Hacking M3DS Real horrible battery life!

[MegaShark]

I KNOW it has to be related to the M3 DS Real (standard DS real firmware...). I have a DS Phat and:

Super Mario Kart original on slot-1: battery lasts for 4,5 hours
Super Mario Kart rom on M3 DS: battery lasts for 1,5 hours

I always have a standard GBA game with no save features on slot-2 just to fill in the DS Phat

and I couldn't stop wondering how exactly does using M3 Real consume a hell lot more battery juice than a standard NDS slot-1 game.

I noticed that when the battery starts going into the red zone, it does so differently than with a standard game (the red light starts blinking only when loading a part of the game, saving to the micro sd or scrolling through your game list). SO, apparently, accessing the micro SD card for any purpose (loading/saving) does take more battery juice. Of course that when the battery is almost running out entirely, the light is always red.

Another thing that has been bugging me is that I always used the GUI brightness setting in the top (4th) level (well, the DS phat isn't that bright...). But perhaps a standard DS game on a DS phat (that can not natively change brightness levels other than on/off) runs on a less bright level... say 2 or 3? I've tried running New Super Mario Bros. on brightness-level 2 but it feels so washed out... Perhaps brightness level would be the major cause for battery life discrepancy.

Do you know what is the default brightness setting for a NDS slot 1-game so that I try to set it on the M3 GUI and check if the battery would then last the *same* as with a standard game? Level 1 isn't for sure (too much washed out...) and Level 4, according to this hypothesis, wouldn't be the one due to the differences in battery life.

Thanks guys!

 

[Robert235]

with my m3 simply i get about 5-7 hours on it , you should a new battery to confirm that your m3 real is the problem

 

[Frederica Bernkastel]

I has teh same problem.
Solution:
Don't use the RAM or RUMBLE pak when not needed,
Don;t use sleep mode.

 

[MegaShark]

with my m3 simply i get about 5-7 hours on it , you should a new battery to confirm that your m3 real is the problem

It can't be the battery coz using NDS slot-1 original games does not drain it that fast.

 

[gunns]

quick question,

what size is the battery that comes with the standard ds lite when you buy it?

 

[RebelX]

It's a 1000mAh battery.

 

[o RedSheLL x]

I has teh same problem.
Solution:
Don't use the RAM or RUMBLE pak when not needed,
Don;t use sleep mode.

Ya, I mean, I get HOURs out of my M3 Real without it *just got GBA ExpPack yesterday* So what he says goes

.

 

[saxamo]

Wow, I got my m3 Real last week and I've been having this battery issue. I keep my G6 lite in slot-2 so I'll take it out and see what comes of it...

 

[Doublelayer]

To know if the problem is the card m3 real you can try to take a full charge on the nds then put it in stand by mode (just ON and then close the shell without power OFF) and wait for the end of the battery.. then you can repeat the experiment, without the card m3 real, and see what happens (how many time to the end of the battery)..

(sorry for my english)

 

[chrisruls00]

I use the GBA pack and sleep mode and I get a good 4 hours before it turns RED and I switch my Nyko charger grip on, which usually last about another 4 hours until the grip runs out of juice, then the DS usually has an hour or so left. If you don't mind sacrificing a little portability you could get the Nyko charger grip, I use it and love it, also if you have big hands like me, or find that holding the DS Lite gives you cramps the grip helps fix that as well. The only drawback is it is harder to carry around in the grip. It pretty cheap at only 10$

 

[saxamo]

wow, that really looks like something I would be into. But I can only find it at around 20 bucks. Any place to get it cheap??

 

[gosp]

I got my Fat DS the day it came out, and I still get 2 hours before the light turns red. I use M3 real with Sakura, and have the Expansion pack in the bottom.

Luck of the draw?

