gbadev.org forum archive

I am sorry if this has already been answered but, how can I get homebrewed files and programs onto my DS? I just need to know what I need and how to.

Thanks in advanced.

Adyum

The procedure for getting homebrew to run on Nintendo DS systems with the new firmware (September 2005 and later) has become stable, but currently there are fewer ways of doing this than with the older firmware.

With a PC with a compatible Wi-Fi card, without modifying your DS (WMB)
You can use FireFly's WMB application to send .nds demos authorized by Nintendo for use with DS Download Play. Currently it works only with a PCI or PCMCIA card, not USB, with a Ralink 2500 series chipset.

Repeat: USB Wi-Fi cards do not work for WMB. If you accidentally buy one, then use it for your home PC network and buy a PCI card for WMB. In addition, as of April 2006, the latest version of WMB contains bugs that interfere with reception by a "DS lite" system.

Be aware that like GCC, WMB is a command-line program, which means that double-clicking it isn't going to do much. To learn how to use the Windows Command Prompt, search Google for DOS tutorials, as the Windows Command Prompt's syntax is descended from that of MS-DOS.

There is a WMB tutorial on aaronrogers.com.

With a GBA flash cart and a PassMe adapter, without modifying your DS (PassMe)
A GBA flash cart and the PassMe adapter will let you run most of the DS homebrew stuff. It changes a DS game's boot code to send execution to the GBA flash card.

If you have a .nds program (not .ds.gba or .nds.gba), use Darkain's loader to turn it into a .nds.gba ROM.
Flash the .ds.gba or .nds.gba file to the GBA flash cart as you would, but make sure to use Single ROM mode.
Insert an official Nintendo DS game such as the Metroid demo into the PassMe adapter, and insert the PassMe adapter and the GBA flash cart into the DS.
Turn on the DS and tell it to play a DS game.

With newer Nintendo DS systems, you must use a "PassMe2" customized to a given game, and you must use a matching SRAM code on the GBA flash cart.

With a GBA flash cart and a PC with a compatible Wi-Fi card, without modifying your DS (WiFiMe)
If you have WMB working (see above) and you have an old DS and a GBA flash cart, you can use WiFiMe. This file, available from the same place as the WMB app, is a cracked version of part of the Super Mario 64 DS multiplayer code, with modifications to a part of the file that make it send execution to the GBA flash card in much the same way as PassMe. However, you'll have to be next to your PC for this to work, meaning that you won't be able to take this modification e.g. on the bus with you the way you can with PassMe unless you have a laptop.

Prepare the GBA flash cart as for PassMe.
Turn on the DS and tell it to wait for DS Download Play.
Use WMB to send WiFiMe.

How to modify your DS (FlashMe)
If you can already boot Nintendo DS homebrew through PassMe or WiFiMe, then you can soft-mod your DS using the FlashMe replacement firmware. Soft-modding will let you run DS homebrew from a GBA flash card without a PassMe or WiFiMe, and it'll let you use FireFly's WMB application to send homebrew .nds (NOT .nds.gba or .ds.gba) files.

Read all the instructions on the FlashMe replacement firmware page.
Download the installation file from the page.
Prepare the GBA flash cart as for PassMe or WiFiMe.
Connect your DS's power plug.
Follow the instructions on that page. If you do not follow the instructions.

PROTIP: Once you've installed FlashMe, you can recover from any malicious "brick" program by reinstalling FlashMe.

See also HyperHacker's take on the situation.

Last edited by tepples on Thu Oct 05, 2006 11:52 pm; edited 10 times in total

So wheres the best place to get those things...eBay?

PassMe adapter: dspassme.com

GBA flash cart: depends on your region. See the GBA Flash Equipment section. If you live in North America (that is, Canada or the United States of America), try buying an EFA-Linker cart from Kick Trading. If you live in the United Kingdom, try buying an EFA-Linker cart from TotalGBA.

