#114094 - MechaBouncer - Wed Jan 03, 2007 11:18 pm
Hi all. I'm going to warn you that this'll be a long post, so if you'd rather just vote, go right ahead. I've been here a while trying out various homebrew apps on a few different adapters, so I know a little bit about how to get things working. Well, it seems I've made some of my friends jealous and now one is seriously looking at how to play music and movies on his DS Lite and is asking me what to get. It's been almost a year since I got my last adapter, so the game's changed a bit in terms of hardware and compatibility. I've been reading up on things, but could still use a little help in recommending him something.
The main requirements I'm looking for are simplicity of use, homebrew compatibility (MoonShell first and foremost, but not limited to), small size so that it can fit in the pocket easily, and lastly price. GBA support would be nice, but not necessary. The same goes for non-homebrew related uses that we won't get into. Memory card format doesn't really matter because he doesn't have any at the moment except for a single SD card he would have to borrow anyway. Here's my recommendation list thus far in terms of what I know about them and compatibility:
GBA Movie Player v2 CF
SuperCard CF/SD/MiniSD/MicroSD (Lite)
M3 Perfect CF/SD/MiniSD/MicroSD (Lite)
NinjaDS
SuperCard DS(ONE)
M3 DS Simply
Okay, starting with the good ol' GBAMP. I know this is probably one of the most compatible out there, but I also know it's pitfalls. I got one of these with my original DS Phat from eBay and even with the original DS this thing was huge. I don't think he wants something that's going to stick out that much, so it kind of rules that out.
Now the makers of SuperCard have sure been busy lately. I've got a SCSD and it works pretty well with most homebrew. But it too sticks out a bit from the DS Lite and I've become rather familiar with its pitfalls as well. I'm just curious if the other SC versions have the same homebrew compatibility as the SD version or if there are any versions to avoid (besides the Rumble because of the lacking SRAM)?
That leads us to the M3. I originally chose the SCSD over the M3SD because of price, compatibility (at the time SC was higher), and because that was before they revised it to make the M3SD smaller. So I don't know a whole lot about the M3. Does it have the same compatibility with homebrew apps as the SC? Is this the same as the SC for the most part? Are there any versions to avoid (besides the Pro which also lack SRAM)? Is there anything special that has to be done in order to get homebrew apps to work properly? Is there anything else I should know about them?
Now no matter what, he's also looking at getting at least a NoPass for Slot-1, so I wanted to look into some Slot-1 solutions. It just seems easier to just have one piece of hardware to do the job. The reason for the need of a NoPass is that he's not too wild on the whole flashing the firmware part. I told him I'd do it for him, but he doesn't like the idea of voiding the warranty. And in all honesty, I've been a bit iffy about doing it on my DS Lite ever since I got a Max Media Launcher. Between having trouble with my flashed DS Phat, SnezziDS, and SCSD and then having to get my DS Lite replaced because of a dead pixel (hey, I'm picky), I just haven't found a reason to.
Anyway, that brings us to the Slot-1 solutions that double as a NoPass. The first being NinjaDS. I honestly don't know a whole lot about this one, but it is supported by libfat from what I read. Is this a viable Slot-1 solution? And from their website (is this safe to link?) there are 4 versions: Sticky, Ushape, Pocket, and Micro. The first two take SD (although stick out a lot), the third I can't tell, but the last uses MicroSD. It may be that only the first is available, but how well does this work?
Now onto the SuperCard DS(ONE) and M3 DS Simply. It would seem that there's source code up for the SCDS1, which should be very handy. It has been stated that the libraries for the M3DSS will be released on launch. Is there any particular reason to go with one of these over the other (assuming price and availability are equal)? Or should these also be avoided like the plague?
I scratched the DS-X off the list due to price and mixed compatibility issues. DSLink was dropped because it's not a NoPass and requires FlashMe. I've also shied away from all Datel products (Slot-2 and Slot-1). I have a Max Media Dock and seem to remember mixed results from it. Being that I already had a GBAMP and only one CF card, I just set it off to the side and kept the Max Media Launcher as my NoPass. He could buy one of those from where he works, but it doesn't look like the situation has improved for compatibility with that, has it?
Well are there any that I'm missing that are worth looking at? And are there any that people really stand behind? Right now, I'm leaning more towards recommending a Slot-2 solution like a SC Lite or M3 Lite. Any recommendations either way?
Well thanks for bearing with me and for any help you guys can provide.
