Hacking M3 Real Problem

[NinjaFish]

We seem to have a problem with the M3 Real. It would appear that the cart is not thick enough to make a consistently good connection with the pins inside of the DS. The only thing that tipped me off to this was experiencing similar problems with other flash carts in the past. If I wedge a piece of paper behind the M3, it will start up fine. Otherwise, the DS will not recognize it at all.

To make matters worse, this isn't even consistent across DS's! We have two Reals and two DS Lites. Both of the Reals will work fine in one DS, but will not boot at all in the other (this is a brand new DS Lite). They will both boot 100% of the time with a thick enough piece of paper wedged behind them.

It seems clear to me that this is some kind of design flaw or manufacturing defect that I am not going to be able to cure by exchanging the unit. I know that the G6 team monitors this forum. What can we do to alleviate the problem?

 

[funem]

I have a 2 DS Lites and a DS Phat and my M3 Real works fine in both of them, all the time. If anything its a bit to fat and is a tight fit. When you say "We" is there more reports of this as its the first time I have heard about this type of problem. It would be interesting to get more people to respond to this.

 

[arsehat]

I have a 2 DS Lites and a DS Phat and my M3 Real works fine in both of them, all the time. If anything its a bit to fat and is a tight fit.

I've only handled one M3 Real (and it's in my DS Lite right now), but my experience with it is that it's a fair bit thicker than a lot of other cartridges and is usuallly a tight fit in the slot. Comments from others seem to back this up. My guess would be that this is an attempt to eliminate the contact problems that some other cartridges seem to have.

I've recently seen a DS Lite that has trouble reading a shimmed R4 - and also has trouble reading original cartridges too, without a shim. Ninjafish, how tight a fit are the Reals in the consoles they work in? And do you have any troubles with original cartridges in the DS Lite you're having trouble with? If you are, since it's brand new it might be worth taking it back - the defect could well be in the DS rather than any kind of design flaw in the M3 Real.

 

[Brainy142]

same here but, it did work on another ds...

 

[NinjaFish]

I have a 2 DS Lites and a DS Phat and my M3 Real works fine in both of them, all the time. If anything its a bit to fat and is a tight fit. When you say "We" is there more reports of this as its the first time I have heard about this type of problem. It would be interesting to get more people to respond to this.

The "we" refers to myself and my girlfriend. I bought the Real for myself, and it works fine in my DS Lite (a first run Japanese white). I liked it enough that I bought her one to replace her M3 Simply. Neither of them will boot correctly in her DS (a brand new black Lite) without something to press the cart against the pins inside.

I agree that the Real seems to be thicker than most carts I've seen (including a DS-X and various passcards), but the problem seems localized to the bottom of the cart, where the pins are. Compare it to a genuine cart and you'll see that the construction is completely different. I'm not sure if the plastic is softer or the distance from the contacts is just off, but this definitely appears to be the problem.

I suppose I should have added that the black DS has no trouble reading retail cartridges, the M3 Simply, or my old DS-X. This is the first and only cart that she's had this problem with.

 

[arsehat]

I agree that the Real seems to be thicker than most carts I've seen (including a DS-X and various passcards), but the problem seems localized to the bottom of the cart, where the pins are. Compare it to a genuine cart and you'll see that the construction is completely different. I'm not sure if the plastic is softer or the distance from the contacts is just off, but this definitely appears to be the problem.

I suppose I should have added that the black DS has no trouble reading retail cartridges, the M3 Simply, or my old DS-X. This is the first and only cart that she's had this problem with.

Okay. I've just examined my Real, and it looks like although it's thicker overall, it isn't thicker where it counts. Looks like they've got a "near enough is good enough" manufacturing mentality too.

I've just done the following to my Real as a proof-of-concept. If anyone else wants to try this... well, you get to keep all the pieces if anything goes wrong.

1 - Gently unsnap both catches at the connector end, and gently pry that end of the case apart slightly.

2 - Slide a piece of paper in the gap, between the back of the board and the back of the case, as far up as the catches.

3 - Close the case, folding the excess paper up between the two case halves so it sticks out the join on the label side.

4 - Trim the excess off with a craft knife - the paper shouldn't move about, because it's held in place at the case join.

Of course, you could do a better job if you removed the screw - and that would allow you to use a thicker shim if required, and maybe some very thin double-sided tape or similar to hold the shim in place.

 

[NinjaFish]

I've just done the following to my Real as a proof-of-concept. If anyone else wants to try this... well, you get to keep all the pieces if anything goes wrong.

I might give this a shot if my own Real ever starts acting up, but I think we've given up on hers. She's still happy with the Simply, and my Real works fine.

What I did notice is that the paper shim eventually stopped working for her as it became more and more compressed with use. That was clearly not a long term solution.

 

[arsehat]

What I did notice is that the paper shim eventually stopped working for her as it became more and more compressed with use. That was clearly not a long term solution.

On R4's, I usually use the thin card that comes with Kingston memory cards. Personally, I suspect that it's more a matter of the springloaded contacts in the slot making worse and worse contact with the card as time/insertions go by.

What I'd really like to see is a good, cheap card with great download-play compatibility that can be booted from the DS's own menu - that way, the thing would never need to come out except to fiddle with its contents. EZ-V *almost* fits that... and that's what I was hoping for the the M3 Real, because the G6 Real allows either booting to the DS menu or its own.

Oh, and Santa, I'd also like a pony, and Mario Galaxy, and a Betsy Wetsy dolly, and...

 

[Shinigami_Josh]

the m3ds real is thicker due to the chipused on the card being thicker (there is an actual cut out under the sicker letting it slot through

 

[Rammsteinfan]

I have a M3 Real with my DSLite and its a tight fight. My parents both have one and just got their M3's tihs week and are also tight fights. My boss thought it was rubbing which he thinks was bad. So far its awesome.

 

[Kiljaeden]

When I had the M3 Real, I noticed that the bottom of the cart was not flush against the top of the cart. The little piece of plastic seemed to be above the cart.

I never seemed to have any problems with contact issues. I still think it's a poor build quality though. Compared to the M3 Simply at least!