M3 DS Real Guide I decided to add to my M3 guides with the next cart from the M3 team, the M3 DS Real. This guide is a work in progress and is not yet complete, the main part of getting the cart setup and running DS games is done but most of the extra features have not yet been covered, also unlike my other two guides I am probably going to add pictures to this one (mainly as I realllly like the GUI). For the most part this guide also applies to the G6 DS Real but obviously the microSD section(s) can be skipped. Where to Buy If you do not yet have an M3 DS Real you can purchase it from one of the following stores: Divineo http://kicktrading.ca/ http://www.realhotstuff.com/ http://www.ishopvideogame.com/ (originally http://www.gameyeeeah.com/) MicroSD Card The M3 DS Real supports both standard microSD cards and microSDHC cards. Standard microSD cards go upto 4GB in size and microSDHC cards can theoretically go upto 32GB, currently the highest SDHC card available is 8GB. You can purchase a microSD(HC) card from any online electronics store (e.g ebuyer, newegg) and most high street electronics stores. Formatting The M3 can read both FAT (aka FAT16) and FAT32 filesystems, for the M3 Real what format you choose should not matter so I would recommend FAT32 as it has more benefits over FAT. To format your microSD in Windows connect your card to the computer using the included card reader (or if using an SDHC card using an SDHC reader), go to "My Computer" (or just "Computer" in Vista) right-click on the microSD card (it will show as a Removable Drive) and choose ‘Format’, in the format Window choose FAT32 as the filesystem. I would also recommend labelling the card ‘M3 DS Real’ or similar so it is easily identifiable when connected to your PC, leave any other options blank then click format, once done you can copy the system files onto the card. Loader (System/Firmware...) The latest loader is 'v3.7e' The loader is what gives the M3 its features, without it the card cannot operate. You can download the latest loader from here. Once downloaded simply open the zip file and drag the "SYSTEM" folder onto your microSD card. (should there not be a SYSTEM folder, simply create one on your MicroSD and drag all the files from the .zip into it) On the first boot you will be asked what language to use, you can change the language later if you wish. Done! The M3 is now setup and ready to be used, You can play your backed up DS games, DS homebrew, and also use the M3 teams modified Moonshell media player (aka media-extend). The M3 requires that you place game files in specific folders to work correctly: - DS Games need to be placed in a folder called NDS - DS Homebrew needs to be placed in the root of the microSD card Music, Picture and Video files can be placed anywhere on the card as Moonshell has it's own file browser. NDS Game Options This section is to explain the various options you can choose when loading a DS game: - Cheat Switch This will turn on/off the cheat system, when you turn it on you will get a small pop-up to tell you how you can disable and enable the cheats while in-game; Select+Left Enables Cheats, Select+Right Disables Cheats. - Soft-Reset Key This allows you to turn on the soft-reset function, when enabled you can press your selected key combo to quit the game your currently playing and return to the M3 menu. There are two different combinations to choose from; L+R+A+B+X or L+R+A+B+Y, there is not any difference in what combo you choose so just pick the one that seems easier for you to press. - Slow Motion Switch The slow motion switch lest you choose the key combo that enables/disbales the slow motion mode while in-game, you can choose between L+Select or R+Select, like with the Soft-Reset combo there is no difference between what one you choose however should one interfere with the game you have the option to use the other. - Slow Motion Level The slow motion level changes the 'slowness' of the slow motion mode, there are fiive to choose from, with Level 5 being the slowest through to level 1 being the "least slow", the level cannot be changed while in-game. Cheats The M3 DS Real uses Action replay codes for its cheats, you can download a pre-made list from the M3 website. Chances are the list on the M3 website is out of date, you can create your own list by using part of the guide by DVDBack23: Simply copy the XML file onto your M3, it can go anywhere you like (I put it in the System folder) To use these cheats on a game you go into the settings menu of the game (where you can choose soft-reset etc.) and choose "Select File..." this will take you to a file browser where you can then find and select your cheat file. Once you have selected the cheat file you can now go to the "Cheat" tab at the top of the screen and simply choose what cheats