#123678 - GrizzlyAdams - Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:40 am
Hey everyone, I've not officially announced it yet here, so incase theres anyone who doesn't frequent the IRC channel.... Here is my current project:
DSChannels
Screenshot
Beta 4 Download
Its a clone of the Wii channels menu, on a smaller scale, with some artistic license taken. Right now its main purpose is to launch NDS files. Each program should have an 80x48 pcx icon in the qlshell/icons folder for it (not many icons have been made yet!) Soon I'll add a feature to load the icons from the same folder as the nds file, and also to load icons from within the nds file if all other attempts fail. I've got to recreate my source images for the skins because I recently had my primary hdd fail.
This should work for most cards, Don't bother reporting here that it works unless someone has already reported it doesn't. I'm interested in bug reports, so send away! Also, just so everyone knows, it doesn't have pen input yet.
Future plans:
- Slot 1 / Slot 2 booting (Reboot to loader on card, or to a game)
- Settings menu
- Download channel (a separate app, usable on its own or together with DSChannels)
For now DSChannels only indexes nds files under the /Applications or /Apps folders on your card. You should be able to nest a level or two deep, but keep in mind that will increase scanning time at boot, and you cannot ever exceed the pathlimit of 255 characters (240 to be safe) including slashes and periods.
Stuff being worked on now:
- New font code for icon labels & other misc text
- Text console hidden while loading .nds files
- INI file for various settings.
Last edited by GrizzlyAdams on Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:25 am; edited 1 time in total
#123683 - TJ - Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:53 am
Interesting, but this really makes more sense as a firmware replacement. Have you given that any thought?
#123690 - OOPMan - Fri Mar 30, 2007 8:28 am
Interesting idea TJ.
Question is, could it be done right...
_________________
"My boot, your face..." - Attributed to OOPMan, Emperor of Eroticon VI
You can find my NDS homebrew projects here...
#123698 - jackman - Fri Mar 30, 2007 11:56 am
there's an error with the date and calendar display (time seems to be correct)
_________________
Equipment:
Nintendo DS, GBAMP v2, SuperCard SD, SuperKey, Acekard 2i
#123703 - tepples - Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:45 pm
Looks like it could be a skin for the DSOrganize interface.
But wouldn't that screen shot represent three channels, given that the DS has two screens?
I don't know how it would work as a firmware replacement unless we can figure out how to adapt PictoChat Channel and Download Play Channel from the firmware to a .nds file.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#123735 - TJ - Fri Mar 30, 2007 7:09 pm
Well honestly, I don't think a lot of people would really miss PictoChat at this point. Especially when there are more capable homebrew chatting applications available now anyway.
The Download Play is another story, and certainly some people would miss that. But the lack of Download Play didn't stop FW Nitro from releasing. At some time in the future when it becomes possible to either pull out the Download Play function from the original firmware, or create a homebrew replacement, then it could be added. But in the meantime I am sure that many people wouldn't mind the temporarily loss of the function considering the advantages this would have over the original firmware.
#123739 - tepples - Fri Mar 30, 2007 7:46 pm
| TJ wrote: |
| Well honestly, I don't think a lot of people would really miss PictoChat at this point. Especially when there are more capable homebrew chatting applications available now anyway. |
Unless some people in a group have homebrew hardware and others don't. Or unless there's no public AP in the area.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#123743 - TJ - Fri Mar 30, 2007 8:15 pm
Has anyone over the age of 10 actually sat around in a group and used Pictochat in the first place? Maybe on launch day for the 2 minutes until the novelty wore off.
#123747 - tepples - Fri Mar 30, 2007 8:41 pm
| TJ wrote: |
| Has anyone over the age of 10 actually sat around in a group and used Pictochat in the first place? |
Does a 26-year-old with 10- and 7-year-old cousins count?
But lack of PictoChat isn't a showstopper as much as lack of DS Download Play is. Somebody is going to have to investigate Ni-Fi a bit further, and I wouldn't know where to start on it myself.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#123755 - MasterMan - Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:18 pm
Nice one Grizzly, keep it going.
SC-CF here, DLDI patched it (SCCF.DLDI) and renamed as "_BOOT_SC.NDS" (using your 1.7a firmware).
Turned my DS on and got white screens. Turned it on holding L and got to the SC's menu, opened the DSChannels.nds.
No problems with date and time at all. Just Moonshell has a icon showing, because none of the others have them in \qlshell\icons. Could i make GIFs or PNG-24s?
Firstly, nothing booted, as it couldn't find \qlshell\drivers\sccf.dldi, so i deliberately renamed \qlshell\dldi folder as "drivers"
Of course i have all aplications at \apps folder.
| Code: |
\APPS
|_Moonshell.nds
|_DSFTP.NDS
|_DSOrganize.sc.nds
|_ndsmail.sc.nds
|_DSPad02.sc.nds
|_ReadMore.nds
|_ComicBookDS.sc.nds |
The thing is: i can boot only bjoern's DSFTP and ReadMore. The other freeze in "loading ARM7 binary" after some debug info on a blue screen.
All of them are DLDIed, even the two above. I have to use unpatched ones?
Also could you add text showing what the selected buttons is? As only Moonshell has a icon, all the others have the "fixme" default button. Hard to find what each one does.
And please, make it work with the 1.7a firmware hack.
