DS Homebrew
From PHWiki
The DS has a large and thriving Homebrew community, and there is a wide variety of games, emulators and utilities available for free download.
Contents |
Running Homebrew
The top slot in the back of the DS is only capable of running encrypted ROMs. Until this encryption was fully cracked, DS homebrew users stored programs on a GBA Flash Card inserted into the GBA slot at the bottom of the DS.
When a GBA game is started normally from the GBA slot the DS kicks into a mode that limits it to work just like a GBA. This mode cannot access any of the new DS hardware. To get DS code to run from the GBA slot you have to use some method to trick the DS into full DS mode.
What methods you can use depends on which firmware your DS has.
See DS Firmware for how to check your DS firmware version.
New Firmware
If you have new firmware you have two options:
- NoPass - a card the same size as an original DS game card
- PassMe2 - a cheatcard-like device that requires a GBA flash card with SRAM and an original DS game card
Old Firmware
If you have old firmware you have four options:
- NoPass - a card the same size as an original DS game card
- PassMe2 - a cheatcard-like device that requires a GBA flash card with SRAM and an original DS game card
- PassMe - a cheatcard-like device that requires an original DS game card
- WifiMe - wireless startup code, requires a compatible wifi card
FlashMe
Once you have some way to run DS code you can install FlashMe which is a hacked firmware that lets you run DS code from the GBA slot directly without a workaround device. But this is not necessary, and if you want to keep the original firmware for warranty purposes or otherwise, you can.
Once FlashMe has been installed you can also stream code straight from a PC using WMB. This can be highly useful for developers frequently changing and testing their code without having to flash and insert a card each time.
Examples of Homebrew Apps
See Also
DS Piracy, DS Shopping List, Category:DS Homebrew, Category:Emulators on DS
