EZFlash 3in1 versus EZFlash IV questions

[SNES_Master]

I've pretty much decided on getting a AceCard 2i for my Original DS and I need a Expansion pack of some sort so I can load GBA games now here's my question: Should I get the EZ-Flash 3in1 or do I go with the slightly more expensive EZFlash IV. Can someone please explain what (if any) differences there are between the 2 and whether or not they matter?

I know that EZFlash IV can use microSD cards but do I NEED to have one for it? It would suck to need a microSD for the Acecard AND EZFlash IV.

I know I have asked about this before but I need a little more clarification before buying. Also I've been told that RealHotStuff.com is a good place to order this stuff and was wondering if anyone here has ordered from them before and might share some insight on there buying experience.

Thanks for helping the noob lol, I know plenty about Max Media by Datel but lets face it...that thing is dead and wasn't a real Flashcard anyway.

[billysastard]

the ez 4 is a gba flashcard that works on a ds using a passme or such card (or indeed a full nds flashcard like acekard) the 3in1 is a card designed to work alongside the nds flashcard.

the 3in1 uses the nds and nds flashcard to install and run gba games, its also a rumble pack and a memory expansion pack for the ds browser and some homebrew titles (snes emulator, linux and offline wikipedia spring to mind).

the ez4 is basically a standalone flashcard for gba / nds slot 2 so it needs its own sd card for its own roms etc, another point is that the 3in1 works with an sdhc (upto 32gb) card in your slot 1 flashcard, the ez4 if i remember only takes sd so is limited to 2gb.

[SNES_Master]

the ez 4 is a gba flashcard that works on a ds using a passme or such card (or indeed a full nds flashcard like acekard) the 3in1 is a card designed to work alongside the nds flashcard.

the 3in1 uses the nds and nds flashcard to install and run gba games, its also a rumble pack and a memory expansion pack for the ds browser and some homebrew titles (snes emulator, linux and offline wikipedia spring to mind).

the ez4 is basically a standalone flashcard for gba / nds slot 2 so it needs its own sd card for its own roms etc, another point is that the 3in1 works with an sdhc (upto 32gb) card in your slot 1 flashcard, the ez4 if i remember only takes sd so is limited to 2gb.

Ahh, thanks for clearing that up for me. Lol I would have ordered something meant for GBA (compatible with DS too but basically made for GBA) and Id probably have regretted that. So then with 3in1 I can play GBA roms with out them actually staying in the memory indefinitely?

[billysastard]

Ahh, thanks for clearing that up for me. Lol I would have ordered something meant for GBA (compatible with DS too but basically made for GBA) and Id probably have regretted that. So then with 3in1 I can play GBA roms with out them actually staying in the memory indefinitely?

the 3in1 has two types of memory for gba games psram just works whilst the machine is on and wipes once its turned off, games are uploaded from your ds card to it as you need them, the second option is to upload to nor memory, this is slower but once there the game stays there until you erase it, it will even show as the gba game on the ds startup screen (and work if used on a real gba).

i should point out that neither the ez4 or 3in1 are 100% compatible a few gba cards could run more (like a clock for pokemon) but for the vast majority of games the combination of 3in1 and a decent slot 1 card is the best solution for gaming on the go since you can backup all your ds carts (use rudolphs backp tools) and store all your gba roms and homebrew and movies / multimedia files on one (or more) micro sd cards which are easy to store and carry unlike a fistful of ds / gb cards. the only thing you need to remember is that with most cards you'll need to make sure you have the latest firmware installed to each sd card, the exception to that of course is the cyclo evo which allows you to use any sd card without setting it up first as its firmware is flashed to the cyclo itself (for speed and ease of use, another reason it costs a bit more as well as its almost perfect compatibility).

[tech3475]

Must warn you, the EZ flash 3 in 1 can be hard to find for the original phat model (at least in the UK and I have tried).

[billysastard]

Must warn you, the EZ flash 3 in 1 can be hard to find for the original phat model (at least in the UK and I have tried).

i told him where to look in another thread tech so hes tracked one of those down (at around $25)

(but not in the uk)

[SNES_Master]

Yeah, deciding weather to get a decent Slot 1 flash cart (AceKard 2i) or a more expensive cart (Cyclo Evolution) is a bigger choice then I thought it'd be. Honestly all I really want the flash cart to do is run DS and GBA, as well as emulate other older systems (which shouldn't be any problem for either of the 2 carts I mentioned). Acekard looks to be able to do everything I need at this point, true the Cylco Evolution does have its advantages but the price tag is whats got me leaning toward AK2i as I'm working part time and going to college the rest of my time lol.