#123756 - Sweater Fish Deluxe - Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:24 pm
It makes sense to offer it as a firmware replacement. People who want to use PictoChat and/or Download Play simply wouldn't use it, but for those of us who don't use them, it would be a nice replacement.
Personally, though, I'll be using it autobooted with chism's Supercard firmware hack, which I assume is why Grizzly put the work into porting the hack to other models of Supercard. It'll be especially cool once touchscreen control is worked in.
One question, though, I haven't used it yet, but is it slow to load NDS ROMs the way DSOrganize and Moonshell are? Those options take way too long to load a file to be really useful in my opinion.
...word is bondage...
#123768 - GrizzlyAdams - Fri Mar 30, 2007 11:17 pm
EEK! I forgot to rename the dldi folder in my dist directory, that will be fixed in the next release. As far as not working as _boot_sc.nds I'll have to make a specific release for that which drops the dsgba boot code (ndstool now makes .nds files that are also directly bootable on gba cards unless you specify an icon!)
#123780 - GrizzlyAdams - Sat Mar 31, 2007 1:12 am
| jackman wrote: |
| there's an error with the date and calendar display (time seems to be correct) |
What do you mean theres an error? Please be specific or you arn't helping. If you must, include a screenshot showing the error.
| tepples wrote: |
Looks like it could be a skin for the DSOrganize interface.
But wouldn't that screen shot represent three channels, given that the DS has two screens? |
This is a completely separate program, and its 6 icons per page. The icons don't necessarily represent the screens shown by an application.
| TJ wrote: |
| Interesting, but this really makes more sense as a firmware replacement. Have you given that any thought? |
You could just use this as your default launcher on your card (_boot_mp.nds / _boot_sc.nds) But its a tiny bit too large to use as a firmware replacement.
Honestly my opinion on firmware replacement is not to do it. Use flashme if you must, but nothing more. That way you retain WMB and Pictochat (no comments on pictochat's usefulness) Plus full control over settings.
| Sweater Fish Deluxe wrote: |
| One question, though, I haven't used it yet, but is it slow to load NDS ROMs the way DSOrganize and Moonshell are? Those options take way too long to load a file to be really useful in my opinion. |
The .nds loading is very fast for most homebrew apps. This is not intended or written to support loading bootleg games.
#123785 - MasterMan - Sat Mar 31, 2007 2:46 am
SNEmulDS 0.5 alpha boots.
I did some icons in photoshop:
http://br.geocities.com/joaoviss2/icons/
Also, could you add a reboot to menu button?
#123789 - HyperHacker - Sat Mar 31, 2007 3:51 am
You have to admit this would make an awesome firmware. :-p
Also, the screenshot link seems to be dead, it's just waiting and waiting.
_________________
I'm a PSP hacker now, but I still <3 DS.
#123795 - GrizzlyAdams - Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:13 am
Reboot is now in the future plans list.
I hopefully fixed an issue that was causing my server to be swamped.
#123797 - HyperHacker - Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:44 am
Hm, I was kinda expecting it to actually look like the Wii menu.
_________________
I'm a PSP hacker now, but I still <3 DS.
#123800 - GrizzlyAdams - Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:50 am
| HyperHacker wrote: |
| Hm, I was kinda expecting it to actually look like the Wii menu. |
Well this was my attempt at it, without doing anything to get Nintendo pissed at me, and keeping the Icons readable. I could have packed the icons closer, reduced their size to 56x42, and made it look almost exactly like the wii, and received a nastygram from Nintendo.
#123822 - jackman - Sat Mar 31, 2007 4:24 pm
@GrizzlyAdams: sorry, this error was only in the previous version of DSChannels, in the current the date and calendar displays are correct
(previous version bugs: month display was +1 month, day display in calendar and date display was +10 days or so)
@Hyperhacker: how it is possible to boot MoonShell in the /Apps folder?
afaik, the MoonShell File must have to be in the root of the card to startup correctly
i also have a problem: when trying to start NitroTracker from the Channels, it says, that it couldn't find fat0:/qlshell/drivers/scsd.dldi, but the file exists and DSChannels is patched correctly for my Supercard SD and other Games/Apps can read/save files correctly from/to the SD card
_________________
Equipment:
Nintendo DS, GBAMP v2, SuperCard SD, SuperKey, Acekard 2i
#123832 - MasterMan - Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:16 pm
Not aimed for me, but lets go
| jackman wrote: |
how it is possible to boot MoonShell in the /Apps folder?
afaik, the MoonShell File must have to be in the root of the card to startup correctly |
Nope, Moonshell boots fine if the \moonshl folder stays in the root.
Also, here, Moonshell doesn't boot from DSChannels.
| jackman wrote: |
| i also have a problem: when trying to start NitroTracker from the Channels, it says, that it couldn't find fat0:/qlshell/drivers/scsd.dldi, but the file exists and DSChannels is patched correctly for my Supercard SD and other Games/Apps can read/save files correctly from/to the SD card |
If you care to read the previous posts (mine's and Grizzly's), you would know the \qlshell\dldi folder should be named "drivers".
Also, there's no need for it be a fw replacement (for SC users, well said), Grizzly just needs to make it work with Chism's/his 1.7a firmware hack.
