***M3 DS Simply Guide***

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***M3 DS Simply Guide***

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mr_hanky

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13. January 2007 @ 06:04

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M3 DS Simply Guide

As promised here is my guide to using the M3 DS Simply.

UPDATES:
I have now added some headings to the paragraphs
How to trim ROM's added
How to convert saves added.
How to use/update Action Replay codes
Added 'Extras' Section which includes:
-Language/Firmware Section now software based.
--How to change the M3 language
--How to convert an R4 into the M3 and vice-versa
Added how to load your own homebrew using the middle icon instead of Moonshell.

Where to buy
If you do not yet have an M3 DS Simply you can purchase it from one of the following stores:

Divineo
http://kicktrading.ca
http://www.winsunx.com
http://www.realhotstuff.com/
http://www.consolesource.com

The M3 DS Simply comes with the device itself, a replacement shell in white, a MicroSD reader/writer, a CD with some software on it and a small case for holding the M3 and replacement shell.
UPDATE: The new batch of M3 DS Simply do NOT come with the replacement white shell.

MicroSD Card
The only other thing you will need to buy is a MicroSD card (aka Transflash) these can be bought from most online electronics stores, or eBay. They go up to 2GB in size, what size you get is up to you, but I would recommend at least 1GB. NOTE: The M3 DS Simply cannot use SDHC cards, if SDHC support is a must for you perhaps you should think about getting the M3 DS Real

Formatting
Now you have everything you need to first prepare the MicroSD card for use in the M3. So start by plugging the MicroSD into the card reader and connect the card reader to your computer. Although the M3 supports FAT32 I would recommend using FAT16 as it seemed a better option to choose for the older M3 slot-2 device, to format to FAT16 in Windows go to My Computer and right click on the MicroSD card (will show as a Removable Drive) and choose ?Format? in the format Window choose FAT as the file system. I would also recommend labelling the card ?M3 Simply? or similar so it is easily identifiable when connected to your PC, leave any other options blank then click format, once done you can copy the firmware files onto the card.

Firmware
Latest Firmware is 'v1.11'
The firmware files are what are needed by the M3 to work, these are what come on the CD, but chances are they are out dated, so throw the CD away and download the latest firmware files from here. Once downloaded you should extract the folders "_system_" and "moonshl" along with the files "_DS_MENU.DAT" and"_DS_MSHL.DAT" to the root of the microSD card.

Ready!
Your M3 is now ready to play backed up NDS games and run Moonshell (to play videos, MP3?s and view pictures) so you can now drag and drop any games/homebrew/MP3?s/pictures you want to play/watch on your DS. Files can go anywhere, but I usually use seperate folders, such as Games/Videos/Music etc.
Note: Videos need to be converted to .dpg format, I use BatchDPG however there are other tools available.

Trimming ROMs
Trimming ROMs can save room on your MicroSD card so obviously is a good thing to do.

To trim a ROM you must simply run the program ?M3DSS ROM Trimmer.exe? this can be downloaded from the M3 website.
Run the program and find your DS ROM you want to trim, and if you want choose a different location to save the game. The trimmer by default saves to the same folder the original is in but adds ?trim? to the filename.

Trimming takes only a second, once done you can copy the trimmed game to the MicroSD card like you would with any other game.

Converting Saves
Converting saves from your old M3/Supercard/etc. is just as easy as trimming, simply run the program ?M3DSS SAVE Transformer.exe? (also found on the M3 website) choose your old save, and choose the destination to save the converted save, by default this is in the same folder as the original save.
Once converted copy the save file to the same directory as your game, this is very important, as otherwise the M3 will not see the save, also you will need to rename the save to match the name of the game e.g. ?game.nds? needs a save called ?game.sav?, again this is very important or the M3 will not know the save goes with the game.

Updating Action Replay codes
Newer versions of the M3 DS Simply firmware have built in support for using Action Replay codes on your roms. To access this you highlight the game and press 'Y' or touch the "Cheat(Y)" box on the touch screen.
See this guide created by DVDBack23 on how to add the latest codes to your M3DSS without having to wait for the M3 or R4 team to update their own list.

Extra
Extra things I thought should be included in the guide.

Load homebrew using the media icon
By default the M3 DS Simply loads Moonshell when you choose the middle icon, however this does not need to be the case, simply connect your microSD card to your computer and find the file '_DS_MSHL.NDS' this is Moonshell, rename ths to anything you like (e.g. Moonshell.nds) also find '_DS_MSHL.SAV' and rename this the same way (e.g. Moonshell.sav).

Now find your homebrew and copy this to the root of your microSD card, i've used DSOrganize. Rename this file to '_DS_MSHL.NDS'
Plug your microSD card back into yor M3 and now choose the middle icon, your choosen homebrew game/application loads :P

You can still load Moonshell by going to Game and loading your renamed Moonshell file.

Using the R4 Firmware and/or different language firmware on the M3 DS Simply
This section is replacing the very outdated hardware method to the new software mod.
Start by downloading this file: [Link broken, will be fixed soon]
Once downloaded extract the two files to your hard drive, now get the firmware file you would like to use (can be any R4 or M3 firmware in any language) and copy the _DS_MENU.DAT file to the same folder.
Now run the patch.exe program and follow the on-screen instructions (pressing either Y/N/1/2 then enter for the appropriate answers)
you can now copy this onto your M3 and run it.
(This method is useful for those who want to use English firmware on a Chinese or Japanese unit)
(The download does not have a readme, so I do not know who to credit for this (the two files were emailed to me) if someone knows where the original source of this is please PM me)


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