#62232 - FloFri - Mon Nov 28, 2005 3:32 pm
Hi!
I think about selling my GBAMP on eBay and buying a M3 or a Supercard. Can someone tell me, what advantages / disadvantages these Modules have or which one would be the best? And which one has the best compatibility and the best movie and music playback.
Thanks in advance.
FloFri
#62234 - MaHe - Mon Nov 28, 2005 4:07 pm
Your current GBAmp is the most Mp3 compatible device right now. For current homebrew purposes I don't think you need anything better.
#62241 - The 9th Sage - Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:57 pm
| MaHe wrote: |
| Your current GBAmp is the most Mp3 compatible device right now. For current homebrew purposes I don't think you need anything better. |
Huh? Moonshell works perfect on the M3, the same as on the GBAMP. Ever since support was added to the CF driver most DS homebrew using a GBAMP has also supported the M3. The supercard I'm not really sure of.
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#62246 - Lynx - Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:19 pm
Well, I think it depends on the Firmware version of your DS and what you really want out of it. Do you want the ability to run Homebrew, or use the supplied applications to convert your music/movies and do that?
For early models, or DSs with FlashMe installed, I would agree that the GBA MP is the best bang for the buck. At $25, it will pretty much do all the stuff you would like it to do, aside from running 2 or 3 specific homebrews, it runs pretty much everything else, and some GBA MP Only homebrews.
For newer model DSs without FlashMe installed, GBA MP isn't really an option, unless you can get FlashMe installed. New DSs require PassMe2 to run homebrew and PassMe2 requires SRAM, which the GBA MP doesn't support. Hopefully this will change with the help of anything with SRAM support (like a commercial GBA Cart).
Otherwise, your only option is a SC or M3.. Which is better? Dunno.. I don't really like either of them. The SC fits SUPER tight in the GBA slot.. so it's a good thing you can remove the CF without removing it.. but, that leaves the CF card sticking out all by itself. Which, makes me fear that the pins inside may get bent if the CF card is not treated carefully. Just look to your local digital photo center for details.. None of the ones around me have working CF slots anymore.
Also, the SC doesn't support FAT32.. Why, I have no idea.. And the price isn't that great either, at around $40. Almost twice that of the GBA MP.
M3 on the other hand, uses the same housing as the GBA MP.. Supports FAT32 and fits nicely into the DS. It also supports a bunch of file formats. Problem with it is, it cost around $90 (With PassKey, which is useless on DSs with new firmware, so you'll still have to buy a PassMe2). I haven't seen anyone selling it without the PassKey.
I guess, if I had to choose, I'd choose the M3 for a DS with new firmware.
Using them:
PassMe2 with SuperCard
PassMe2 with M3
#62260 - FloFri - Mon Nov 28, 2005 7:59 pm
Thank you all for your recommendations. I think I will stay with my GBAMP for now.
#62316 - Kraton. - Tue Nov 29, 2005 3:49 pm
Can i play NDS homebrev with GBAMP + Passkey? Or need i buy Supercard or M3 Perfect? And---What is better? Supercard SD or CF? I have GBAMP and 256mb CF already.
Last edited by Kraton. on Tue Nov 29, 2005 6:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
#62322 - thoop - Tue Nov 29, 2005 5:32 pm
no warez
#62329 - Kraton. - Tue Nov 29, 2005 6:05 pm
#62342 - tuLL - Tue Nov 29, 2005 8:54 pm
I have them all.
I first bought the GBAMP some while ago, before the DS had even come out. And I still use it for Moonshell and running homebrew. Not all homebrew is compatible with the M3.
Then I bought Supercard, and I was quite disapointed. It drains my DS battery in a jiffy and it runs no homebrew at all. Moonshell does work, but it can't run nds homebrew.
My last buy was the M3, it is double the price of a Supercard, but I think every ? was worth it. I use it to see movies also with the cristal engine converter.
So in my pouch I carry, a GBAMP with a 512 MB CF and an M3 with a 512 CF.
I won't sell my Supercard, and I've been updating it, but I never carry it around with me. It is at home, inside its box.
But I'm definitely keeping my GBAMP.