Ralink PCI/PCMCIA card (for WMB and WiFiMe): print out this list and take it to your local computer hardware store. Look only at the "PCI" and "PCMCIA cardbus" columns; ignore "USB 2.0", "Access Point/AP/Router/Bridge", and "MiniPCI".
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Thanks for all the help. Wow this stuff is expensive.. http://www.dspassme.com/oscommerce/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=40

Will this work? It seems the cheapest way to go.

Yes, a $70 bundle of an XG2 2005 card and a PassMe adapter will work. Possibly cheaper is finding somebody in your area who is willing to install FlashMe on your DS and then using WMB, but it won't work for projects distributed in .ds.gba form, and it's not as portable.
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With a DS with old firmware, a GBA Movie Player (CompactFlash to GBA Adapter), a CompactFlash card, a PC with a USB CompactFlash drive, and a PassMe adapter, without modifying your DS (GBA MP PassMe)

A GBAMP, CF card and the PassMe adapter will let you run most of the DS homebrew stuff as well as GBAMP only homebrew. It changes a DS game's boot code to send execution to the GBAMP.

As with FlashMe WMB, you must have a .nds program (not .ds.gba or .nds.gba). Most authors release their programs as .nds, except for those programs that need access to more than 4 MB of code and data at once.

Make sure that you have upgraded your GBA MP's firmware to DS-aware firmware, following these instructions.
Copy the .nds file to your CF card.
Delete any old _BOOT_MP.nds file, and then rename the new file to _BOOT_MP.nds
Insert an official Nintendo DS game such as the Metroid demo into the PassMe adapter, and insert the PassMe adapter and the GBAMP into the DS.
Turn on the DS and tell it to play a DS game.

If you rename the file before you copy it, you will likely produce a fragmented file, which Windows can handle but the current version of the DS-aware firmware cannot. The most reliable method of changing the _BOOT_MP.nds file is to copy, delete, and replace as described above. If this does not work, try running Disk Defragmenter on the card.

If someone sticks a passme on ebay UK i will be forever greatfull.. ;)
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Will this work?
http://www.dspassme.com/oscommerce/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=31

Yes. "PassMe GBC Complete" is the name of the current model of the PassMe adapter.
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Although it?s on the list on the dev site http://ralink.rapla.net/ it?s pretty much useless, as the modified driver for the RT2500 chipset doesn?t work for my USB adapter.

Well, let?s just wait and see.. :-(

zorniki wrote:

Although it?s on the list on the dev site http://ralink.rapla.net/ it?s pretty much useless, as the modified driver for the RT2500 chipset doesn?t work for my USB adapter.

Did you miss the "not USB" and "ignore 'USB 2.0'" in my previous comments?
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i have trouble using the wifime method :
running wmb don't work
it open a dos window that then close a milisecond after.

i have put the wifime in the data folder,
and i have winxp.

what did i do bad ?
using right click on nds demo files is indeed working....
....but not the wifime...
anyone has a hint on what to do ?

after a anothers try, i figured out :
i had to create a "wifime" folder in the "data folder"
where i put the wifime files,
then running "wmb -data wifime" seems to worked.
yet i have to try to fill the cart with good files....
...and then lets see...
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This is a very good sticky, but without links to the software that is referenced so much, it doesn't really help a first-timer...could you perhaps add links to the required software for each method?
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Alec wrote:

This is a very good sticky, but without links to the software that is referenced so much, it doesn't really help a first-timer

Added.

etiennedupont: Your problem is that WMB is a command-line app, which is intended to be run from Windows Command Prompt, not double-clicked in Windows Explorer.
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Thank you so much!

I may be being picky here, but it also might be nice to explain how exactly you would append the ndsloader.bin file to the flashme.nds file, as it says to on the firmware site in order to execute using WifiMe.
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Okay, I'm completely new to all of this so if I sound like a retarded gorilla, my complete apologies.

Anyway, if I were to go ahead and purchase this...

http://www.kicktrading.ca/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=28

Don't I need a writer to go along with the cartridge?

