Hacking sakura - slot 2

[teH XeRO]

my r4 has been great but im looking to upgrade to sdhc and i really like what i see so far from sakura (so probably will buy an m3 real today from real hot stuff). I already have an ezflash iv lite deluxe (have never had any problems with it, works great alongside my r4), does sakura have an option to boot to the second slot the way r4 does, or should i get the m3real bundle with the ram pack? i use the ezfiv lite for gba only, so my last question would be is there any other advantage to the ram pack (in regards to sakura) besides gba that would justify replacing my ezflash? thanks


edit: also, im lookin at 4gb sdhc on newegg, would you recommend an A-DATA 4gb class 6 for $17.49 or Transcend 4gb class 6 for $15.99..or can i not go wrong with either? thanks in advance

 

[thedicemaster]

to boot to slot-2:
hold B(into NDS mode) or select(into GBA mode)
this only works when booting the DS, when you get the black m3real loading screen.

i don't know whether your slot-2 has built-in ram or not.
if it doesn't you might consider getting a rumble-ram for opera browser, otherwise you won't need a slot-2 expansion.

for memory cards, A-data is supposed to be the best, but both should be good.

 

[teH XeRO]

hold B(into NDS mode) or select(into GBA mode) this only works when booting the DS, when you get the black m3real loading screen.

so with m3 real in slot 1 and the ds booting, holding b goes to slot-1 and holding select goes to slot-2? there is no feature directly within the os (sakura) to go to your slot-2 if necessary? i ask only cuz my ds lite is flashme'd and select already needs to be held down to boot slot-1 since my ezfiv is in slot-2


and yes my ez flash iv lite dlx does have ram (or at least id assume so as this is what the ezflash wiki at sosuke says "lite-deluxe: Another redesigned version of the EZ4lite, this one features 256 Mbit of PSRAM and 384Mbit of NOR memory")


only reason i ask about this is because i thought i read somewhere that sakura benefits from a ram pack in regards to its general operation (besides being used for gba) and prevents stressing the sdhc card, but i can't remember why or if that is even true (or if it is, if my ez flash iv can/can't do what the ram pack does for sakura). just wanna make sure i have all my facts straight before i purchase so i know i purchase everything i need.

 

[AXYPB]

I don't know anything about that, but both of those prices are good deals for 4 GB. I have an A-DATA myself, but I've been hearing good things about the Transcend, too.

 

[Toni Plutonij]

It's true that Sakura uses ram pack for general operation, and prevents stressing microSD!
I'm not sure if EZ Flash IV will work just as M3 Reals GBA expansion does..
But if you don't use expansion, Sakura uses swapfile.$$$, which is 16 MB in size, for operating. That file is located in SYSTEM folder, and that way it actually does add some little "stress" to the MicroSD..

Sakura needs that extra Memory so it could work so fast and sleek, and that way, it allows some little sub-processes, such as browsing trough card while listening the music..

 

[teH XeRO]

yea that was it, thanks...as you posted that i found the thread where i saw that point mentioned...now if i go with the m3 expansion along with the real, i just put gba roms on the micro sd card and can boot them from sakura as long as that expansion is inserted in slot 2? used to booting to a separate device for gba, so just making sure how exactly that process works.

would you know where i can find out to see if the ezflash iv deluxe can act as an expansion or if the m3 real expansion acts proprietarily with the real.

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Well, GBA expansion work exactly as you mentioned....You place GBA games on microSD, and then run them just as you run NDS games, but Sakura will recognize that it's a GBA game, and copy it to GBA expansion automatically..

I'm not sure how could you find out, maybe someone here tried it, and could post the answer..

 

[teH XeRO]

thanks for all your help toni and axypb, im thinkin i will order the bundle with the expansion anyway as it is not that much more expensive and when i get it i can always test it with my ezfiv anyway. even though that swap file issue with the micro card doesn't seem like that big of a deal i'd feel more comfortable knowing i'm not puttng any unneeded "strain" on the card if i have the expansion card in slot-2.

one last question, if the m3 expansion pack is in slot-2, is the swap file in the system folder still needed? can it be deleted? or will sakura automatically bypass looking for that file when it recognizes that the expansion pack is inserted?

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Well, it would be the smartest thing, as the GBA expansion with M3 Real has the best compatibility...Not to mention that playing GBA games with GBA expansion gives you RTS and cheats...

