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GETTING ELINK TO WORK -- A TUTORIAL -- v1.0
CREATED BY KneifeL |
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READ ME FIRST -- INTRODUCTION
Alright friends, enough people have been having difficulty getting eLink 1Gb 128MB to run that I decided to make an online tutorial telling you how to get the damned thing working correctly. To the best of my knowledge, the method described below WORKS at least 98% of the time. I am writing this tutorial SPECIFICALLY to help members of the Starmen.net community get Mother 3 working properly on their GBA eLinks. Unfortunately for many people who have been receiving eLink 1Gb 128MB carts from DealExtreme.com--there has been an issue. The CD that comes with the eLink is VERY confusing, and doesn't install correctly (or at all). Furthermore, when older versions of the software are downloaded from GBAelink.net, users are getting fatal "Link Error 006" and "Link Error 002" errors that stop you from loading data onto the cart. The tutorial below describes how to fix these errors by running the eLink properly with the software that came on the CD. This tutorial is written so that even the most Windows illiterate and most helpless and confused users can get their eLinks working properly. YES, some of the information is redundant. YES, there are possibly a few unnecessary steps. YES, some of the things I suggest to troubleshoot problems are "NO BRAINERS". But if even one person benefits from the additional details in this tutorial, then it's better that I went to unnecessarily detailed lengths. Much of the troubleshooting for this tutorial comes from work done by AbenoSenbei and Pizzaman on the Starmen.net Forums! Without you guys, most of us would not be able to use eLink to get the authentic Mother 3 experience. THANKS! |
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READ ME FIRST -- THE SOFTWARE
IF YOUR ELINK CD WORKS (OPENS WITHOUR ERROR)--DON'T DOWNLOAD THE FILES BELOW--I DON'T HAVE UNLIMITED BANDWIDTH! Some users have been having issues with corrupt CDs coming with their eLink carts. For THOSE people, I have uploaded the contents of the CD and the software (V5.5F) and made them available for download HERE: Version 5.5F of the eLink software (with fixed file names): ELINKFixedV55F.rar Skip STEP #5 below if you use this .rar instead of the CD that comes with the eLink! Other users are having trouble finding V3.9A of the eLink software, which should be installed, updated, and then uninstalled BEFORE V5.5F is moved into Program Files. For these users, I have also uploaded the installation file for V3.9A of the eLink software. Version 3.9F of the eLink software: ELINKSetupV39A.rar Please only use the link above if it is impossible to get this file directly from eLink by CLICKING HERE INSTEAD! |
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THE TUTORIAL -- PRELIMINARY STEPS
ELINK IS MEANT TO BE RUN ON 32BIT WINDOWS XP--THIS TUTORIAL WILL IGNORE ANY DIFFERENCES FOR NEWER OR OLDER WINDOWS SYSTEMS! PRELIM - A SPECIAL NOTE ON TROUBLESHOOTING Many users will follow the instructions below and STILL have problems connecting the eLink to their computers, getting files to transfer, or getting the game to run or save properly. Here are a few suggestions of things you can do to make sure your eLink works: 1. Have an extra USB cable on hand. Perhaps one that came with a digital camera. Sometimes the USB cable that comes with the eLink does not work. 2. If your eLink software won't let you burn the Mother 3 ROM onto your eLink after going into USB mode, try charging your eLink by plugging it into your GBA or DS and then connecting it to your computer via USB for a little while. Charging can take anywhere from 4-8 hours, as some eLinks arrive with almost a dead battery on arrival. 3. Always make sure your GBA or DS is completely charged before you start this process. Who knows what problems might occur because your console is too dead to keep both itself and the eLink running properly. 4. Finally, some users have found that their Mother 3 ROM will crash on the game system they are playing on. Have an extra GBA, SP, or DS handy just in case this happens. Often times the eLink will work PERFECTLY on one, but not at all on the other. PRELIM - STEP 1 Go ahead and find yourself a copy of the Mother 3 ROM. ROMs are illegal, so I will not provide a link to where you can get one. Now head on over to http://mother3.fobby.net and get the English patch. Follow the instructions that come with the patch and get your copy of Mother 3 ready to go! PRELIM - STEP 2 Remove the CD that comes with your GBA eLink and put it into your CD ROM drive. Make sure that your computer can read the CD. Explore the CD contents and make sure that a folder called ELINK exists on the CD. Make sure that this folder opens up without issue. If for some reason your CD does not work, or the ELINK folder does not exist, or the ELINK folder does not open correctly, download the V5.5F software from the "SOFTWARE" section above, and skip STEP #5 in the tutorial below. |
