Requesting Help in Decision

Hello everyone,

I am a new member to this amazing board I came across online. I just recently got a DS lite and was debating which modchip to buy for my DS lite. Some of my requirements are:

1. Best GBA game compatibility
2. Best DS game compatibility (ofcourse)

One option was the G6 but I was wondering is there another flash cart out there that I can use with micro SD cards that will give me both GBA and DS support? or Maybe I can buy an M3 simply with another cheap but good solution for GBA game support in a slot 2 flash cart?

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

 

(to avoid flamers etc. this is all in my opinion)

Best GBA compatibilty:
M3 Perfect range

Best DS compatibility:
G6 DS Real

My recommended setup:
M3 DS Simply (or R4DS)
+
EZFlash 3-1
+
1GB (or 2GB) Japan Kingston MicroSD

 

Thanks Mr_hunky. does the M3 Simply coupled with the EZ 3 in 1 play almost every kind of GBA/DA game though? I especially like "Riviera: The Promised Land" and was wondering if this setup will play it ?

On another note, does the M3 Perfect play DS games as well? Does it come with its own memory or I can use an SD card with it?

Where can i get a Japan Kensington SD ?

P.S: What slot do you put Micro SD cards in?

 

Yes, it is my current setup (and i have quite a few different cards)

I havn't played Riviera: The Promised Land but can easily test it tommorow.

Yes, but you need a Passcard or M3DS simply to load it in NDS mode, DS games need to be patched with the M3 Gamemanager to work on an M3 Perfect. (I own the M3 Perfect CF) The M3 range uses memory cards, the type of memory card depends what M3 you get:
M3CF - Compact flash
M3SD - SD
M3MiniSD - MiniSD (fits original DS perfectly)
M3 Lite - MicroSD (fits DS lite perfectly)

The M3 Perfect also has 32MB of onboard memory used for GBA games and some DS games, it can also be used in conjunction with a slot-1 device (eg the M3 DS Simply) to run a patched version of the Nintendo internet browser.

DealExtreme have the Japan-made Kingston MicroSD available.

if using the setup I recommended you put the microSD in the M3 DS Simply.

 

So in essence there are two options

1. M3 Perfect + M3 DS Simply
2. EZ 3 in 1 + M3 DS Simply

So to clear this all:

In Option 1:
Slot1: M3-Simply + (Micro SD plugged into the M3 Simply?or I can't do this)
Slot2: M3- Perfect

If I can put a Micro SD into the M3 Simply in slot 1, then I can use it for saves and such for my GBA games that run on my M3-Perfect or not?


In Option 2:
Slot1: M3-Simply + Micro SD plugged into the M3 Simply
Slot2: EZ 3 in 1

Similarly as in option1, I can use the Micro SD card to play GBA games as well as save on it?

I would appreciate this highly. I also heard that loading is very slow or something on the EZ 3 in 1 + Simply combo cuz of some technical thing I read. Can you confirm or explain it for me and would it be able to handle most GBA games?

Thankyou for your input.

 

For "option1" you need a memory card in both the M3 Perfect and M3 Simply, and it is also quite an expensive (though popular) setup. The M3 Perfect and M3 Simply basically run as two seperate devices with little interaction between them. (you use the simply to boot the perfect, and use the ram in the perfect to run the internet browser on the simply, nothing more)

"option2" only requires the MicroSD in the simply, you store the GBA games on the Simply and copy them to the EZFlash when you want to use them, you can keep 1 game stored on the EZFlash at a time and load it instantly, changing games takes 1-2mins (depending on file sizes), there is also a faster loading option which uses the PSRAM of the EZFlash for almost instant loading, but it is temporary and must be loaded everytime you reboot the EZFlash. This option has both the simply and ezflash working together quite a bit, you also get rumble support and the browser ram. the only real downside to this setup is that GBA games need to be patched. This is the cheaper option of the two.

(p.ps excuse the long posts )

 

I guess I will go with the second option then. I don't have a lot of money to spend hehe. So basically, Load one GBA game at a time and play it whenever I want to. Does it stay in memory if i want to continue from where i left off for example Fire Emblem etc?

And the long posts are not a problem. > , I am asking and your replying and thankyou for your clear posts.

If you can check that Riviera works with option 2, that would be a stellar point. Thankyou.

Is the patching in option no.2 only for GBA games or DS games too?

Does the patching reduce some of the functionality of the games?