Thanks. :o)

I believe it hookes up via your computer's USB port without using a writer unit.

I could be wrong, though.
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Hey guys, this is probably a really dumb question but I read the thread and I could not find the answer.

If I buy a regular GBA flash cart, like an EFA-Linker, can I play GBA games and GBA homebrew stuff on the Nintendo DS without buying any additional hardware? Thanks!

vvv Thanks for the info Tepples.

Last edited by JimmyC on Fri Sep 23, 2005 4:03 am; edited 2 times in total

JimmyC wrote:

If I buy a regular GBA flash cart, like an EFA-Linker, can I play GBA games and GBA homebrew stuff on the Nintendo DS without buying any additional hardware? Thanks!

Yes, except for anything that requires the link port. I've successfully run Tetanus On Drugs and other homebrew on the Nintendo DS using a Visoly Flash Advance 256 cartridge.
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Could someone please confirm if any of the NES emulators for the DS are able to recognize Mapper#5?

Huge thanks to whoever can answer this for me. :o)

Opus wrote:

Could someone please confirm if any of the NES emulators for the DS are able to recognize Mapper#5?

Huge thanks to whoever can answer this for me. :o)

What games use Mapper 5?
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The 9th Sage wrote:

What games use Mapper 5?

iNES mapper 5 represents boards whose name looks like E*ROM; these contained an MMC5 chip. Based on this list of boards, those games include at least Bandit Kings, Castlevania 3, Gemfire, Just Breed, L'Empereur, Laser Invasion, Nobunaga's Ambition 2, Romance of the 3 Kingdoms 2, and Uncharted Waters. If you don't already get the picture, Koei really had the hots for this mapper.

It's not well supported in PocketNES because its "ExGrafix" video model has severe impedance mismatches with that of the GBA.
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Hey thanks for your post Tepples... even if it did take you an entire week to respond. :o)

Buy yeah, my only interest was Nobunaga's Ambition 2 and Bandit Kings of Ancient China.

That was really the only reason for me to pick up some flash hardware.

I used to be a huge Koei junkie when I was younger.

I even tried to translate the Gameboy Color version just for kicks.
http://www.angelfire.com/goth/patches/ambition.html

Thanks again Tepples and congratulations on getting your DS. :o)

Hello,

Thanks for this _extremely_ useful sticky. This became unamanageable as there is now a lot of information on the boards.

A link to the topic about the differences between various ROM formats (.nds, .nds.gba) could be very useful. I am talking about this one: http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?t=6908&highlight=nds+nds+gba

Thanks again,

Vince
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Part 1:
I have a blue NDS, from Australia - wondering if its the same as the "blue nintendogs" european DS? (and will have the same problems..)

The australian blue NDS doesnt seem to have any affiliation with nintendogs.. (just came in a plain box etc)

Part 2:
All this talk about using GBA cartridges,
but I see no mention of these (A list taken off Aaron Roger's tutorial)

DS Flash Cartridge: There are currently four DS cartridges:
G6Flash (currently 3rd generation with 1Gb, 2Gb, or 4Gb space)
M3 Adapter (works with Compact Flash or SD card)
NEO Flash (available in 512Mb or 1Gb)
Super Card & Super PassKey (works with Compact Flash or SD card)

They are DS flash cartridges as opposed to GBA flash cartridges, do they work? How do I get them to work?

the prospect of 4gb storage is pants-wetting! . . i could backup my harddrive with 4 of them :(
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gav wrote:

the prospect of 4gb storage is pants-wetting! . . i could backup my harddrive with 4 of them :(

What? Your hard drive is just 2 GB in size in 2005? Remember that GBA-specific flash cards are sold by the bit, not by the byte.
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my mistake, no my HD is 15GB... still pretty tiny by todays standards (I DID backup the whole thing on my ipod!)

