Bootleg overwrite potential

[SylverReZ]

There was an older USB dongle thing used for these N-Cards that could flash a single game to them and change their icon I believe.

There was that with the NinjaPass Jr. carts and some other earlier N-Card clones, until they later added a multi-game menu and a much easier way to transfer ROMs.

 

[Archeychen]

What does your flash cartridge look like?

It's a DS file link, 8Gb or 16Gb I don't remember

 

[SylverReZ]

It's a DS file link, 8Gb or 16Gb I don't remember

https://consolemods.org/wiki/NDS:N-Card

Definitely an N-Card clone for sure.

 

[Archeychen]

Definitely an N-Card clone for sure.

I found the repo of nrioTool, XuluMenu, and a repo of N-card dumps.

but they lack of user guides, and the dump removed roms.

like if I have a gamerom.nds file, how to flash it to n-card and make it single-boot?

 

[SylverReZ]

like if I have a gamerom.nds file, how to flash it to n-card and make it single-boot?

Its possible to flash a game ROM, but is still a work-in-progress. @Apache Thunder has yet to better tweak the modifications for his modified USBNDS flasher. Some games are not compatible with this method.

I found the repo of nrioTool, and XuluMenu. But they lack user guides, and the dump removed ROMs.

Regarding the N-Card dumps, they have the ROMs in-tact relating to XMenu, they're located in either stage-2 or xmenu.dat (whichever varies on the version). Bootleg carts have the ROMs removed expect for the data required for the cart to operate, because uDisk does not exist in there (except for the ROM data); this is regarding legal issues since I am sharing this publically.

You need to have a modded DSi or 3DS to use nrioTool.

DSI: Copy-paste both "nrioTool.nds" and "nrioFiles" to the root of the SD card and launch it via Unlaunch.
3DS: Copy-paste both "nrioTool.cia" and "nrioFiles" to the root of the SD card. Install "nrioTool.cia" using FBI, reboot the 3DS, and then launch the title from the HOME Menu.

For XuluMenu, this needs to be flashed onto the cart, replacing the pre-existing firmware. Make a backup first!

Download the latest XuluMenu release and extract the contents to anywhere on your PC. Plug the slot-2 adapter into your DS, then connect one end of the USB cable into the adapter and the other to one of the empty USB ports. Put your N-Card into flash mode by launching the cart and holding L+R+A+B+UP, then execute the XuluMenu script.

 

[Archeychen]

Its possible to flash a game ROM, but is still a work-in-progress. @Apache Thunder has yet to better tweak the modifications for his modified USBNDS flasher. Some games are not compatible with this method.


Regarding the N-Card dumps, they have the ROMs in-tact relating to XMenu, they're located in either stage-2 or xmenu.dat (whichever varies on the version). Bootleg carts have the ROMs removed expect for the data required for the cart to operate, because uDisk does not exist in there (except for the ROM data); this is regarding legal issues since I am sharing this publically.

You need to have a modded DSi or 3DS to use nrioTool.

DSI: Copy-paste both "nrioTool.nds" and "nrioFiles" to the root of the SD card and launch it via Unlaunch.
3DS: Copy-paste both "nrioTool.cia" and "nrioFiles" to the root of the SD card. Install "nrioTool.cia" using FBI, reboot the 3DS, and then launch the title from the HOME Menu.

For XuluMenu, this needs to be flashed onto the cart, replacing the pre-existing firmware. Make a backup first!

Download the latest XuluMenu release and extract the contents to anywhere on your PC. Plug the slot-2 adapter into your DS, then connect one end of the USB cable into the adapter and the other to one of the empty USB ports. Put your N-Card into flash mode by launching the cart by holding L+R+A+B+UP, then execute the XuluMenu script.

Sorry for my poor English, but is this what you mean?
1.the single rom mode is theory possible, but still working on progress.
2.the dumps are still multi-rom mode, and the xulumenu is also a multi game rom?

 

[SylverReZ]

1.the single rom mode is theory possible, but still working on progress.
2.the dumps are still multi-rom mode, and the xulumenu is also a multi game rom?

1. Yes (partially). I have tested a few ROMs using this method, and about half of them either black screened or froze during gameplay. The DSFlash2 and NinjaPass Junior had the option to select single-ROM, which replaces the banner and the data for the ROM. I have tried using the software with my DS Fire Card slot-2 adapter, but it wouldn't read the cart nor would it flash.

2. If you mean flash multi-ROMs onto the card, that is dragging-and-dropping ROMs onto the NAND flash, in the way that you would do with a USB storage device?

 

[Archeychen]

1. I have tested a few ROMs using this method, and about half of them either black screened or froze during gameplay. The DSFlash2 and NinjaPass Junior had the option to select single-ROM, which replaces the banner and the data for the ROM. I have tried using the software with my DS Fire Card slot-2 adapter, but it wouldn't read the cart nor would it flash.

2. If you mean flash multi-ROMs onto the card, that is dragging-and-dropping ROMs onto the NAND flash, in the way that you would do with a USB storage device?

Sorry, I am a bit confused in my mind right now.

