Hacking RomNet's Ewin Expansion Pack First Impressions

[JacobReaper]

Does the ewin have a battery so when the battery dies i will lose saves and wont be able to save? or does it backup to microsd straight away?

Yes, it does use battery SRAM, and no, it doesn't save to microSD right away. But I'm pretty sure that even if the battery dies, you're safe. Just turn it off, then on again quickly (within a few seconds when you finish a game). I'm pretty sure that you have a window of a few seconds before SRAM clears out, and you won't even need that, as you can turn your DS off, then on again in less than a second. Then run another GBA game to force a copy of SRAM to microSD.

wait wait wait.. what no NOR mean?

Okay, on the EZFlash 3-in-1, if you play a game that's bigger than 16MB, you have to copy it to NOR in order to play it. The game will then stay in NOR until you erase it, but it takes a VERY long time to erase the NOR and write a new game to it. Using regular RAM instead is much faster (5-10 seconds for most games, I'd say), but it gets erased from slot-2 after you turn your DS off for a few seconds.

does it mean that when i play a GBA game, then close my DS, the game is erased from my slot 1? what does it mean by the game gets erased?

No, it doesn't mean that at all. The game stays on your Slot-1 card. It just gets copied to the RAM in slot-2 in order for you to play it, then goes away again when you turn off your DS. Relax - this is basically the same thing that happens if you play a GBA game on a slot-2 SuperCard or M3, except that instead of copying from slot-2 flash media to slot-2 RAM, it copies from slot-1 flash media to slot-2 RAM (so you can store all your stuff, GBA and NDS, on one slot-1 card - convenient!).

Trust me, the way the Ewin does it is the best way for most people; I have no idea why they decided to use NOR on the 3-in-1 - it seems like a waste of money more than anything.

Edit: Oh, and let me give you more info on a few of your earlier questions:

4) The first time it autopatches, then when i play again, it won't have to patch again right?

The other answer to this question was fine for a simple answer, but really, what it does is this:
The first time you run it, it makes a patch file in a directory on your Slot-1. After that, every time you run that game, the game will be automatically SRAM patched on the fly when it's loaded into RAM. It's a very cool system, since you get the benefit of SRAM patching while still being able to keep clean ROMs on your R4 (or whatever).

5) Can i use the Opera Browser with this?

My answer is still yes, but I recommend using a clean Opera Browser. If you use a patched version of Opera, you'll have to turn off your DS then turn it on again quickly after running the browser once, or else the patch won't work. This is stupid, and it's easier to just press R+L then A to patch the RAM for the browser then take you back to the R4 (or whatever) menu where you can run it (or where you can swap, if you own and want to use the official browser card). Maybe some day, someone will make a custom Opera patch for the EEP. For now, you might as well not even bother; it's easier to run the browser from the GBA Loader.

so how do i get the Browser to work?

just put the US Browser ROM in my slot 1, then what O.O sry, im such a n00b when it comes to slot-2s

 

[Eyedunno]

so how do i get the Browser to work?

Okay, step by step.

For a browser rom on an R4:
1) Run the GBA Loader (which you should have installed on your slot-1 card)
2) Press R+L
3) Press A to confirm. This will patch the RAM, then boot you back to the R4 menu
4) Run the browser as you would run any other NDS file

I think there are issues with soft resetting on cards other than the R4 (and the AceKard+ - there's another loader for the AceKard+). For something other than the R4, doing a hard reset in step 3 may be necessary, and thus on cards other than the R4, it may actually be worthwhile to patch your rom, since you have to do a hard reset no matter what. In this case, most patched versions of the browser should work (not just the Supercard patch, but also M3 and EZFlash 4 patches).

For an original browser card:
1) Run the GBA Loader (which you should have installed on your slot-1 card)
2) Press R+L
3) Press A to confirm. This will patch the RAM, then boot you back to the R4 menu
4) Swap your R4 for the Browser
5) Quickly turn your DS off, then on again.
6) Run the browser from the DS menu as usual.

 

[JacobReaper]

so how do i get the Browser to work?

Okay, step by step.

