M3i zero features
Upgradable “Boot Flash data”
Upgradable “Kernel”
Upgradable “Firmware
Compatible with DS , DSl & DSi .
100% game compatibility .
supports Real Time Save function . (Save & Restore anytime, anywhere.)
Supports Multi-Language System (English, French ,German, Italian , Spanish , Portuguese,
Dutch, Korea & Thai Language .)
Continue to update & frequency enhance software/ firmware.
Support micro SDHC (capacity over 4GB, 8GB ,16GB & 32GB …)
Extreme simple to use, just Plug & Play .
Super Cheat Function
Fully AR Cheat Code Compatible engine .
Support reading individual cheat code file too. (xml, cht, dht, dat-R4 format)
Supports software reset function .
Support slow motion feature .
Automatically detect and generate game save file .
Excellent homebrew support , DLDI auto-patcher
Robust & skinnable GUI
Build in PassMe .
Integrated Moonshell 2.0 version .
Supports Download and Play .
Supports rumble pack , GBA expansion pack & DS Browser .
Supports 4-scale-lightness adjustment .[DSL only]
What’s Inside the Box.
1*M3i Zero Modchip
1*MicroSD Card Reader by M3
1*Flashing connector.
Setting the card up
The M3i Zero comes without any firmware. So to make it work, you should download these
files:
http://down.gbalpha.com/GBalpha/Softwares/F_CORE.zip
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?download=4808
Extract both these files with WinRar.
Now connect your MicroSD to your PC, via a MicroSD reader or a SD adapter.
Now place the file “F_CORE.dat” , that’s the file that was in the first link, to the root (so not
in a folder) of your MicroSD.
In the second link, there was a folder called “SYSTEM” and a Readme.txt file. The .txt file can
be deleted.
Copy the “SYSTEM” folder to the root of your MicroSD.
So if you done this correct, there should be 2 things on the root of your MicroSD now:
F_CORE.dat and the SYSTEM folder.
Now unplug the MicroSD from your PC, and put it in the correct way in your M3i Zero. You can
see how to put your MicroSD in on the picture below.
Now take the USB power cable and plug it in your M3i Zero. Plug the thin contact of the USB
power cable in the small hole of your card, and the USB connector to your PC.
I’ve made a picture, so you can see how you should connect the thin contact to your card. Do
this very gentle, as a wrong move can break the fragile contact.
So now you have your MicroSD in your M3i Zero and the USB power cable is connected to
your M3i Zero. Now just plug the USB part of the USB power cable in your PC.
If you have done all these things correctly, a red light should start flashing. After 10-15
seconds, the light will stop flashing, indicating that the process is done. You can now unplug
the USB power cable from your PC.
I’ve listed all the things the light may do and what it means:
Light blinks – in progress
Light off – no power or complete
Light on – error (no “f_core.dat” or wrong file etc.)
When you have disconnected the USB power cable from your PC and the M3i Zero from the
thin connector, you can plug it in your DS, DSLite or DSi.
When it boots you should get this screen:
Here you can see the choice between the Touch Pod OS and the M3 Sakura. You can either
use the touch screen or Dpad+ A button, to select your option.
I chose M3 Sakura and I recommend everybody to check it out.
GUI Settings
M3 Sakura executes a disk check of your memory card to make sure all is well on first boot.
On my MicroSD card it took only a few seconds, and then you are greeted with the settings
screen.
The settings screen is pretty straightforward, you can choose between several languages, like
English, Deutsch, Spanish, Dutch, ….
Then the Line mode which enables either or 2 line support for long file names. Then the last
three things are checkboxes where you can enable/disable the following things:
- Always run DiskCheck when booting
- Enable sound effects
- Don’t show this screen next time
If you are done with the settings, click the “OK’ box to confirm all your choices. You will now
be sent to the main file browser . The top screen immediately displays all the various button
combos, to aid your navigation of the GUI.
File browsing uses both screens to display your folders and files. To run a file, either slide the
stylus to the right over the file name or press the A button.
If you want to enter the Settings menu, slide left or press the Y button.
It all works very well and the controls are very logic.