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THE TUTORIAL -- THE ACTUAL TUTORIAL
STEP 1 - Connecting the eLink Remove the eLink cart from the box and put it into the game slot of your GBA or DS (console). Do not turn on the console. Take the included USB cable and connect the small-end to the eLink and the large-end to a REAR USB port on your PC! Please do not connect the USB cable to a front port. STEP 2 - Installing the Software (PART 1) Do not turn on your GBA or DS console yet! First you will need to install an OLD version of the eLink software. The best version to install is V3.9A--which can be downloaded directly from eLink by CLICKING HERE! If the link above does not work, V3.9A can be dowloaded in the "SOFTWARE" section above. Once the file is downloaded, unzip (or unrar) the contents and then run the installation file--install to Program Files/ELINK Once the installation is complete, open My Computer on your desktop. Navigate to the hard-drive where the eLink software was installed and open Program Files/ELINK STEP 3 - Updating and Uninstalling Once you are in the ELINK folder, open the file called elink.exe After a minute or two, it should ask you to install updates. SAY YES! Wait for the update software to run, and when it is finished, close all applications. When the update is complete, go to your Start Menu > Applications > ELINK and run the uninstall file located there. Alternatively, you can run the uninstall .exe located in Program Files/ELINK Wait until the uninstallation is complete, and then close all applications. STEP 4 - Installing the Software (PART 2) If your CD does not work, download eLink V5.5F from the "SOFTWARE" section above and treat the .rar contents like the CD. Once V3.9A of the eLink software is uninstalled, all the needed .dll files to run eLink will still be on your system. Put the CD that came with your eLink into the CD drive. Skip any autorun function and choose to explore the contents of the CD. Alternately, go to My Computer on the desktop, find the CD drive with the eLink CD in it, and open it. Once the CD is open, you should see a folder named ELINK--COPY this folder. Open My Computer on your desktop and navigate to the hard-drive where the eLink software was originally installed. Open Program Files and PASTE the ELINK folder from the CD. Say YES to overwriting any existing files. Open the new Program Files/ELINK folder. STEP 5 - Fixing the File Names A reminder, if you downloaded and used the .rar file of the V5.5F software from above for STEP 4, you can skip this step! Program Files/ELINK should be open. Find the .exe file inside with a LONG name and the eLink icon, it is named something like: "Elink 2008[]2008[]10[]17[]...exe" Choose to rename this .exe and name it "elink.exe"--remember .exe is the extension, not part of the name. You now have working eLink software, so it's time to install the drivers! Leave Program Files/ELINK open, but do not run elink.exe just yet. STEP 6 - Installing the Drivers Turn on the GBA or DS console, which should still be connected. Windows XP will recognize the eLink and a "New Device Found" box should appear. Windows XP will ask you to either download the drivers from the internet or search for them yourself. CHOOSE TO SEARCH FOR THE DRIVERS YOURSELF! In the search box, choose to select the directory yourself, and point it to the ELINKDRV folder in Program Files/ELINK Windows should find the eLink drivers. Choose to install them and say YES to any certificates. When the drivers are installed, turn off the GBA or DS console. Do not disconnect anything. STEP 7 - Using the eLink Now that the software and drivers are successfully installed, you can properly connect your eLink to your PC. Program Files/ELINK should still be open. Run elink.exe then turn on your GBA or DS console. The GBA should go to eLink USB mode, and a list of the games currently on it should populate in the eLink software. From here, you should be able to upload new games or remove any existing games that are on your eLink. Remember, the steps to running your connecting your eLink should always be: 1. Open elink.exe 2. Insert your eLink into a GBA or DS console. 3. Connect your eLink to the PC using a rear USB port. 4. Turn on the GBA or DS console. 5. Load or remove games from the eLink. 6. When when burning is done, turn off the console, then turn off the software. STEP 8 - RUNNING MOTHER 3 Here are some suggestions for those of you who want Mother 3 to run properly on your eLink: 1. Make sure you have a non-corrupted version of the Mother 3 Japanese ROM. 2. Make sure to remove ALL OTHER games or files off your eLink when you burn Mother 3 to the eLink. 3. When the eLink software asks you to name the Mother 3 file, remove all excess spaces or characters from the name. 4. I did not choose to use a soft-reset for my Mother 3 ROM on my eLink (L+R+Start)--just a suggestion. |
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