GBA Issues with saving GBA games using M3 Expansion pack

[astronomer]

Hello



I have been using a M3 Expansion pack to play GBA games on my DS lite, together with a R4i Gold Pro. I play them by GBA Exploader. The games work fine, but keeping my save games have been unstable. Sometimes it is able to save just fine, other times when I will play the game, the file has disappeared or it does not remember my last save, but some older one. I would like to know what is the best way to deal with this issue.

I have thought about changing the Expansion pack battery, but I do not have the tools or skills for that. Also, since it saves sometimes, I am not sure if this is the issue.

I have installed Twilight Menu and the GBARunner2, which seems to play fine. But I have read in older guides that its saves may corrupt the SD Card. Is that still the case?

I also considered playing GBA games using YS menu, but I am not being able to save in them. When I try doing that, the game says that saving has failed. Also, I believe YS menu would not solve the issue, since it also saves firstly in the Expansion pack.

Some other ideas that crossed my mind to solve the issue:

Would it be possible to use a tool that allows creating backup files to the SD card of my GBA games without having to back it up in the computer every time?

Also, is there any good firmware that allows using Real Time Save for GBA games?

Should I just always turn on the DS after shutting off after playing GBA, to make sure the save game file goes to my SD card?

Any other ideas are welcome.

Thank you

 

[Takokeshi]

Battery could still be the issue, it could just be low enough to where it's sometimes enough to keep the save and sometimes not.

If you power off and back on quickly, it might not be losing power long enough for sram to lose its data. but if you leave it powered off long enough before powering back on, it has plenty of time to lose its data.

 

[astronomer]

Battery could still be the issue, it could just be low enough to where it's sometimes enough to keep the save and sometimes not.

If you power off and back on quickly, it might not be losing power long enough for sram to lose its data. but if you leave it powered off long enough before powering back on, it has plenty of time to lose its data.

Thanks for the reply. I have already considered changing the battery, but was not able to find a professional that could do that. I am too afraid of doing it myself and screwing the flashcard lol. This "turn off-turn on" method, I basically have to turn on and go to the first screen of my R4 card? or do I have to go to GBA exploader every time?

 

[RocketRobz]

GBARunner2 no longer corrupts the SD card.
Also, by using TWLMenu++, the native method is used by default, instead of GBARunner2, so make sure "Native > GBARunner2" is set in TWLMenu++ Settings.
Your M3 flashcard should be compatible with the native method. If not, it'll use GBARunner2 instead.

 

[astronomer]

GBARunner2 no longer corrupts the SD card.
Also, by using TWLMenu++, the native method is used by default, instead of GBARunner2, so make sure "Native > GBARunner2" is set in TWLMenu++ Settings.
Your M3 flashcard should be compatible with the native method. If not, it'll use GBARunner2 instead.

Thanks! I think I will keep using GBArunner for now until I change the cartridge battery. At least for what I have checked online, most of the games I want to play should work fine in it.