M3 DS Simply

Subforum for discussion and help with ScummVM's Nintendo DS port

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GriffNorris
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:58 pm

M3 DS Simply

Post by GriffNorris »

I hear this is the best card to get for SCUMMVM DS, as it is cheap and it works.

I have a few questions though.

1) Does anyone have any experience buying from www.clickshop.com ? I'm wondering if it's better than Amazon marketplace, as both are around £21-23, but the Amazon MP one seems to have had some negative reviews. Also, I hear that Amazon MP and eBay don't package things properly, and so your things get damaged.

2) Is a 1GB MicroSD card big enough for SCUMMVM DS and Sam & Max, and would I be able to fit anything else on there as well?

Thanks for any help I receive in advance.

Have a nice day you lot.

Griff
iso jussi
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:01 pm
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Post by iso jussi »

I think sam & max was about 100 MB with sounds. So i think 1GB is enough.
cde
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:48 am

Post by cde »

You can get 2GB (the max supported by the M3 Simply) for under £15 if you shop around in places like play.com - not sure if you would fill the space with other homebrew/emulators or using the media player functionality but I think the day will come when you think "Why didn't I get more storage?".

I can confirm 2 good shopping experiences from www.consoleup.com (me & a friend). No idea about clickshop, but the price is similar.

Enjoy the retro goodness!
GriffNorris
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:58 pm

Post by GriffNorris »

both good points. How much is postage at consoleup?

Thanks very much to both of you, particularly the recommendation, ut the size thing made sense and helped too.

I think I'll get the M3 from consoleup, unless the postage is a lot, and get a 2GB microsd when they're a bit cheaper, when I need it, and when I have more money lol.
cde
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:48 am

Post by cde »

Postage was something like £3 I think.

I know that a difference of £5 can be a real headache depending on your budget, next payday etc., but I really think that it's worth ignoring that extra magazine/pizza/beer early so you don't have to carry a second delicate MicroSD card around if you get more storage later.

For under £40 (M3 simply + postage + post-free-2GB SD) you can be all set with enough room for ScummVM, all the supported games, & Moonshell (M3 Simply integrated media player). You'd still have room for other emulators if you use them, DSOrganise for some PDA functionality, and plenty of eBooks/mp3s/videos (check the Moonbooks project).

Go on, sell those new fangled touch-screen games on eBay and rejoin the 90s! :)
GriffNorris
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:58 pm

Post by GriffNorris »

It's on its way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Is there anything (besides monster.sou -> so3) I need to prepare.

Will Scummvm work with the cartridge as soon as I get it out of the box? Or do I need to download firmware, DLDI(?), or format the MicroSD card?

Please, if there's a list of what I need to do with this device in particular, I'll be very grateful. P.S. I don't know if it changes anything (besides willingness to help), but I use a mac.

Thanks in advance.
cde
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:48 am

Post by cde »

You will need a few files to get it all working.

Head over to http://www.ds-scene.net/forum/forum.php?topic=3405 for the v1.06 kernel, you need to get the files out of that archive and put them in the root of your card.

In theory, the 1.06 firmware auto-DLDI-patches any .nds files that need it - not tried it myself, but you should be fine :)

When you boot the M3 simply, you have 3 icons - games, media and slot 2. The first and last are obvious enough, the games list brings up a browser showing all .nds files (you can press Select in this section to view save files or other file types, delete files with Y if you like).

The middle icon loads Moonshell *if* you want to bother with it. it will need to be built from source and renamed to _DS_MSHL.nds since that is the filename that the middle icon tries to load. This means you could rename your favourite scummvm build to _DS_MSHL.nds and load it from the middle icon, and even design your own skin so the middle icon isn't for multimedia anymore...

Any other questions, just fire away - and enjoy!
GriffNorris
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:58 pm

Post by GriffNorris »

Would I be able to use photoshop or something else to make the skins?

Preferably something for macs.

And thank you for the files help.
jak66
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 4:24 pm
Location: UK, Essex

Post by jak66 »

Themes are made of 4 24-bit bmp images and a ini file that contain text colour values.

Also all of the files for the firmware need the filenames and extensions in capitals (_DS_MSHL.NDS, rather than _ds_mshl.nds), otherwise it won't be detected.
GriffNorris
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:58 pm

Post by GriffNorris »

Alright, cheers. I've figured out (by downloading a theme/skin) that logo and icons "go together" as the main screen, but what are the other two for?

EDIT: I know this skinning part isn't to do with SCUMMVM, but I just wanted to know, and you guys seem to know your stuff. Added to that, you all seem more grammatical than interweb n00bs.
cde
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:48 am

Post by cde »

The other 2 images are for the background of your file list and the accompanying touch-screen background (behind the big button for each .nds file). You can make the images in any package if you have the right proportions and save as .bmp

Oh, by the way, format your MicroSD card as FAT32 - I found that FAT16 left it complaining when it had many files & folders (i.e. a lot of Scumm content & music) and it reported no free space even though it had 500MB or so left. This meant it would not create save files, and ended up losing/corrupting the M3 system files requiring a reformat...

Unless you get other errors with FAT32, it seems a more stable/compatible option with 2GB cards (and the DLDI drivers are not FAT16-specific, they are just for the device).

Also, if you end up DLDI-patching anything, you need to use the R4DS dldi file, NOT one with "M3" in the name! confusing, but the R4 and M3Simply are very similar cards - the other M3 DLDI files are for other, older, slot-2 devices.

As for skinning not being a ScummVM issue, I think if you make a decent M3 Simply skin with a ScummVM flavour you should post it here for us all to enjoy :)
GriffNorris
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:58 pm

Post by GriffNorris »

I'll have a go at the SCUMM M3 skin. Thanks for all the help. Yeah I downloaded the wrong dldi then. D:


EDIT: It's here.
NuMatic
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri May 11, 2007 6:06 pm

Post by NuMatic »

Sooo, if I was to get a M£ Simply, with lots of storeage, I should go for this
http://www.consoleup.com/shop/Console/M ... o-SD-Card/?
gamerleaf
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:02 am
Contact:

Post by gamerleaf »

Got my M3 DS Real Cartridge, Rumble device and GBA Expansion device here, all together just need $48.9, worked well now.
Fast shipping and good quality!
Last edited by gamerleaf on Sat Aug 09, 2008 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Potent1
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:07 pm

Re: M3 DS Simply

Post by Potent1 »

GriffNorris wrote:I hear this is the best card to get for SCUMMVM DS, as it is cheap and it works.

I have a few questions though.

1) Does anyone have any experience buying from www.clickshop.com ? I'm wondering if it's better than Amazon marketplace, as both are around £21-23, but the Amazon MP one seems to have had some negative reviews. Also, I hear that Amazon MP and eBay don't package things properly, and so your things get damaged.

2) Is a 1GB MicroSD card big enough for SCUMMVM DS and Sam & Max, and would I be able to fit anything else on there as well?

Thanks for any help I receive in advance.

Have a nice day you lot.

Griff
My Sam and Max version is 15.3 MB, but it uses text when they speak, except for the beginning, Of course all the other sounds are present, cars, shooting, etc.
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