For a browser rom on an R4:
1)Run the GBA Loader (which you should have installed on your slot-1 card)
2) Press R+L
3) Press A to confirm. This will patch the RAM, then boot you back to the R4 menu
4) Run the browser as you would run any other NDS file

I think there are issues with soft resetting on cards other than the R4 (and the AceKard - there's another loader for the AceKard). For something other than the R4, doing a hard reset in step 3 may be necessary, and thus on cards other than the R4, it may actually be worthwhile to patch your rom, since you have to do a hard reset no matter what. In this case, most patched versions of the browser should work (not just the Supercard patch, but also M3 and EZFlash 4 patches).

For an original browser card:
1)Run the GBA Loader (which you should have installed on your slot-1 card)
2) Press R+L
3) Press A to confirm. This will patch the RAM, then boot you back to the R4 menu
4) Swap your R4 for the Browser
5) Quickly turn your DS off, then on again.
6) Run the browser from the DS menu as usual.

okay so i should just put a regular Browser ROM right? NOT patched right?
i think so

well, thanks A LOT

 

[Eyedunno]

okay so i should just put a regular Browser ROM right? NOT patched right?
i think so

well, thanks A LOTÂ

Yeah, though you can still patch it if you want to. That method will still work, and if you're using an R4, you won't have to do a hard reset.

 

[mkaiji]

how many MBs PSRAM and SRAM does the ewin have? I'm trying to figure out what i want to buy. Either this, the 3 in 1, or the m3 slot 2 with these specs.

# SDRAM for GBA and DS roms, 256 Mbit (M3 Perfect) or 32 Mbit (M3 Pro)
# 8Mbit SRAM for GBA Saves and DS Saves (not confirmed)
# Built-In RTC

also how does psram and sdram differ?

 

[Eyedunno]

how many MBs PSRAM and SRAM does the ewin have? I'm trying to figure out what i want to buy. Either this, the 3 in 1, or the m3 slot 2 with these specs.

#Â SDRAM for GBA and DS roms, 256 Mbit (M3 Perfect) or 32 Mbit (M3 Pro)
# 8Mbit SRAM for GBA Saves and DS Saves (not confirmed)
# Built-In RTC
According to Rudolph (who actually opened his up and looked), the specs are as follows:

• 32MB SDRAM?SUMSUNG K4S561632E (16Mx16)
  
• 256KB SRAM??Hynix HY62U8200 LLST-851 (with battery)

32MB=256Mbit
256KB=2Mbit
And there's no RTC. It's somewhat impressive that the M3 offers it, but on the other hand, there are very few games that use it, and there are patches that make those games playable (without time-based events though).

I've read that a certain homebrew app (forgot which one) can only use 28MB of the SDRAM. No idea why this might be, but in any case, it still blows the 3-in-1's 16MB out of the water, to say nothing of the 8MB on Nintendo's RAM expansion cart. Also, note that the biggest GBA saves (as far as I know) are 1Mbit, so I don't think the SRAM size should be a problem.

The biggest thing to be wary of with the Ewin (I've said it before, but it bears repeating) is the trouble with saves. Most games save just fine, but for all the games I have (four of them on my R4) that use 4kbit (512 byte) saves, the saves fail to be detected, period. The good news here is that this is almost certainly a software shortcoming rather than an actual problem with the EEP. The bad news is that it's been almost a month and a half since Ewin updated their GBA loader, and there seem to be no hints as to how much longer we'll have to wait for an update.

For me, the games I want to play that currently have save issues are:
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Famicom Mini - Super Mario Bros. (doesn't make a difference to me though, as the only thing that's saved is the high score)
Super Street Fighter II X
The Lost Vikings

Also, this is another software shortcoming, but the only fully-supported slot-1 cards so far are the R4 and the AceKard+. What this means in practice is that certain features (most notably GBA-NDS Linkage) require a quick power cycle to work on other Slot-1 cards at the moment.

So in summary, the EEP is an awesome piece of hardware (with the best build quality on the market, to boot) hampered by slow support. I still recommend it though, as I have confidence that these things will be ironed out eventually.

also how does psram and sdram differ?

