Hacking New3in1 works with EZ V menu but not homebrew

[Kufat]

I'm having an unusual problem: My EZ V (running the latest menu) can see the SRAM on my 3in1 (second rev, New3in1) but nothing else can.

ExpLoader always asks to initialize it and dumps it as all 0s for all 512KB when I select the option to dump the entire SRAM, SRAM test fails on writing the first byte, etc. The weird thing is that I have a GBA game save on there and it works fine, plus I can save/load normally in the game that's flashed to NOR, even after days of having the DS switched off. When GBA ExpLoader puts a game in PSRAM and boots to GBA mode, it runs the game in NOR, but doing the same thing from the EZ V menu works fine; the game loaded to PSRAM plays and saves as expected. I can start GBAldr; it produces a 512KB all-zero file and doesn't touch the GBA save in SRAM even though it's supposed to wipe SRAM.

I can't imagine how it'd be the battery, since it retains GBA save data while unpowered yet can't be successfully read or written by homebrew. Any idea what it could be? I'd be happy to run any tests or diagnostics that anyone suggests. Thanks.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Switching between a external loader and the internal loader of the EZ V/i/plus causes initialization to run, which formats the SRAM for use with the loader you just ran.

It is recommended you stick to 1 loader only.


As for other homebrew, they have to have support for the 3in1. This means custom versions of homebrew will have support only, using "the latest version" means you likely have a version that doesn't support the 3in1 as an expansion pack.
Other than that, the 3in1 IS NOT a universal plug and play device for homebrew.

 

[Gyron_Oldvic]

how_do_i_do_that is right. There is no point loading a game with the EZ menu, then using GBA ExpLoader. If you decide to stick to GBA ExpLoader and you are still having issues, then you can try fully blanking the Sram with the attached file.
Firstly unzip the attached zip file and copy 'SRAM.BIN' to the 'GBA_SAVE' folder on your Micro SD.
Now start GBA ExpLoader 0.58b. Press 'Y' and you will get the message below:

Press 'A' and wait for the Sram to be blanked.
Now switch off your DS. Switch back on and start GBA ExpLoader. You will notice GBA ExpLoader will have defaulted to the root directory of your Micro SD card. You should also notice that your Sram is empty as shown in the pic below:

Now use GBA ExpLoader to load a game, and see if sram is detected correctly when you start GBA ExpLoader after you have played the game.

Note: Ignore the fact my GBA ExpLoader says 'M3'. I didn't have my 3in1 handy when I took the pics on my phone. But the file attached is the correct version for your card ('512k'). The M3 version is '1024k'.

 

[Kufat]

Switching between a external loader and the internal loader of the EZ V/i/plus causes initialization to run, which formats the SRAM for use with the loader you just ran.

Ah, okay. I figured that the EZ V loader only touched the 3-in-1's SRAM when I flashed a GBA game to NOR or PSRAM.

As for other homebrew, they have to have support for the 3in1. This means custom versions of homebrew will have support only, using "the latest version" means you likely have a version that doesn't support the 3in1 as an expansion pack.
Other than that, the 3in1 IS NOT a universal plug and play device for homebrew.

Sure, I know. I was only using HB that specifically supported the 3-in-1, like the SRAM tester.

Anyway, thanks, and I'll stick to the EZ V's GBA loader.