[DS] Universal DS Homebrew thread. Fucking cheapskates.

I'll update this soon.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The thing I dislike about SNES emulation currently is the lack of support RPGs are getting. Some of them run perfectly fine, such as Earthbound, but the text menus won't display properly thus making the game totally unplayable.

Anything fast paced, like Rocket Knight Adventures or Gunstar Heroes is unplayable too due to the massive drop in framerate. I don't think the DS can handle a fully capable Gunstar Heroes. I know the PSP has issues with it unless you're in 4:3 mode, which sucks. You're probably off getting it on Virtual Console instead.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Gechmir

Would other nintendo system games work on the DS? Should, but it'll take effort for many.

Most SNES games will work, unless you aim for the fast paced games. Like Uniracers. They'll (hopefully) iron out the RPG bug and I'll be enjoying Chrono Trigger and Earthbound on my DS sometime in 2007.

Added:

DEALERS

Divineo - DS-X, G6 Lite, M3 DS Simply, M3 Perfect Lite, Supercard Lite, M3 Perfect CF, M3 Perfect SD, M3 Pro Mini SD, Max Media Launcher, Passcard, R4.

Pay by: Credit Card, International Money Order, Western Union, Bank Transfer

Bamboogaming - R4DS, Supercard SD, Supercard Mini SD, Supercard Lite, Supercard SD Rumble, Supercard Lite Rumble, Supercard DS, Ninjapass X9TF, M3 SD Slim, M3 SD Professional, M3 MiniSD Professional, M3 MiniSD, M3 Lite Professional, M3 Lite, M3 DS Simply, G6 Lite, EZ4 Lite Deluxe (Micro SD Version), DS-Link, more.

Pay by: Paypal

I've dealt with these guys once before. It took 13 working days to arrive, which was rather long, and to cut postage costs they often don't include packaging.

Realhotstuff - Supercard, Supercard SD, Supercard miniSD, Supercard Lite, Supercard DS One, M3 Adapter, M3 CF, M3 Slim SD, M3 mini SD, M3 Lite, G6 Lite, M3 DS Simply, R4DS, DS Linker, DS-Xtreme, DS-Link

Pay by: Credit Card, Paypal

Gameyeeeah - Practically everything. M3 Simply, M3 Lite Pro, M3 Perfect CF version, M3 Perfect Micro-SD Lite adapter, M3 Perfect SD (Slim), M3 Perfect mini SD, Supercard DS, Supercard Lite (in different colors), Supercard Lite Rumble, Supercard mini SD, Supercard mini SD Rumble, Supercard SD, Supercard SD Rumble, Superkey, Passcard, G6 Lite, DS Linker

Pay by: Paypal

I placed an order with these dudes and they shipped the same day.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

They're identical basically (R4 is the CEO version of M3 Simply) so I guess it just comes down to personal choice.

Here's some pictures I took off Gameyeeeah of them.



Everyone seems to be going for the M3 (brand name, I guess). I went to bamboogaming and saw they were sold out. It took me about 10 minutes of googling to find a store that actually had stock.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

CEO version because wikipedia says it's the manufacturer's own name, I guess.

Originally Posted by wikipedia

R4 is a Slot-1 flash card for the Nintendo DS. It is actually the exact same as the M3 Simply and the two can be converted to one another by bridging a single connector on the PCB. However, there has been a rumor that newer R4s will be modified to prevent this conversion.

The M3 Simply uses the same exact board as the R4DS, with the exception of two points being soldered together. The interfaces are the same except for different graphics, and the cards have different labels. R4 is the direct manufacturer of the devices.

Most amazing jew boots

It's probably OEM. Sorry about that, I can't really tell the difference. It looks like the R4 is practically identical to the M3 aside from some small internal specs, so Acer, it shouldn't really matter which one you choose.

I'm leaning towards the M3 Simply though, because of, well.. everyone else is. There's already been an update for it (apparently) here and I'd imagine people will start supporting it more. But a few sites are showing the R4's their top seller (I'm guessing this is because their M3 Simply's are all out of stock) so it's a good second choice in that aspect.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Because all GBA cartridges stick out of the DS Lite, and so, GBA cartridge sized supercards will too.