#123909 - jackman - Sun Apr 01, 2007 11:34 am
I've detected an error with the calendar:
Today is April 1st, Sunday => Calendar displays 1st April (this year, of course) as Monday, not Sunday
Setting Date to April, 2nd (normally Monday) in DS Firmware => Calendar displays April 2nd as Wednesday, not Monday, and so on
_________________
Equipment:
Nintendo DS, GBAMP v2, SuperCard SD, SuperKey, Acekard 2i
#123959 - Dood77 - Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:18 am
Awesome! I've been waiting for something to replace the DSOrganize shortcuts thing. But I probably wont be using it until the SC firmware hack works 100% with DPG playback...
| Sweater Fish Deluxe wrote: |
| One question, though, I haven't used it yet, but is it slow to load NDS ROMs the way DSOrganize and Moonshell are? Those options take way too long to load a file to be really useful in my opinion. |
If you use the "launch alternate" with DSOrganize (press Y instead of A) then it loads pretty fast, and I haven't found a peice of homebrew that doesnt work with Y button launching on my SCSD yet.
As for it looking like the Wii Channels I think its pretty good, a healthy combination of the DS firmware and a reduced-size channels interface.
#124175 - GrizzlyAdams - Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:48 pm
| jackman wrote: |
I've detected an error with the calendar:
Today is April 1st, Sunday => Calendar displays 1st April (this year, of course) as Monday, not Sunday
Setting Date to April, 2nd (normally Monday) in DS Firmware => Calendar displays April 2nd as Wednesday, not Monday, and so on |
Ok, that confirms I should probably import some time functions to handle the weekday stuff instead of relying on the RTC to say what the weekday is.
Added to the queue of stuff going twoards beta 5
#124193 - MasterMan - Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:38 pm
Also, months and days less than 10 don't show as 01-09, they are like 1-9.
Could you add a battery charge indicator?
Beta 5 will feature touch screen controll?
Great app so far :)
#124197 - GrizzlyAdams - Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:50 am
| MasterMan wrote: |
Also, months and days less than 10 don't show as 01-09, they are like 1-9.
Could you add a battery charge indicator?
Beta 5 will feature touch screen controll?
Great app so far :) |
I can't say that touch screen controll will make it into beta5, but maybe by beta6.
The 0's being displayed as blanks was my choice, but I'll add an option to the new INI file for it. I resurected my ini library I wrote a couple years ago, and it should make some stuff easier.
Battery charge indicator is already there, its a green led / red led built into the hardware, putting an icon on the screen isn't much use, and I don't see why nintendo bothered. I will consider adding an option to put one in, but as useless as the battery life indications on the DS are, I'll likely default it to disabled.
#124234 - OOPMan - Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:11 am
I had problems with this on my SC:miniSD. For some reason nothing would load once I was in the channels. There was a complaint about nor finding the SCSD.dldi file, despite it being in the right place...
Hrmmmm, I think I should try again and make sure though...
_________________
"My boot, your face..." - Attributed to OOPMan, Emperor of Eroticon VI
You can find my NDS homebrew projects here...
#126839 - MasterMan - Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:15 am
Got Moonshell working by using the MPCF executable.
Also, i noted *.NDS files work fine while *.SC.NDS don't.
What's coming in beta5?
My working list got biger:
DS2Win0_7.nds
DSCam.nds
DSFTP.nds
DSPad02.nds
Imgview06.nds
lmp-ng-2-alpha.nds
Moonshell.nds (the MPCF one)
ReadMore.nds
SNEmulDS.nds (the latest)
Please, keep it coming.
#126843 - GrizzlyAdams - Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:13 am
Beta5 has been held back some, cause of a bug in the .nds patcher, theres a build available, but its got some issues still.
http://homebrew.thewaffleiron.net/GrizzlyAdams/DS/dschannels-beta5.zip
http://homebrew.thewaffleiron.net/GrizzlyAdams/DS/dschannels-beta5b.zip
You need both of these, beta5b is a update that disables patching of loaded .nds files.
Beta6 is in the works, with the loader reworked to use chishm's dldi patcher from his loader.
.SC.NDS loading only works on supercards currently, in beta6 i hope to get more cards usable thru the new DLMI interface I'm building.
A feature I want to have soon is the ability to flash gba carts from files on a slot1 card. Example: you have 4mbitcompo.gba on your r4, and your friend has a ezflash card, you can flash the .gba onto their card, and give it back to them.
#126905 - Dood77 - Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:14 am
| GrizzlyAdams wrote: |
| A feature I want to have soon is the ability to flash gba carts from files on a slot1 card. Example: you have 4mbitcompo.gba on your r4, and your friend has a ezflash card, you can flash the .gba onto their card, and give it back to them. |
Ooh! That sounds really cool! I would have liked to use this on my supercard with yours/chishms hacked firmware, but I like sound in my videos... I'll probably take a look at it if I buy another card or just wait for a 1.0 version.
....off topic....
Does the R4 have an auto boot?
#126907 - MasterMan - Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:21 am
Thanks for the reply and the new build, but i can't use it.
It freezes in splash screen, no key ou touch make it work.
I already replaced the exec_stub's for that of beta5b.
Cheers
#126936 - GrizzlyAdams - Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:19 am
If its freezing in the splash screen then its probably getting stuck while indexing your card. Which card do you have? Did you erase the old qlshell folder before installing the new one?
#126950 - darkgilson - Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:01 am
Freezes alson for me..
I deleted the old qlshell folder, replaced with the new one.
I have a Supercard SD with a mini SD and the adaptator... The default SCSD.dldi never worked with this mini sd card for me, so I use SCSD_moonlight.dldi . It's slow, but it works with other apps...