 

[reddragon105]

I've got a DS Lite that I've had for about 18 months now, and I've mostly been using an M3 Simply on it until I replaced it with an M3 Real a couple of months ago. Recently I've become concerned about battery life - so I bought a new 2000mah battery from DX. After fully charging it I started playing Dr Kawashima's Brain Training on my M3 Real on the second highest brightness with the volume right down and Slot 2 empty. I wasn't paying that much attention but I reckon it lasted about 3-4 hours. So I went on to Wikipedia, and according to that the battery should last 5-8 hours on the highest brightness, 15-19 on the lowest. I'm taking those figures to be optimistic and am expecting slightly less with using a memory card adapter, but still, I thought 4 hours was pretty pathetic.

So I fully charged the battery overnight again and went back on Brain Training, this time going back to my M3 Simply, and paying more attention to how long it lasts this time. I got 3 hours 15 minutes from it.

I'm going to go back to my original 1000mah battery and test again using the M3 Simply and Real. But at the moment this is looking pretty bad - what's causing this terrible battery life?

 

[RebelX]

I've got a DS Lite that I've had for about 18 months now, and I've mostly been using an M3 Simply on it until I replaced it with an M3 Real a couple of months ago. Recently I've become concerned about battery life - so I bought a new 2000mah battery from DX. After fully charging it I started playing Dr Kawashima's Brain Training on my M3 Real on the second highest brightness with the volume right down and Slot 2 empty. I wasn't paying that much attention but I reckon it lasted about 3-4 hours. So I went on to Wikipedia, and according to that the battery should last 5-8 hours on the highest brightness, 15-19 on the lowest. I'm taking those figures to be optimistic and am expecting slightly less with using a memory card adapter, but still, I thought 4 hours was pretty pathetic.

So I fully charged the battery overnight again and went back on Brain Training, this time going back to my M3 Simply, and paying more attention to how long it lasts this time. I got 3 hours 15 minutes from it.

I'm going to go back to my original 1000mah battery and test again using the M3 Simply and Real. But at the moment this is looking pretty bad - what's causing this terrible battery life?

If you are using the GBA Expansion Pack that came with the M3DS Real, I can guarantee you that's the problem. I stopped using it and I immediately saw improvement in battery life. Plus you mentioned you got a 2000mAh battery from DX, and I am sorry to say that you probably got a fake. I am 95% sure that those kind of batteries sold on DX are fake. Use the original battery that came with the DS, but without any slot 2 devices, see what results you get.

 

[reddragon105]

If you are using the GBA Expansion Pack that came with the M3DS Real, I can guarantee you that's the problem. I stopped using it and I immediately saw improvement in battery life. Plus you mentioned you got a 2000mAh battery from DX, and I am sorry to say that you probably got a fake. I am 95% sure that those kind of batteries sold on DX are fake. Use the original battery that came with the DS, but without any slot 2 devices, see what results you get.

I did say that Slot 2 is empty. I bought the Perfect bundle so I have a Rumble pack and GBA expansion, but for the purposes of testing my new battery I left slot 2 empty.
Also what do you mean by 'fake' battery? It's a real battery, as in it works, it powers the DS, it works as a battery, it's not just a piece of plastic pretending to be a battery. Obviously it's not an official Nintendo battery because they don't make 2000mah, but then it's not pretending to be a Nintendo battery. So it's unofficial, it's not fake. Several reviews on DX say that although it's rated at 2000mah it doesn't quite last that long, but still, I was expecting a little more than 3 hours from it.

 

[thedicemaster]

i think with fake he means, the battery doesn't provide the power it says it does.

 

[xJonny]

Or it may be faulty.

 

[Joe88]

i think with fake he means, the battery doesn't provide the power it says it does.

yer pretty much

also may cause damage to the DS or leak acid/explode due to being cheaply made

 

[reddragon105]

Ok, so I put my original 1000mah back in my DS and switched back to using my old M3 Simply card instead of the Real. Got 4 hours 30 minutes out of it, which is a little better.
My next test will be the 1000mah battery on the Real. Either way these are pretty poor battery lifes - what can be done to improve this?

 

[saxamo]

Yeah, I've been getting rather crappy battery life with only my m3 in it. Seems like the only solution is just to get the charger grip or something...