FELIPE NO

I won't add this to the topic as it's already covering both of them, but apparently you can use a M3 Simply DS and M3 Lite Perfect together.

Source

Price: $ 119.95 (€ 90.45)

Contents:
M3 Simply DS
SD Reader
M3 Lite Perfect Aapter
M3 Lite White Color Cover
M3 Lite Black Color Cover
M3 Lite Ice Blue Color Cover
Your Choice of Slot1 MicroSD Card
Your Choice of Slot2 MicroSD Card

Description:

Turn your DS lite into the Beast it has been waiting to become. The M3 Platinum Combo can help you Boast up to 2GB of storage by using both the M3 Simply and the M3 Lite Perfect. This is your ultimate solution for running everything you want including backups, homebrew, mp3's, movies, and with the M3 Lite Perfect you have GBA support!

Combining the M3 Simply with your M3 Lite Perfect is the ultimate solution for combining performance, reliability, and storage. By having both carts, you can easily use data and add the ability of GBA support via the Slot 2 M3 Lite Perfect. After you load all your data onto your MicroSD cards you could easily never remove the carts again!!

The M3 Simply allows "on the fly" patching so you no longer need to patch your DS backups before putting them on your microsd card! Just drag and drop!!!

The M3 Simply is more than just a Slot 1 solution. It is also a passme (passcard) device that will let you easily access your M3 lite and allow you to run GBA backups on your DS lite.

Your Only choice now is to decide if you want aany combination of 1GB, 2GB, or 512 MB MicroSD Cards for storage.

Run Your GBA backups on your M3 lite without any patching and run your NDS backups on the M3 simply without patching!

Order your M3 Platinum Combo today and upgrade your DS to the ultimate machine you always dreamed it could be.

This is overkill, really. The benefits of this are that it doesn't stick out at either end, and you have full compatibility for both DS and GBA games as well as a built-in passcard.

But yeah, you'll also be paying for 2 1 GB micro SD cards.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Which one are you talking about? There's quite a few M3 cards that support GBA games.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

It looks like the M3 Lite Perfect is just an upgraded version of the M3 Lite. I still find it highly unnecessary to own both of them (requiring 2 micro SD cards), for 2 GB of space and GBA game access.

Actually I'm willing to bet that once they manage to get GBA games working through a slot 1 device, the range of devices available will slim down. After all, the DS slot doesn't have a cover, like the GBA slot has. I think slot 1 will become more popular.

Here's the item description for the Perfect, you can compare it to the M3 Lite in the topic if you like.

# Compatible with all Homebrew, Freeware, GBA games without any patching required and without any problem during gameplay. NDS games require patching.
# Excellent Save compatibility. It support all saves types with the RTC function.
# Capacity is very flexible and only depends on the card you use, which now are up to 4GByte (32Gbit) on the market.
# GOLDEN FINGER (CHEAT Code ) employs the IPS system that prevails in the world, with more diverse and powerful distinctive functions than CHT. The unique Auto IPS feature completely prevents computer crash.
# With unique Super Real Time Save Function, easily operates and it can revive without limits.
# MicroSD card +Reader can be used as a U disk and it only needs drag here and there when the game is burning.
# Saves money: MicroSD card can also be used in digital camera and other products, and you can share your card as you need it without the need to buy a dedicated card for your NDS/GBA.
# Supports GBA Games, FC games, Emulator games, GBA Movies, E-book, Cartoon books, browse pictures, enjoy music and so on.
# Supports 4-key reboot to Rom menu function, and supports 4-key reboot beginning function.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well, my micro SD card and M3 Simply arrived today. Currently I'm browsing around for skins, then I'll work on games/emulators/music a little later. I'[ll do it later though. Skinning is important.

The amount of people making skins for the M3 Simply is incredible. Here's just a few.