Pressing the Start button brings up the system menu. Here you can change the following
options.
There you adjust the 1 or 2 line support for file names and you can also edit the GUI Settings.
In the GUI Settings menu you can edit several option to change the interface to your own
taste:
- Don’t show Initial Setup on boot
- Always run DiskCheck when booting
- Enable sound effects
- Enable fade transition effect
- Start Sakura from Recent Files list
- Lock folder navigation. If you have kids and want them only to use apps/games in a specific
folder, this is your way to do it. Navigate to the folder you want to lock and then enable this
option. When you reboot, Sakura will start in that folder. If you try to navigate out of the
folder, a beep will be played, preventing you to do it.
Obviously this feature can be disabled using the start button but for small children it might
come in very handy.
- Hide filename extensions
- Hide unsupported files
- Use dark background screen saver
- Enable FastStart movie playback
- Lock L/R during music playback
- Restore default wallpaper
- Language settings (change the language between English, Deutsch, Espanol, Dutch,
Francais, Italian,Portuguese and Russian)
- Save file restore menu [only when a game is highlighted]
Recent Files List
Pressing Select gives you the recent files list. This list consist of the last 5 apps or games you
ran on your card. There is a separate tab called Accessories, which has some preloaded
applications like CheckDisk and Morning Timer. Another 3 apps can be added to this tab by
manually installing .nds binaries to the SYSTEM\m3sakura\launch\ folder.
This is just an amazing feature, very handy and it saves you loads of time.
Multimedia
All the multimedia functions of Moonshell are incorporated in Sakura. You don’t have to start
another DS application to read E-books, to listen to Music or to watch a movie. Just start the
file like you would do with a DS game, and it will work.
The movies should be in .DPG format, just like with Moonshell.
Game features
The Game Settings menu can be accessed by sliding the stylus left over the highlighted game
or by pressing the Y button. You have a lot of functions, like Soft Reset, Cheats, Real Time
Save and Download Play. The hotkey combo is displayed next to each option.
Not only do you get a hotkey but you get a choice of two key configs too. The cheat option can
use the firmware database and individual cheat files.
Those individual cheat files can be xml, cht, dht or dat-R4 formats.
The Real Time Save option works exactly like the M3 Real. You can save up to three times
with the RTS function per game.
The menu is very easy and logic to navigate.
Saving and loading with the RTS function takes about 4 seconds and the progress is shown by
a percentage scale in the bottom left corner of the screen. The save states are around 4.9
megabyte in size.
To manage your savegame files, you can acces the menu by selecting the game, pressing the
Start button and selecting the Save file restore menu.
This is actually a lot like Windows’ system restore. Each save file can have upto 8 slots which
are ordered by time. To restore a previous save, highlight the appropriate date/time file and
press the L+A button combo.
Homebrew + Skinning
All the Sakura skins use the .skn format. This is a single file package, so no more hassle with
several image files!
To change the GUI skin you just have to click on the filename.skn and the theme is instantly
loaded. It works like a charm.
The M3i Zero hast built in auto-DLDI patching, so playing homebrew is again a breeze.
I’ve tested a lot of different homebrew applications and emulators, and they all worked, no
exception.
Summary
The M3i Zero was hyped a lot, and I think the card really lived up to it’s hype.
The dual-boot system is a great way to maintain the great compatibility and the Sakura OS is
simply stunning. I truly hope other flashcard makers take a good look at their OS and copy
some features of Sakura because everybody deserves to have those amazing features.
The ability to update the kernel, boot flash and firmware only adds to the mix. If Nintendo
releases a firmware update for the DSi that blocks the flashcards, the M3Team should be able
to fix that, thanks to the fact that everything is updatable.
Pros
- Native 2 Operation Systems
- M3 Sakura
- Game features
- Excellent multimedia playback, in the Sakura OS
- Updatable kernel, boot flash and firmware
- SDHC support
- Good homebrew compatibility
Cons
- No software/documentation included in package
- Hardware could have been better, especially the accessories
Buy m3i zero at
http://gamehouse88.com/m3i-zero-for-ds-dsl-and-dsindsll-ndsxl-p-11.html