#84038 - Canadaka - Sat May 20, 2006 7:24 am
I am trying to decided which passkey cart to get, the Datel MAX Media Launcher or the PassCard 2
Seems the Datel is the best choice from reading this review:
http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=20057
and this one:
http://www.iso420.com/nds/dmax/index.htm
But I hanv't seen many reviews on the PassCard 2 or any comparisons. PassCard2 is a lot more available at retailers. Only place i can really find the Datel is at:
http://us.codejunkies.com/shop/product.asp?c=US&cr=USD&cs=$&r=0&l=1&ProdID=321
I could get both the Supercard or M3 (hanv't decided) and a PassCard 2 at either of these Canadian places.
http://www.kicktrading.ca
http://www.gamersection.ca
But which is better? what are the differences?
Passcard2 pic:
[Images not permitted - Click here to view it]
http://www.gamersection.ca/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=21&products_id=139
Datel MAX Media Launcher Pic
[Images not permitted - Click here to view it]
Last edited by Canadaka on Sat May 20, 2006 11:55 am; edited 4 times in total
#84051 - MaHe - Sat May 20, 2006 10:13 am
I'm pretty sure PassCard is actually a PassKey2 with a game built-in. Even if I'm wrong, you're better off with Max Media Launcher :)
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#84052 - Canadaka - Sat May 20, 2006 10:21 am
ok, but why would I be better?
I am leaning towards the PassCard2 a bit right now, since the retail stores in canada where I would get all my other accesories also carry it. So less shipping and hassle.
Unless the Datel is better, but I don't know if it is. The both seem the same in the way they don't need a game, and they are both the size of a ds cart, so they fit in the DS nicely.
#84056 - MaHe - Sat May 20, 2006 10:57 am
No, they're very different. Max Media Launcher is a NoPass (you could call it PassME3, I suppose, though that's technically wrong), that means you don't need a SRAM enabled device for it to work, just plug and play. Also, it consumes less power. Suit yourself.
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#84058 - Canadaka - Sat May 20, 2006 11:17 am
what is a "SRAM enabled device", does a Supercard SD or M3 SD not have SRAM, so its a non issue with those?
Does it consume less power? do you know of any stats or links for that?
That would be a good reason though.
I found a PassCard 2 reivew and from reading this I don't see the difference in functionality between it and the Datel MAX
http://www.dualscene.net/viewpage.php?page_id=42
Also reading the review here again i noticed this:
| Quote: |
Datel?s device is the second to hit the market that allows you to pass the NDS code without the need for a NDS cart plugged into it. There is another device out there that was released first. Not only is the other device based off a game, it?s larger, only comes with 4k EEPROM, a lot more expensive and doesn?t work on the newer Nintendo DS consoles. |
Do you think its refering to the PassCard 2?
#84089 - Linkiboy - Sat May 20, 2006 2:11 pm
| Canadaka wrote: |
what is a "SRAM enabled device", does a Supercard SD or M3 SD not have SRAM, so its a non issue with those?
Does it consume less power? do you know of any stats or links for that?
That would be a good reason though.
I found a PassCard 2 reivew and from reading this I don't see the difference in functionality between it and the Datel MAX
http://www.dualscene.net/viewpage.php?page_id=42
Also reading the review here again i noticed this:
| Quote: |
Datel?s device is the second to hit the market that allows you to pass the NDS code without the need for a NDS cart plugged into it. There is another device out there that was released first. Not only is the other device based off a game, it?s larger, only comes with 4k EEPROM, a lot more expensive and doesn?t work on the newer Nintendo DS consoles. |
Do you think its refering to the PassCard 2? |
I think that was a refferal to PassMe2-z...
#84104 - derula - Sat May 20, 2006 4:07 pm
| Linkiboy wrote: |
| Do you think its refering to the PassCard 2? |
I think that was a refferal to PassMe2-z...[/quote]
But these devices are almost the same, aren't they? Only that PassCard2 is a bit smaller, or isn't it?
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#84120 - tepples - Sat May 20, 2006 5:10 pm
PassMe2-Z and PassCard2 are both PassMe2 with a built-in game. They work with all SuperCard and M3 adapters and G6 cards, but not the inexpensive GBAMP v2 CF.
MAX Media Launcher is thought to work with GBAMP v2 CF. I've ordered one and will try it on my cousin's DS with stock firmware version 2.
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#84124 - berlinka - Sat May 20, 2006 5:22 pm
And with Supercard combined with the Passme2-z you have to do the QPC method everytime, whilst the Max Media Launcher acts like, say Flashme, so you just turn on and play.
#84126 - The_DDub - Sat May 20, 2006 5:35 pm
I have a PassCard2 on the way. Once I get it, i'll post my thoughts.