"Big Balls" by mavis


http://rapidshare.com/files/14118762...mavis.rar.html


"Black Phoenix" by bladerx


http://rapidshare.com/files/14118995...aderx.rar.html


"BlueFLOW" by mFLO


http://rapidshare.com/files/14119276..._mFLO.rar.html


"DS Lite Blue" by neekstan


http://rapidshare.com/files/14119464...kstan.rar.html


"EverGreen [Final]" by _DiGiTaL_


http://rapidshare.com/files/14119722...iTaL_.rar.html


"FLCL Orange" by mFLO


http://rapidshare.com/files/14120034..._mFLO.rar.html


"Golden Blue Eye" by Jin_CokteZ


http://rapidshare.com/files/14120771...okteZ.rar.html


"MegaMan" by bladerx


http://rapidshare.com/files/14120985...aderx.rar.html


"Metroid" by bladerx


http://rapidshare.com/files/14121229...aderx.rar.html


"Metroid" by Kyrax


http://rapidshare.com/files/14121532...Kyrax.zip.html


"NDS [M3]" by Katalyst


http://rapidshare.com/files/14121766...alyst.zip.html


"Nintendo DSlite" by kiruyama


http://rapidshare.com/files/14121996...uyama.rar.html



I'll stop here but you get the idea. I've added the M3 forum and skin directory to the original topic.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I assume so, yes.

I'm currently using this one:



All you have to do is create a _system_ folder and place the pictures in. More here.

Edit: Heh, this is cute:



When my batteries are charged I'll make a proper M3 Simply overview.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Picross was actually the first game I tried. It's weird, it worked once and then it wouldn't get past the jupiter screen. Doesn't matter though, because I don't even know picross.

Oh and Acer, that video was already in the topic.



Yesterday my micro SD and M3 Simply arrived. After opening it, this was it's contents.

The M3 Simply itself comes in the grayish cartridge. The white one is a shell which you can use if you've got a white DS Lite. After testing it out, I decided to replace the gray one with the white one.

This was pretty difficult because the screw at the back of the cartridge is like, 2 mm long and microscopic. If I had of dropped it, I wouldn't have been able to find it again. But after unscrewing the gray cartridge and moving the circuit board to the white one, everything seemed okay.

I'm pretty heavy handed (no pun intended) but even I managed to pull that off quite fast.

Next up is the case and strap, which both came separately. I put them together quite easily (same way you apply a wrist strap to the Wii remote, really). The case itself is very tight, so getting cartridges in and out is a little tough. There's room for 2 cartridges plus whatever's currently in the slot 1 of your DS.

The cartridges fit almost perfectly, and very securely in the case. It's surprising how well they fit. It's almost dead perfect. But getting them out, like I said, is a problem. You have to twist one side of the case a bit because you're wasting your time trying to get them out with your fingers.



The micro SD reader is really useful. You just stick the micro SD card in, take off the other end, and plug it into the USB. Bam, it'll detect it. Not difficult at all. This shot is to show you how small both the micro SD and card reader are, sitting upon my DS Lite.

After trying out the micro SD card, I decided to update the firmware. But the latest probably wasn't on the disc, so I decided to check that out first.



First up was the manual, although it's engrish'd to hell so I can't understand it entirely. I mean, it says to format your micro SD card, and when the remaining space is showing in the left pane, it can be used with the M3 Simply but nothing like that even needs to happen. Here's the contents of the instruction manual:

Spoiler:

M3DS Simply User Manual

The M3DS Simply Cartridge is the current top-of-the-line in DS SLOT-1 flash carts. It is Just an amazing little device like original DS cart size, it is a complete solution with no need to purchase any a additional components or deal with any messy software and truly the easiest media enhancer you have ever done; To simply put it, this is a must have peripheral for any regular DS/DS lite owner.

M3DS Simply Features :
~ The same size as an original DS cart
~ Build in PassMe (No need for boot card or anything else to boot )
~ Using Micro SD card (Trans Flash) as external storage . Cheap & variety usage .
~ Boot clean dump images
~ Super simple to use , drag and files over to the micro SD card .
No drivers required
~ Standard FAT system support .
~ Support different speed of micro SD card even the low speed SD card .Run games without any lag or slow down .
~ Upgradeable Firmware ( OS / Bios / Kernel )
~ Touch screen control & robust skinning support .
~ No need battery, back up the save file into the micro SD card directly .Never lose your save .
~ Auto detect the save type & automatic generate saver file.
~ Homebrew support, IO lib will release on launch.
~ Direct watch movie, listen MP3 & read TXT on the DS via the use of Moonshell .
~ Support WiFi , DS rumble pack & DS browser .