Anyway . . . anyone have an answer for my questions?
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Look i know youve prob\ably answered this one also but im new to moding so i have just a few questions

i found a few products i want, they are exactly what i need

I wanted to get Super Card

http://www.aheadgames.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=17515&cat=0&page=1

And the PassMe Alternitive thingy

http://www.aheadgames.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=17567&cat=557&page=1

I am going to be using these products to view movies, read ebooks, play nds, gba, snes and nes games on my ds

I have a blue ds that i got through the advance waarranty thing from nintendo in mid september ( my old silver ds had a dead pixel)

now if i boutght those two products ( and a flash card of course) would it work in my ds for all of the things i listed or would i have to get my nintendo ds firmware upgraded?

Hi !

I made a little homebrew with the PA_lib, then I bought a wifi card (Linksys WMP54G). The connexion and the upload seems to work perfectly, but the game still not working.
I tried to upload each PA_lib example, and there is the same probleme ...

Did anyone tried already to load a PA_lib nds file on a DS ?

Thx

PS : The polarium demo works fine.

If you get a corrupted Nintendo logo, then you are doing wmb -data homebrew.nds without having installed FlashMe. Use wmb -data wifime with a GBA card.

If you get graphics from Super Mario 64 DS when doing wmb -data wifime, then you have a DS with version 4 firmware. (EDIT: If ejecting a DS card while Pictochat is running gives two yellow screens, this is definitely the case.) In this case use PPFlash or PassMe2 to install FlashMe.
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Last edited by tepples on Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:07 am; edited 1 time in total

Quote:

If you get a corrupted Nintendo logo, then you are doing wmb -data homebrew.nds without having installed FlashMe. Use wmb -data wifime with a GBA card.

If you get graphics from Super Mario 64 DS when doing wmb -data wifime, then you have a new DS. Use PPFlash or PassMe2 to install FlashMe.

Tepples, thanks for that snippet - I have been scouring the web for the past few days trying to learn how to flash my NDS and failing miserably until I came across this little snippet - why doesn't any one make this clear in all the instructions I have come across!!

Well I'm just a commited newbie to DS modding and bought a PCMCIA wireless network card with the compliant chipset for my notebook and it should ship within a few day from amazon.

my question is:
will I need anything more than the card to run my apps on the ds (like a GBA flash card or something). because Aaron's Tut says nothing about them.

thanx in advance

You will need a flash card or any other device compatible with wifime to put your code on. All wifime does is redirect execution to the GBA slot and executes the code that resides on the flashcard. This is the only way to execute code unless you don't have flashme installed on your DS.

If you do flash your DS (you will need a wifime compatible device as well) you have more options to start homebrew.
You can now start Code from a flashcard without the need of wifime and you can load your code through wireless multiboot.

NoMis
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So, after I Flashme my equipment I can load .nds files from a GBA Cart without a Passme at all and without a Wifime ?

Please answer just to make this clear... thanks

Once your DS is flashed you won't need passme or wifime and can execute code directly from your flash card or another device like the M3, Supercard or Movieplayer. You can also load code with wireless if you have a compatible card.

But you will need passme/wifime initialy to flash your device. If you don't have the neccesary equipment you might take a look at Sticky Flash Equipment Meetups thread. There might be someone near your location who is willing to flash your device.

Once flashed you can always update to new firmware version without the passme/wifime because you now can load any homebrew application.

NoMis
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well i think i will try wifime to flashme my DS.

Is there any risks involved? Could I lose my DS in the process?

Sorry for the dumb question guys but im a little out of the scene for a while and could not get the new improvements made in this period I was absent.

One more question, does Flashme works with EZ3-Flash 1Gb or Supercard ?

I have both, just to know if it worths making the Flashme process.

Thanks !!! ;-)

brucesinner wrote:

well i think i will try wifime to flashme my DS.

Is there any risks involved? Could I lose my DS in the process?

Yes, you can lose your DS, but I've done it 5 times already without making a brick and i think here are some people who have done it even more often. I it pretty (not completely) safe if you do it right.
look here

juhees

I watched Loopy's video of him flashing his DS. I think the risks are minimal.