You see, I haven't tried that....Later I will, but, I think that it still needs to be there, as it's probably vital part of firmware, whether it's used or not..

 

[teH XeRO]

ah ok, also, the real is sold in 3 bundles (if not purchased alone)-- with rumble pak, with rumble ram pak, and with rumble pak/gba expansion..rumble pak i'm pretty sure is safe to say is strictly used for the stupid rumble feature, but is the rumble ram pak a gba expansion with rumble or are there distinct differences besides the rumble feature between the "rumble ram pak" and "gba expansion pak"

if the rumble ram pak can act as the expansion sakura needs to run smoothly/play gba, can the rumble feature be turned off?

 

[thedicemaster]

ah ok, also, the real is sold in 3 bundles (if not purchased alone)-- with rumble pak, with rumble ram pak, and with rumble pak/gba expansion..rumble pak i'm pretty sure is safe to say is strictly used for the stupid rumble feature, but is the rumble ram pak a gba expansion with rumble or are there distinct differences besides the rumble feature between the "rumble ram pak" and "gba expansion pak"

if the rumble ram pak can act as the expansion sakura needs to run smoothly/play gba, can the rumble feature be turned off?

rumble-ram only contains 4MB GBA-memory according to m3sakura, making it pretty much useless for anything other than rumble and browser ram.
GBA exp has 32MB GBA memory, allowing it to run all GBA games, and serve as browser ram.

the B hold thingy doesn't boot to slot-1.
it will boot your slot-2(gba cart) while telling your DS it's a DS cart.
this feature is used for older NDS flashcarts that work from slot-2.

with your EZ-flash IV you'd have to boot it by holding B.

the rumble feature can't be turned off directly, but every game that makes use of it has an option in the menu to disable it.

 

[teH XeRO]

so holding b is essentially the "boot to slot 2" feature i was asking about in the first post. so then i really wouldnt need to worry about it as my ds lite was flashed a long while ago with flashme 7 i believe..and automatically boots to slot 2 (since my first ds flash cart was the first ezflash iv lite before i picked up the deluxe and my r4, and had the tools necesssary to flash it and didnt need a passme) unless i hold down select (which bypasses flashme and boots slot 1 or goes to main ds menu)

also, if i boot a gba rom from the real with the expansion, and the firmware will then recognize it as a gba game and copy it to the expansion pack, how do you access the contents of the expansion pack if you want to manage files and such?

 

[OSW]

i'm pretty sure that the M3Sakura loader doesn't utilize the EZ4's ram like it does with the M3 expansion packs. Of course as with any card other homebrew programs can utilize the ez4.

 

[teH XeRO]

yea i love my ez4...have always liked ez flash products..had an ezII that still works awesome..i never tried out the 5 though. well anyways, back on topic, i put in my order for the m3real perfect bundle from real hot stuff and my 4gb sdhc transcend from newegg..cant wait to try it out when it arrives. i'm selling my r4 :-( but it's definitely time to upgrade. my last question is if managing any files on the expansion is necessary (like through a feature in the sakura loader)..either way i'm sure i'll figure it out as it should be coming to my house soon :-)

 

[Joe88]

yea i love my ez4...have always liked ez flash products..had an ezII that still works awesome..i never tried out the 5 though. well anyways, back on topic, i put in my order for the m3real perfect bundle from real hot stuff and my 4gb sdhc transcend from newegg..cant wait to try it out when it arrives. i'm selling my r4 :-( but it's definitely time to upgrade. my last question is if managing any files on the expansion is necessary (like through a feature in the sakura loader)..either way i'm sure i'll figure it out as it should be coming to my house soon :-)

you just put all your GBA games into a folder called "GBA" that will be on the root of the MicroSD card
you can select them from there with some options and boot it

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Yeah, no managing on expansions, everything goes automatically....You just place GBA games on the microSD that goes in slot 1, and Real will flash your GBA expansion on it's own..

 

[shiroitaka]

Anyone know where to get the official mem expansion? i can find a ez flash that ships to uk just not the official

 

[Fat D]

I know a German shop that sells it for €15 (including VAT, not including €10 shipping to European countries that are not Germany and Austria). The whole price would be €25, or about 20 british pounds.

http://lioncast.de/products/NDS-Backup-Mod...S-NDS-Lite.html