M3DS Simply Operation Instruction

1) Hardware installation
-Insert TF/SD card into USB2.0 MicroSD card reader/writer, format your TF/SD card as FAT format by Use the Computer;

-When appears “a removable disk added”, hardware has been installed;

-TF card (MicroSD) is used to save the games and data, once your micro SD card is formatted correctly, you will see "Free Space = *" in the right hand pane. Then you can begin copying ROMs over.

2) Place the LOADER:
Copy all the files at ‘system\english\skin-*’ on the disk to the root directory of the TF card (including _DS_MENU.DAT ; _DSMSHL.NDS ; skin-*.jpg and Shell folder); Copy the downloaded game (.nds) or the DIY-program to the TF card (Folder can be created as you need).


3) Unload TF card
-After finishing ROM added, then right click the removable disk icon on the right down corner of the screen, draw out the TF card from card reader/writer

4) Insert TF/SD card into the M3 DS Simply

-Insert the TF card with ROM into M3DS Simply, and then insert M3DS Simply into the Slot-1 while NDS/NDSL is power off. It will enter the new system of M3DS Simply when users start it next time.

-When NDS/NDSL is power on, the M3DS Simply is booted, a small loading screen will appear and then you'll be taken to the main GUI within seconds. You can select ROMs to run by the navigation keys or touch screen, press "A" button to enter the corresponding functions.

Next was the "M3.G6.SC SAVE TO M3DS Simply SAVE Transform", which pretty much explains itself, so I didn't use it. I don't have any previous saves which were important so I didn't bother checking to see if this works.

Anyway, next up was the rom trimmer. There's an exe and along with needless instructions explaining how to use it. You basically link to the file, and it'll say it's going to make a trimmed version, typically in the same location of the to-be-trimmed file, with "trim" added in the filename. It takes roughly around 8~15 mb off a rom to save space, which is awesome. I'll definitely be using this in the future.

Next was moonshell, but it doesn't matter about putting this on a micro SD card as it's not that important. I tried this, which brought up a "where to install moonshell to" menu, but it didn't want to install. But no big deal I suppose.

The last folder on the disc is definitely the most important one of them all. It's called system 1.00, and this is where you'll have to copy the files directly to the micro SD card. Inside this folder are two folders; English and Japanese. Select English, and copy everything that's there to the SD card. If you don't do this you won't be able to do squat.

If you want to add skins, download them and make a folder called "_system_" in the root directory of your micro SD card. Place them in and away you go. Keep in mind that you'll need firmware 1.01 for M3 Simply or higher for tihs.

Speaking of firmware, that's what I proceeded to do. Instead of running a .nds file and applying firmware through the DS like the supercard did, all you do is replace files. I found an almost always updated website here which has the latest firmware. I updated to 1.01 and then 1.02, and I'd recommend updating step by step instead of jumping to the latest firmware. It might cause problems.

The M3 forums are quite useful if you're getting a M3 device. Skins, updates, problems and everything of that kind goes there. Gbatemp's forums (although they're extremely childish) are pretty useful too.

When you boot up the M3 Simply you'll come to a menu with 3 options. Game, Multimedia and Slot 2. Slot 2 boots whatever's in your GBA slot - if there's nothing, it'll just freeze. Multimedia boots moonshell. Game takes you to your root directory where you can select roms.

There's (surprisingly) no save manager section. It's very basic. I decided to download a few games and trim them, and stick them on the micro SD card. After doing about 6 over the period of hours yesterday, and trying them, only one game failed to load.

That game was Picross, and while I was toying around with it they released 1.02final which resolved the problem. All other games work fine, and there's no outputting .nds files into .ds.gba like the supercard. You just drop a .nds file into the micro SD card, put it into the M3 Simply and it'll run.

I haven't tried moonshell all that much. On the disc and in the moonshell folder, there's a converter which converts video to .dgp, which is moonshell's video format. I haven't tried that out yet. Oh, and mp3 files run directly without any need to convert, which is nice (although I probably won't use it that much).

