Hacking M3 real battery use

[GameFreak_020]

The m3 Real really uses way too much power. With an official game I can play for 10 hours, but with the m3 only 5 hours. Now I read cyclods is coming with some kind of battery saver feature in their next firmware update v1.50. Anyone knows where I can ask the M3 team to consider putting such a feature also in the m3 real firmware? I tried contacting through m3adapter.com, but they always give half answers. read the announcement of cyclods below.

By the way, according to the review here on gbatemp the m3 real uses only about 6% more power. That's a major difference with my findings.

We have added an EXPERIMENTAL battery saver mode which when enabled will allow
you reduce battery consumption, resulting in longer play times in-between
charges. The amount of additional play time varies depending on several factors
including the LCD backlight brightness, the condition of your NDS battery, the
game you are playing and your MicroSD card. The battery saver mode also will
significantly extend the amount of time your NDS will last if left in sleep mode.
For best results we suggest using a low LCD backlight setting - this should always
be done if you are concerned about battery consumption!

This feature is currently very experimental and we have been unable to thoroughly
test it with as many games as we would like. Although unlikely, it has the
potential to cause game compatibility issues. Due to these factors, at the current
time the feature is only accessible via the config.xml file. To enable the
experimental battery saver mode, please set the entry in the
config.xml file to 1.

 

[TheWingless]

Well... All flashcarts use more battery life than official game packs. That's one of the costs of using one. What brightness setting are you using?

 

[GameFreak_020]

Brightness level 2 and sound on 50%

 

[TheWingless]

I wouldn't know why then. Those are pretty much the settings I use and I think the battery life is fine. Another factor might be how old your battery is. For contacting the M3 team... I wouldn't know either. You might have a harder time with them because they "don't speak English as well".

Battery Life Test:
Test condition:

* Fully charged European Black Nintendo DS Lite
* M3DS Real
* Toshiba SD-C01G JAPAN formatted to FAT32
* New Super Mario Bros. Running Main Menu and movie looping continuously
* Screens at maximum brightness (level 4)
* Sound at 100% (loudest)

Results:

Backup ROM of New Super Mario Bros. on M3DS Real = 4 hours 38 minutes
Retail New Super Mario Bros cart = 4 hours 55 minutes

I don't see how you got the 6% thing though.

 

[Toni Plutonij]

It's mainly because they use extra power to read from microSD...

But, it's not so drastically for me..I loose an hour at most! I'm always on second brightness level..

 

[thedicemaster]

try taking out whatever you have in your gba slot.

 

[GameFreak_020]

Then how long does your battery lasts before you have to recharge it?

 

[Fun_Zephyr]

You get longer battery power use without the GBA Expansion Pak in - assuming you have it in.

 

[GameFreak_020]

No I am not using any expansion pack in the gba slot

What I also wanted to say is that its not impossible to reduce the battery use if you look at the improvement of cyclods just by updating the firmware.

 

[powerpuff]

I think the bigger issue for concern is that the M3 uses full power even in sleep mode.

 

[Xuio]

My DSlite works about 8-9h with m3 real (brightness level 2). If i use m3real+slot2 exp pack - i get about 6-7h.

 

[gunstarblue]

I think the bigger issue for concern is that the M3 uses full power even in sleep mode.

It does?

Crap, that's bad. Really bad. Kinda kills the whole purpose?

 

[Joe88]

how are you guys getting 10hrs?

I only get 5-6hrs with level 1 brightness...

 

[Toni Plutonij]

I don't know to be honest, I've read many complaints on that, but some people said that they don't have problems either, I don't know on what it depends..

I have 9-10 hours with level 2 brightness without a problem (but without GBA expansion)

 

[Xuio]

Maybe it depends on PCB version, i have first, CP2.

 

[GameFreak_020]

I mailed m3/g6 team and they said they took notice of the battery use and the possibility of improving it with new firmware, YAY!

. I thought i would never reach them!

Maybe it depends on PCB version, i have first, CP2.

By the way what is PCB?

 

[gosp]

How much DS do you play that you can't plug it in before you sleep? If you're playing your DS for Six hours in any normal day, there's a much larger problem.

 

[Xuio]

By the way what is PCB?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board

 

[Hellfiresystem]

i think the main reason will be the state of peoples batteries
do you tend to play whilst charging? that lowers overall battery life
do you charge before it has no power left? i think that lowers battery life too
do you leave the charger in after it is finished charging? pretty sure that lowers battery life also

to try and fix this, charge your DS to full, and drain your power however you can, you need to get to the stage where you can't even get past the first warning menu before it switches itself off
then charge it again, but take it out when its charged
repeat this process, and your battery life will slowly increase



unless i am hugely mistaken, then feel free to tell me so

 

[gosp]

i think the main reason will be the state of peoples batteries
do you tend to play whilst charging? that lowers overall battery life
do you charge before it has no power left? i think that lowers battery life too
do you leave the charger in after it is finished charging? pretty sure that lowers battery life also

to try and fix this, charge your DS to full, and drain your power however you can, you need to get to the stage where you can't even get past the first warning menu before it switches itself off
then charge it again, but take it out when its charged
repeat this process, and your battery life will slowly increase



unless i am hugely mistaken, then feel free to tell me so

You're hugely mistaken. The DS uses a Lithium ion based battery. What you say is *sorta* true for Nickle-Cadmium batteries. The DS's battery works best if you never let it go to low power. It doesn't lower the battery life to play while charging. Finally, most modern electronics have a switch that will stop the current when the battery is full, so leaving the charger connected doesn't change anything, no matter what type of battery you have.

and now you know.

Leaving the expansion pack in the GBA slot only drains the battery further if the tiny little power source in there needs it. If you leave the expansion pack in while charging your DS, and don't use it, it wouldn't drain the battery much (if any) more. On the other hand, the Sakura firmware uses the expansion pack by itself, so it's kind of a moot point.