[]s

Using an M3 adapter, I did this:
wmb -data wifime
and all I got was a white screen after the Nintendo logo.

My DS does have the first firmware ever because it is a Japanese version I received at the release date of the DS in Japan.

M3 probably doesn't work with WifiMe, at least not with the current firmware. I don't think the M3 menu can be started with WifiMe and there's no way to skip that right now. Do you have a PassKey? Most places won't sell the M3 on it's own.

If you had a DS with new firmware, you wouldn't get a white screen, you would see the Mario loading screen.

NoMis wrote:

Once your DS is flashed you won't need passme or wifime and can execute code directly from your flash card or another device like the M3, Supercard or Movieplayer. You can also load code with wireless if you have a compatible card.
NoMis

So once you've updated the firmware on your ds you can upload homebrew with

without anything else?
The only reason I want to confirm what you said is because "compatible card" is ambiguous, and I'm not sure if you mean a flash card or wireless card.

You're correct. But if you install FlashMe and then go exclusively WMB, you can't load programs while you're away from your computer. This makes your DS less portable.
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ok I'm gonna get me a PassMe2. What is the best card to use for writing DS games? Super Card? M3? G6? I have trouble deciding on which one is the best.

I have the impression that it works this way: Insert the card in PassMe2, wipe out the contents, put in the DS game together with some important files, take out the card then put it in the DS to play. Am I right on this one?

More to the programming side: I have already downloaded the devkit for the DS. Does it integrate well within the environment of Visual Studio.NET?

Sorry if the question has already been posted. Thanks.
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Ok, so I've finally decided to delve into the world of DS homebrew, and I have a few demos sitting on my HDD in .nds file format.

I've downloaded Darkain's multi-file loader, which should copy all the .nds files I want into a single .gba file which will be able to be written and read by my Flash2Advance 256mbit cart. Right?

So, my question is, how do I do this? I know it's something to do with the cmd interface in windows (under 'Run') but don't know how to do it.

Can anyone help me with some instructions or a link to some instructions?

Thanks.

I used to lurk on this site back in 2004 but I haven't had a look at DS homebrew since then. Just to confirm, should WifiMe work with my EZ-Flash 2 "power star"? If not, would it work with FlashMe? Thanks in advance to anyone with advice.
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Did you have your DS "back in 2004"? If not, what colors do you get when you TakeMeOut?
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tepples wrote:

Did you have your DS "back in 2004"? If not, what colors do you get when you TakeMeOut?

I'm pretty sure I have one of the earlier ones, both screens turn blue. I got it in February 2005.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm asking if it works with the EZ-Flash 2. I'm pretty sure my DS has one of the older firmware versions.
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Do you already have the right wireless card (PCI card with Ralink chipset) for use with WiFiMe? If not, and if you don't care about WMB+FlashMe, then it might be better to get a NoPass.
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I don't have the right kind of wireless card yet, but I'm looking at buying one of these for my notebook or some kind of NoPass like the Max Media Launcher thing. Would there be an advantage in using FlashMe over a NoPass? I would be guarded against bricking, right?
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You can use NoPass + a compatible GBA card to install FlashMe. The advantage of NoPass is that you can use it to flash your cousin's newer DS as well.
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-- Where is he?
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-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

Ah right, so would it be better to get the compatible PCMCIA card instead? Thanks for your help and patience.

EDIT: I heard that FlashMe interferes with WFC games like Mario Kart as they save some data into the DS's firmware chip. Should I be worried about this?
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I can't be bothered now...

Only older versions did that. The current version has no known problems; some people have mentioned the games being quieter, but it hasn't been confirmed yet.
As for your previous question, FlashMe has three advantages over NoPass:
1) Brick protection
2) Can download unsigned apps via DS Download Play
3) More convenient (no Datel logo/health screen, can boot homebrew with a DS game inserted, etc).
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But you need the PCMCIA card or the NoPass in order to install FlashMe. It's easier to get NoPass working. It's also impossible to get the PCMCIA card working on your hypothetical cousin's newer DS.
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Well, I've flashed my DS, but I've also discovered that while my EZII 256Mb is good for DS piracy(not being what I'm after), it's not good for DS homebrew (being what I'm after) so I have a new question:

Supercard, M3 or G6. Are any of these worth getting? They seem like my best bet but I'm not sure which to get. I've done some research but I thought it would be a good idea to hear some opinions.

