Running GBA games from the CycloDS menu
Running a GBA game in your CycloDS is easy. Simply put the game on your MicroSD card in whatever folder you wish, and then browse to it on your CycloDS.
For best results, it is HIGHLY recommended that you upgrade your firmware to 1.5. 1.5 made strides in the GBA support, which was still somewhat shaky in earlier revisions. Most of these kinks and issues have been worked out by Team Cyclops.
However, this feature is fairly new to CycloDS, and it was, in the early stages, being frequently reported on GBAtemp that games were failing to save, and in some cases existing saves were being lost. While these problems have been, for the most part, fixed, some people who do not think that the support is good enough yet would be recommended leaving this function disabled, and in the meantime, you can still use the very reliable GBA Exploader as detailed below.
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[edit] Running GBA games using Rudolph's ExpLoader
1) Get your CycloDS up and running with the latest firmware & Moonshell - Both the instructions and files can be found on the official Team Cyclops site's support page.
2) Download Soft Resetand place it in the root directory of your memory card (this is required for rumble functionality).
3) Download the latest GBA Exploader package from Rudolph's
Blog and place it where you'd like on your memory card.
4) Go to your MicroSD drive and create three folders in the root directory entitled GBA, GBA_SIGN and GBA_SAVE. If you prefer, you can change the properties to hidden so that they aren't visible on the Cyclo's game menu.
5) Grab all your GBA Rom backups (.gba files) and copy them to the the GBA directory.
6) If you have any GBA save files you'd like to keep ( .sav files), copy them to the GBA_SAVE folder.
7) Now pop your card into your Evolution cart and insert the cart into the DS ... boot up CycloDS... click on Games/Homebrew.... and run the GBA_ExpLoader app.
8) You should now see a list of all your backup GBA games. These can be run from PSRAM memory or NOR memory. To avoid save file conflicts it is recommended you do not put the same ROM in both memories. A third battery powered SRAM memory will hold your latest (different) save in both NOR and PSRAM modes.
Toggle the mode of the EZ Flash using the shoulder buttons.
When using PSRAM mode, you will be prompted to save the latest 'SRAM' save you made in-game to a .sav file each time you boot ExpLoader, so using this mode you don't need to worry about save files - just agree to the back up each time you boot ExpLoader.
In NOR mode, your latest save will be held by the allocated SRAM indefinitely. Remember to copy your SRAM save to a .sav file before copying a new game to NOR - this can be achieved by using the 'Write SRAM to SAV file' command in NOR mode (press B). When copying a new game to NOR, you can use the opposite 'Load SAV file to SRAM file' command (press Y) to restore a previous save.
(
http://cyclods.theta.in/wiki/EZFlash_V_3-i...he_CycloDS_menu)
Oh and QUOTEPSRAM? NOR? Huh...? Wha...?
There are two "storages" for the ROM in the EZFlash. These are PSRAM, and NOR. For most games, PSRAM will be all that is required; it is much faster to write to than NOR. However, it isn't "permanent" and so it will be lost when you turn the power off. Your save will not be affected by this (In fact, it will be written to your MicroSD the next time you boot your CycloDS), and neither will the game ROM on your MicroSD - it just won't stay in the permanent memory of the cart. Again, just because the game does not stay in the PSRAM does not mean your saves or the Game ROM will be deleted. Your Save is held in a seperate, battery-backed SRAM, which will be moved to your MicroSD card upon the next boot, and the ROM will still be on your MicroSD until you choose to remove it. For most games, therefore, PSRAM is clearly the better choice.
However, if the game is 32 MB, or if you want it to stay in place more permanently, you can press SELECT to cycle between PSRAM and NOR modes. NOR is a kind of Flash Memory, and writing a game to it will be somewhat slower. However, unlike with PSRAM, the game will stay written to it until a new game is written to NOR memory, and the game will boot instantly when selected from the CycloDS menu. Note that only one game can be written to NOR memory at a time - you cannot, say, put two 16 MB games into the NOR memory at once. It is really only meant for those few large 32 MB GBA ROMs. NOR mode MUST be used if the ROM is 32 MB, as the EZFlash only comes with 16 MB of PSRAM. The two modes are described in detail as follows:
[edit] PSRAM Mode
PSRAM is temporary memory, from which the game will disappear after powering off, and it supports ROMs up to 16 MB. Copying to this RAM is much faster, so it is suited to users playing various games for shorter periods.
Games are not stored in PSRAM between power cycles; however, your game save data is saved in a battery-backed SRAM that is automatically saved to your MicroSD if you are using the built-in CycloDS booting, or you will be prompted to save, if using GBA Exploader.
[edit] NOR Mode
NOR is semi-permanent memory which will allow your EZ-flash to mimic a GBA cartridge and supports roms up to 32MB. The game will remain in NOR until you copy over it; and can be run from the DS Boot menu.
Games in NOR mode will act like real, legitimate games as far as the DS is concerned - you can remove your CycloDS and the game will boot without problems. If you have the older, "Fat" EZFlash, you can also use it on an original GBA.
Saves, in NOR mode, will be automatically transferred if using the CycloDS firmware, but must be manually transferred if using GBA Exploader (details are given in the Exploader section). Please note that Team Cyclops do not officially support the running of NOR saved ROMs from the DS start menu, and if using the official firmware you should always boot from within the CycloDS menu regardless of the memory you are using. If you want to boot directly from the DS menu, then you will need to use Exploader to manually back up your save to the SD card.
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