[billysastard]

Yeah, deciding weather to get a decent Slot 1 flash cart (AceKard 2i) or a more expensive cart (Cyclo Evolution) is a bigger choice then I thought it'd be. Honestly all I really want the flash cart to do is run DS and GBA, as well as emulate other older systems (which shouldn't be any problem for either of the 2 carts I mentioned). Acekard looks to be able to do everything I need at this point, true the Cylco Evolution does have its advantages but the price tag is whats got me leaning toward AK2i as I'm working part time and going to college the rest of my time lol.

i think basically that you'll be fine with the acekard 2, yes, the cyclo does have better compatibility, the ability to play dsi hybrid games in ds mode, the wii-ds link, ease of use and a more customisable setup as well as things like recovery mode and auto firmware setup and return directly to last played game but its quite a lot more expensive as said if you dont need 100% compatibility and full 3in1 integration and things like ingame gamefaqs reader then acekard is a fine basic cart.

[SNES_Master]

i think basically that you'll be fine with the acekard 2, yes, the cyclo does have better compatibility, the ability to play dsi hybrid games in ds mode, the wii-ds link, ease of use and a more customisable setup as well as things like recovery mode and auto firmware setup and return directly to last played game but its quite a lot more expensive as said if you dont need 100% compatibility and full 3in1 integration and things like ingame gamefaqs reader then acekard is a fine basic cart.

Wait, wait, wait...so then CycloDS Evolution is 100% compatible with ALL NDS and GBA Roms? Also what do you mean it has "full 3in1 integration"?

Maybe I should shell out the $69.50 ($47 for CycloDS Evolution + $22.50 FOR 3in1) if its that badass lol. I can't seem to find this info anywhere but, does it have a limit to the data amount you can have from an microSD (i.e. max of 8gigs, 16gigs, 32gigs etc etc)?

[billysastard]

Wait, wait, wait...so then CycloDS Evolution is 100% compatible with ALL NDS and GBA Roms? Also what do you mean it has "full 3in1 integration"?

Maybe I should shell out the $69.50 ($47 for CycloDS Evolution + $22.50 FOR 3in1) if its that badass lol. I can't seem to find this info anywhere but, does it have a limit to the data amount you can have from an microSD (i.e. max of 8gigs, 16gigs, 32gigs etc etc)?

on gba no, only an $80+ dedicated gba card comes close, on nds the acekard is around 95-97% of ds games and unless separately hacked 0% on hybrid ds / dsi games, the cyclo was always around 99.99% of all ds and hybrid games although recently that has been lower they still release updates quite often to fix issues with games, lets just say i dont have any games that i couldnt run on the cyclo except those that required additional hardware, but honestly its been a while since i bought any ds games since there just havent been any that i wanted to play as the ds is dying like the psp did years ago in the west.

both acekard and cyclo support sdhc so upto 32gb however there is a limit to the numberof files allowed that can restrict this, cyclo get around it by allowing you multiple folders (upto 255 folders with 255 files in each folder), honestly i'm unsure about acekard but i suspect it'll be the same idea, do remember though how many files each game can use, the .nds file the .sav file are the normal two but then you have realtime save files and faq/text files if you have and use those facilities so in theory at the worst case you'd be looking at 64 roms per directory, still plenty of course but something to account for.

on the cyclo if you want a gba game you simply select it from the list just like a nds game and the cyclo takes over and sets everything up with the 3in1 then runs it, on the acekard you used to (not sure if still) have to find and load rudolphs 3in1loader then find the gba game and upload it, thats what integration means in this case.

[SNES_Master]

Well the fact that loading a GBA game is simple as finding it and clicking on it is a big difference, not that using a loader is any trouble but it does save a little hassle. So it sounds like CycloDS Evolution is the way to go then. $24 more than Acekard but from I've learned (via research and things you have told me) it seems that its well worth the extra price.

Its still being actively updated then? But I don't guess the aKAIO thing would work on CycloDS huh?