EDIT: I'm wondering if I haven't had any replies after a few days because someone thinks I'm a pirate.
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M3 is better for GBA homebrew if you're into that too, but SC is cheaper.
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There are problems with the SD version of the M3 and Supercard, right? In that they don't work with DS homebrew or something like that.
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I can't be bothered now...

Chishm's FAT library currently doesn't write to the SD cards. Older homebrew programs that use the library may have used older versions that couldn't read from the SD cards either.
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Don't base your decision on what is supported by the current FAT library, since card compatibility will improve in future.
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Ah, right. My preferred format it SD but since I don't have any money at this point, it'll have to wait. Thanks for all your help.
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I can't be bothered now...

The flashme.nds file is missing. why?

Missing from where? Is it in one of the stickies?
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tepples wrote:

Missing from where? Is it in one of the stickies?

from here: http://ds.gcdev.com/dsfirmware/

the link for the installation file is not working
http://ds.gcdev.com/dsfirmware/flashme.nds

Have you tried the mirrors in this sticky?
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thanks!

I wrote a fairly messy Supercard (SD) guide here, after all the info I found didn't make much sense.

Edit - I've cleaned it up a bit. :)
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(sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this..)
So I'm finally going to buy a wifi card.. and after looking around a bit I found this page:
http://ralink.rapla.net/
and then with the help of that page I found this card:
TekComm NE-9321-g (http://www.tekcomm.dk/product_info.php?cPath=21_77&products_id=108)

Now would this work together with WMB? Especially, would this card work with WMB for linux?
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go back to coding and stop screaming wolf :)

You can't be 100% certain, the company might suddenly change to a different chipset on the same model, but that's not very likely. It will probably work great. WMB for linux is more tolerant than WMB for windows, so you shouldn't have any problems with that either.
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Sausage Boy wrote:

You can't be 100% certain, the company might suddenly change to a different chipset on the same model, but that's not very likely. It will probably work great. WMB for linux is more tolerant than WMB for windows, so you shouldn't have any problems with that either.

ah, thanks :)
then I order one.
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go back to coding and stop screaming wolf :)

I don't have any money and I was wondering if someone had a way that I could turn my old DS into a MP3 player without any money involved. I also do not know a whole lot about computers so I need simple instructions. I do have a laptop with wi-fi and a wireless router. Please respond.

There is no way to run homebrew on the DS without spending some sort of money. Technically, if you have an old DS, you could use WifiMe with a borowed slot-2 card to install FlashMe and then use WMB to send small stuff to your DS, but that assumes you have a compatible card to begin with, which I doubt a laptop would have. You'd also be very limited for what you could run.

dantheman wrote:

There is no way to run homebrew on any platform without spending some sort of money.

Fixed. You have to buy memory cards no matter which handheld platform you buy, and if you go SLOT-1 (DS mode only), DS homebrew is once again cheaper than PSP homebrew. Even on a home PC, you can't run freeware without spending money, as you need a firewall router and a subscription to Internet access in order to download homebrew.
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-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

dantheman wrote:

There is no way to run homebrew on the DS without spending some sort of money. Technically, if you have an old DS, you could use WifiMe with a borowed slot-2 card to install FlashMe and then use WMB to send small stuff to your DS, but that assumes you have a compatible card to begin with, which I doubt a laptop would have. You'd also be very limited for what you could run.

Not to mention you'd have to re-send the program every time you turn on the DS, and 4MB limit means ~1 song at a time.
_________________
I'm a PSP hacker now, but I still <3 DS.

HyperHacker wrote:

and 4MB limit means ~1 song at a time.

