EZFlash V 3-in-1
From CycloDS
The EZFlash V 3-in-1 Slot 2 Solution is a multifunction Slot 2 device which will add further functionality to your DS and CycloDS. Although originally designed for the EZFlash V slot 1, a Japanese coder named Rudolph has contributed some excellent software which will allow you to use all the features with a CycloDS. In one device, it can add rumble support, a RAM expansion, GameBoy Advance ROM support; and will also allow you to back up your retail DS cartridges to your Cyclo.
It comes in two formats, one that looks like an original GBA cartridge; and one in the shape of the DS Lite GBA slot cover. That means all this extra functionality for DS Lite owners without a cart sticking out.
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[edit] Hardware Features
- 256 Mb (32 MB) of NOR Flash Memory. This type of memory is able to retain data without requiring uninterrupted power. Depending on data size, writing may take up to several minutes. One typical use includes copying over a GBA ROM, thereby allowing the 3-in-1 to act like a real GBA cartridge.
- 128 Mb (16 MB) of PSRAM. This memory does not retain data when the power is turned off. However it can be written at speeds much faster than NOR memory.
- 4 Mb (512 KB) of battery backed SRAM for save data. The battery is necessary to retain data.
- Programmable embedded "rumble pak" (haptic feedback) device
Hardware Features From GBATemp's Wiki
[edit] Rumble Support
[edit] Using Rumble
The 3-in-1 offers all the functionality of the official rumble expansion. For a list of DS enabled rumble titles see GBATemp
You can enable rumble from the CycloDS settings menu and it will work automatically for rumble enabled DS titles. You must be using CycloDS firmware version 1.4 or later. Get the latest firmware from the Team Cyclops Support Page.
[edit] Changing The Rumble Setting
The CycloDS supports changing the rumble level from the setting menu. To do so, simply select the settings menu, go down to the rumble option and press A, -> or <- to change the rumble strength or disable it completely.
[edit] RAM Expansion Support
The 3-in-1 provides all the functionality of the official RAM expansion pack provided with the Official Opera Web Browser. Furthermore, some homebrew software is now coded to take advantage of the extra memory.
[edit] Using the RAM Expansion
The RAM expansion capabilities of the 3-in-1 will be detected automatically and a clean backup of Opera should run just fine. You must be using CycloDS firmware version 1.4 or later. Get the latest firmware from the Team Cyclops Support Page.
[edit] GBA Rom Support
As of Firmware 1.4 and up, the CycloDS can natively run GBA games. It is recommended, however, that you upgrade to Firmware 1.5, as the support was greatly improved in that release.
For those of you not comfortable using the built-in firmware, there is also the option to use GBA Exploader from Rudolph. Both of these options will be discussed below.
[edit] PSRAM? 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.
[edit] 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.
[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.
[edit] Backing up Retail Cartridges to CycloDS
Another feature of the 3-in-1 is the ability to back up retail cartridges for personal use on your CycloDS.
[edit] Setting Up the Backup Software
1) Get a hold of Rudolph's backup tool for the 3-in-1 available here and extract the contents to your memory card.
2) Now open the ini configuration file with text editor. There are four settings available.
FileDir This sets the destination directory of backed up software. Set your intended folder here, or alternativelly create a folder NDS_Backup on the root of your memory card to use the default settings.
Savefile Change this from 0 to 512
#Trim Optional: Remove the # if you would like the backup tool to output a trimmed ROM
#NoEraseNor Optional: Remove the # to prevent the backup tool from erasing the NOR memory of your 3-in-1 after each copy.
When you are done, close and save the file in the root directory of your memory card. Your software is now installed
[edit] Backing Up Retail Games
1. There are three modes this tool will operate in, and they are selected with L and R and appear on the bottom screen. They are "Save Backup" (backs up a savegame), Save Restore (inserts a backup save file back onto the original cart with A OR erases the original cart's savedata entirely with B), and Rom Backup (backs up a ROM). We want Rom Backup, so press R twice at the beginning.
2. Once that's selected, you have two options. Pressing A updates an NDS file currently on your flashcard. Pressing B creates a new NDS file. We want to do the latter, so press B.
3. Now, it will ask you to take out the flashcard and put in your official game card, so do this now, and press A when you're done swapping (B aborts). If you get a similar blue prompt box again after pressing A, it means you either forgot to swap, or the game is not being detected (in which case, you should take it out, reinsert it, and press A again - this happened to me once).
4. The ROM information will appear at the bottom, and a progress indicator will appear at the top. It will first erase the contents of NOR (this takes a long time). Then it will write the game data to NOR (this doesn't take as long as erasing, but it still takes a while).
5. When it's done copying data, a red box will pop up telling you it's going to turn off your DS. Press A to accept this. Then, when it's off, put your flash card back into slot-1, turn on your DS, and start the backup tool again.
6. Now when the tool is open, press A to continue (B cancels; don't do this). It will write the NOR flash contents to your Slot-1 card. If the ROM was 256 Megabits (32MBytes) or smaller, it will erase the NOR one more time (assuming you didn't disable that), and you're done. Otherwise, let's continue. I'm crazy and tested this with Final Fantasy III, just to see if it would even work. casino en ligne sans telechargement
7. If your ROM was larger than 256 Mbits, another blue box will pop up telling you to put the original game card back into Slot-1. So we're back to step 3. You pretty much have to repeat steps 3-6 until you're done (for FFIII, I think it took four times total). When you're done, it will erase the NOR one more time, then show your ROM in the file list on the top screen. Turn off your DS; you're done, and can now play your backup from your flashcard!
Taken from a post by Eyedunno on the MaxConsole Forums.
[edit] Backing Up DS Game Saves
First make sure all the files/directories on your flashcard are set up properly as in "Copying ROMs" above. Once you're sure you're ready to proceed, follow these steps.
1. We want "Save Backup" this time, which should already be on the bottom screen when we start. If it is, press B to create a new backup save file or A to update the selected save file on the top screen. Press B if you don't already have any savefiles up there.
2. Now, it will ask you to take out the flashcard and put in your official game card, so do this now, and press A when you're done swapping (B aborts).
3. The ROM information will appear at the bottom, and a progress indicator will appear at the top. It will first erase the contents of NOR, then it will write the game data to NOR.
4. When it's done copying data (should be very quick this time), a red box will pop up telling you it's going to turn off your DS. Press A to accept this. Then, when it's off, put your flash card back into slot-1, turn on your DS, and start the backup tool again.
5. Now when the tool is open, press A to continue (B cancels; don't do this). It will write the NOR flash contents to your Slot-1 card. The save should now appear on the top screen, and you're done. You can turn off your DS now.
Updating an existing save file works the same, except that in step 1, you press A, then it will ask for confirmation to overwrite the current file. Press A again to continue (B cancels). Then do steps 2-5 as usual.
Taken from a post by Eyedunno on the MaxConsole Forums.