[billysastard]

Well the fact that loading a GBA game is simple as finding it and clicking on it is a big difference, not that using a loader is any trouble but it does save a little hassle. So it sounds like CycloDS Evolution is the way to go then. $24 more than Acekard but from I've learned (via research and things you have told me) it seems that its well worth the extra price.

Its still being actively updated then? But I don't guess the aKAIO thing would work on CycloDS huh?

no the akaio is acekard all in one (ie it works on the acekard rpg too (thats the expensive acekard)).

there are two diferent cyclo firmwares though at present the classic style one and one with a new gui, its also possible to run another firmware on it but honestly really not woth it.

you'll find a lot more about akaio and the cyclo on the gbatemp forums and the team cyclops forums, you may need to register on the tc forums though as if i remember the beta forum isnt open to visitors and thats where all the updates are posted, the main releases are not as frequent since they only do a full release when one is needed its all the betas that are mainly just compatability updates and also where new features are tested out before going onto the main releases.

[SNES_Master]

So I know that Acekard 2 and 2i are essentially the same card (exception being 2i works for DSi) but I've been reading about a "Acekard R.P.G." and saw on the Acekard site that it has alot of nifty features like its own internal NAND memory as well as 100% compatibility and I thought I saw that it too had built in 3in1 support but I'm not sure about that...I'm probably going with the CycloDS Evolution after all I've read about it but do you know anything about the AK RPG? Is it any better or worse than other AKs and where might I find it?

[billysastard]

So I know that Acekard 2 and 2i are essentially the same card (exception being 2i works for DSi) but I've been reading about a "Acekard R.P.G." and saw on the Acekard site that it has alot of nifty features like its own internal NAND memory as well as 100% compatibility and I thought I saw that it too had built in 3in1 support but I'm not sure about that...I'm probably going with the CycloDS Evolution after all I've read about it but do you know anything about the AK RPG? Is it any better or worse than other AKs and where might I find it?

the rpg was very expensive and whilst it did have some very neat tricks it pretty much died when the acekard 2 launched even moreso when akaio came out because since that became the defacto acekard firmware for all models at which point the rpg really became pointless and no its compatability is only the same as the 2 or 2i, if however you want to write ds games then its a superb alternative to paying thousands for a development kit. the rpg has no integrated 3in1 support at all (unless they added it in the last 12 months) other than any support provided by akaio.

the rpg was (and is) one of the "premium" cards, that is cards that went beyond the others these were the cyclo, the supercard ds one / two and the rpg. the next level down was things like the edge card (used to have cyclo compatibility but without all the extra features not sure if still supported) and the acekard 2, below that you sank into the abyss of cheap crappy fakes and the cards they were based on (n5, r4, dstt etc).

honestly i've really not kept up to date, there used to be a few of us that tried to help out in this section but seems we all drifted away, i'm still happy to help out but do remember that my info could be out of date (which is why you need to check first) and why i wasnt sure of the names of too many places to buy from although i will say that even if you dont feel you need it for the sake of a few dollars i'd go for the "i" cards simply because as the latest versions they will probably have the better support so acekard 2i, cyclo i-evo etc, the problem is that with all these cards once the maker gets bored or updates to another model support for the earlier one tends to dry up pretty quickly.

[SNES_Master]

Well, here and GBAtemp are proving a very good source of info for me to research everything I need to know before I order (I will be doing so in a couple days when Paypal finally sets up my account). Anyway I will be going with the Acekard 2i + EZ 3in1 (Definitely set on that combo) as it can run all the emus I need it to, has the built in GBA compatibility (i.e. Using aKAIO hand in hand with EZ 3in1 all I have to do is find a .gba rom and click on it to luanch the game) I've seen only about 5-10 GBA and DS games that have issues (most of the GBA ones can be fixed by using a different rom loader than the built in one. And the DS games aren't a big deal cause only 2 of them really appealed to me and could be found used at Gamestop for $10 a piece).

I only wish this forum had a Acekard section amongst all the other DS flashcards so I could discuss it with people who own it and probably know everything there is to know about it. I'm bound to need more help setting it up once I get it lol. Or I could join GBAtemp. In any case , thanks again for all the help and if I need to ask more I'll post it in this thread instead of making a new one lol.