FAQ - Thrown together for some of the more common questions

Valtzer · #1 08-15-2007, 08:03 AM

I'm just putting together a few posts from this forum, since many of the same questions keep coming up.

**** Warranty Info: ****
There's always a few units that comes out as defective in a production line. Don't worry though, Team Cyclops is great about replacing defecive units. Please refer to this thread for how to get a hold of them and get your unit replaced. Warranty replacement is done by a case by case basis, and Team Cyclops doesn't want people making threads on their forums regarding the method and whatnot. They'll get back to you when you contact them.

Official: Defective CycloDS Evolution

**** Slot-1: ****
If you are still wondering if CycloDS Evolution is the right flash cart for you, please take a look at Shane's flash cart comparison against the R4 and X9 Ninja. It points out some of the key differences between the carts and is an excellent chart of feature differences.

Shane R. Monroe's FlashGlance cart chart
and
The related thread on Team Cyclops Forum

Old Evo vs New Evo:
I saw a few things come up about the difference between this most recent batch (as of 8-20-07) against the initial couple batches, so here's a bit of a list.

List of Changes
*Sticker was changed. Look through this thread for pictures. The picture of the old sticker is on Page 3, Post #25.
*The card reader changed. The older blue card reader had it's own problems. Several reports of it being a bit flimsy. I haven't tested either, so I can't give a direct report regarding it. (I had a SD card reader built-in on my laptop.)
*The Evo itself gives a more snug fit now. Compared to my R4, it feels pretty much the same now.

*Key Thing to Remember*
There are no Slot-1 flash carts that supports GBA!

Where to buy the CycloDS Evolution
Real Hot Stuff - USA retailer, personal favorite
Mod-chip.com - EU retailer, has a Best Price Guarantee (-5% from where you link)
Modchip Central Canadian retailer, several good reviews here
Divineo -Division throughout the world, I hear some bad and some good reviews. Personally, I would go for the other companies first.

Also, mrmodchips.co.uk seems like a bad place to order. Quite a few horror stories. Look here
. For any company to charge you before the order is in stock and not give a choice to cancel the order, in my opinion, is a huge negative.

**** Slot-2: ****
Slot-2 companion is generally for adding GBA support, RAM pack expansion, and/or rumble to the CycloDS Evolution.

Short Answer
EZ-Flash 3-in-1 is probably the best bang for the buck. It adds GBA compatibility, RAM pack expansion, and rumble feature for a very reasonable price.

Long Answer
You have several choices if you want a Slot-2 companion for your Evo. 3-in-1 is great, but does not come with it's own storage. Some other choices offer expandable memory and a feature or two the 3-in-1 may not give.

3-in-1:
*Cheap, usually around $20
*GBA support

[-] 256Mbit (or 32MBytes) Norflash
[-] 128Mbit (or 16MBytes) PSRAM
[-] 2Mbit (or 256kB) SRAM

*Works with Opera as ram pack after patching
*3-in-1's rumble natively supported in Evo from firmware 1.2B
*Has Rumble
*No RTC support
More information about the EZ-Flash 3in1
How to work the 3in1 by SoraK05

Where to buy
Lite size
Deal Extreme (Black)
Deal Extreme (White)
Real Hot Stuff
Bamboo Gaming

Phat size
Real Hot Stuff
Bamboo Gaming

EZ Flash IV Deluxe:
*One of the cheaper Slot-2 solutions
*Micro SD up to 2GB
*Excellent GBA compatibility

[-] 384Mbit (or 48MBytes) Norflash
[-] 256Mbit (or 32MBytes) PSRAM
[-] 32Mb Loader (4 Mbytes)
[-] 8Mb saver SRAM (1Mbyte)

*No RTC support
*No Rumble
*Do Not get the Compact version, it's the cheaper counterpart with very limited GBA support.