But DSChannels doesn't work. I can see the splashscreen, but I can't do anything...
_________________
Soon Blubb in 3D !
#126964 - burpyierz - Sat Apr 28, 2007 2:53 pm
im wondering can u replace the OS of supercard slot 1 and use this one instead ? that is booting the DS channel at start up etc
or u need the OS from supercard slot 1 ? because i think its kind of useless to launch from supercard OS
#126986 - Dood77 - Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:05 pm
Well, no. Its not possible.
First of all they run entirely different code (I believe...)
The 'OS' on your Supercard DS is doing a whole lot more in relation to the hardware than this program is doing.
There are a few cards however that enable auto-booting of an .nds if its named specially (e.g. GBAMP uses _boot_mp.nds)
There is a firmware hack for the slot 2 versions of the supercard (except rumble) that enables auto-booting of a _boot_sc.nds file, this was created by dumping and reverse engineering the supercard firmware (what you're calling the OS, its actually called firmware) One problem is that theres a bug, and its not being maintained anymore.
See this topic: http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?t=12312
_________________
If I use a term wrong or something then feel free to correct, I?m not much of a programmer.
Original DS Phat obtained on day of release + flashme v7
Supercard: miniSD, Kingston 1GB, Kingston 2GB
Ralink chipset PCI NIC
#126993 - burpyierz - Sat Apr 28, 2007 11:05 pm
i see thats too bad, DS channel looks cooler than the supercard OS but i only use it like 5sec just to select and start a game
that will be kinda too long to use my OS to launch DS Channel and then browse and select my game with a nicer skin =[
#126997 - MasterMan - Sun Apr 29, 2007 12:03 am
| GrizzlyAdams wrote: |
| If its freezing in the splash screen then its probably getting stuck while indexing your card. Which card do you have? Did you erase the old qlshell folder before installing the new one? |
Supercard CF, 1.7a firmware, Sandisk 1GB CF card.
I replaced the exec_stub.arm7 and exec_stub.arm9 for those in the update zip.
DSChannel.nds freezes, _BOOT_SC.NDS also.
Purpusedly, i renamed the two splash pcx so i could see if there was some error or log running on background. Nothing, white screens. DLDI patch also changes nothing.
Luckly, DSChannel_b4.nds still works with the new \qlshell.
Cheers.
EDIT:
Well, weird, it boots fine if i rename the \apps folder to something else.
Weirder yet, using DSOrganize 1.7, i renamed it back to "apps", and miraculously now it works fine.
I could even get DSOrganize.nds booting whe DLDI patched.
Now i'm afraid of use windows's CHKDSK in my CF, as i do periodicaly, and fix this "error".
BTW, my icons http://br.geocities.com/joaoviss2/icons/
#127052 - tondopie - Sun Apr 29, 2007 5:17 pm
I'm not using this app until it
1). Displays the icons put out by a makefile or shows the filename instead of the generic icon.
2). doesn't require all this much effort to put together, cuz I have my own projects to do.
_________________
Development Blog: http://teendev.org
Homebrew Podcast: http://homebrewcast.net
Web Design: http://xtendesign.net
#127065 - Razeruk - Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:34 pm
i can't get it passed the first screen (splash screen)
i'm using Max Media Dock and PNY CF card
#127066 - tondopie - Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:36 pm
MMD is incompatable with a lot of stuff, this is due to a faulty bootloader
_________________
Development Blog: http://teendev.org
Homebrew Podcast: http://homebrewcast.net
Web Design: http://xtendesign.net
#127067 - Razeruk - Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:38 pm
ppl on maxconsole were able to run it on there MMDs and there is a dldi patch for it already in the drivers folder
just wondering should i have tried to attempt to patch the DSChannels if it already and the dldi i needed
#127071 - tondopie - Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:45 pm
they were able to run earlier versions... not beta 5
_________________
Development Blog: http://teendev.org
Homebrew Podcast: http://homebrewcast.net
Web Design: http://xtendesign.net
#127086 - Razeruk - Sun Apr 29, 2007 11:00 pm
really ok i'll downgrade then lol
#127129 - Tets - Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:58 am
I don't know about you, but I've got beta 5b working flawlessly on a max media dock. In fact, I'm using it specifically to replace the faulty bootloader. I haven't run across any problems as of yet.
#127150 - Razeruk - Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:38 pm
| Tets wrote: |
| I don't know about you, but I've got beta 5b working flawlessly on a max media dock. In fact, I'm using it specifically to replace the faulty bootloader. I haven't run across any problems as of yet. |
um how did you get it to run and what card are you using
how long is the wait time for the next screen to load
#127182 - Tets - Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:01 pm
I'm using a 1GB Lexar card, I don't know any more details about it than that. All I've done to make dschannel work is copy all the files to my card and patch it with mmcf.dldi. There's no wait time that I've noticed at all, dschannel itself loads in just a few seconds and it launches all my other NDS apps almost instantaneously.
#127325 - Dan2552 - Tue May 01, 2007 7:01 pm
Can you make a tooltip - so when a channel is highlighted it's name appears somewhere, it's annoying not knowing which fixme is which.
#127365 - MasterMan - Tue May 01, 2007 11:18 pm
Dan2552, please read the posts before your's. Beta 5 doesn't have any "fixme", and it has the app name under each icon.