#62362 - natrium42 - Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:43 am
| Kraton. wrote: |
sry. I mean Homebrev ^^, |
An easy mistake to make. The keys for "commercial" and "homebrew" are right beside each other :)
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#62387 - Kraton. - Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:19 pm
M3 + Passkey is too expensive :\
I maybe buy M3 but i prefer Supercard...
Why M3/supercard is better than GBAMP? I dont have Passkey but i maybe buy it for GBAMP.
#62426 - tepples - Wed Nov 30, 2005 9:09 pm
| Kraton. wrote: |
M3 + Passkey is too expensive :\
I maybe buy M3 but i prefer Supercard...
Why M3/supercard is better than GBAMP? |
Unlike the GBAMP, the M3 and the SuperCard have 32 MB of RAM in GBA ROM space (for .ds.gba programs and for GBA homebrew) and 64 KB or more of RAM in GBA SRAM space (for PassMe2 and for GBA homebrew). You cannot use PassMe2 or homebrew GBA ROMs with the GBAMP.
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-- Who?
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-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#62494 - Kraton. - Thu Dec 01, 2005 3:52 pm
| tepples wrote: |
| Kraton. wrote: | M3 + Passkey is too expensive :\
I maybe buy M3 but i prefer Supercard...
Why M3/supercard is better than GBAMP? |
Unlike the GBAMP, the M3 and the SuperCard have 32 MB of RAM in GBA ROM space (for .ds.gba programs and for GBA homebrew) and 64 KB or more of RAM in GBA SRAM space (for PassMe2 and for GBA homebrew). You cannot use PassMe2 or homebrew GBA ROMs with the GBAMP. |
What can i play on GBAMP? ._.
#62499 - Lynx - Thu Dec 01, 2005 4:27 pm
Almost all of the stuff over at ndshb.com :) If you click on a game/app, it will tell you if it works on the GBA MP or not (in the new system).
Also, I think we need to mentiont the fact that the 32MB of onboard RAM on either of those devices are currenty not being used by NDS homebrew.
I've tested GBA MP, SuperCard, and M3 and all support homebrew in one form or another. Some are more confusing to understand what format you may need the homebrew to be in for it to work, or need the firmware updated, but they all work.
#62577 - Kraton. - Fri Dec 02, 2005 5:16 pm
All what i need now is Passkey.
#64027 - RavenWorks - Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:14 pm
| tepples wrote: |
| You cannot use PassMe2 or homebrew GBA ROMs with the GBAMP. |
Ack... this thread had just convinced me to get a GBAMP, until that line.. x.X You can't run any GBA homebrew on a DS with the GBAMP? Are there any other choices with that problem? (Old-fashionned flash carts for example.) I'd like to be able to run NDS homebrew on whatever I get, but GBA homebrew is a must..
#64031 - MaHe - Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:27 pm
Well, the most of the quality HB is written for GBA (although they need to be under 256k or written specifically for GBAmp and FAT driver)
#64171 - SeanMon - Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:06 am
| Lynx wrote: |
For early models... the GBA MP is the best bang for the buck. At $25, it will pretty much do all the stuff you would like it to do, aside from running 2 or 3 specific homebrews, it runs pretty much everything else, and some GBA MP Only homebrews. |
What homebrew can it not run, and why?
#64197 - The 9th Sage - Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:11 am
| SeanMon wrote: |
| Lynx wrote: |
For early models... the GBA MP is the best bang for the buck. At $25, it will pretty much do all the stuff you would like it to do, aside from running 2 or 3 specific homebrews, it runs pretty much everything else, and some GBA MP Only homebrews. |
What homebrew can it not run, and why? |
Anything that REQUIRES a GBA flash cart, basically.
Examples include DSheretic and HexenDS.
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#64206 - tepples - Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:12 am
| RavenWorks wrote: |
| tepples wrote: | | You cannot use PassMe2 or homebrew GBA ROMs with the GBAMP. |
Ack... this thread had just convinced me to get a GBAMP, until that line.. x.X You can't run any GBA homebrew on a DS with the GBAMP? Are there any other choices with that problem? (Old-fashionned flash carts for example.) |
In my GBA posts, a "ROM" is a program that runs in GBA ROM (0x08000000), while a "multiboot" is a program that runs in GBA EWRAM (0x02000000).
