Emulation Slot 2 GBA emulator

[Mikomaxless]

I've been reading the forum about this a bit, but I still can't seem to find an answer.

Is there a slot-2 device, that fits comfortably in the DS lite, and plays GBA roms from a micro SD card?

I know there's stuff out there like the flash memory, but I don't want to have to upload the file to the slot-2 device every single time I want to play a game.

It would be perfect, if it was basically just an R4 for GBA games.

 

[roadbusta]

The Supercard lite and the M3 Perfect both have removable MicroSD to which you can copy GBA ROMs onto. If you want compatibility, go for the M3 Perfect, for a cheaper price, go for a Supercard Lite. However, to play the Games, you need to patch them through the flashcart specific software first.

 

[Rayder]

The Supercard lite and the M3 Perfect both have removable MicroSD to which you can copy GBA ROMs onto. If you want compatibility, go for the M3 Perfect, for a cheaper price, go for a Supercard Lite. However, to play the Games, you need to patch them through the flashcart specific software first.

Another thing about the Supercards......they slow down in many GBA games. It is said that the M3 perfect does not. I can't confirm that though as I have no M3 Perfect, but I DO know that the Supercards slot2's slow down in games. I have one and it sucks for that reason. Wish I would have bought the M3 Perfect......still might.

 

[suppachipmunk]

I can confirm that the M3 Perfect does not have any slowdowns in the 50+ games I have tried on it. It may take a little fiddling with to get the right settings for all the games correct,
but this wiki should tell all u need to know.

http://www.m3wiki.com/index.php/M3_gba_roms

Hope this helps. I have the M3 Perfect Mini SD card version if that makes a difference. I use a 1GB Silicon Power 133X card formatted FAT16 64K cluster.

 

[uberusmaximus]

ezflash 3-in-1 works great, but you have to flash games on 1 at a time, but there aren't any slowdowns or patching that you have to do.

also you need a slot 1 card btw.

 

[SleepingDragon]

This is what I've done. Since I utilize Cyclo DS Evolution for all my slot 1 stuff, the EZ Flash 3 in 1 has been perfect. It's only about $20, and I can access all my GBA roms directly from the Cyclo DS Evo screen (the latest Cyclo firmware update makes this possible). This means you don't need extra software like GBAexploader. It's a really sweet set-up.

1. Slot 1 - Cyclo DS Evo w/Sandisk 8GB microsdhc. All my DS and GBA roms are stored here.
2. Slot 2 - EZ Flash 3 in 1 - this allows me to play all the GBA games that are stored on the Cyclo.

 

[Mikomaxless]

Well, I've got an R4.

I know the R4's max size only goes up to 2gb, so that's what I have in it right now, and I'm only using around 1gb of it.

If I was to use the EZ Flash 3-in-1, would that work with my R4? If it does, could I find some sort of guide how to get it all working? Also, I've heard stuff about saves not actually staying. Could you explain that a bit?

Mostly because I don't want to have to do patching of GBA roms or anything like that, seems a bit complicated. D:

 

[Rayder]

I have the SCminiSD.....I have a 2gig card in it....

214 GBA games
76 Colecovision games
335 NES games
26 Sega Master System games.

All at the same time. (not kidding)


A slot2 with a memory card is VERY nice to have. 3in1's tap your slot1 card's SD to store the ROMs that will be used on it. That is unacceptable for me.

I like having the mega-arcade in my pocket for whatever mood I might be in. 3in1's are very limiting in that respect. Get the M3 Perfect. The initial high price will pay for itself very quickly.

 

[Another World]

i own both a m3 lite and an ez 3-in-1. the m3 lite is a full flash kit that does nds and gba. i can also use it for the ram expansion (with certain homebrew). the 3-in-1 can also be used for ram expansion and additionally adds a very crappy rumble function.

the 3-in-1 does contain NOR memory which you can use to permanently store a .gba rom/homebrew. data saved here will be retained after you shut down your nds thanks to the sram battery. the cart also contains PSRAM which has to be written to each time you use the kit, this will require you to hold your .gba roms on your slot1 kit. any save data for this ram has to be dumped or risk over writing. the only real problem with this kit is the battery is a little hard to find a replacement for, and requires solder to replace. this isn't really a problem as the battery should last for years. the cost of this kit is so dirt cheap from dealexteme (with free shipping) you should just pick one up to play with it. i actually only got it for quake2 but now i find i use it more often for gba.

the m3 however adds cheat functionality, save states, and other nice features. the gba compatibility is very good, as i've tried over 200 games on it.

i love both kits so it is hard for me to really say which is better. it comes down to what you want to do with the kit. if you are simply looking to play gba games then get a 3-in-1 and dl the gba exp loader tools that rudolph coded. but if you want another 2 gigs in your slot2 to hold gba/nds/homebrew/movies/etc then pick up a m3 lite.

goodluck,
-another world

 

[Jack Bauer 2007]

Sorry if this is a stupid question. I have a G6DS Real but I want to play some GBA games. If I get the EZ 3-in-1, A) how do I upload games to it, and B) can I run them using my G6DS Real to boot with?