#84127 - Dan2552 - Sat May 20, 2006 5:36 pm
| tepples wrote: |
| MAX Media Launcher is thought to work with GBAMP v2 CF. I've ordered one and will try it on my cousin's DS with stock firmware version 2. |
Take away the thought, I don't think I'm dreaming that it works with mine.
#84147 - HtheB - Sat May 20, 2006 7:23 pm
Passcard 2 is the same as the Max M.L.
but... I heard that the Passcard2 only works with the M3 and G6..
so the Max Media Launcher is much better in that case..
and its MUCH CHEAPER! :)
#84156 - tepples - Sat May 20, 2006 8:29 pm
| Dan2552 wrote: |
| tepples wrote: | | MAX Media Launcher is thought to work with GBAMP v2 CF. |
Take away the thought, I don't think I'm dreaming that it works with mine. |
Thanks for the confirmation. Added to my passthrough methods page.
And no, the PassCard 2 isn't the same, as it relies on SRAM (i.e. no GBAMP v2 compatibility, and no saving in homebrew on SD adapters).
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#84160 - wintermute - Sat May 20, 2006 8:37 pm
You're pretty much guaranteed this will come out in favour of MML since it's much more convenient and compatible than the other solutions. The only problem I've heard of so far is that the notch in the card isn't quite the right size for the locking mechanism which can cause it to stick in the DS. Hopefully they're going to retool it, I've heard one report of a damaged DS :/
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#84174 - Canadaka - Sat May 20, 2006 9:54 pm
well for me it has to be a clear winner, because i have to order from a seperate place and out of country, so might have to deal with extra custom duty.
| Quote: |
| And with Supercard combined with the Passme2-z you have to do the QPC method everytime, whilst the Max Media Launcher acts like, say Flashme, so you just turn on and play. |
what is this "QPC method" you speak of? I definbatly want something that i can just stick in and boot up the DS each time.
| Quote: |
| And no, the PassCard 2 isn't the same, as it relies on SRAM (i.e. no GBAMP v2 compatibility, and no saving in homebrew on SD adapters). |
I don't care about GBAMP support, but i thought the M3 and Supercard took care of the saving in homebrew?
#84197 - tepples - Sun May 21, 2006 2:56 am
| Canadaka wrote: |
| what is this "QPC method" you speak of? |
You have to load the SRAM and then quickly power cycle the unit.
| Quote: |
| I don't care about GBAMP support, but i thought the M3 and Supercard took care of the saving in homebrew? |
Unless the use of SRAM by the PassMe2 interferes with the use of SRAM by homebrew apps.
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#84208 - Canadaka - Sun May 21, 2006 5:01 am
| tepples wrote: |
| Canadaka wrote: | | what is this "QPC method" you speak of? |
You have to load the SRAM and then quickly power cycle the unit.
|
is this something you have to do every time? Does it just mean whenever you are going to use a homebrew you have to QPC the DS. or are you having to load a new SRAM onto the cart for different things?
#84212 - Lynx - Sun May 21, 2006 7:37 am
Did you do any research prior to posting this?
#84238 - tepples - Sun May 21, 2006 2:20 pm
Original research? No. Looking things up on PHWiki? Yes.
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#84260 - berlinka - Sun May 21, 2006 5:56 pm
I hated Superpass2 for the Quick Power Cycle method. EVERYTIME I had to pull the Superpass2 out, load some GBA file, Push Superpass in again, turn off, turn on again and then I could make it work
#85388 - The_DDub - Mon May 29, 2006 7:44 pm
| The_DDub wrote: |
| I have a PassCard2 on the way. Once I get it, i'll post my thoughts. |
I was out on Saturday visiting relatives. USPS tried to deliver my 2 PassCard2s. Doh! I'll get them on tuesday.
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#85400 - m2pt5 - Mon May 29, 2006 11:04 pm
I don't know how much use it would be to anyone (or if it's okay to post) but the Max Media Launcher has, apparently, been dumped. When repacked with dslazy, there only appears to be 44KiB of actual data, while the rest of the 16MB is padding.
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#85416 - HyperHacker - Tue May 30, 2006 2:23 am
That's imaginable, except why would they spend the extra money on 16MB ROM chips if they only needed 44K? It might be overdumped, or maybe they intended to provide firmware upgrades (I'm pretty sure it's a flash ROM that could be rewritten from the DS) that actually add a media player instead of putting an old version of Moonshell on the hard drive.
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#85418 - tepples - Tue May 30, 2006 2:33 am
| HyperHacker wrote: |
| That's imaginable, except why would they spend the extra money on 16MB ROM chips if they only needed 44K? It might be overdumped |
Perhaps they got a deal on a truckload of 16 MB flash or OTP chips.
| Quote: |
| or maybe they intended to provide firmware upgrades (I'm pretty sure it's a flash ROM that could be rewritten from the DS) that actually add a media player instead of putting an old version of Moonshell on the hard drive. |
That or they want to use the same PCB for more than one product.