_________________
Cobalt/Black NDSL
CycloDS Evolution (firmware 1.55 BETA 3) and EZFlash 3-in-1
Kingston SD-C02G JAPAN 2GB MicroSD
MoonShell 1.71, DSOrganize 3.1129, QuakeDS Pre3, ScummVM DS 0.11.1, Pocket Physics 0.6, OpenTyrian DS 0.3
The main requirements I'm looking for are simplicity of use, homebrew compatibility (MoonShell first and foremost, but not limited to), small size so that it can fit in the pocket easily, and lastly price. GBA support would be nice, but not necessary. The same goes for non-homebrew related uses that we won't get into. Memory card format doesn't really matter because he doesn't have any at the moment except for a single SD card he would have to borrow anyway. Here's my recommendation list thus far in terms of what I know about them and compatibility:
GBA Movie Player v2 CF
SuperCard CF/SD/MiniSD/MicroSD (Lite)
M3 Perfect CF/SD/MiniSD/MicroSD (Lite)
NinjaDS
SuperCard DS(ONE)
M3 DS Simply
Okay, starting with the good ol' GBAMP. I know this is probably one of the most compatible out there, but I also know it's pitfalls. I got one of these with my original DS Phat from eBay and even with the original DS this thing was huge. I don't think he wants something that's going to stick out that much, so it kind of rules that out.
Now the makers of SuperCard have sure been busy lately. I've got a SCSD and it works pretty well with most homebrew. But it too sticks out a bit from the DS Lite and I've become rather familiar with its pitfalls as well. I'm just curious if the other SC versions have the same homebrew compatibility as the SD version or if there are any versions to avoid (besides the Rumble because of the lacking SRAM)?
That leads us to the M3. I originally chose the SCSD over the M3SD because of price, compatibility (at the time SC was higher), and because that was before they revised it to make the M3SD smaller. So I don't know a whole lot about the M3. Does it have the same compatibility with homebrew apps as the SC? Is this the same as the SC for the most part? Are there any versions to avoid (besides the Pro which also lack SRAM)? Is there anything special that has to be done in order to get homebrew apps to work properly? Is there anything else I should know about them?
Now no matter what, he's also looking at getting at least a NoPass for Slot-1, so I wanted to look into some Slot-1 solutions. It just seems easier to just have one piece of hardware to do the job. The reason for the need of a NoPass is that he's not too wild on the whole flashing the firmware part. I told him I'd do it for him, but he doesn't like the idea of voiding the warranty. And in all honesty, I've been a bit iffy about doing it on my DS Lite ever since I got a Max Media Launcher. Between having trouble with my flashed DS Phat, SnezziDS, and SCSD and then having to get my DS Lite replaced because of a dead pixel (hey, I'm picky), I just haven't found a reason to.
Anyway, that brings us to the Slot-1 solutions that double as a NoPass. The first being NinjaDS. I honestly don't know a whole lot about this one, but it is supported by libfat from what I read. Is this a viable Slot-1 solution? And from their website (is this safe to link?) there are 4 versions: Sticky, Ushape, Pocket, and Micro. The first two take SD (although stick out a lot), the third I can't tell, but the last uses MicroSD. It may be that only the first is available, but how well does this work?
Now onto the SuperCard DS(ONE) and M3 DS Simply. It would seem that there's source code up for the SCDS1, which should be very handy. It has been stated that the libraries for the M3DSS will be released on launch. Is there any particular reason to go with one of these over the other (assuming price and availability are equal)? Or should these also be avoided like the plague?
I scratched the DS-X off the list due to price and mixed compatibility issues. DSLink was dropped because it's not a NoPass and requires FlashMe. I've also shied away from all Datel products (Slot-2 and Slot-1). I have a Max Media Dock and seem to remember mixed results from it. Being that I already had a GBAMP and only one CF card, I just set it off to the side and kept the Max Media Launcher as my NoPass. He could buy one of those from where he works, but it doesn't look like the situation has improved for compatibility with that, has it?
Well are there any that I'm missing that are worth looking at? And are there any that people really stand behind? Right now, I'm leaning more towards recommending a Slot-2 solution like a SC Lite or M3 Lite. Any recommendations either way?
Well thanks for bearing with me and for any help you guys can provide.
_________________
Cobalt/Black NDSL
CycloDS Evolution (firmware 1.55 BETA 3) and EZFlash 3-in-1
Kingston SD-C02G JAPAN 2GB MicroSD
MoonShell 1.71, DSOrganize 3.1129, QuakeDS Pre3, ScummVM DS 0.11.1, Pocket Physics 0.6, OpenTyrian DS 0.3