Hacking Problem with M3 DS Real GBA Expansion

[slothsminion62]

Hello. I just got M3 DS Real and its GBA Expansion Pack today, so I am a complete newbie at this. I just got my DS ROMs to work. Now my GBA ROMs still do not work.

Here are my specs:
Brand-new DS Lite
M3 DS Real with its authentic GBA Expansion

Facts of the problem:
The GBA Pak is recognized in Slot 2.
I have the latest firmware for TouchPod (3.8) and Sakura (1.48). I got the firmware here (bottom of page) and here.
The games will boot the the Game Boy Screen, then remain white.
The games I want are Pokemon Fire Red and Emerald.

I'm sorry if this question has been asked. If it has, post me a link so I can find it.

Thank you!

 

[Sicklyboy]

I do believe you need to SRAM patch it. Use GBATA from here to do that - http://www.no-intro.org/tools.htm

If that doesnt work, maybe you just have a bad dump then

 

[slothsminion62]

I SRAM patched them and they did not work, but the original .gba worked on VisualBoyAdvance.

I also have a question about Legend of Zelda: Spririt Tracks. That is the only DS ROM I have that does not work. Is this becasue it is a new game?

 

[Sicklyboy]

What are you using to flash the games to it? GbaExpLoader, or does the M3 Real's firmware (touchpod?) have that capability written into it?

Reread your top post - ok so you are using Touchpod and Sakura. I take it they both dont work for loading the roms? (I know Sakura can handle it, at the very least). If they don't work try using GbaExpLoader. Since all M3 carts are blocked, I believe, in the newest version, use v.57(I actually think its v.57b, cant remember. too tired XD)

Spirit Tracks - you might be correct, it may be too recent of a game for M3 to have patched the AP yet, however I am unsure. You can search around and see if there is a patch (I will do a quick google for ya)

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=194840 has a patch. But supposedly the version of sakura you have doesnt need it. So from here I give you two things to try - try it with the patch anyway (back up the rom first), and if that doesnt work, format your sd card with the panasonic sd formatter (search this site for it) then put everything back on.

Also FYI I do not own an M3 Real, I own an iTouchDS (manufactured by M3 however). So I am not knowledgeable on your specific cart, but chances are most ppl here would tell ya the same thing I am. So if I can't get you anywhere, howfully someone more knowledgeable on your specific cart can step in. But until that point I will try to help ya

 

[slothsminion62]

Yes, touchpod has the capability to run roms by itself.

I figured out the problem for Spirit Tracks - I have been trying to load it with the .sav I had started. The game works with its own .sav, but not with mine, so I have to start over (good thing I wasn't very far =D ). This was all on touchpod, so I tried it on Sakura. Same results.

Now with the .gba, they only work on Sakura. It takes a full 20 seconds on the loading screen, and it will not recognize my .sav file (I can't afford to restart this game, I've spent 60 hours on this file!)

Ok, now it's getting weird. The Emerald game loaded up a corrupted version of my Fire Red .sav: it says the save file is corrupted and it will load the previous save, then it loads my Fire Red .sav.
This is all with the SRAM-patched .gba
When I take out my .sav and let Sakura create new .sav files for the game, the game does not load.

In conclusion:
The games have only loaded when my saved game was present:
The Fire Red game loaded as if there were no save file,
the Emerald game loaded a corrupt version of my Fire Red saved game.

This is all very perplexing

and frustrating.

 

[Sicklyboy]

Wait... so Emerald loaded your FireRed save? Is that even possible O_O

I know with the GBA pokemon games (Emerald, Ruby, Saphire, FireRed, LeafGreen) you have to save twice (though SRAM patching sometimes fixes that IIRC. The way the roms work is there are two slots for them to save to on a standard cartridge. A primary one and a backup one. The backup one is your previous save and your primary one is your most recent one. However when using roms, it only has a .sav to write to, so it *can* save both to that but it doesnt recognize that it has both of them in it, per se. So when you load it often says it is corrupted and loads the backup. Saving twice still makes this happen, but you will have 2 saves of the same hting then. But like I said, sram patching *should* fix that iirc.)

I STRONGLY suggest you try out GBAExpLoader for your GBA loading.

http://filetrip.net/file.php?id=10382 is patched to work with M3 carts, so you can try that. it doesnt work with my iTouchDs, though =(
http://filetrip.net/file.php?id=2235 I have not had a single problem with however. o try one of those, see if it fixes your problems.

 

[slothsminion62]

Ok. I got this version of GBAExpLoader because it was the latest: http://filetrip.net/f5308-GBA-ExpLoader-MSHL2-MSHL2-0-1.html

It's an .nds file, so should I put it in my NDS folder with its .ini file?
I will try that first and see what happens...

I loaded it on Sakura and it said "This hardware is not avaliable. Press A to confirm." I pressed A and the DS shut off. I made sure that the DS recognized the GBA Expansion Pak.
Same thing on Touchpod.

I will now try using the second link in your post...

 

[evandixon]

Use a clean ROM, and tell it to run it in patch mode. To do so (if you are in Sakura), press X or Y and you should see it.

 

[slothsminion62]

@UniqueGeek: Yes, I am.
@plasma dragon007:My DS and M3 just got wet, so I'm going to give them an hour or 2 to dry before I continue. At least my microSD wasn't in the M3.

Ok. I'm using GBA ExpLoader v0.57, but I do not understand it. I've read the readme file. It created the GBA_SAVE and GBA_SIGN files. When I load it, it comes to the first screen and nothing happens when I push buttons.

 

[Sicklyboy]

DO YOUr rom files show up in a list? Or does it show directories? If it is directories, go to the one where your gba roms are. Pick a rom, hit A. Then it will show up a box with a bunch of lines. Hit the very first option (unless it is "no save" or something like that, just use common sense.) These are your different save slots you can make.

