EZ Flash 3-in-1 Queries/Bugs

[SoraK05]

I'm having a few issues with my EZ Flash 3-in-1..
I got it under the assumption that it has amazing GBA compatibility.

I have a CycloDS Evolution, and an EZ Flash 3-in-1 in my DS Lite.

I store Rudolph's 3-in-1 tool, and a /GBA & /GBA/SAVE folder in the MicroSD inside the CycloDS Evolution..
All roms have been patched with the EZ-IV 1.04 Client, and the .sav files are renamed to the native rom name, so it works in NOR and PSRAM mode without an issue...

My problems are:

* In Super Mario Advance 2 - Super Mario World (E) (M4), for some reason, whenever I play, it doesn't save to the card properly.. I try it in PSRAM mode, and when I play and save after hitting the yellow block, I reset the DS, go back into rudolph's tool, load up the game, and it shows that there are no saves.. when I go into the first save slot, it loads up from when I hit the yellow block..
Now, when I load it into NOR mode, I lose the save altogether..

Another thing I noticed was playing the rom on a cycloDS MicroSD - when I finished the first level, as the circle closes on mario and he leaves the scene, there are some weird lines that flicker... it was extremely profound on the CycloDS MicroSD, but on the EZ Flash 3-in-1, it's not AS profound.. but it's still there..

* In Banjo-Kazooie - Grunty's Revenge (E) (M3), it has the same sort of bug as when it was played on an old-ish emulator, where if you press the down button, it continues scrolling down, instead of just going down once.. and if you hold A, it skips all the talking, and doesn't break when a person finishes a sentence..
On top of that, you can't select CONTINUE in the menu, so you can't continue your saves.


I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced these issues, and what can be done to fix this.. is there something I'm not aware of?

Also, I'm planning on getting the EZ-Flash IV Lite Deluxe, as it's supposed to have the best GBA compatibility over any card.. will this card fix these issues, or are they still there?

Someone please help me out!

[SoraK05]

It seems patching my ROMS with GBATA has fixed the saving issues, and the Banjo issue where the buttons don't work properly..

The weird flickering is still in Mario though...

Check this amazing guide for everything you need to know about flashcarts, including a guide on the 3-in-1...
http://www.teamcyclops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1410

[cartellicartell]

Perhaps I can be of help in some way with my experience although it's with a M3 card.

Using a M3 perfect lite card (it's a slot-2 NDS and GBA card) I experienced the flicker you describe with Mario Advance 2 (great game by the way!).

I solved the flicker problem by running the ROM unpatced.
It is, that running the rom patched with the proper M3 tools caused flicker, running it plain with no patch caused a smooth working.

Perhaps you can get it working fine in the same way?

[SoraK05]

I tried a clean ROM but it doesn't actually boot.. so I guess the EZ-Flash NEEDS the ROMS to be patched..
Oh well, I'm enjoyed it none-the-less again :)

Thanks for your reply anyways.

[NuVanDibe]

using tool 19d on m3 simply, all roms patched.

if i stick to just one rom, like metroid fusion, saves work just fine. but if i try to go play another rom, like mega man zero, then go back to metroid fusion, the metroid fusion save is gone. i'm sure i patched all the roms already.

[SoraK05]

I found from personal experience, and from research, that if you want to use Rudolph's 3-in-1 loader, which is by far the most convenient and quickest application for loading GBA ROMS to the 3-in-1, then you will have issues using the EZ-IV Client to patch your ROMS.
Some games end up buggy, and represent what early Computer GBA Emulators experience in those games. If you want to ensure games remain exactly as their original cartridge counterpart, use GBATA to SRAM patch the ROMS, and NOT the official EZ-IV Client.