I'm not exactly sure. What I can tell you is that, in practice, the Ewin loads games much faster than the other carts I've tested (EZFlash and SuperCard variants - I have no experience with the M3).

 

[mkaiji]

Thanks for your explanation, it's very helpful.
When you say the AceKard+ does this also apply to the AceKard RPG?

 

[Eyedunno]

Thanks for your explanation, it's very helpful.
When you say the AceKard+ does this also apply to the AceKard RPG?

I have no idea. There's actually a separate loader for the AceKard+, and whether or not it works on the AceKard RPG depends on how similar the firmware is between the AceKard+ and the AceKard RPG. In any case, the regular loader DOES support DLDI, so it will work with any slot-1 card, just that soft reset is currently only said to be supported on the R4 (with the original loader) and the AceKard+ (with the AceKard+ port of the loader). This doesn't make it impossible to use with other cards, just that you have to do a quick power cycle when the software tries to do a soft reset. But resetting is most likely only necessary to begin with for linkage between GBA and NDS titles (Pokemon and such) and for the DS browser. Playing GBA games should work normally no matter what slot-1 card you use.

But I see no reason why this won't be fixed in a future release of the loader (or, worst-case scenario, in an unofficial loader or hack). After all, Rudolph's 3-in-1 tool supports soft reset on anything, I think. This would seem to indicate that the Ewin team simply haven't completed DLDI support for the loader.

 

[mrbojangles]

not sure how reputable they are however http://sky2k.com is selling the ewin expansion pak and they're located in canada so shipping should be much quicker/cheaper than if you were to order from psxboy.com

 

[TheWalrus]

I just purchased an eWin from Skybox and the package came from China anyway. It was 18 days in arriving so don't expect speedy delivery in the US or Canada.

Also I wonder if anyone else can double check me here, I tried for a couple hours to get the browser working using Cyclo DS Evolution using a 6gb microSDHC card, and it would never work.

I think I read somewhere that the browser will not launch from a microSDHC card for some reason.

If anyone can verify that for me I'd appreciate it.


-- coo coo a choo

 

[Eyedunno]

I just purchased an eWin from Skybox and the package came from China anyway. It was 18 days in arriving so don't expect speedy delivery in the US or Canada.

Also I wonder if anyone else can double check me here, I tried for a couple hours to get the browser working using Cyclo DS Evolution using a 6gb microSDHC card, and it would never work.

I think I read somewhere that the browser will not launch from a microSDHC card for some reason.

If anyone can verify that for me I'd appreciate it.


-- coo coo a choo

It would have been nice if you'd described what happened. I can't imagine microSDHC would make a difference though.

Anyway, the Cyclo doesn't soft reset from the GBA loader, does it?

If not, you have a few options.

OPTION 1:
1) Start the GBA Loader. Press R+L, then A to confirm.
2) Normally, when it finishes patching the RAM using an R4 or SDTT, you would get booted back to your respective card's menu. If this didn't happen for you, turn your DS off, then quickly on again.
3) Run the browser from the Cyclo menu, and see if it works.

OPTION 2:
1) Use a patched European version of the browser (several of the patches should work, but just go with SuperCard).
2) Run the browser.
3) You should get a message saying that the memory expansion wasn't detected. Turn your DS off, then quickly on again.
4) Run the browser again, and it should work this time.

OPTION 3:
I made an Ewin specific patch for the Japanese version of the browser using info from a Japanese blog. You can download it in GBAtemp's Downloads>NDS Rom Hacks section.
1) Patch a Japanese version ROM and put it on your microSD.
2) Run it. Done, and done.

Unfortunately, I don't really know how to adapt the hack to the European version, so unless somebody can come through with that, Option 3 requires that you either be pretty good at coping with Japanese menus or that you have a good guide to the menus. I made one ages ago, but it seems to have disappeared from the Web. Anyway, there's one more option.

OPTION 4:
This requires that you have an official copy of the browser.
1) Start the GBA Loader. Press R+L, then A to confirm.
2) Normally, when it finishes patching the RAM using an R4 or SDTT, you would get booted back to your respective card's menu. If this didn't happen for you, first swap your Cyclo with the Browser card, then turn your DS off, then quickly on again. If it DID boot back to the menu, swap cards and do the power cycle after the menu is loaded.
3) Run the browser normally from the DS menu.