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-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#85440 - OrR - Tue May 30, 2006 11:30 am
By the way, there should be a PassCard 3 coming out in the next weeks with the same functionality as the MML + sleep mode. Of course, it will probably also cost more. So get a MML, flash your DS and sell the thing on ebay or something. :P
#85443 - The_DDub - Tue May 30, 2006 12:49 pm
| m2pt5 wrote: |
| I don't know how much use it would be to anyone (or if it's okay to post) but the Max Media Launcher has, apparently, been dumped. When repacked with dslazy, there only appears to be 44KiB of actual data, while the rest of the 16MB is padding. |
Typical of Datel products. The PS2 Action Replay max has a reported 650MB CD size. But when the dummy file is stripped, the actual data is less than 10MB. I think they try to do that to stop piracy of their products.
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Both are FlashMe'd
#85456 - Ennead - Tue May 30, 2006 2:56 pm
I'm losing track here.
MML > Passcard 2, but the Passcard 3 might be superior to both?
I'm still doubting whether I'll flash my DS Lite when it arrives, or settle for using a card device.
Flashing scares the crap out of me, from what I read of it. Passcard's battery abuse sucks too though. Do you think passcard 3, or that improved MML I saw someone talking about, will make for an *actual* alternative to flashing? Or is not giving in to flashing always simultaneously accepting huge downsides of the alternatives?
#85479 - tepples - Tue May 30, 2006 8:06 pm
I got my MAX Media Launcher today. I can confirm one thing:
| wintermute wrote: |
| The only problem I've heard of so far is that the notch in the card isn't quite the right size for the locking mechanism which can cause it to stick in the DS. |
Get out your Dremel because the MAX Media Launcher's notch is noticeably smaller. On a DS Game Card, the locking notch is the same depth as the notch next to the pins, but on the MAX Media Launcher, it's about two-thirds of the expected depth. Picture speaks, but it would be easier to see with a better camera.
I tried it using the Select button on my flashed DS, and MoonShell and DSOrganize didn't exhibit the rapid-in-and-out-of-sleep-mode behavior that some people have been reporting. I hope to have a chance to try it on my cousins' systems with v2 and v4 stock firmware this week.
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#85493 - Lynx - Tue May 30, 2006 9:53 pm
Firefly had an excellent picture that he took. I can't seem to find a link now.. :(
#85497 - Dan2552 - Tue May 30, 2006 11:03 pm
| tepples wrote: |
I got my MAX Media Launcher today. I can confirm one thing:
| wintermute wrote: | | The only problem I've heard of so far is that the notch in the card isn't quite the right size for the locking mechanism which can cause it to stick in the DS. |
Get out your Dremel because the MAX Media Launcher's notch is noticeably smaller. On a DS Game Card, the locking notch is the same depth as the notch next to the pins, but on the MAX Media Launcher, it's about two-thirds of the expected depth. Picture speaks, but it would be easier to see with a better camera.
|
This means?
| Quote: |
I tried it using the Select button on my flashed DS, and MoonShell and DSOrganize didn't exhibit the rapid-in-and-out-of-sleep-mode behavior that some people have been reporting. I hope to have a chance to try it on my cousins' systems with v2 and v4 stock firmware this week. |
I thought this problem was only yarr
#85501 - tepples - Wed May 31, 2006 12:36 am
| Dan2552 wrote: |
| tepples wrote: | I got my MAX Media Launcher today. I can confirm one thing:
| wintermute wrote: | | The only problem I've heard of so far is that the notch in the card isn't quite the right size for the locking mechanism which can cause it to stick in the DS. |
Get out your Dremel because the MAX Media Launcher's notch is noticeably smaller. |
This means? |
It means that some more cautious DS owners are going to want to carefully use a rotary cutting tool to make the notch bigger.
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#85504 - The_DDub - Wed May 31, 2006 1:46 am
Ok, I got my Passcard2 and I just flashed my ds lite. It says I have V7 firmware. My solder bridge worked just as planned. Once I started the flashing process, it didn't hesitate and completed to 100% with no probs.
Anyone want to buy a Passcard2? :)
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Both are FlashMe'd
#85505 - caitsith2 - Wed May 31, 2006 2:35 am
| tepples wrote: |
| HyperHacker wrote: | | That's imaginable, except why would they spend the extra money on 16MB ROM chips if they only needed 44K? It might be overdumped |
Perhaps they got a deal on a truckload of 16 MB flash or OTP chips.
|
Nope. The MML only has a 512KB flash rom chip on it. There is good news in this however. Due to the fact that datel was stupid enough to not write their FPGA to only give the first 512KBs, It is possible to convert the bad dump, (first 512KBs is bad), into a good dump. (the remaining 15.5MBs of the rom are mirror copies of the actual rom chip, including the header, the blowfish SBOX/PBOX tables (for decrypting the level 1 commands), and the fully encrypted Secure area.) Just read 0x80000 to 0xFFFFF, and place that data into 0x0 to 0x7FFFF.
