SYSTEM folder on the root dir of your microsd card
when you boot it up the first time it will ask you which one you want to boot by default
and that firmware will always a boot

if you want to change the default boot just hold A on boot to get that menu again

Exactly!

 

[da1writer]

all you do is place the SYSTEM folder on the root dir of your microsd card
when you boot it up the first time it will ask you which one you want to boot by default
and that firmware will always a boot

if you want to change the default boot just hold A on boot to get that menu again

Thanks, might I add you guys have been awesome in steering me in the right direction. The M3 Fanbase and users are wonderful and very helpful.
I'm pretty sure when I get my card this week, I'm going to be having no problems and loving my new DS even more thanks to you guys

!

 

[Toni Plutonij]

No problem! It was pleasure helping! I really hopeyou'll enjoy your cart, that you'll have no problems, and that you stay here at GBAtemp for any info you might need! Take care!

 

[da1writer]

Crap... one more question and this is nothing technical, just an opinion (no wrong or right);
What are you guys favorite skin for M3 Sakura/M3 DS Real (TouchPod)?

^^ Above question has now been made into a new thread, no further discussion (besides Toni Plutonij's Post) is needed to be made...

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Crap... one more question and this is nothing technical, just an opinion (no wrong or right);
What are you guys favorite skin for M3 Sakura/M3 DS Real (TouchPod)?

Haha, no worries, feel free to ask as many questions as you like..

The thing is, maybe I'm not the best person to be answering this, because I have very specific taste..I like biomechanical stuff, so I made my own line of skins.. M3 Realtronic (for TouchPod) and M3 Sakuratronic (obviously, Sakura).....Both skins are very well made, but if you don't like the style, you won't like the skins no matter how well made

Both skins can be found here at GBAtemp..other thank that, you have list of skins in this thread: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=891...t=0&start=0
Check some of them for yourself, and see what you like the best, it's all matter of taste!

 

[da1writer]

A bit late to pipe in here, but I think that the EZ Flash 3 in 1 has its own advantages too. Even though the M3 Expansion is obviously number 1 in my book, the EZ Flash 3 in 1 handles games a bit nicer with the idea of using PSRAM and NOR.

When booting a GBA game on an M3 Expansion, you have a few seconds to actually load the game into the memory. Since it is volatile, this is necessary every time. The EZ Flash 3 in 1 has this option (provided that your game is 128MB or smaller) called PSRAM. But the other method, the original method that the EZ Flash 3 in 1 stores games is through its NOR memory, which isn't volatile. If you happen to be playing the same GBA game all the time (for me it usually is, since I think the strength of the GBA lies in its RPG games), you only need to go through 1 30-40 second load period. Once that is done, every time you boot a GBA game, the load is instantaneous, and I mean instantaneous.

That being said, the EZ Flash 3 in 1 released a new version, and rumble seems to be starting to work now (don't quote me on this, I decided against buying the new one since I still have the old one), and with the new version, you have double the memory. What this means in the future, who knows? But the EZ Flash team managed to put out a multirom loader on their flash cart, meaning you could put multiple roms on the cartridge, and they managed to enable cheats on their GBA cartridge too.

While I think the M3 Expansion is better (simply because of the RTS compatibility), the EZ Flash 3 in 1 should be considered as a very good alternative too. I could probably make my post a lot more balanced by arguing why the M3 Expansion is also a good choice, but I think Toni has already made a pretty persuasive argument.

Toni did a great job convincing myself into getting a M3 DS Real but you did as well PharaohsVizier (you two the most). I was headed for the CycloDS but loved the RTS feature on the M3 DS Real (DA AND GBA support) and wanted to play GBA and DS games along with Homebrew (which the M3 DS Real does well to almost no problems), so the M3 makes sense to me (plus my wallet isn't crying so bad). Thanks for the links to your reviews by the way, very informative

!

 

[Skyline969]

You obviously misunderstood something..

There isn't anything that EZ Flash 3-in-1 offers over M3 GBA expansion! One interesting fact for you, GBA ExpLoader can be used with M3 GBA Expansion as well (at east it used to, I'm not sure if the support was dropped)..
When you play GBA games with any kind of expansion, you have to reboot to transfer your save to microSD, that's the way that GBA games work on NDS! People that got lost their GBA saves obviously forgot to reboot the system, because battery on the expansion doesn't hold too long..

I played bunch of GBA games on M3 expansion, and NEVER had any problems, or lost saves!

And also, M3 Expansion is here to be used as Opera browser expansion (and also as RAM support for Sakura), so it eases up on microSD usage!

EZ Flash isn't offering anything more then M3 GBA Expansion, but same and less!

Well I suppose you've proven your point. I guess if a person doesn't need rumble, then more power to them to get the M3 GBA expansion. I suppose if I switched, I would have to do a little maintenance to get the GBA saves and games into one folder, but no worries there. As long as they save as .sav into GBA_SAVE in GBA ExpLoader, I'm good.

Basically from what you're saying, if you get the M3 rumble RAM expansion it's the same functionality as the EZ-Flash? And if I switched to AK2i, could I use the M3 expansion pack with the AK2i?

 

[Skyline969]

Technically yes, but why would you? There is no incentive to switch to the M3 Expansion pack unless you have an M3. The advantages of the M3 is that it has real time save, but is limited to the M3DS Real. The EZ Flash 3 in 1 also has special features when paired with the EZ Flash V, it is just that the M3 Real is also a popular DS only cart, so people actually care. Whereas no one seems to like the EZ Flash V (I'm rather confused about why that is), so barely anyones knows or cares about the extra features that the EZ Flash 3 in 1 offers.

When either of these, M3 Expansion and EZ Flash 3 in 1 split away from their native NDS cart, their features are almost exactly the same because they use the same program to access it, GBAExpLoader (or some form of it integrated elsewhere). If you aren't using an M3 Real or an EZ Flash V, and you already have one, there is almost no reason to switch from one to another.

Ah, but PV, I do have an M3 Real.

So for right now, switching would probably be a good idea for me. I wonder - would an EZ-Flash 3-in-1 Expansion be a good trade for an M3 Rumble RAM Expansion? I'd assume I would have to repatch my Opera browser though....

 

[da1writer]

Ah, but PV, I do have an M3 Real.

So for right now, switching would probably be a good idea for me. I wonder - would an EZ-Flash 3-in-1 Expansion be a good trade for an M3 Rumble RAM Expansion? I'd assume I would have to repatch my Opera browser though....

Wouldn't it be better to upgrade from the Rumble Ram Pack to the GBA Expansion Pack?
You can buy it separately...
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18873