If none of this stuff works for you, you might want to try the CycloDS Forums. Several people on there have Ewins, I think, so even if you can't find a thread that walks you through it, you can try asking for help.

 

[TheWalrus]

It would have been nice if you'd described what happened. I can't imagine microSDHC would make a difference though.
It always just says "Power off and insert the memory expansion" Nothing else.

Anyway, the Cyclo doesn't soft reset from the GBA loader, does it?
No such luck, have to manually power cycle the DS

QUOTE

If not, you have a few options.

Well, I've tried all the patches, and NON-patched versions of the browser and come up with the same results.

However your patch worked by some miracle. Booted up just fine without having to clean the ram through the bootloader or anything.

Is there any way to get the Japanese version to display in English ?? Obviously I can't read japanese well enough to figure out what's what but hey it's worth a shot. I'll do some research in my spare time today and see if I can find english versions of the option pages to look at.

Thanks for the help.

-coo coo a choo

 

[Eyedunno]

You can set the default keyboard to English. That's all. I translated everything on another forum back when the browser first came out, but that forum is gone now, and I can't even access my post with archive.org. Maybe this weekend I'll redo a translation though, if you don't find anything before then. Once you get the basic options set up, you shouldn't have too many difficulties though.

Personally, I can read Japanese, so I prefer the JP version, as it lets me input Japanese (big plus). Still, some hacker ought to figure out what the heck makes the Ewin patch different from the other patches and adapt it. I just made it by following instructions in a hex editor, but the relevant addresses are different between versions, and all of my attempts (10+) to adapt the Japanese hack to the EU version failed miserably. I adapted the EU SuperCard patch to the Japanese version fairly easily, so I'm not sure what the deal is here.

Fake Edit: Oh, but hey, look what a quick search turned up! This should help you some.

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/1448/dsbr...ingsmenuws6.jpg
This guy made a very nice looking settings translation.

Just save this, print it, or whatever. But like I said (and as with most browsers), you shouldn't have to mess with this much once everything's set up.

 

[TheWalrus]

Booya ! That's what I was looking for. I'll try it tonight as they frown upon gaming systems at work for some weird unknown reason.

--coo coo a choo!!

 

[TheWalrus]

Sadly the japanese browser will not display english words for some reason.

I tried all the different text encoding and no luck.

Oh well, don't really need it anyway

 

[Eyedunno]

Sadly the japanese browser will not display english words for some reason.

I tried all the different text encoding and no luck.

Oh well, don't really need it anyway

Whaaa? You should have no problem viewing English webpages. Just use auto-detect for text encoding.

If you mean the menus and text used by the browser itself, no, that's only in Japanese, and there's no option to change it.

Setting the keyboard to English just means that's the first keyboard that pops up when you go to type something. I have mine set to Japanese, which means the keyboard shows kana first for me (I really should change that setting though, since even for Japanese, I prefer to type it on the QWERTY keyboard).

Edit: I just tested this, and doing so means I don't even have the option of typing Japanese, so I guess I'm sticking with things as they were.

 

[ben_not_benny]

Does this thing have DS firmware specifications? I know it says "DS Lite" but I'm wondering if this can be used with an original DS by taking it apart and put the chip in a GBA game shell.

 

[Urza]

Does this thing have DS firmware specifications? I know it says "DS Lite" but I'm wondering if this can be used with an original DS by taking it apart and put the chip in a GBA game shell.

It can.

 

[ben_not_benny]

Thanks for the reply. I have another quick question:

From what I've read the loader takes the GBA ROM in the Slot-1 and loads it into the EEP correct? Then is it possible to link a DS game in the Slot-1 flashcart with the GBA game in the EEP? (Say... Migrating Pokemon?)

 

[Pliskron]

No you need a pack like the 3in1 that has NOR. Once you turn off your DS the game is gone so there's nothing on the pack for the DS game to link to. I know the super card can link to gba from slot one or you'd have to get a EZ-3in1