Where to buy
Bamboogaming

Difference between Norflash storage and PSRAM storage
Basically, Norflash is a slower to write to, but a more semi-permanent type of storage. Even after powering down the system, the rom will still be stored inside Norflash kinda like a normal GBA cart and can be used for NDS/GBA link minus a few select games. (I hear Pokemon Diamond/Pearl needs a bit of patching for it to work.) PSRAM is much quicker to load, so people, through various tools, try to run the GBA game from PSRAM if they can, and if not they move to the Norflash. Also, Norflash has higher compatibility than PSRAM. (Loading takes longer, but game will play without slowing down in both places.)

M3 Perfect:
*Fairly expensive
*Very limited Micro SDHC support (Currently only for media and not games)
*Great GBA compatibility (Some won't work with Real Time Save, but all in all, you can get most GBA games to run.)
*RTC support
*No Rumble
*Fairly frequent update to firmware
*The ability to internally link NDS games to GBA games for games that supports the feature.
*Do Not get the Profesional version, it's the cheaper counterpart with very limited GBA support.

Where to Buy
Real Hot Stuff

CycloDS MicroSD:
*Unfortunately though, I don't know enough about the cart to comment on it.

**** Micro SD: ****
It's generally accepted that micro SD cards manufactured in Japan give the best speed/compatibility. With the slower cards, slow downs and freezes are exerienced in games such as Castlevania PoR and Final Fantasy III. Also, I've read on the web a few horror stories of fake/restamped micro SD's floating out there, so I wouldn't necessarily trust e-bay or some random no-name store.

If you want a 2GB, try and get either a Kingston 2GB made in Japan or a Toshiba 2GB. Kingston micro SD can be made anywhere from Taiwan to Japan, but a Toshiba is always Japan made.

Taking that into consideration, I personally like Newegg when ordering electronic equipment. They are a nice trustworthy company, at least in my opinion. I've heard of several reports of recieving a Japan made Kingston ordering from them as well.

Otherwise, please look at this chart from GBA temp wiki as a reference for memory speed.

Also, changing the cluster size/file format (FAT <->FAT32) makes no difference in speed on the CycloDS, and only wastes space. I've made this mistake myself and have tested the various file system/cluster sizes. I did not notice any significant performance difference in the various file formats. Team Cyclops had confirmed/corrected me regarding this.

Upon request, I collected a few of the stores listed in various threads of the forum here. However, the only store I've ordered from directly and can give my recommendation is newegg and real hot stuff, so take this list with a grain of salt. Star mark (*) denotes made in Japan for sure. For 4GB MicroSDHC, I recommend Toshiba's as they are a class 4 versus a SanDisk who's MicroSDHC is a class 2. There aren't very many TOshiba SDHC's out in the market at the moment, so I'll hold off on giving stores for those. (The amazon store that carried Toshiba MicroSDHC had run out already.

)

1GB MicroSD
Deal Extreme - *
Newegg - Likely to be Japan
Real Hot Stuff - * More expensive than the rest

2GB MicroSD
DZ-Tech - *
Newegg - Likely to be Japan
Real Hot Stuff - * More expensive than the rest
Mymemory.co.uk - * UK store - Toshiba 2GB

There are many, many stores out there that carries MicroSD. It's a good idea to do some research on your own and check out the reliability of the store yourself too.

**** Basic Tools: ****
Trimming:
NDS Tokyo Trimmer is a great trimming tool. I haven't had any problems with it, and it supports wifi carts as well.
NDS Tokyo Trimmer Official website
Spen's RSATrim is another tool trimming tool worth looking into.
RSATrim 1.2

The Pro/Con list of the trimmers by Eakle:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eakle

In my opinion, I think they are good either.

For RSAtrim 1.2
pro
- very small size.
- drag and drop.
- very fun soud effect.
con
- not so good-looking.
- do not have progress bar.
- trimmed rom size is bigger that NDSTokyoTrim around 1Kbyte (who's care!!!)

For NDSTokyuTrim
pro
- beuatiful interface.
- have progress bar.
- more functional like scan inside zip.
- trimmed rom size is smaller than RSAtrim but only around 1Kbyte (What the difference???)
con
- bigger file size than RSA (only 300Kbyte, who's care too!!!)
- need to point the input folder which is make me have a little nerve than RSATrim. (Only me, I think.)