#127411 - OOPMan - Wed May 02, 2007 8:17 am
Hmmmmmm, Beta5 ran fine on my R4, but wasn't so happy with my SC:miniSD. Who would have imagined it :-)
_________________
"My boot, your face..." - Attributed to OOPMan, Emperor of Eroticon VI
You can find my NDS homebrew projects here...
#127418 - GrizzlyAdams - Wed May 02, 2007 9:33 am
OK, since a few folks have been having trouble I'll add a special debug build in the future with detailed logging at boot. No idea when I'll have time to get beta6 thrown together. Beta5 wasn't exactly what I'd like to have released but I felt the need to release something.
#127484 - Dan2552 - Wed May 02, 2007 10:47 pm
| MasterMan wrote: |
| Dan2552, please read the posts before your's. Beta 5 doesn't have any "fixme", and it has the app name under each icon. |
oops! Thought I had downloaded the latest.
Sorry!
#127771 - MasterMan - Fri May 04, 2007 9:05 pm
Hey, GrizzlyAdams. What do you think if the ICONS folder were inside SKINS folder. So each skin can have its own iconset. And the splashes could go there as well.
I did a Dreamcast based skin, splash screens and custon icons and think it would go along in the same package.
Maybe even the skin could be ziped, as in LMP-ng (requires ZLIB, ask Lucas :P).
| Code: |
.QLSHELL
..SKINS
...newskin.zip
....ICONS
.....various icons
....DEFAULT.PCX
....FONT.PCX
....SKIN.PCX
....SPLASH_B.PCX
....SPLASH_T.PCX
....TOP.PCX
|
#127791 - GrizzlyAdams - Sat May 05, 2007 1:37 am
| Quote: |
| Hey, GrizzlyAdams. What do you think if the ICONS folder were inside SKINS folder. So each skin can have its own iconset. And the splashes could go there as well. |
I'm considering doing that with beta6, where it will first try to load the icon from the same folder as the nds, then the skin's icon folder, then the default skin's icon folder, then the nds file internal icon, then the default icon from the skin, then the default icon from the default skin. With a menu to choose the order if you don't want the default order. Settings menu should be fleshed out in beta6, and I think the skin layout will stay the same. Skin INI files will be fleshed out soon too. And a skin chooser W/ preview.
I want to add some sort of scripting langauge and expand what can be customized. I've not settled on ECMAScript (JavaScript/ActionScript) or LUA yet but they are currently at the top of my list since I've used each in the past. An example of what could be done thru scripting: Dreamcast startup logo, Amiga Insert Disk animation, etc. Simple animations that require just moving a sprite around the screen, possibly with a trail left behind (as is the case with dreamcast).
I'm going to add a "micro" mode soon which just has 32x32 icons (like they are now for no icon found) and more icons on screen at once.
#127795 - Dood77 - Sat May 05, 2007 1:47 am
My votes for LUA B)
_________________
If I use a term wrong or something then feel free to correct, I?m not much of a programmer.
Original DS Phat obtained on day of release + flashme v7
Supercard: miniSD, Kingston 1GB, Kingston 2GB
Ralink chipset PCI NIC
#127825 - Lick - Sat May 05, 2007 11:27 am
JavaScript! (Yes I call it JavaScript and not ECMAScript!) Because it's much like the PHP-family of syntax and LUA really lacks symbols (: ; { }) and I would prefer Python over LUA.
But that's just my humble opinion, I'm sure a lot of people would find LUA easier to work with. And I might not be your target audience anyway.
_________________
http://licklick.wordpress.com
#127841 - tepples - Sat May 05, 2007 3:10 pm
To me: - ECMAScript is a prototype-oriented programming language, which has been compared to Self with Java style syntax.
- JavaScript is the language combined with the HTML DOM and CSS DOM.
- ActionScript is the language combined with the SWF DOM.
I might prefer JS, even if only because JS is already the only way to write Wii homebrew without spending $700 for Adobe Flash.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#129369 - MasterMan - Tue May 22, 2007 4:26 am
GrizzyAdams, could you know why ReadMore alpha doest work for me now? It did in 0.4. I get top screen turned off and black bottom screen.
Also, for Moonshell and ImgView, the SCCF versions don't work, i use the MPCF ones. (SCCF here)
They work fine, but drawback is:
In Moonshell i can't use RESET.MSE as it can't read FAT.
In ImgView i can't use the double screen view as it uses the extra ram of SC.
If you could fix it to launch NDSs properly...
BTW, that is my Dreamcast skin http://br.geocities.com/joaoviss2/qlshell.zip
There's a skin\dreamcast folder, custom splash screen and some nice icons i did (not from before, they where horrible). Could someone try it?
#129394 - GrizzlyAdams - Tue May 22, 2007 10:37 am
I've noticed some major problems with the current builds, and I'm planning to switch from my bootloader to chishm's new one at some point soon. I'll post the update when its ready.
#129912 - MasterMan - Tue May 29, 2007 12:32 am
Hi GrizzlyAdams, what do you think if we separate executables in folders, \apps, \games and \emus?
And we could have buttons on screen to choose the channels.
Organize icons order by ini file (like DSOrganize does) or aphabeticaly would be good also.
Cheers.
#129921 - Dood77 - Tue May 29, 2007 2:52 am
How about fully customizable file paths?? How come barely anyone does this? Instead they use the root, someone else insists on the /data folder, while someone else was perfectly fine with the root...
