Media Card

From M3 Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

ADD THE FILE SYSTEM USED WHEN ADDiNG A NEW CARD

Please post the CF or SD card in the appropriate section, and an image. Don't add a card untested.

NOTICE:
Please post in this way:

If it works:

Card Name and model/serial no. (if known) - link to an image
- WORKS with 1x/4x DMA and Firmware E25
- Castlevania Test: CVM rating (5=perfect 1=terrible)

Please note what cluster size you used if you needed to use START to run GBA games.

If it doesn't work:

Card Name and model - link to an image
- DOESN'T WORK with Firmware E25

The Castlevania Test:
How about a playback speed benchmark? The "Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow" opening movie should be a reliable, repeatable measure. Use this scale: 1. Sound isn't even reliable - 2. Still frames only - 3. Some dull sections are smooth - 4. Breaks up when Soma throws a fireball - 5. Doesn't drop a single frame. Please also mention which DMA mode you tested with (1x or 4x).

Defragmenting the card WILL improve your test results.

Selecting a higher cluster size when formating the card improves overall peformance.

Example:

Loading a 32MB GBA ROM in GBA mode.

2GB SD - FAT32/4096 = 15 Seconds (Default Format)
2GB SD - FAT32/8192 = 14 Seconds
2GB SD - FAT32/16k = 13 Seconds

Example2:

As of firmware 27 the M3 team has made some improvment in the read speed of SD cards. M3-MiniSD v1 Firmware 27

Sandisk 1Gb MiniSD

Formating methods and results.

FAT32 (Default cluster size)

Castlevania Test: 3 of 5 (4xDMA, Trim-rom, Software reset)

FAT16 (Default cluster size)

Castlevania Test: 3 of 5 (4xDMA, Trim-rom, Software reset)

FAT16 (32k cluster size)

Castlevania Test: 3.5 of 5 (4xDMA, Trim-rom, Software reset)

FAT16 (64k cluster size)

Castlevania Test: 5 of 5 (4xDMA, Trim-rom, Software reset)

Format your cards with FAT16 Cluster Size 64k if your card is too slow. However, FAT16 64k may break Fast Open and Real Time Save in GBA mode. Try using FAT32 with 8192 or 16K cluster size if that's the case (32K seems to also break it).

How to I format my card with a higher cluster size?

Go to: Start -> Run -> diskmgmt.msc

Select your SD card and right-click "Format"