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DS Flash Equipment > [NDS] Can't get hacked firmware on it

#53823 - Tha_Duck - Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:55 am

Hi there folks!

Maybe a stupid question, but I can't find an answer anywhere :(

At this moment I have:
- a Nintendo DS
- RA2650 Chipset Wireless Card
- WBM running
- Flash2Advance 256 Mbit card including USB Linker

Now I have read I have to update the firmware of my DS to get homebrew programs working. If I try it now I get white screens with in the upper screen a scrambled picture. Not good.

I have read everything that I could find and found out that I have to download FlashME and put in on my Flash2Advance card and then connect to nice little pins together and it should be working. But, first of all I can't get the .nds file on my GBA card (error in reading when almost finished). Tried the .nds.gba file but no luck either.

Is there somebody who can tell me what to do? What files do I need to put where and how I have to boot to get the firmware on the NDS and make it possible to run homebrew stuff??

Thanks a lot!

#53834 - Veg - Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:15 pm

The 'How do I run homebrew programs on a DS?' topic at the top of the forum would have given you half of your answer.

You don't have to use FlashMe to boot homebrew - you can also use a PassMe, which sits in the DS slot, or WifiMe, which is loaded into the DS's temporary memory through the WMB program and does the same thing.

Since you have WMB working, you can use WifiMe to boot the firmware installation from the GBA cartridge. You need to do this to boot any DS homebrew programs from the cartridge - or all you'll get are the white screens.

But if you can't get *.ds.gba files onto your cartridge, you obviously won't be able to. Is it all *.ds.gba files you have the problem with, or only the firmware update?

#53857 - Tha_Duck - Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:09 pm

Veg wrote:
The 'How do I run homebrew programs on a DS?' topic at the top of the forum would have given you half of your answer.

You don't have to use FlashMe to boot homebrew - you can also use a PassMe, which sits in the DS slot, or WifiMe, which is loaded into the DS's temporary memory through the WMB program and does the same thing.


That's something I don't understand. If I now try to load something else then a Nintendo Demo I will get 2 white screens with the upper screen with a sort of scrambled logo?

Quote:

But if you can't get *.ds.gba files onto your cartridge, you obviously won't be able to. Is it all *.ds.gba files you have the problem with, or only the firmware update?

I can write all .ds.gba files, but not the hacked firmware file. I will try to download it again and put it on the card now.

#53872 - Veg - Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:33 pm

Only the demos that have been digitally signed by Nintendo can be run without any kind of modification on the DS - so, as you've found out, you can use WMB to run any of the official Nintendo demos.

However, to run homebrew programs over WMB, you have to have flashed the firmware - because one of the things the hacked firmware does is to enable bypassing of the digital signature check.

What you're going to want to do is use WMB to load the WifiMe program, which will then load the hacked firmware update from your GBA flash cartridge.
After installing the firmware, you'll be able to boot *.nds homebrew via WMB without a problem. And you'll also be able to run it straight from the GBA cartridge, without the need for WifiMe or a PassMe.

#53911 - Tha_Duck - Tue Sep 13, 2005 8:28 am

Veg wrote:
Only the demos that have been digitally signed by Nintendo can be run without any kind of modification on the DS - so, as you've found out, you can use WMB to run any of the official Nintendo demos.

However, to run homebrew programs over WMB, you have to have flashed the firmware - because one of the things the hacked firmware does is to enable bypassing of the digital signature check.

What you're going to want to do is use WMB to load the WifiMe program, which will then load the hacked firmware update from your GBA flash cartridge.
After installing the firmware, you'll be able to boot *.nds homebrew via WMB without a problem. And you'll also be able to run it straight from the GBA cartridge, without the need for WifiMe or a PassMe.


Thanks, I have fixed it yesterday. I can now run anything (except commercial) using the WMB. It was a pain in the ### to get the .gba file on the card (f2apowerwriter problem) but I made it and now i'm ready to go :)

#54070 - ghaxaq - Thu Sep 15, 2005 9:35 am

Why don't you use wmb to flash your firmware that's what I did. It works so you do not have to use wifime everytime to load homebrew, so then you can take the DS with you everywhere.