My 3-in-1 came today so I read all the tutorials and it sounded pretty simple but I'm having some problems!

I've patched all the games to use SRAM but when I try to save the data in the SRAM using Rudolphs Tool it just hangs. Also sometimes it just won't copy the game to PSRAM. I hit the button and it shows me the name and the filesize but just hangs there, other times it seems just fine.

Also using NDStation to package the games doesn't seem to work. It boots up to the NEOFlash screen, sits there a while flickers a little and then sits on the NEOFlash screen forever.

What am I doing wrong!?!?

EDIT : Oh yeah, I can't get it to flash to NOR everytime either. Sometimes like with PSRam it just hangs.

EDIT AGAIN : For my lack of linguistic skills.

 

Odd. I've heard of the problem with NDStation, but I've never heard of the 3in1 ExpPack Tool intermittently not working. The first thing I would try is reformatting the microSD card.

 

That sounds more like a problem with the R4 than the GBA slot. If the 3in1 ExpPack Tool doesn't detect the 3-in-1 properly it will give you an error and refuse to start. The missing Rumble mode means that the ExpPack Tool doesn't think it can soft-reset back to the slot 1 cart.

What version of the 3in1 ExpPack Tool are you using? What version of the R4 Loader? Is your microSD card formatted as FAT or FAT32?

Just a thought, maybe you should try removing and inserting the R4 and the 3-in-1 a few times. It might be something as simple as dusty contacts.

 

I don't think it's the SRAM. When people have had problems with the SRAM in the past the only symptom was that their saves were not retained. The SRAM is part of the 3-in-1. The GBA save is stored there while you play the game, and copied to the slot 1 cart later.

I haven't applied the R4 DLDI patch to a single piece of homebrew since they added auto-patching, and I've never had a problem with it. The patch you applied should be irrelevant, as the auto-patching would just replace it anyway.

The DS does not need to be flashed.

Did you create the /GBA/ and /GBA/Save/ folders on your microSD card? Old versions of the 3in1 ExpPack Tool didn't deal well with missing folders. Speaking of which...

The 3in1 ExpPack Tool is up to version 1.9d. You might try a newer version and see if that works. You can get the latest version here: http://www009.upp.so-net.ne.jp/rudolph/nds/3in1_ExpPack/

Aside from the fact that I'm using an M3 Simply rather than an R4, the main difference I see between your setup and mine is that I keep my microSD card formatted as FAT, because FATsort doesn't work with FAT32, and the 3in1 ExpPack Tool doesn't sort the game list.

 

Glad to help.

People that complain about how long it takes to write to NOR on the 3-in-1 clearly never used the old GBA flashcarts. The Flash2Advance takes about 2.5 times as long as the 3-in-1 to write the NOR.

I personally hate the rumble on the 3-in-1, but not because of the noise. It's more of a high frequency vibration than a rumble, and on the highest setting it feels like it could give someone nerve damage after a while.


One last thing. You may already know this, but you should be using GBATA to SRAM patch the games, not the EZ4 Client. The EZ4 Client works fine when you run games from NOR, but it causes lost saves (for both the PSRAM game and NOR game) when you run them from PSRAM.

 

I don't mind the rumble too much, it's a really light soothing vibration. I've only tried it on Metroid Pinball though to be honest.

Oh yeah, it was using the new version of the tool that solved the problem. It created its folder called SAVE in the GBA folder. I read the same place that I got Rudolphs tool to use GBATA over the EZ4 Client, although it said here were a couple of occasions where you should use the EZ4 one but they've gone out of my brain now. I think it was to do with some really obscure title or something.

 

8 meg can take up to a minute, but it really depends on the game itself. Try booting with Rudolphs 3 in 1, set it to external ram. I usually don't have too many games that take long to load, except for all the NOR games and King of Fighters EX2

 

Umm, no, I tried patching firered with GBATA and then saving in-game, and after I turned the DS off and on again, my save was gone.
I would suggest using the EZ4 client for all GBA pokemon titles and all other games sharing their save type (1024mbit flash iirc)