Unless it acts as an NFS,CIFS, FTP, or HTTP client and can play songs by streaming them from a PC on the LAN.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

I used to have a flash card for my GBA and played all sorts of homebrew on it. I've also modded my Xbox and did the same thing and was pretty into it.

Now I have a DS lite black and I'm researching how to get homebrew on it and I'm still left in the dark.

I am reading as much as I can but the amount of products is making me unsure as to which is standard and the best.

I essentially want to be able to play all the best homebrew, Quake 1, media and the like. But I just can't figure out if I need the Slot 1 or 2, which kind, etc.

I did some sort of test t see if I needed pass me 1 or 2 which involved removing a DS card while in PictoChat and I got Magenta screens which meant PassMe2. Didn't help too much though...

With this said, should I get the SuperCard Lite BLACK (Micro SD)?

http://www.dspassme.com/oscommerce/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=73

Is there a certain card that everyone uses?

Price isn't a factor as I'm willing to lay down $45-$80 and that seems to be the typical price range, I don't believe I've seen anything for more or less.

So with all these guides pointing so many different directions, how does one determine what exactly to get??

Thank you for any help!!

Shadax: SuperCard Lite + SuperKey should work fine for what you want to do.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

How about the R4 + Kingston 1GB Micro SD?

Shadax is willing to spend $80. At that price, we might as well give him back the ability to run GBA homebrew too.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

Well I got the Micro SD for 9.99 and the r4 for $45. total shipping was another 6 bucks or so. So... it was around $60.

Edit:

Incase anyone wants to take up what I thought was a sweet offer on kingston memory cards:

edit: eep! sorry! X(

how do i add games with no pass and r4ds? i still don't have mine so that why i am asking this question.

If you have an R4 card, you add games to the microSD card by putting it in the included USB adapter and using Windows Explorer to copy the .nds files from the hard drive to the microSD card.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

Also note that if you're getting an R4, you don't need a NoPass. NoPass devices are only needed for slot-2 devices.

In fact, even if you have both an R4 and a SLOT-2 card, you still don't need a NoPass. One of the options on R4's main menu is booting slot 2 in DS mode.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

wel i getting one with no pass built in.
i guess it is drag and drop.
_________________
-Jacob

This may sound dumb, but searching got me nowhere (entering ".ds.gba" gets me every post with "ds" or "gba" in it <_<). Can .ds.gba be converted to .nds? In one thread someone said it wouldn't be possible because they're probably in this format because they depend on appended data, but I have a few that I'm sure don't.
_________________
I'm a PSP hacker now, but I still <3 DS.

Those ds.gba that do not depend on appended data can be converted to .nds by removing the prepended loader. But if there is no .nds file, and the game isn't among the earliest of DS homebrew (before techniques for running .nds started appearing), then the program probably does rely on appended data. Which specific programs are you talking about?
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

There's a few of them, I can't be bothered to check right now. How do I know where the loader ends?
_________________
I'm a PSP hacker now, but I still <3 DS.

edit--Bah!
_________________
http://licklick.wordpress.com

so this means if I, for example, created a small test app in c++ and followed the compiling on some of the tutorial sites I could just load it onto the micro + R4 and run it on the DS?

sorry for the stupid question, i just watched a vid on what the R4 can do and it has kinda confused me, it seems to be more of a multimedia (things like play MP3 an stuff) than to play an app made for the DS.

gbadev.org forum archive

DS Flash Equipment > How do I run homebrew programs on a DS?

