Hacking Mother 3 + EZFlash 3 in 1

[NatsuMatto]

Ok, so as everyone knows, the Mother 3 translation patch is out today.

I was looking forward to playing the game on my DS using the CycloDS/EZFlash 3in1 combo, but last night I had a really baffling problem with my 3 in 1. For those who have seen my other posts, I had issues with getting the CycloDS to recognize the slot-2 card, but after flashing a ROM to the NOR storage, it seemed to work just fine.

Last night, I turned it on, and suddenly my DS wasn't recognizing the 3 in 1 AT ALL. Wouldn't work for GBA games in the SRAM, wouldn't work with Opera or rumble. Used GBA Exploader again and had to re-flash a ROM to the NOR storage (I thought that was supposed to be permanent?), and I lost my save that I had with the old ROM.

Now, this doesn't matter so much with a Super Mario save, but if I'm going to start playing a 50+ hour RPG, I will throw my DS against the wall if the ROM disappears and the save with it.

Anyone know what happened? Did I do something wrong? Is there any indepth guide to using GBA Exploader written in English?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Curious if this works since I want to play Earthbound 2 as well!

 

[Rascal]

I've got the Mother 3 translation running fine in NOR using the Cyclo DS GBA Launcher.

 

[WildWon]

Ok, so as everyone knows, the Mother 3 translation patch is out today.

I was looking forward to playing the game on my DS using the CycloDS/EZFlash 3in1 combo, but last night I had a really baffling problem with my 3 in 1. For those who have seen my other posts, I had issues with getting the CycloDS to recognize the slot-2 card, but after flashing a ROM to the NOR storage, it seemed to work just fine.

Last night, I turned it on, and suddenly my DS wasn't recognizing the 3 in 1 AT ALL. Wouldn't work for GBA games in the SRAM, wouldn't work with Opera or rumble. Used GBA Exploader again and had to re-flash a ROM to the NOR storage (I thought that was supposed to be permanent?), and I lost my save that I had with the old ROM.

Now, this doesn't matter so much with a Super Mario save, but if I'm going to start playing a 50+ hour RPG, I will throw my DS against the wall if the ROM disappears and the save with it.

Anyone know what happened? Did I do something wrong? Is there any indepth guide to using GBA Exploader written in English?

Any help would be appreciated.

I have had this happen twice to me. Not with Mother 3, but in the past. What helped? I pulled the 3in1 booted the Cyclo, turned it off, put the 3in1 back in, turned it on, and that reset cyclo's "switch" (to see if the 3in1 is loaded or not). I don't know why, but that helped both times.

Hope that might help ya

(i know its a simple "duh" approach, but that was the problem both times for me.)

 

[NatsuMatto]

thanks, I'll try that next time.

what do you have to do with the save, though? when I flash a game to the NOR flash using GBAEploader, it asks me for a save file or something, says it can't find one, and then proceeds to load the ROM into the NOR flash.

Where does the file save?

How do I back up my save?

How can I make sure I don't lose me save if this happens again?

 

[Rascal]

If you activate the GBA Support in the cyclods config.xml file, it will take care of SAV file for you. Next time you restart your cyclods, it will backup the SAV for you. The reason you don't see all the extra dialog about SAV files is because the built in GBA support doesn't do multiple SAV files like GBAExploader can.

For the record, I tested Mother 3 Translated with GBAExploader and had no problems.

 

[NatsuMatto]

see, here's what I don't get.

I have NO PROBLEMS running GBA ROMs and SAVs through the SRAM mode (under 16 MB). They work fine, put the save in the same folder as the ROM, etc. No issues.

But when I had SMB3 flashed to the NOR, it "disappeared" somehow. When I re-flashed it, the SAV file just... I don't know... vanished as well. If it didn't vanish, then the ROM sitting in the NOR couldn't find it.

Man, I think I will probably just play this on my PSP with the gpSP emulator.

 

[john.jingle]

What firmwares are you guys using?

I'm using 1.5b4 and I can't save on Mother 3
It's loaded on my NOR flash and it's a untrimmed file.. I saved but then, where does that save go?

EDIT:
Ok, so I loaded it into the NOR flash and played til the first save. I then shut down, restart and start playing again, but I loaded the game from the Cyclods menu instead of holding B. Now the problem is that the save file becomes corrupt... How do I fix this?

 

[budrow66]

Well I can't speak on mother 3, because I havn't put it on my card yet. Tho I have had the disappearing save and corupt save happen.
Someone recomended once to me that when you are done playing a GBA game to turn the DS back on so the save file would transfer to
the SD. That seemed to help. I have never had a corupted or lost save since. When my DS wouldn't regognize the 3 in 1 I was told to download
Hyperlisk NOR Eraser (in the download section) and that solved the problem. I know this dosn't awnser the why it happens but it worked for me.
I use firmware 1.5b4 if it matters.
Hope it helps...

 

[tebes]

Someone, anyone: Please soothe my woes!
I, too, have major save issues with Mother 3 on hardware.

I have an R4 with an EZFlash V 3-in-1. I patched my Mother 3 with the translation, and then patched that one with the gbata SRAM patcher.

Next I go into GBAexpLoader and go into NOR mode, and then copy the game.
It begins a new save into the .SAV slot.

Now when I play the game in NOR mode, I save at the first frog, which seems to work fine. But then when I turn the game off, and reload GBAexpLoader, it’s gone, there’s NOTHING listed in “current SRAM save” in NOR mode (or PSRAM mode for that matter). Nothing. If I run the game, the title screen only has “new game”, no continue.

I’ve tried shutting the game down super-fast as soon as I save, and then loading up GBAExploader in order to back up the save, but nothing doing. the SRAM save is always blank.

I tried starting over,and then after the game copies over in NOR mode and creates an SRAM save, I then press “write SRAM to SAV file”, to make SURE that I’m saving to a .SAV, and then I even press “Load SAV file to SRAM” to make sure it works. It does.
So then I run the game, save at my frog, shut down, and same issue. I go into ExpLoader, and it’s all effing gone.

and another thing, I don’t know if this is weird or not: no matter WHAT, EVERY SINGLE TIME I load up Exploader, it starts with a prompt: “May I set this Slot2 expansion pack for GBA ExpLoader?”
I always say Yes. Sometimes – not everytime, but sometimes, this loads into that same frozen blank screen, where it appears that there’s nothing on my R4’s microSD. I shut down my DS, go back and do it again, again pressing “yes”, and then magically it’s all there.
Nothing in SRAM though.

Oh, and after saving the first frog and re-setting, when I try to press “Load SAV file to SRAM”, which would make SENSE, it gives me a non-sequitur error message: “"SRAM save data not found
Can’t Process to SAV file.
(A) :Confirm”

Which seems backwards to me, that’s the exact same error message that comes up when you press “Write SRAM to SAV file”.

What in the hell am I doing wrong? I’m begging you all – Someone save me.

 

[Kaos]

One thing about GBA EXPloader. I think will automatically SRAM patch.