_________________
If I use a term wrong or something then feel free to correct, I?m not much of a programmer.
Original DS Phat obtained on day of release + flashme v7
Supercard: miniSD, Kingston 1GB, Kingston 2GB
Ralink chipset PCI NIC
#129928 - tepples - Tue May 29, 2007 5:05 am
| Dood77 wrote: |
| How about fully customizable file paths?? How come barely anyone does this? |
Because where would you store the file that specifies the paths? Or are you talking about patching the .nds itself?
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#129930 - Dood77 - Tue May 29, 2007 5:51 am
Well a patch would work, but I figure this file could always be in the same directory, or every program could use the same file, stored in root.
_________________
If I use a term wrong or something then feel free to correct, I?m not much of a programmer.
Original DS Phat obtained on day of release + flashme v7
Supercard: miniSD, Kingston 1GB, Kingston 2GB
Ralink chipset PCI NIC
#132169 - MasterMan - Sun Jun 24, 2007 12:45 am
Any news on beta 6?
Also, can you do a firmware hack for SC 1.81?
SCCF here.
#132236 - HyperHacker - Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:52 pm
| Dood77 wrote: |
| Well a patch would work, but I figure this file could always be in the same directory, or every program could use the same file, stored in root. |
That's what /data is for. We have no way to determine the current path of the program.
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#133788 - DragonMinded - Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:58 pm
What happened to that exec_ library that was supposed to be released in a few days? The only code I can find that uses your launching code is in httpexec 1.1 and it doesn't provide the source to the exec_stub.arm9/7 so it's fairly useless. Were you ever going to put out source for the exec_ portion?
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#133817 - Dood77 - Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:56 pm
| HyperHacker wrote: |
| Dood77 wrote: | | Well a patch would work, but I figure this file could always be in the same directory, or every program could use the same file, stored in root. |
That's what /data is for. We have no way to determine the current path of the program. |
What I kinda meant was that every program that wanted customizable directories could use the same file, called something like paths.cfg, and it would have its own syntax for paths, etc. Users could edit the .cfg themselves, or the programs could edit them when the user uses the settings menu in the program.
Example:
| Code: |
//File paths for nds binaries
[dschannels.nds] //program
_nds = "/programs/dschannels/dschannels.nds" //location of binary /* examples of
_cfg = "/programs/dschannels/dschannels.cfg" //location of config file standard paths *\
_media = "/programs/lmp-ng/lmp-ng102.nds" /*examples of program
_user1 = "/games/quake/quakeDS.nds" proprietary paths *\
|
Obviously proprietary paths for other programs could be things like locations for resources, etc.
Now the problem is standardizing.
_________________
If I use a term wrong or something then feel free to correct, I?m not much of a programmer.
Original DS Phat obtained on day of release + flashme v7
Supercard: miniSD, Kingston 1GB, Kingston 2GB
Ralink chipset PCI NIC
#133820 - DragonMinded - Sun Jul 08, 2007 11:13 pm
I thought the whole point of a unified /data/ directory WAS the result of standardizing.
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http://dragonminded.blogspot.com
Seriously guys, how hard is it to simply TRY something yourself?
#133827 - Lick - Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:53 am
DM: he doesn't mean "standardizing" in the way of "creating a standard". He means that people have to adopt this standard. So he probably meant "user adoption".
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#133874 - Fling - Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:32 pm
| DragonMinded wrote: |
| What happened to that exec_ library that was supposed to be released in a few days? The only code I can find that uses your launching code is in httpexec 1.1 and it doesn't provide the source to the exec_stub.arm9/7 so it's fairly useless. Were you ever going to put out source for the exec_ portion? |
httpexec 1.1 doesn't provide the source as the source is readily available from here, as noted in the readme.txt which comes with httpexec. I just use the unmodified versions of his exec_stub binaries.
#133885 - Xtreme984 - Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:25 pm
liking the look of this, running DSChannels Beta4 on a DS Phat with R4DS updated to firmware 1.10, booting of all homebrew except for the moonshell that came with the update works, if I try to load moonshell I just get a bunch of jumbled up pixels, any idea what I can do to fix it? (I renamed dschannels.nds to _DS_MSHL.nds to make it boot DSChannels instead of moonshell from the R4DS firmware)
#134000 - Dood77 - Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:20 am
| DragonMinded wrote: |
| I thought the whole point of a unified /data/ directory WAS the result of standardizing. |
Not standardizing the programs themselves, but standardizing the way we store external files used in nds binaries.
Erm... maybe that doesn't make sense...
I'm defining standardizing as to make standard. (Not to make a standard)
So standardizing as in make this method standard.
...okay, over complicated, I know...
_________________
If I use a term wrong or something then feel free to correct, I?m not much of a programmer.
Original DS Phat obtained on day of release + flashme v7
Supercard: miniSD, Kingston 1GB, Kingston 2GB
Ralink chipset PCI NIC
#134002 - GrizzlyAdams - Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:41 am
I'm still working on DSChannels, and plan to release a new version soon.
Heres a quick status update:
I ported a GUI library (depui) to make fast work of dialogs etc. Created three new skins, with work still progressing on them. Working on custom desktop backgrounds, and skin animation features.
New channels:
RemoteChannel - mythremote updated to use alot of code from DSChannels, and working on xmbc support.