I'd say overall it's a pretty good buy. It's made things easier for people to get into, because it has a built-in passme device. But I think by "built-in" they just mean "works on every DS", because I didn't see any options in the few menus to flash the DS.

Last night I spent some time trying a few emulators, but didn't get any of them to work. I tried PictoDrive DS (Genesis emulator) but it didn't run. I know the DS isn't all that good on emulation however, so I stopped hunting after about an hour. No solution to that so far.

GBA games don't work either, like they say. It's basically a flash cart for DS games specifically, but that's fine. I only use it personally to try games before I buy, such as Hotel Dusk and such. As much as I spend on gaming, I'm very wise with my money. Then of course there's some games I want to play occasionally but I don't think they're a valid purchase, like Tetris.

That pretty much wraps up everything I've tried so far. I'm not interested in the mp3/movie side of the M3 Simply, but the DS games themselves run just fine.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by AcerBandit

Lix, if you do any firmware updates you should tell us how the latest Castlevania works for it.

I might try it but considering that I already own both Castlevania games for DS, there isn't much point. Seriously, they're good games, you should buy them.

I just need to, you know, finish Contact and start on my copy sometime.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Krelian

Elixir; add Consoleplus.co.uk to the Dealer list - £40 incl. postage, they accept any kind of card under the sun and it only took two days after ordering to arrive (could have been next day if I hadn't placed the order at nine PM on tuesday).

Done.

And yes, ROM trimming is beyond awesome - especially as it frees up enough space for another couple of games or homebrew applications.

FELIPE NO

Wow, the support for the M3 Simply/R4 is booming. I'm liking the Monkey Island ones. Here's some more skins:

Spoiler:

Monkey Island 01


Monkey Island 02


Metroid 02


Gears of War

I can't wait for Phoenix Wright/Contact/Hotel Dusk ones to come along.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I'm pretty sure your DS needs to be flashed in order to read any slot 2 stuff.

That means M3 Lite.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, if you don't have a flashed DS (screwdriver method, aka permanently flashed) and you're wanting to play a flash cart from the GBA slot, you'll need to have a passcard in the DS slot constantly, just so the DS can recognize that DS games are being run from the GBA slot.

Otherwise, the M3 Simply and R4 run straight away without any need for passcards or flashme.nds' or anything.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Eh, SNES emulation works on the DS, except it's extremely crappy and you have a very limited choice of games.

I haven't used my M3 Simply for movies so far so I can't comment on what they'd be like. I do know however that it's not a full screen video on the top DS screen. One of the videos in the topic shows this.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I very very highly doubt the DS could play quality video at full screen. DS emulation is weak, like I said in the original post. There isn't much homebrew emulation development for Megadrive and SNES departments.

Games like Earthbound run, but the text in the menus won't display. This makes games pretty impossible to play. Stuff like that. It isn't something firmware updates could fix, and I'm pretty sure it's because of the DS' capabilities.

I'm sure the SNES emulation will come around but not for awhile. When almost all 16 bit games work on the PSP, there isn't much incentive to get it working for the DS.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Lacerta

It does, you just need to have the correct settings when you are converting.

This probably isn't all that noteworthy, but if it's running at full screen will the filesize increase by much?

How ya doing, buddy?

I went ahead and downloaded FFVI Advance and then realized the M3 Simply doesn't do GBA.

No loss. GBA games I do enjoy are few and far between so if anything I'd just purchase this.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I tried running a Melty Blood: Act Cadenza video through moonshell at full screen last night. It was watchable, but definitely pixellated. Maybe some day I'll toy around with the video options of the dgp converter, but it isn't all that interesting.

I didn't mention EZ's stuff because I just don't hear about it anymore. Back when the SuperPass was all the rage, sure. In fact, in 2005 I had a flash cart of theirs for GBA, but I never did get to properly use it.

FELIPE NO

It could probably look better with tweaking, but since I have next to no interest in watching movies on my DS I won't be doing so.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Yeah I'm pretty sure you have to press L-R-A-Select. From my time with the supercard miniSD, I tihnk that was the input command for a real time save. For a normal save.. well I just didn't bother. I know there's a menu in the supercard miniSD's menu which lists all the saved games.

They should be listed on the mini SD card too.

Jam it back in, in the dark.