When you load gbaexploader again, you will see a similar screen with lines and such. save it to the same slot as where you made the save, this is saving the SRAM to a .sav file


So what do you mean "the first screen" and "nothing happens when you press butons"? What first screen and what buttons are you pressing?

 

[slothsminion62]

My ROMs are together in one directory.
No, I don't see a box with lines.
When I click a ROM, is says it's loading, but it never loads, same as before.

When I load GBA ExpLoader, Touchpod auto-patches it, then it gets to a blue-and-white screen. The top screen is white with a black bar on top that says

[/] 0 game

and the touch screen looks like this:


GBA ExpLoader [ M3/G6 ] v0.57



Current SRAM Save
< Empty or new state >

SDRAM Mode
(A) :Run (B) :Write SRAM to SAV file
(X) :Backup whole SRAM to SRAM.BIN
(Y) :Restore SRAM.BIN to SRAM



This is the "first screen". Nothing happens when I push buttons and the touch screen.

 

[slothsminion62]

 

[Sicklyboy]

Are you running the games from PSRAM or NOR?

Actually... I am unsure whether the M3 Gba Expansion has both PSRAM and NOR, could you verify this for me?

Try loading the pokemon games from both PSRAM and NOR (hit R to get to the NOR screen) if they exist...

If this program wont work, try Cory's Loader - http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4749 but I am inclined to say that this is only for 3in1 expansions and most likely will NOT work.

Wait. TouchPod auto patches it... meaning auto DLDI patches it?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

The M3 GEP has only 1 game mode, SDRAM mode.

Touchpod worked more with the M3 perfect/pro flashcarts, you want to use sakura as the interface of choice. You run gba games like you would a DS game from the same interface, goto settings if you want to enable cheats or specific settings there like certain hardware modes.

The moonshell version of gba exploader also bans any M3 slot1.

The earliest version of gba exploader that worked with the M3 GEP without the ban is 0.53: here

The last debanned version is 0.58b MX (this is the patch only): here
You will still need to download 0.58b to apply the patch to, download a patch program if you don't already have one.

For the fire red pokemon game, use GBATA to ONLY check if the games have been prepatched for you. If it says it was patched, your dealing with a dirty rom of fire red. Which you will need to get a version that wasn't prepatched for you.

 

[slothsminion62]

@plasma dragon007: Nothing happens when I push R, so I guess it can't use NOR.
Yes, Touchpod has an auto-DLDI Pacther.

@how_do_i_do_that: Yes, when I load a .gba, my DS goes to the "Now Loading" screen and doesn't go any farther.

The .gba on my DS is SRAM patched by me, but I backed up my original unpatched ROMs. On GBATA, I'm not sure how to tell if it's prepatched or not. On the "Header Viewer" tab, for "Fixed", it says "OK". On the "Reboot/Sleep" tab, for "State", it says "Not Patched". On the "Clock Fix" tab, for "State", it says "Unneeded". Does that help?

Which of your links would you have me use?

 

[slothsminion62]

I used gba exploader 0.53 and Pkmn Emerald worked, but instead of using .sav files, it uses .sgn files. Is that normal?

When I played Emerald and saved, it made a .sgn and a .sav file, while saving Fire Red only created a .sgn file.

I want to load my old savegame onto the ROM, and it's a .sav file. Do I need to convert it? I'm confused...

 

[Sicklyboy]

Sorry for not responding lately.

I think that most pc emulators use 512kb saves, which need to be converted to 256kb saves for use on the DS (someone please correct me if I am wrong). One of the popular emulators can do this, I forget which though... I think there is also a website that will do it (upload your save, pick the kind you want in return, and it converts it. google "gba save converter" see what it turns up)

.sgn files arent saves, they contain the header info for the rom IIRC... if you want fire reds save, open gba exploader again and eventually you should hit the button to either backup or save the SRAM if it doesnt ask you to automatically. Once that is done, just replace it with your converted save, make sure its filename is exactly the same as the old one, and you should be good to go!

 

[slothsminion62]

My .sav is Flash 128KB.

I found this website and tried both options on the GBA converter, but they have the same results as my original .sav: the game says they're corrupted.

I tried my original, unpatched .gba with my 128KB .sav and the game played, but said "The 1M sub-circuit board is not installed" and loads a new game, then won't let me save a new game. It acts just like when saving a 64KB on an emulator.

I started and saved a new game on Emerald, and it made the .sav and .sgn with the name "EMERALD" in caps, and the .sav was 128KB, so I will rename my Fire Red in all caps...
It still acted like saving a 64KB on an emulator.

 

[Sicklyboy]

My .sav is Flask 128KB.

I found this website and tried both options on the GBA converter, but they have the same results as my original .sav: the game says they're corrupted.

Does it not load, or does it say its corrupted and then load?

QUOTEI tried my original, unpatched .gba with my 128KB .sav and the game played, but said "The 1M sub-circuit board is not installed" and loads a new game, then won't let me save a new game. It acts just like when saving a 64KB on an emulator.

I started and saved a new game on Emerald, and it made the .sav and .sgn with the name "EMERALD" in caps, and the .sav was 128KB, so I will rename my Fire Red in all caps...
It still acted like saving a 64KB on an emulator.

Take a look at this topic for the 1M problem - http://forums.ngemu.com/visualboy-advance-...-installed.html

 

[slothsminion62]

1. It says it's corrupted and loads the "previous file", which is a new game.

2. I put the SRAM-patched .gba back on. Next, I loaded my .sav on an emulator, exported a battery file and put that on my DS. The .gba loaded and and said the save was corrupted, but this time it loaded the actual previous save, so I can play my game now!! Thank you for the help!