#85510 - HyperHacker - Wed May 31, 2006 3:57 am
| Dan2552 wrote: |
| Quote: |
I tried it using the Select button on my flashed DS, and MoonShell and DSOrganize didn't exhibit the rapid-in-and-out-of-sleep-mode behavior that some people have been reporting. I hope to have a chance to try it on my cousins' systems with v2 and v4 stock firmware this week. |
I thought this problem was only yarr |
It hasn't happened to me with any homebrew. I only have GBAMP though.
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#85532 - jester - Wed May 31, 2006 1:06 pm
i heard MML had sleep issues?? could someone confirm or deny this??
#85533 - mntorankusu - Wed May 31, 2006 1:11 pm
| jester wrote: |
| i heard MML had sleep issues?? could someone confirm or deny this?? |
There's no sleep issue in homebrew.
#85536 - Dan2552 - Wed May 31, 2006 2:20 pm
| mntorankusu wrote: |
| jester wrote: | | i heard MML had sleep issues?? could someone confirm or deny this?? |
There's no sleep issue in homebrew. |
Nor dumped wifi demos
#85556 - tepples - Wed May 31, 2006 6:45 pm
| Dan2552 wrote: |
| mntorankusu wrote: | | There's no sleep issue in homebrew. |
Nor dumped wifi demos |
I get sleep cycling with MAX Media Launcher + GBAMP + MoonShell + Electroplankton demo. I don't get sleep cycling with FlashMe + Tetris DS + GBAMP + MoonShell + Electroplankton demo.
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-- Who?
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-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#85561 - Dan2552 - Wed May 31, 2006 7:06 pm
can you explain the sleep cycle? nothing happens out of the ordinary when i close the lid on brain age or meteos demos.. and i defiently havn't flashed
pokemon trozei makes a funny noise when you shut the lid, the screen flashes for a sec and returns to normal (doesn't turn off) - is this 'sleep cycling'? not the noise of course, thats the game
woah nevermind, just tried true swing golf demo and that goes crazy! works fine if i put a commercial game in instead of the MML though
#85563 - wintermute - Wed May 31, 2006 7:24 pm
| Lynx wrote: |
| Firefly had an excellent picture that he took. I can't seem to find a link now.. :( |
I grabbed the pic from firefly earlier.
http://www.devkitpro.org/maxmedialauncher.jpg
Standard card is on top, you can see quite clearly it has a larger notch with more rounded corners.
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#85570 - tepples - Wed May 31, 2006 8:44 pm
| Dan2552 wrote: |
| can you explain the sleep cycle? |
With MAX Media Launcher inserted, and the demos launched through MoonShell:
- Electroplankton demo blinks at about 1 Hz.
- Pok?mon Trozei demo plays the lid closed sound, goes to sleep and then immediately wakes up. When I open the lid, it plays the lid opened sound.
- Brain Age demo behaves normally. It even recognizes "blue" if I say it in a relaxed tone with the DS at arm's length.
But if I pak-swap to Tetris DS while in MoonShell, all demos' sleep modes work.
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-- Who?
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-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#85571 - swimgod - Wed May 31, 2006 8:59 pm
maybe the sleep mode code (to make it work right...)
has some kind of law protecting it from being copied...
maybe they couldn't take that code from a real game because if anything else they have done to do this is not illegeal yet, and that would be?...
just a guess :P
edit:...
i just had a thought...
how about after you launch moonshell you don't replace MML just leave it out?
does it still have sleep problems?,,,
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#85574 - Lynx - Wed May 31, 2006 9:33 pm
My guess would be that they just didn't test it prior to release. And their developers are saying, "oops" on that one.. :)
#85579 - chishm - Wed May 31, 2006 11:19 pm
I think this is more a hardware issue. One of the pins on DS Cards is for detecting when it is removed (Pin 7, internally connected to ground). Perhaps this isn't connected, causing the IRQ to fire when the DS goes into sleep mode, which in turn wakes it up.
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#85638 - Dan2552 - Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:54 pm
| swimgod wrote: |
i just had a thought...
how about after you launch moonshell you don't replace MML just leave it out?
does it still have sleep problems?,,, |
still got problems
![[Images not permitted - Click here to view it]](http://www.gamersection.ca/images/PASSCARD2.JPG){kind=link}
![[Images not permitted - Click here to view it]](http://www.iso420.com/nds/dmax/original.jpg){kind=link}