Which is better??? Just only on your determination.

Thx.

For measuring Micro SD speeds:
Try this tool out:
HD Tach

Compage them to the GBA Temp's Memory Speed Test Chart to get a general idea of where you stand. I hear the figure to aim for is Random Access Time of < 1 ms.

**** Tips & Tricks: ****
Tip by Sweater Fish Deluxe regarding how to get your Evo to boot directly to a slot-2 cart you own without flashing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweater Fish Deluxe

If you prefer to boot to the SUpercard by default, you can get a nopass ROM, name it autoload.nds and put it in the root of your microSD, then when you start up your DS the CycloD Evolution automatically run the nopass ROM which will boot to your Supercard (in NDS mode) instead of going into its own menu (but you can still get to the CycloDS menu by holding X while booting).

I think you'll find that once you get used to it, you'll want to use the CycloDS most of the time and the Supercard will take a back seat. I hardly ever use my G6 Lite in NDS mode anymore now, but the CycloDS Evo has a number of options for it when I want to.

...word is bondage...

How to work the 3in1 by SoraK05

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoraK05

I got the 3-in-1.. it's the DS Lite version..

When I first tried it on, in the DS menu, it showed as if no GBA game was inserted.. when I booted from slot 2 using the CycloDS Evolution, or my FlashMe function, I just got a black screen..

I tried a clean ROM of the Opera Browser using the Evolution 1.2 Beta (1) and it worked perfectly, and rumble in Elite Beat Agents didn't work on the first boot, but when I hard resetted the machine and went back in, the card was recognized and rumbled..

To load GBA Roms, download a program called "Rudolph's 3-in-1 Tool" and put it on the ROOT OF THE MICROSD.

Then, get the EZ-Client IV to patch the ROMS to make saver files.. I'd recommend leaving the files in their native rom names instead of renaming them, since if you run them in PSRAM mode, the saves work, but if you run it in NOR mode, it requires that the save file is the same name as the native rom name.. hope you understand what this means..

That's all!! Should work..

For PSRAM, the games load like the CycloDS Evolution - open it up and then play!
For NOR, this flashes a ROM to the cartridge, and will work like it's the original game - it's best for if you want to play very big ROMS, or if you want to connect the game to the DS cartridge inside (like PokeMon)

In PSRAM Mode, the name of the save can be the same as the ROM, and work.. however, in NOR Mode, the name of the save has to be the name of the native ROM name.. the native ROM name also works for PSRAM Mode.
That said, it's best if you rename all your saves (made by the EZ-IV Client) to the name of the native ROM, which you can put into the "/GBA/SAVE" folder, and you can name the roms in the "/GBA/" folder anything you want.
Also, the limit of roms you can put in is 100 - the 3-in-1 loader by Rudolph doesn't read anything more than this.

Instructions:
* Patch all the GBA games you want to play with the EZ4 Client
* Don't rename any of the files - keep the names of the games to their native files - the reason being that if you flash a rom to the NOR, it requires the name of the save to be the same name as the native rom... in PSRAM the rom can be renamed, but not for NOR
* Have the 3-in-1 tool on the ROOT OF YOUR MICROSD
* Make a folder called /GBA and /GBA/SAVE
* Copy the GBA Roms to the /GBA folder, and the save files from the patcher to /GBA/SAVE
* Run Rudolph's 3-in-1 tool and play any rom inside!

Download the files here:
(Files are 7-zip... go to www.7-zip.com to extract them.)
(Files are RapidShare - for free users, download one at a time)

- EZ IV Client 1.04
http://rapidshare.com/files/50436767...hed_Mar_15_.7z

- Latest update for EZ IV Client (overwrite the file in the root of the EZCLIENT folder)
http://rapidshare.com/files/50436984/EZ4Patch070315.7z

- Rudolph's 3-in-1 Tool (version 1.9 <removed TXT files inside, sorry....)
http://rapidshare.com/files/50436983...xpPack_Tool.7z

(Check here for instructions for 1.8 - http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?t=5006)

Addendum by SoraK05

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoraK05

I just wanted to make an addendum to the part about the 3-in-1 guide that was put on this thread:
http://www.teamcyclops.com/forum/sho...86&postcount=1

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 lose your save data if you use the EZ-IV Client to patch your ROMS.
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:
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.