DownloadChannel - a feed reader of sorts, subscribe to a feed from your favorite nds homebrew site, and you can download the latest versions of various apps. DLDI patching built-in (with option to disable).
PhotoChannel - just what you think it is, still in very early stages (requires custom written jpeg / png decoder that scales an image on the fly without need of a slot-2 ram card).
ExampleChannel - a quick example of how to write a channel app, and some guidelines on user interaction.
New config interface:
Choose which loader (theres 4 now), skin, dldi & dlmi drivers, and more to use.
Loaders:
Chishm's loader (runs on arm7, doesn't work with R4DS/M3DS currently)
exec_stub from previous release of DSChannels
dsgstub from previous releases (requires a slot-2 card with ram)
gbamp (requires a gbamp patched with chishm's patch)
Dynamicly Loaded Memory/Media Interface:
Drivers to access / unlock features of various cards. Few written currently, similar to how dldi works, but runtime patching so users don't have to run another tool on their pc before installing the app on their card. Used for loading GBA homebrew onto cards such as the supercard, m3, and ezflash slot-2 adapter families. Also used by the dsgstub for folks who can't get the other loaders to work (dsgstub & gbamp loaders are worst-case pray it works)
Hierarchal menu system:
Main Screen
|-+ Applications
| |-+ NitroTracker
|
|-+ Games
| |-+ First Person Shooters
| |-+ QuakeDS
|
|-+ Emulators
| |-+ Apple II
| |-+ Karateka
|
|-+ RemoteChannel
|-+ DownloadChannel
|-+ PhotoChannel
|-+ etc...
WinterMute is working on argc/argv (passed command line) support in libnds, and once thats ready I'll be adding file associations to DSChannels.
This will allow you to associate files with specific applications, roms with an emulator for example. To help with situations where multiple applications use files with the same extension but different formats, I'll be providing a way to limit associations to specific folders.
Example:
fat0:/AppleII/*.dsk and fat0:/Commodore/*.dsk
(this is purely an example, and I don't even know if any commodore emus use .dsk images)
The next release of DSChannels won't happen till all of the following happen:
WinterMute releases his argc/argv update, and any other changes he asks me to wait for.
I'm satisfied with the number and quality of accompanying channel apps & skins.
DSChannels itself is ready for the public.
#134045 - OOPMan - Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:15 am
Very good to hear you are still working on this Grizzly. I tested the older betas on my SuperCard and it was a cool little launcher.
I look forward to it reaching a polished and mature state :-)
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You can find my NDS homebrew projects here...
#134085 - Lick - Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:47 pm
I'm wishing for a filebrowser channel!
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#134090 - OSW - Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:12 pm
Sorry i haven't checked this out in a while. Is the colour scheme still un-wii-like? :P it'd be cooler replicating the white/blue of wii.
#134098 - Fling - Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:57 pm
I dunno, I kind of like the current theme. If anything, I'd change the theme to maybe more closely match the DS firmware UI's look and feel (even though I suppose the current theme is somewhat close already).
#134128 - GrizzlyAdams - Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:50 pm
Current themes I've got partially complete:
Firmware - Similar to the firmware w/ stippled background, very similar buttons, and icons.
RedmondV - Vista color scheme, clock & calendar pages
Tiger - a mix of OSX dashboard, and some other stuff
Foney - similar to the Tiger theme, but with more of an iPhone style.
These themes are just the ones i've started working on, Firmware is 90% complete, the others are following behind with work slowly progressing.
I'm back and forth on the animation features as to how I'm going to implement them, probably ecmascript, lua, or something else.
#134624 - st40611 - Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:51 pm
Put it on my M3 Lite And worked-almost- like a charm. Too bad M3 Lite doesn't allow auto-booting...
Anyway, here's a list of bugs I've found -
-Beta 5 won't work for me at all. Freeze at Splash screen also. Deleted everything in the qlshell folder except for the images (Since I made myself a custom skin) and replace everything including the files from the 5b.zip. Still stuck on Splash screen, even tried DLDI patching.
-Moonshell, Image Viewer won't work. Freeze after a flood of codes.
I guess that's pretty much it for me. Hope to see Beta 6 soon!
#134626 - Lick - Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:52 pm
When's DLMI going to be introduced? I really want to start using it.
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#134653 - st40611 - Sun Jul 15, 2007 9:56 am
Well, frustrated by not able to start Beta 5, I reformatted my card from FAT32 to FAT16 ... and guess what! It got through the Splash screen! Whoo-whoo!
Maybe that's a good bug report to you Grizzly. =)
EDIT: I have noticed that, however, it now scans everywhere (including a folder with files that are decidedly not DS homebrew), making them showing up as ? marks on the index. Is there any way to only scan ROOT:/Applications, etc? It's kind of an eye sore to see files that I can't boot from the DS Channel. :/
[Subtle rules conformance edit by MOD]
#134908 - calcprogrammer1 - Wed Jul 18, 2007 7:15 am
It doesn't run on the Datel Games n' Music :(...there goes yet another possibility for booting stuff without the main menu...
Ah well...nothing seems to work with the GnM booting-wise, it'd be nice if there was a way though.