Roughly, multiboot is to ROM as .nds is to ds.gba.
"Old fashioned" NOR flash carts work with all GBA homebrew, as do the SuperCard and M3. The GBAMP works only with GBA "multiboot" programs (*.mb.gba) and those GBA programs that are specially designed to access the GBAMP's CF card (such as Dwedit's hack of PocketNES). Some programs come in both multiboot and ROM forms; examples include Luminesweeper, which has music in the ROM version but no music and a limit of 7 skins in the multiboot version.
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-- Who?
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-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#64210 - RavenWorks - Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:43 am
| tepples wrote: |
| The GBAMP works only with GBA "multiboot" programs (*.mb.gba) and those GBA programs that are specially designed to access the GBAMP's CF card (such as Dwedit's hack of PocketNES). |
Oh, YIKES! I didn't realise that... But this isn't the case with devices like the M3 or Supercard?
In all the wikis and guides that I've read, I don't think that was mentionned anywhere...
#64245 - Lynx - Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:19 pm
The reason it isn't an issue with M3 or SC is because they have 32MB of onboard RAM that is used like a Flash Cart. So, the homebrew GBAs are loaded into the RAM and addressed the same as if it was a Flash Cart.
#64262 - Kraton. - Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:12 pm
I have a question. Why Passkey2 is better than Passkey1?
#64309 - tepples - Wed Dec 21, 2005 5:36 am
| RavenWorks wrote: |
| In all the wikis and guides that I've read, I don't think that was mentionned anywhere... |
From Wikipedia's article:
| Quote: |
| The GBAMP will also load and run multiboot homebrew GBA code. Because it loads programs into the GBA's 256 KB RAM, ROM sizes are limited to 256 KB |
From PHWiki's article:
| Quote: |
| Everything related to emulators has to be done entirely within the GBA's 384k of total memory. With an emulator running, there is 208k-256k of memory left, depending on which emulator it is. |
(where 32 KB of that is IWRAM and 96 KB is VRAM)
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#64336 - linus - Wed Dec 21, 2005 11:52 am
A lot of people seem to be dissapointed with the SC but I think mines great. Ive got the SD version so it fits in much better than the GBAMP. It is NOT stiff in the cartridge slot. Moonshell and SnesDS both have versions that specifically support the file system. I havent tried too many homebrews yet but i havent come across one that doesnt work.
It did drain my battery life but once I used flashme i took out the ds cartridge and it wasnt as bad. I havent tried the movie player yet.
And most important of all it was cheap. I paid ?30 for a passme and SDSC off ebay (new).
Anyway this is a one sided review because i dont have the others! but not many who had one were writing about it so there you go.
Edit: Kraton: the new passmes support newer DS specifically the pink and blue ones but i think its also any ds with a serial number greater than 112xxxxxx but dont quote me on that.
#64424 - Lynx - Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:08 am
Kraton, PassMe2 isn't "better" than PassMe1, they just use different methods to reach the same goal. Nintendo changed the firmware to block PassMe1, so if you purchased your DS after Oct. 1st, chances are that PassMe1 just won't work.
As for SC vs GBAMP, I have used all three (SC, GBAMP, and M3) and if they were all free, I'd choose the M3, as it seems to work the best. Of course, I only work with homebrew, so I don't know how good any of them are for "other" purposes. But, when I'm doing anything, I still use my GBA MP as I really like MightyMax's boot loader. I might've liked the SC if it supported FAT32, as it being hard to remove doesn't matter much if you don't have to remove it. Though, I guess it would suck for Rumble Pak homebrew, as you have to take it out to insert the Rumble Pak. Oh well.
#64514 - Slosha - Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:41 am
alright... so if i have an older DS, what should i get to play gba homebrew / NDS homebrew? And mp3's... and movies... and passme...
shoul di jsut buy a new DS or what?
#64553 - MaHe - Fri Dec 23, 2005 2:35 pm
No. Just buy a NDS DevKit ( dspassme.com ) for 45$ and a decent CF card somewhere.
This combination is dirt cheap.