you want, when you have chosen your cheats, go back to the game settings make sure the cheat switch is set to on and then load the game Saves The M3 automatically creates a save file when you load a game for the first time, you can then save in the game as you would with an original cartridge. The M3 can have two save files per game, you can switch between these by highlighting the game and pressing 'Select' the saves are kept on the microSD using the file formats .0, .1, and .2 (Note: In the most recent firmwares the .0 file is now .sav, this is in preparation for a brand new loader that is currently being developed) The .0 (shown in the M3 menu as 'Default') is the save currently being used by the game, save .1 and .2 are backup saves, you can copy the default save into either of these and then copy it back whenever you like. You also have the option to delete the .0 save file by choosing the "Blank" option. You can technically have three save files by using .0, .1 and .2, however you cannot switch between the saves without losing one. The save system is not the easiest for me to explain but it should make more sense if/when you use it. Of course you can just leave it alone and it'll work fine DS Homebrew Comming soon... M3-Moonshell (media-extend) Comming soon... PDADS Comming soon... Settings The settings on the M3 are quite simple, there are currently only four: - BootIcon This can be changed to Yes or No, when set to yes the M3 will not automatically load when you turn the DS on, instead it will go to the DS menu and you can load the M3 from there (useful if you use PictoChat or Download Play alot) Note: For some reason you can only choose NO at the moment, hopefully this will be changed in a future firmware update - Skin This option lets you choose what skin to use, the skins are kept in the SYSTEM folder on your card and are in the folders appropriatly named "skin1", "skin2" etc. The default option uses the default skin in the M3 firmware. - Shortcut The shortcut options allows you to choose where the M3 loads to when turned on, the main menu (with the 7 icons) or straight to your game list. - System System is actually just a language selector, generally you shouldn't need to change this as the M3 asks for your langauage when you first use it, but the option is there should you ever need to change it. GBA Games With the use of the GBA Expansion pack the M3 Real can also play GBA games directly from its menu, unlike any other setup of this type the M3 Real does not need the games to be patched before copying them to the card. Simply drag the games onto your MicroSD card (preferably in a folder called "GBA"). The M3 Real has three options you can choose from when loading a GBA game: - Cheat Switch This enables or disables cheats for the game, you can allocate a cheat file by choosing "Select File..." and browsing to the cheat file for that game. - RTSave Switch This allows you to turn on or off the Real Time Save feature, when turned on you can press "L+R+A+B" while in-game and save your progress whenever you want, you can use the same key-combo to return to exactly where you saved, this is particularly useful for those games which use save points (so you cannot save whenever you want) or games which only use passwords. Not all games work with RTS, some may just not work when you try the key-combo, others may suffer noises or graphical glitches when you load the save. Most games will work, but there will be a few games which won't. - Method This is how the M3 loads the game, there are two loading methods: - Patch, providing you have enabled them this will load the game with the necessary patches to use cheats and RTS, it will also apply any other patches the game may require to run. - Fast Load, this I assume is meant to load the GBA game faster (and maybe without applying any patches?) but in my experience it doesn't seem to make any difference if this is selected, so for now at least just ignore it. GBA games can also be loaded from the M3 Real menu when you have any of the Slot2 M3 Perfect range inserted in slot 2, I have tested this with my M3CF and it has also been confirmed to work with the M3 MiniSD, RTS seems to not work or be much more limited when using these to play GBA games. In-Built Emulators Comming soon... UPDATE REGARDING LACK OF GUIDE UPDATES: I am currently waiting for the M3 team to officially release the English version of their Sakura firmware, I will then re-write the guide for it. For those who want the Sakura firmware now the very talented people at GBAtemp.net have translated the Asian firmware into English.
great cant wait till the english one comes out. maybe ill get it and give my cousin my r4ds. but i dont think there is any Micro-SD (non SDHC) that is 4gb. if so can you link an example for where you found it?