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#138929 - MechaBouncer - Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:45 pm
Well I finally got to try Beta 5 out on a CycloDS Evolution using their beta driver from this topic. (NOTE: It doesn't work with MicroSDHC cards.) So far, most things have worked after I've manually patched them all and renamed the driver in the "qlshell\drivers" folder to "cevo.dldi". It rather defeats the purpose of auto-loading, but it works where DSOrganize and Chishm's loader both fail. I even replaced Moonshell as the main loader app on one of my MicroSD cards.
Team Cyclops seems to be quite open to user and developer input and are pretty dedicated to making things work. It's one of the main reasons I bought one. I'm sure they'd be open to any suggestions made to allow for better compatibility.
_________________
Cobalt/Black NDSL
CycloDS Evolution (firmware 1.55 BETA 3) and EZFlash 3-in-1
Kingston SD-C02G JAPAN 2GB MicroSD
MoonShell 1.71, DSOrganize 3.1129, QuakeDS Pre3, ScummVM DS 0.11.1, Pocket Physics 0.6, OpenTyrian DS 0.3
#138952 - Obi - Fri Aug 31, 2007 5:14 am
This works with my R4, but it doesn't work with FAT32, does it?
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R4 Revolution for DS
EZ Flash 5 3 In 1
2x 2GB Sandisk Micro SD
#138963 - cornaljoe - Fri Aug 31, 2007 9:24 am
Nice this works with the EZ5! Good job Grizzly can't wait for the update.
Suggestion: Can you add the directory /HOMEBREW to the file searching?
#139088 - MechaBouncer - Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:39 pm
I'm pretty sure my card is formatted in FAT32.
_________________
Cobalt/Black NDSL
CycloDS Evolution (firmware 1.55 BETA 3) and EZFlash 3-in-1
Kingston SD-C02G JAPAN 2GB MicroSD
MoonShell 1.71, DSOrganize 3.1129, QuakeDS Pre3, ScummVM DS 0.11.1, Pocket Physics 0.6, OpenTyrian DS 0.3
#139467 - MechaBouncer - Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:56 pm
There's a new CycloDS Evolution driver out now in this topic:
http://www.teamcyclops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1203&page=4
Here's what TeamCyclops reports:
| TeamCyclops wrote: |
We've just uploaded v1.1 of the DLDI driver for CycloDS Evolution. Download it here. There have been quite a few changes from the last file released, most notably:
* Now contains full SD init code. This means it will work with both standard and SDHC MicroSD cards, and it should work with homebrew executed via WMB (untested) or other alternative loading methods, allowing you to completely bypass loading through the CycloDS Evolution GUI if you wish. We've personally tested the driver by loading homebrew from slot2 CycloDS, which works fine.
* Various workarounds are included to enable support for the various ways in which 3rd party loaders use the DLDI driver. Its been tested to work with DSOrganise (Chishm loading method only), DSChannels and Chishm's standalone loader.
This is the same DLDI driver which is included in the new v1.2 BETA #3 firmware. Unless you're not using CycloDS Evolution to actually load your homebrew (which would be the case if you're executing code via WMB) then you dont actually need to manually patch anything, even in the case of 3rd party loaders. |
I've tested it with Chishm's NDS_loader, DSOrganize 2.9, and DSChannels Beta 5. NDS_loader and DSO launch and run without issue, but apps launched from DSChannels can't read from the memory card unless they are manually DLDI patched. Considering that DSO seems to permanently patch what it launches, all that needs to be done is launch them from DSO once and they'll work. And once DSChannels uses Chishm's loader, it will probably be a moot point anyway.
_________________
Cobalt/Black NDSL
CycloDS Evolution (firmware 1.55 BETA 3) and EZFlash 3-in-1
Kingston SD-C02G JAPAN 2GB MicroSD
MoonShell 1.71, DSOrganize 3.1129, QuakeDS Pre3, ScummVM DS 0.11.1, Pocket Physics 0.6, OpenTyrian DS 0.3
#139736 - lambi1982 - Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:05 pm
I would love to see DSchannels and DSO welded together to form a MEGA app. functionality of DSO and the looks of DSchannels. it would truly be awesome
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#139742 - HyperHacker - Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:38 pm
I was thinking about such an app earlier. I'll probably never get around to using these ideas:
1) The buttons don't have to be rectangular. Your skin provides two 256x192 bitmaps, one where all the buttons are up and one where they're all down. Also, there's an INI file or similar that defines the location of each corner of each button - you can have any number of corners, so as to have cool hexagonal buttons and so on. Think HTML image maps or OpenGL.
These bitmaps might also have transparency, and you could have a background image on another layer below them.
2) The menu can occupy more than 256x192. If you touch and drag, it scrolls around. So you can put your most commonly used programs on the part that shows up at first, and more off-screen. Dragging wouldn't require holding a button, just moving the stylus at least X pixels, where X is just enough to prevent it scrolling accidentally when you touch an icon (ideally defined in a config file).
Going with the separate background image idea, you could choose whether you want the image to scroll with the menu or stay put.
Oh yes, and the option to have a random theme at startup is a must. :-p
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#139769 - MasterMan - Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:28 am
Sadly it looks GrizzlyAdams won't be updating DSChannels or even the SC hacks anytime soon.
And i used to be so happy using both togheter :(
Now i think in seperate buttons to show/hide (or sort) buttons by category: Apps, Games, Emulators. Each being in a folder.
#161162 - jackman - Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:34 pm
Don't know if this bug was already mentioned: currently in July 2008, the calendar component displays last Friday as 32nd day of the month instead of August 1st (see below).
The bug
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