Will the M3 Simply load clean dumps of DS games without the need for patching them prehand?

Btw can you provide me alink to all the necessary software that I will need for option no.2 ? The patcher as well as the other files for the simply. The link in the guide just shows me a graphical image and goes nowhere from there.

 

Yep, after you have loaded the game onto it it acts just like a normal GBA game, you can play it in another ds etc. no simply required. When you change game the save is copied onto the microsd in the simply. (you need the simply to change games etc.)

Depends what you mean, save states (save wherever, whenever) i don't think they are supported, however standard saving is. (it acts exactly as the real game would)

Only GBA games, DS games do not need to be patched (though you can trim them to save space if you wish)

No, it is there to keep functionality (i.e saving) and in some cases it may add functionality.

Answered above

Will do tommorow along with my results of testing Riviera. Is 2:10am here and i'm off to bed.

 

Thankyou Mr Hanky. You've been a great help.

 

M3 DS Software:
http://m3adapter.com/SLOT-1/Download.htm
Download:
"System v1.06" (English) (Required)
"Moonshell-1.6 for M3DS Simply" (for Media playback, optional)
"M3DS Simply ROM Trimmer" (removespadding from roms, optional)

EZFlash 3-1 Software:
http://ds-scene.net/sub_section/downloads.php?s1=C&s2=83C&showfiles=1 (registration required)
Download:
"Rudolph´s EZ-Flash V 3-in-1 Tool" (v1.9) (program to utilise the 3-1) (Required)
"EZV 3-in-1 Ready Pack" (Slot-1 v1.0) (Includes the GBA patcher) (Required)

DLDI Patcher:
http://chishm.drunkencoders.com/DLDI/
Download:
"R4(DS) - Revolution for DS, M3 Simply compatible" (Required)
"Win32 GUI" (The DLDI patcher) (Required)

I'll go though how to use everything when you have downloaded it all

Also, I tested Riviera and it works perfectly in NOR mode , it is too big for PSRAM mode. (nor mode is slow to copy the game onto but it then stays on there until you want to change it. psram is fast to copy the game onto but you have to do it everytime you play the game)

 

Thankyou so much Mr Hanky. You have been a great help. Appreciate all the feedback and support.

 

ok I have everything downloaded mr_hanky. How do I fire all of this stuff up. Any help would be appreciated

 

Start by connecting the MicroSD to your computer (or if you don't have it yet create a folder and imagine it's the MicroSD )

Open the v1.06 download and copy the _DS_MENU.DAT file and _system_ folder to your card.
Open the Moonshell download and copy the _DS_MSHL.NDS file and moonshl folder to the card.

Open the 'Rudolph´s EZ-Flash V 3-in-1 Tool' and copy the .nds file to your card, you can rename this to whatever you like (as long as it still ends in '.nds')

Now open the DLDI Win32 gui zip and wun the dlditool32.exe file, in this you need to find the DLDI file you downloaded, so browse to the directory and select it, then choose the DLDI (will come up as an R4 file), in the binaries box you need the EZ-Flash 3-1 tool, so locate this in your MicroSD, once selected choose patch, it should say patched succesfully in about a second, you can now close this app.

To patch GBA games open the 'EZV 3-in-1 Ready Pack' and in here open the 'EZ4 Client' and then run the EZ4_Client.exe file, in this app first click on config (if it's not in english it's the third bottom along the bottom) choose english, and select the send path to your MicroSD (you can create a GBA folder if you like) save the settings by clicking ok.
You can now browse to games using the open button, you can rename them and then send them to the microSD, the settings should default to the correct settings for the game so you don't need to touch them.

Copy over all your games and you should be ready to go.

To use GBA games, load the EZFlash program on your DS and use the L/R buttons to go between PSRAM / NOR / Rumble modes, if your going to play an DS rumble game or use the browser go to the rumble section, highlight the option (high, medium, low, ram) and press A to return to the M3 menu where you then load the DS game/browser. The rest of the program should be pretty easy to understand.

this is pretty roughly typed so if you don't understand what the hell i'm saying, just ask

 

Actually I have just thought is the recent firmware update is meant to have auto-dldi patching, so you might be able to skip the DLDI step, however I havn't tested it yet...

 

Got it. So what do I do first .. The steps I should follow with these different programs to set up everything ?

 

mr hanky if your still there, help in this would be appreciated. I can't seem to understand the steps to do this.