Back before SDHC there were some 4GB microSD cards, they're very, very difficult to find now but they do exist. I'm also looking forward to the English version, though i'm short on cash so probably won't get one until next year. I've been playing with the GBA feature and it really does blow away any other Slot1 to Slot2 GBA solution (including the EZFlash 3-1) the M3 team really put alot of thought into it.
so the m3 as a built-in gba feature? and does it also include the expansion pack so something like the ds browser can be used without a 3-in-1 or something like that? maybe motion sensor (that would be cool for some of the home brew motion games). if the m3 real comes out with all these cool stuff ill plan on getting it. hope it finished quickly with the english version.
If you get the M3 bundle pack you'll get a GBA expansion pak (with ram) and a rumble pak. With the GBA pak inserted in slot2 you can run GBA games directly from the M3 Reals interface, no patching beforehand is required and you can also use real time save (save anywhere) for most games, and although I havn't tested this yet it looks like it also has cheat functions. But the way it does it all is really seemless, unlike the EZFlash 3-1 which you need to wait for the game to copy over or worry if you would lose your save by switching over to the PSRAM fast load method etc. The only real advantage of the EZFlash is the game stays on the EZFlash after turn off but the M3 needs to have the game loaded everytime (which dosn't take long anyway) I havn't tested the browser but I have been told it will work with the GBA/RAM pak included in the bundle edition. There isn't a motion sensor, however I think it would of added unnecessary costs as few people would use that feature. The M3 loader also has some built in emulators (as one of my headings mentions) so you can just drag say a NES rom onto the card and it'll work (the emulator is GBA mode so you'll need the GBA cart inserted). Not sure what other emulators there are as i've only tested NES, but i'll assume there is at a Gameboy and maybe Gameboy Colour emulators too.
Excellent new guide there, Mr Hanky, I hope this one is as good as the one for the Simply. Have you got any idea's where I could get this from that delivers to the UK?
I have not looked into where this can be bought from yet, when I do I will add a "Where to buy" section.
Hi I just found this a uk online shop selling ds real english versions http://www.modchipfitters.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=465]
mr_hanky Five lines of text maximum for sigs, I count six in yours...need to remove one per forum rules.
I think it's within forum rules now. According to firefox the image is exactly 500px by 100px and i only have 3 lines of text. Surely the picture takes up more space than the 3 lines of text did? never mind, rules are rules.
Thanks for this review m8 , I just purchased the full bundle from echostore.com for 58 bucks shipped using a 10 percent off code.
UK folk can buy the M3 DS REAL here, 2 diff bundles in stock, 100% english version. www.AddictSupplies.com
Soooo quick question.. the GBA expansion to be able to play GBA games.... what kind of memory does it take? MicroSD? That would suck because first I had a regular m3 that took full SD, then I got the mini, which took miniSD, and well as of late, I am getting disappointed with it, as I have to do the arm7 fix for most of the new games, and newest games like Megaman ZX Advent dont even work at all yet even with the arm7 fix. Plus, we all know that the cheats option on the m3 simply are kinda retarded... and I am liking the way it looks that I would just be able to drag files over without going through a manager.
GBA expansion slot 2 cards use the memory in the slot 1 device, thats where the GBA roms are stored, so with the M3 real for example, micro sd, or micro SDHC.
Thanks much for this. I am really excited about this product! -> Does the M3 DS Real allow you to play trimmed roms? <- This would seem ideal for games like Bleach as (per your screenshot) it is a massive 1024MB. Thanks and keep up the great work. I am looking forward to reading more about the built-in emulators and the GBA functionality.
Ah ok, so you wouldnt need a seperate memory card for the slot 1 and one for the slot 2 to allow you to play the GBA games? You would only need 1 memory card? I think thats what you are saying. Awesome.
Rightoes, I have had no internet for the last few days so haven't been able to do add anything to the guide, I should be able to work more on it tomorrow. Also it is unlikely that I will have internet from Monday until about Wednesday. The GBA expansion uses built in memory, no extra memory cards required. The GBA games are stored on the M3 Real card and are loaded onto the GBA expansion to play them, loading takes about 3 seconds, if you use cheats it can vary from 4-8 seconds depending how big the cheat file is. You can use trimmed roms, however as shown in my screenshot I don't usually bother.