That's it!

Download the files here:
(Files are 7-zip... go to www.7-zip.com to extract them.)
(Files are RapidShare - for free users, download one at a time)

- Rudolph's 3-in-1 Tool (version 1.9 <removed TXT files inside, sorry....)
http://rapidshare.com/files/50436983...xpPack_Tool.7z

(Check here for instructions for 1.8 - http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?t=5006)

- GBATA 0.7a
http://rapidshare.com/files/51215177/gbata7a_en.7z

**** Other Resources & Links: ****
Below is a few links that I think are useful:
How to patch Opera
How to back up your retail DS game saves
Backing up your Retail Game through wifi with Slot-1 cart
More information about the EZ-Flash 3in1
How to Flash your DS
How to Rip a DS Game by SoraK05
How to add bookmark function to moonshell by euphemism
Good sites for DS gaming/developement

EDIT: 8-15-07 Changed the part about FAT and 64k cluster to something a little more general as suggested.
EDIT: 8-16-07 Added RSA Trim 1.2 to trimmers and the pro con list by Eakle. Editted a few other misc. parts of the FAQ.
EDIT: 8-17-07 Added a link to the GBA 3in1 FAQ from GBATemp wiki.
EDIT: 8-19-07 Fixed a few things. Added a tips section. Added HD Tach to the list of Basic Tools.
EDIT: 8-20-07 Added Warranty Info and Old vs New comparison of batches.
EDIT: 8-21-07 Added SoraK05's how to work the 3in1. Added where not to order the evo...
EDIT: 8-24-07 Added shop list for microSD. Added addendum by SoraK05 to the "How to of 3in1"
EDIT: 8-25-07 Added two more links to Other Resources & Links.
EDIT: 8-27-07 Added another two links to Other Resources & Links section.

Valtzer · #2 08-15-2007, 08:06 AM

If people have suggestions, finds a mistake in what I wrote, etc., please reply so I can attempt to fix it before making too big of a fool out of myself.

Hopefully this is acceptable enough, and I admit, I got tired near the end of it. I'll try and update if I remember anything and/or get pointed out about something.

LordMelkor · #3 08-15-2007, 08:44 PM

how about changing that message in red to somthing even more general... somthing like: Changing your cluster size makes no difference in speed on the CycloDS, and only wastes space. (not just changing to 64k)

SilentMe · #4 08-16-2007, 01:37 AM

very nice, I'm sure this will help a lot of newbies to the CycloDS, I suggest this to be a sticky topic if it continously updated of course

It's pretty much the basic guide/tools on what to use/buy for people who needs a opinion.

Thanks for the info, now I don't have to look around everywhere.

Valtzer · #5 08-16-2007, 02:36 AM

Editted and changed the part about FAT and 64k cluster to something a little more general as suggested.

SilentMe · #6 08-16-2007, 06:07 AM

question, where is the cyclos mini-sd in this?

SoraK05 · #7 08-16-2007, 07:43 AM

Just wanted to add that CastleVania: Portrait of Ruin, which seems to be the only "problem game" so far, requires a card that is very fast.

I found that even the Kingston 2GB Made in Japan card froze the game when it was paused and unpaused over and over.
Some have complained that even the 1GB freezes for them, however, I have one that doesn't.

That said, it's recommended that when purchasing a suitable, 100% bona fide MicroSD that won't have any issues, to get a MADE IN JAPAN 512MB MicroSD. This would ensure that it would run every single game with no issues at all, and have things like higher quality videos running without lagging.

Not ALL games have issues, but some show signs of slowdown, and some MIGHT freeze on slower cards (CastleVania: Portrait of Ruin being the only well known one so far).