Hacking Suggestions for a GBA/SP cart only.

[spedmetal]

It has been a long time since I dabbled in the GBA scene. In fact I do not have a NDS/lite and do not plan on getting one any time soon. I do have a GBA and a GBA-SP, both with F2A 256M carts. One has some issue were it wont have games at all and the other just recently wont boot into the OS that lets you upload new games. So to get to the point I'm in the market for a new flash cart. Back when I purchased these F2A's they were the new hot thing. Now I see many new options, some that use miniSD cards and what not. I have been looking over this forum as well as other places on the net and many google searches and still cant find a 100% good answer and with all these new carts I'm a little lost.

Cost inst too much of an issue, but a reasonable price would be nice. I would like to store lots of games so a large cart would also be nice. I do not need it to be compatible with NDS at all. I did find the these

http://www.xbox-modchips.com/gba-products.htm

Which all "look" good but then I look at others like the G6 and question what I'm looking for. I have read through the reviews here but get lost when they start talking about the NDS stuff and I get lost in what I'm looking for. What are the benefits of the SD type of carts if any or disadvantages of them? This one looked good, the EZ-FLASH 4 miniSD ...

http://www.gameyeeeah.com/ezflash-iv-minisd-p-55.html

and I could get a 1GB miniSD card for it and have loads of games on it, but then there is the EZ-FLASH 5? Which I'm thinking I dont really need when I only plan to use it with a GBA/SP

Any thought or suggestions would help a lot. Thanks!

 

[W hat]

EZ Flash 5 is DS. The EZ-Flash IV is a good cheap cart from what I've read, the only issue being no real time clock, meaning time based events in Boktai and Pokemon won't work without a patch.

 

[archagon]

SD cards are great. I can store ~90 GBA games on my M3, which is unbelievable when compared to the paltry 2-5 game capacity of my F2A.

AFAIK, there are no real disadvantages to SD memory unless your cart doesn't have any RAM. (If it doesn't, your games will have to be burned to the cart's NOR before playing -- which takes as long as it does with your F2A. Most modern carts do have RAM, however.)

 

[spedmetal]

@W hat

That you for pointing that out. I assumed RTC would also be a feature of the EZ4 since the older EZ3 had it.... strange move by EZ to remove this feature

@archagon

Yes I'm leaning towards the SD carts a little now myself. Is this the one you have? But the EZ3 still looks like a good contender for the GBA only consumer.

http://www.gameyeeeah.com/m3-perfect-minis...inisd-p-29.html

Thanks for your replies they are very helpful.

 

[archagon]

I have the Lite version of that, which is ~the same size as a DS Lite dust cover.

I personally wouldn't get an M3 if I were you, as they tend to be overpriced. Get one of the EZs. (I'm only familiar with the EZ-Flash Lite IV, which allegedly has slightly different specs than the ordinary GBA-sized EZ-Flash IV.)

 

[spedmetal]

Well I went with the EZ4 mini-SD cart and a Sandisk 2GB mini-SD card. The RTC issue doesn't really seem to be a big deal since its only really needed for the Pokemon series and one other series, and it appears that these can be addresses with patches. I will report back on how the EZ4 mini-SD cart suits my needs when I get it. Thank for all your help.

EDIT: I read this in the doc's ....

"Copy the ezfla_up.bin file to your Mini-SD card. Hold the R Trigger and turn on your DS. The Loader will update. Ensure the file is not called ezfla_up.bin.bin due to windows hiding file extentions. "

Will this same process work by holding the R Trigger on my GBA?

 

[spedmetal]

Well my EZ4 mini-SD finally showed up from gameyeeeah and I must say that this was a great purchase and I thank the ones that recommended it. The skinning support is great on the loader, and I have upgraded the loader with no issues at all. Simply put his is a great product. Now to get a second one for my GBA SP!

 

[jon_jon]

The EZ-4 mini-SD is a nice cart for the GBA. It's relatively inexpensive and plays a high percentage of games. Sometimes you have to wait for the games to load, but it's only a few seconds.