Hacking Saving...

[kaks]

I dont understand saving on the flashcarts.
So when i play a game on the EZ4 (NDS game), i need to switch it off, then on again to enable saving?

Does this happen with the other flashcarts, as well?

thanks

 

[Mucuna]

Well, I've a M3 MiniSD.

I just leave the autosave on. (never even look at this option. That is the default).

When you save a game (the game can have autosave or save points, doesn't matter) the save is in the SRAM of the flashcart. When you turn it off and then turnit on again the cart will write the save file on you memory (SD, MiniSD, etc).

Just need to remember that you must turn it on once more when you quit playing and turns it off. You will see a screen saying that the flashcart is saving the, uh... save!

Really no mysteries.

 

[FAST6191]

The games get saved to the SRAM of the cart upon rebooting you are given the option (or it is forced if you choose the option) to save it to the memory card. Upon booting a rom the save is copied back again.
This is done as you can fit several hundred games on your memory card and trying to get a piece of sram big enough would be expensive as hell (DS games currently use up to 512Kilobytes) .

Some older carts being small only use the SRAM and I believe the supercard dodges the SRAM to memory card deal by saving direct to the memory card, this being said the SRAM to memory card/section concept has been used for quite a few years now and has been proven reliable.

 

[KidIce]

So when i play a game on the EZ4 (NDS game), i need to switch it off, then on again to enable saving?

I do want to make one thing clear, your save will happily live in SRAM until yo use your EZ4 next... Unless you DS sessions are so far apart the cart's battery fails (it would take months)

You do not have to quick power cycle (QPC) your DS to have the saves write to your SD on an EZ4, or any other such thing. The copy of your save from SRAM to SD will get done automaticaly w/ normal use. The only time you would have to do anything regarding said copying is if you choose to skip it. If you're worried that there is some new step you will need to perform while using an EZ4 regarding saves, there isn't, unless you count NOT touching the screen or pressing a button durring the copy process.

I think your confusion may be from the Super Card requiring a QPC for GBA games to save to the removable media. AFAIK, it's the only cart that requires this, and only w/ GBA games.

 

[kaks]

My main confusion is that someone said that the SC has no battery, so i thought it just saves somewhere on the cart, without having to switch it on and off.

Well anyway, thanks everyone

.

If the battery dies, the cart would still work though, no saving?

 

[Rayout]

the Supercard series does not have battery backed up RAM. For NDS saves it simply saves the file to the memory card. No harm no foul. For GBA games though, you must manually press a button combination to enter "save mode" and save to ensure your game data is recorded (aka you need to save your data in game, then enter save mode and save for the supercard to write your .sav onto the card). Boy is that a mouthful!

With the M3 series, there is battery backed RAM that automatically keeps the data in its RAM until you use it again. This means there is less trouble for GBA games as it records all the data as soon as you restart your ds. However this means it has to do this for NDS games too. Also, after the battery dies (which probably will take years), in order to save you need to quickly turn off your NDS and then restart it hoping the RAM doesn't lose any data for it to save.

 

[KidIce]

If the battery dies, the cart would still work though, no saving?

The battery recharges while the cart is in use, it's not something one should worry about. I only mentioned it as a possibility more as a joke then anything. Really, you would have to not use your cart for 5-6 months for the battery to run dry. In the event that the battery could no longer hold a charge, doing a QPC would probably work for transfering the saves to SD... Of course replacing the battery wouldn't be very difficult for anyone w/ even basic soldering skills.