DS Piracy
From PHWiki
- This page describes running "DS roms from the GBA Slot or Slot-2", or backup copies of Nintendo DS Game Cards, on a Nintendo DS. For running backup copies of NES or Super NES Game Paks in emulation, see DS Homebrew.
DS Piracy as it exists currently is a simple and straightforward process - it is very much doable. Anyone can get involved in DS piracy for a small fee, about the same price as a regular DS game. No modifications to the DS hardware are necessary.
This page needs some serious updating. The piracy and homebrew scene has moved on significantly from old slot-2 GBA carts.
Contents |
Running Roms
The slot in the back of the DS is only capable of running encrypted roms from an original DS game card.
Because of this, pirated DS roms are stored on and run from a flash card inserted into the GBA slot at the bottom of the DS (see Wikipedia:Game Boy Advance flash cartridge).
Now, this is not how the game roms are originally meant to run, so there are a few steps that are needed to get them to run properly:
- DS Mode from GBA slot - The DS has to be tricked into booting in full DS mode.
- Rom Patching - The roms have to be patched, to change them to work from the GBA slot.
- Flash Card - The roms have to be stored and run from a flash card in the GBA slot.
- Saving - The saving in the game has to be taken care of.
DS Mode from GBA Slot
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. To get DS roms to run from the GBA slot you have to use some method to trick the DS into booting into full DS mode.
What boot methods you can use depends on which version of firmware was your DS has. See DS Firmware for how to check your DS firmware version.
New Firmware
If you have new firmware or a DS Lite, 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, cannot be used to run pirated roms directly, but can be used to install FlashMe, requires a compatible Wi-Fi card
FlashMe
Installing FlashMe is not necessary! It's a common misconception that you have to modify the firmware of the DS to pirate roms or even run homebrew, but this is not so. If you want to keep the original firmware for warranty purposes or otherwise, you can, just keep using whatever boot method you're using.
But once you have some way to run DS code, you can install FlashMe if you want to. FlashMe is a hacked firmware that lets you run DS code from the GBA slot directly without a workaround device. FlashMe also has the added benefit of making it quite easy to recover from malware like the DS Bricker.
Rom Patching
The clean DS rom dumps have to be patched before they can run from the GBA slot in the DS. When original DS games load data, they do so from the DS Game Card. The patching redirects DS card accesses to the GBA slot.
Dedicated Patchers
If you want good compatibility with a majority of DS roms you need a flash card with dedicated patching software.
The best DS rom patchers come from the companies that make the flash cards, and they typically work only with one specific brand. (One notable exception is G6/M3 which come from the same company) This is due to technical differences between different cards, but might also be due to deliberate lockouts by the manufacturers.
See GBA Flash Card section below for a list of kits which have dedicated patching software.
Generic Patchers
There are also homebrew generic patchers works with any GBA flash card. The drawback is they have much lower compatibility and usually don't work at all with roms that are bigger than 256Mbit, and they often require an original DS card to save.
- LoadMe by WRG is the latest generic patcher.
- NDS Patcher by ]{ain was the first generic patcher, but has not been updated since its release.
A few games can be sized down by ripping to work with the generic patching tools or fit on a small flash card.
Flash Card
Once patched and ready to run, the DS roms are stored on a flash card. These cards go in the GBA slot.
The actual flash card doesn't need to be different from previous GBA flash cards but to get good compatibility you need DS rom patching software written specifically for that card.
The currently available flash kits which have dedicated patching software are:
- EZ-Flash Cards
- G6 Flash/G6 Lite GBA size and smaller with built in flash memory
- M3 an adapter for CF/SD cards
- Magic Key 2
- Magic Key 3
- Magic Key 4
- NeoFlash
- Supercard an adapter for CF/SD cards
See also Category:DS Flash Cards for other kits.
Saving
DS roms are usually patched to save on the same flash card the rom is on. This is handled by the same patcher you use to get the rom to run.
But this save patching does not always work reliably, so sometimes it's necessary to save on an original DS game card in the DS slot. You need a DS card with the same save type and size as the rom.
It is currently somewhat complicated to backup saves from DS cards. See DS Saves for more information.
Rom Dumping
Most "end users" of DS roms don't need to dump their own roms since they download them anyway. Dumping roms yourself is somewhat complicated, and only works with certain hardware.
The original DS cards are encrypted. The current methods of dumping the roms all piggyback on the decryption in the DS itself to get to the clean unencrypted roms.
- NDS Rom Dumper can dump roms using the GBA Movie Player.
- MAGICKEY Tools can dump roms using NeoFlash.
- FWNitro, a homebrew firmware different from FlashMe, can also be used to dump roms onto most CF-based adaptors.
- The group Legacy has built their own dumper device for dumping DS roms (image).
Slot-1 Flash Cards
The most popular method of booting pirated or homebrew software is using slot-1 flash cards. These resemble standard DS Game Cards. but with one important difference - a slot in the back of the card enables a microSD card to be inserted. The microSD card is used to store ROMs and their save data, media files, and the card's firmware.
A selection of slot-1 cards are available: The R4, M3 Simply/Real, CycloDS Evolution, Acekard, N5, and DSTT are all good examples.
Running DS Roms from a Slot-1 Flashcard
Since the DS game card encryption was cracked, it is possible for carts that are the size of commercial DS carts to run pirated ROMS and homebrew in a .NDS format. The carts are referred to as NoPass cards, even though they have nothing to do with sending code to the Slot-2.
Patching ROMS for use with a Slot-1 card
Very few Slot-1 cards require ROM patching. The most notible of them is the DSLink. Some early carts require patching, but as of October 2007, none of the popular carts require patching.
Slot-1 Memory Storage
The standard storage medium for Slot-1 devices is microSD cards. As of 2008, the majority of flash cards support the use of High Capacity SD (microSDHC) up to 32GB in size. The most commonly used sizes are 2GB and 4GB cards. .NDS files range in size from 8 MB to 128 MB depending on the type of game (e.g. Final Fantasy uses 128 MB, Yoshi Touch and Go only uses 8 MB). These file sizes can be trimmed using specialized software.
FlashMe and Booting
It is not necessary to Flash your DS to run Slot-1 carts (with the exception of the DSLink).
All of the cards contain some sort of NoPass code that make the DS think that the flash card is an official card. As of February 2009, Nintendo has not released any firmware for the DS or DS Lite that can stop NoPass from working, although the DSi firmware blocks any and all flash cards from functioning.
See also
DS Homebrew, DS Scene, DS Shopping List
External links
Categories: DS | Piracy
