Hacking M3DS Real: GBA Option "Patch"/...Direct Load"

[BmlCom]

Can anyone please explain me what the difference is between "Patch"/"Direct Load" of the GBA games.
When I select "Direct Load" the first time I'll receive a save error when the game wants to save. When I only once use "Patch" it will save. When I use "Direct Load the next time it saves with no problem. When I start the game with patch or with direct load I see different savemoments in the game. Is this because with patch it loads from de .0 file and with direct load it loads direct from the ROM file?

 

[budrow66]

Unless I am bad wrong... I belive that is for loading your GBA roms with or without SRAM patching. Most slot 2 cards or expansions that run GBA games the games need to be patched or ran thru a client loader software for one reason or another the most common patch is the sram patch which makes certain roms save or not.
So
PATCH would run the patcher before the rom
Direct or whatever would run the game whithout patching

But I May Be Way Off

 

[Sinkhead]

Unless I am bad wrong... I belive that is for loading your GBA roms with or without SRAM patching. Most slot 2 cards or expansions that run GBA games the games need to be patched or ran thru a client loader software for one reason or another the most common patch is the sram patch which makes certain roms save or not.
So
PATCH would run the patcher before the rom
Direct or whatever would run the game whithout patching

But I May Be Way Off

I'm pretty sure this is how it works.

 

[BmlCom]

Thanks for the reply.

When I start a new ROM for the first time with "direct load" I'll receive a write error in the game when trying to save my game.
When I start only once with "patch" and after that with "direct load" it will be possible to save.

What as very unclear to me is the way the system saves it's information.

Example: Mario Kart

I start the game with Patch: Drive the Mushroom Cup and earn gold.
Next I will start with direct load: I don't see the Mushroom Cup, but I drive the Flower Cup and earn silver.
Next I will start with Patch: I only see the Mushroom Cup and not the Flower Cup I just made.

I don't understand what happens with the savegames?? Has it something to do with the RAM module and where the data is saved?

 

[budrow66]

Ok the gba Expansion will only write the save file to the MicroSD card after you turn the NDS off and then back on. Make sure your M3 Real and expansion card are in the NDS when you turn it back on.

The GBA game save file stays on the Gba card until you turn the NDS on again. Then it writes the save file to your MicroSD.
Thats what its doing when you turn it on and it makes you wait and says processing...

Try deleteing the copy of your rom and save on your MicroSD. Put a fresh copy on your MicroSD. Run it patched the first time. Then run it direct every time after that.

Hope that clears you up some

 

[BmlCom]

I've tried to clean my SD card, delete the ROM and .0 and .is0 files.
When I place a clean ROM on the SD card and start with Direct Load I see the saves I did before I cleaned the files.
It's like it's reading data from the RAM module instead of the SD card.

But now I only use patch and this will work fine. I just don't understand it quite.