#50850 - Adyum - Sat Aug 13, 2005 8:55 pm

#50856 - tepples - Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:03 pm

#50862 - Adyum - Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:18 pm

#50864 - tepples - Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:48 pm

#50866 - Adyum - Sat Aug 13, 2005 10:02 pm

#50869 - tepples - Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:42 am

#50928 - Lynx - Sun Aug 14, 2005 6:35 pm

#50933 - Shoxz - Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:20 pm

#51115 - nintyjim - Tue Aug 16, 2005 2:15 pm

#51151 - tepples - Tue Aug 16, 2005 8:46 pm

#51793 - zorniki - Tue Aug 23, 2005 4:11 pm

#51867 - tepples - Wed Aug 24, 2005 6:24 am

#54276 - etiennedupont - Sat Sep 17, 2005 2:57 pm

#54299 - Alec - Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:28 pm

#54308 - tepples - Sun Sep 18, 2005 12:11 am

#54651 - Alec - Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:19 am

#54748 - Opus - Thu Sep 22, 2005 5:51 am

#54813 - Alec - Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:18 pm

#54849 - JimmyC - Fri Sep 23, 2005 1:05 am

#54851 - tepples - Fri Sep 23, 2005 2:06 am

#54869 - Opus - Fri Sep 23, 2005 6:46 am

#55623 - The 9th Sage - Fri Sep 30, 2005 3:03 am

#55641 - tepples - Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:09 am

#55648 - Opus - Fri Sep 30, 2005 6:21 am

#55718 - Vince - Fri Sep 30, 2005 10:12 pm

#59321 - gav - Mon Oct 31, 2005 2:36 pm

#59352 - tepples - Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:49 pm

#59371 - gav - Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:23 am

#60322 - Aztec_Emperor - Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:09 am

#61941 - Fab - Fri Nov 25, 2005 4:21 pm

#61985 - tepples - Sat Nov 26, 2005 5:30 am

#62656 - bootlegger - Sat Dec 03, 2005 11:42 pm

#62858 - gas01ine - Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:18 pm

#62860 - NoMis - Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:43 pm

#63514 - brucesinner - Tue Dec 13, 2005 10:04 pm

#63565 - NoMis - Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:37 am

#63618 - brucesinner - Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:32 am

#64225 - juhees - Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:18 am

#64263 - brucesinner - Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:18 pm

#64647 - G-SAS - Sat Dec 24, 2005 4:18 pm

#64679 - Sektor - Sun Dec 25, 2005 9:11 am

#65594 - psimon - Wed Jan 04, 2006 7:45 am

#65679 - tepples - Wed Jan 04, 2006 11:26 pm

#66388 - ahbonk - Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:53 am

#85529 - muckers - Wed May 31, 2006 12:15 pm

#88601 - eyeball226 - Tue Jun 20, 2006 3:46 pm

#88615 - tepples - Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:29 pm

#88637 - eyeball226 - Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:49 pm

#88642 - tepples - Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:15 pm

#88644 - eyeball226 - Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:21 pm

#88646 - tepples - Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:27 pm

#88650 - eyeball226 - Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:54 pm

#88665 - HyperHacker - Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:10 pm

#88676 - tepples - Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:59 pm

#89591 - eyeball226 - Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:30 pm

#89593 - tepples - Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:34 pm

#89612 - eyeball226 - Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:58 pm

#89622 - tepples - Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:12 pm

#89659 - chishm - Mon Jun 26, 2006 2:03 am

#89701 - eyeball226 - Mon Jun 26, 2006 11:20 am

#90828 - SolidSnake - Sun Jul 02, 2006 8:51 pm

#90829 - tepples - Sun Jul 02, 2006 8:56 pm

#90830 - SolidSnake - Sun Jul 02, 2006 8:58 pm

#90831 - tepples - Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:02 pm

#90832 - SolidSnake - Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:04 pm

#90873 - MrD - Mon Jul 03, 2006 3:25 am

#111682 - dXtr - Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:42 pm

#111693 - Sausage Boy - Sat Dec 09, 2006 12:57 am

#111723 - dXtr - Sat Dec 09, 2006 12:55 pm

#121958 - shaw020 - Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:28 pm

#121961 - dantheman - Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:48 pm

#122046 - tepples - Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:17 pm

#122194 - HyperHacker - Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:20 pm

#122216 - tepples - Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:08 pm

#123411 - Shadax - Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:37 pm

#123416 - tepples - Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:10 am

#123433 - Shadax - Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:28 am

#123481 - tepples - Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:48 pm