To keep the saves intact, use GBATA to SRAM patch the ROMS, and place those ROMS in the "/GBA" folder. Make a "/GBA/SAVE" folder, and saves will automatically be put inside there, with no problems, regardless of whether you're switching between PSRAM and NOR.
If you use the EZ-IV Client to patch your ROMS, you may experience data loss, but if you use GBATA, then let Rudolph's 3-in-1 tool make the save for you - you may get an error when you first run a ROM, but once you run it, it makes a save file for you - you can play all ROMS without a problem..

If you have savegames already, and a patched ROM from another program other than GBATA, I'd recommend taking a clean, unpatched version of your ROM, patching it with GBATA, then putting it in the "/GBA" folder, and perhaps renaming the name of your save file to the name of the native rom (shown on the Rudolph's 3-in-1 menu when highlighting a game - e.g. "Donkey Kong Country 2 (UA)" = "RAREDKC2 B2DE.sav"

Another thing:
If you're using PSRAM, and the name of the sav is the same as your rom, it's alright.. but if you're using NOR mode, then the name of the sav has to be of the native name of the ROM, e.g. "Donkey Kong Country 2 (UA)" = "RAREDKC2 B2DE.sav", otherwise you'll get problems..
If you don't want any issues, name all your saves to the native rom names, and PSRAM and NOR will read it without any issues at all... or just let Rudolph's 3-in-1 tool make the save for you - supposing you don't have save files already..

So, the steps would be:
Rudolph's 3-in-1 loader can only show 100 ROMS in the game list, and requires the ROMS to be in the "/GBA/" folder, with the save files going in the "/GBA/SAVE/" folder, so create those on the root of your MicroSD.
The actual NDS file can be anywhere you want, and you can hide the GBA folder if you wish, and the program will still function properly.

1) SRAM Patch ROM using GBATA (0.7a is latest) <N.B If the ROM you're trying to patch is clean, and is grayed out so you can't patch it, it doesn't need an SRAM patch)
2) Copy ROM to MicroSD folder "/GBA"
3) Make a folder in "/GBA" called "/GBA/SAVE"
4) Run Rudolph's 3-in-1 tool, and load the ROM. Supposing you are running it for the first time, you may get an error at first run, which means it will make a save file for you.
5) If you already have a save file, and it is from another program other than GBATA, take a clean, unpatched ROM of your game, SRAM patch it with GBATA, then replace it in the "/GBA/" folder. Go into Rudolph's 3-in-1 tool, highlight the game you patched and check it's native ROM name.. it should look something like this: "RAREDKC2 B2DE".
Rename the save in the "/GBA/SAVE" folder to "RAREDKC2 B2DE.sav" to ensure no mix-ups between PSRAM and NOR mode.

You must always use the 3-in-1 loader if you don't want any clashes with the PSRAM and NOR saves, and not just boot to the GBA Card within the DS Menu. This will create a clash with the saves, and if you want to restore the NOR save to the MicroSD, you will need to 'dump SRAM to SAV' within the 3-in-1 loader's NOR section, otherwise the data will be lost if you run the ROM in PSRAM mode or flash a different rom to the NOR.
On a side note, if the sav is already loaded in the PSRAM section of the 3-in-1 loader, then the SRAM->SAV feature in the NOR section WILL NOT WORK.

On another side note, most PokeMon games will not work completely, functionality-wise on the EZ-Flash 3-in-1, since it does not have REAL TIME CLOCK support.
You can patch the Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire games with GBATA to add 'Real Time Clock Emulation' to the ROMS, but all other Pokemon Games, and other games dependant on the Real Time Clock will give you issues, unless the author of GBATA adds support to the rest of the games.

That's it!
That's how I get all my games working with no problems at all..

[billysastard]

It seems patching my ROMS with GBATA has fixed the saving issues, and the Banjo issue where the buttons don't work properly..

The weird flickering is still in Mario though...

Check this amazing guide for everything you need to know about flashcarts, including a guide on the 3-in-1...
http://www.teamcyclops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1410

that mario rom has always been a *****, it should work if you dont trim it but do sram patch, failing that see if there is a "fix" ips patch for it on the net and apply that then use that rom without any other patching.