I don't want to throw away my G6DS Real but I want to be able to play GBA games, so what is the simplest easiest way to do this? I have no idea what all the technical jargon about memory type means, I just want to be able to play (and save) GBA games.

Thanks a lot for any advice.

 

[thedicemaster]

G6real with ez-flash 3 in 1 is like almost any other slot-1.
you'll need to put a loader(GBA EXPloader) on your G6(homebrew program)
then you make the folders defined in the gbaexploader ini file an put your GBA games in the specified folders on your G6
everytime you want to play a GBA game you load it with GBA EXPloader

 

[Minox]

G6real with ez-flash 3 in 1 is like almost any other slot-1.
you'll need to put a loader(GBA EXPloader) on your G6(homebrew program)
then you make the folders defined in the gbaexploader ini file an put your GBA games in the specified folders on your G6
everytime you want to play a GBA game you load it with GBA EXPloader

Or you can flash a Gba-rom to the 3-in-1's Norflash and use it almost as a real Gba-cartridge.

 

[Jack Bauer 2007]

Thanks so much for the replies.

So I get GBA EXP Loader, I put it onto the G6 (and DLDI patch it?), edit the ini file to see my GBA ROM directory stored on the G6 (I've got 30mb of ROMs that I want to play so they wouldn't fit onto the EZ 3-in-1 I'm sure) and then it will play the GBA games? So where does the EZ 3-in-1 come into it? Is it still required because of the special GBA memory on it?

I rarely play on the DS so I can't justify spending £££s, so I want to keep the G6 and find a solution using that. I've read you need a SLOT 2 device to play GBA games though, so I'm presuming the cheapest easiest device I can get to play GBA games with is the EZ 3-in-1...?

 

[Fat D]

the games are transferred to a volatile (or semi-permanent, your choice which to use) memory from the Slot-1 card, then the DS is turned into a GBA, access to Slot-1 is cut off and you play the game that was stored in slot-1 from slot-2.

 

[Shyvnal]

Jack Bauer:
Theres 2 different modes with the 3in1
Run the loader and you will have 2 modes, psram and nor. Nor will act like a real game, you can run it like you would a real gba game.
psram is a little different, you write the game to the ram and its on until you turn it off, when you turn it back on and run the loader, it will let you save the... save.
nor is slower but supports 32mb roms
psram is faster but only supports 16mb roms and less

 

[Jack Bauer 2007]

Thank you again for the replies, they're all really helpful. I've now purchased an EZ 3-in-1 that should be arriving next week, and I've placed GBA Exp Loader onto the G6DS (I read it would automatically DLDI patch once I ran it, so I ran it to make sure it started and it did).

I've put the GBA Exp Loader.NDS file into the NDS directory and the INI file in the root of the card, and made the GBA directories specified in the INI. The ROMs I will place in a seperate ROM directory.

Have I missed anything?

I would like the PSRAM and NOR stuff explaining a little more, if anyone can please fill me in on that. The ROMs I will be using it for are all 8mb or less, so does that mean I should run them using PSRAM (because it's faster)? I don't understand how I would save though, do I physically turn the DS off, then when I turn on it lets me save somehow, as is said above? How does that work?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I get this right...

 

[Mic_128]

I've got an R4 and the EZ 3 in 1. Only really started to look at GBA emulators on the DS due to the Mother 3 translation coming out, which has said will be 32 megabytes. Is that something the R4 can do, and if so, would I need to follow the same steps as Jack, above me?

 

[Dr Eggman]

I've got an R4 and the EZ 3 in 1. Only really started to look at GBA emulators on the DS due to the Mother 3 translation coming out, which has said will be 32 megabytes. Is that something the R4 can do, and if so, would I need to follow the same steps as Jack, above me?

Well, you need the EZ Flash 3 in 1 expansion pack. Then, download Rudolph's GBA ExpLoader. You can load Mother 3 into NOR, but not into PSRAM as it is 32mb. The original rom and the Menu Patch both work fine.

 

[heraymo]

i have a m3izero and a ezflash 3in1 how to i make this run gba its been driving me nuts would appreciate any help XD

 

[Coto]

i have a m3izero and a ezflash 3in1 how to i make this run gba its been driving me nuts would appreciate any help XD

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=GBAExploader

; )