I bought my n-card because someone told me that n-card is the only card that can flash a single rom to it, like a bootleg GBA cart.But all the firmware I could get is turning the n-card as a multi rom cart, like an r4 or dstwo.But I just want the single game mode.

I haven't tried the nrioTool yet, I will try it after work(it's 11:00 AM now, so might be 8hours later?)
Then maybe I can get a better understanding of what you say rightnow.

Thanks for your kindly reply

 

[SylverReZ]

I bought my n-card because someone told me that n-card is the only card that can flash a single rom to it, like a bootleg GBA cart. But all the firmware I could get is turning the n-card as a multi rom cart, like an r4 or dstwo.But I just want the single game mode.

Single game mode is not supported on new N-Cards, the firmware was re-written, so that ROMs can be transferred via the slot-2 adapter which mounts it as a removable disk. The flash layout for these older carts are different compared to newer ones.

EDIT: It is possible, however, like @Apache Thunder said to flash game ROMs.

I haven't tried the nrioTool yet, I will try it after work(it's 11:00 AM now, so might be 8hours later?)
Then maybe I can get a better understanding of what you say rightnow.

Thanks for your kindly reply

You're welcome.

 

[Apache Thunder]

I found the repo of nrioTool, XuluMenu, and a repo of N-card dumps.

but they lack of user guides, and the dump removed roms.

like if I have a gamerom.nds file, how to flash it to n-card and make it single-boot?

Normal N-Card can be transformed to single boot carts with the USB flasher that some firmware upgrade packages come with. The one included here can be used to do that:

http://linfoxdomain.com/nintendo/ds/dl/NCard_v1.45_v2.53_v25.zip

But yeah some games might have trouble running. The main issue is the save chip type can't be set via the USB app because the stage2 rom the n-card cart boots up to facilitate the USB communication doesn't support that. (I think the USB dongles were originally used for that).

Don't use the bat file included in that zip file for flashing the rom. That one uses a fixed flash size so it won't work for non udisk stuff.

To use that in the manner you intended you have to open a command window in the folder that contains the usbnds app and use the following command:

usbnds.exe Mario64.nds

(mario 64 being the example used here)

And that's it. Don't add the "2 1" at the end like the bat file does as that was meant for doing the udisk update thing which skips the save type selection and uses a fixed flash size.

Note however stage2 SRL on normal N-Cards don't support flashing roms larger then 16MB. The older DSFlash2 style stuff with the USB dongles were originally used for that I would guess.

You could try and boot the game you intend to flash to it via xmenu first so that save type can be set before flashing it to the cart as the single rom later. Don't think I've tested if that gets around that limitation with the USB app.

 

[Archeychen]

Single game mode is not supported on new N-Cards, the firmware was re-written, so that ROMs can be transferred via the slot-2 adapter which mounts it as a removable disk. The flash layout for these older carts are different compared to newer ones.

ah???
Do you mean the "new" n-card isn't possible to flash back to single-game mode? because the hardware is different?

 

[SylverReZ]

ah???
Do you mean the "new" n-card isn't possible to flash back to single-game mode? because the hardware is different?

Yes. The flash data in the "new" N-Cards have a different layout to how the data is written.

Here's an example for my DS Fire Card (and maybe others), a WIP:
0x0-0x3FF - Random bytes (possibly something to do with the ASIC?)
0x400-0x2FFF - Stage-1 binary.
0x8000-0x17FFF - Stage-1 index table.
0x20000-0x34FFF - Stage-2 binary (on bootlegs, the data is nulled out.)
0x40000-0x7FFFF - Stage-2 index table (On bootlegs, the game ROM is stored at that location.)
0x80000-0x11223F - uDisk binary.
0x8B0000-0x7FFFFF0 - FAT image location (1GBit=125MB).

Normal N-Card can be transformed to single boot carts with the USB flasher that some firmware upgrade packages come with. The one included here can be used to do that:

http://linfoxdomain.com/nintendo/ds/dl/NCard_v1.45_v2.53_v25.zip

But yeah some games might have trouble running. The main issue is the save chip type can't be set via the USB app because the stage2 rom the n-card cart boots up to facilitate the USB communication doesn't support that. (I think the USB dongles were originally used for that).

Don't use the bat file included in that zip file for flashing the rom. That one uses a fixed flash size so it won't work for non udisk stuff.

To use that in the manner you intended you have to open a command window in the folder that contains the usbnds app and use the following command:

usbnds.exe Mario64.nds

(mario 64 being the example used here)

And that's it. Don't add the "2 1" at the end like the bat file does as that was meant for doing the udisk update thing which skips the save type selection and uses a fixed flash size.

Note however stage2 SRL on normal N-Cards don't support flashing roms larger then 16MB. The older DSFlash2 style stuff with the USB dongles were originally used for that I would guess.

You could try and boot the game you intend to flash to it via xmenu first so that save type can be set before flashing it to the cart as the single rom later. Don't think I've tested if that gets around that limitation with the USB app.

@Archeychen ^^

 

[Archeychen]

Normal N-Card can be transformed to single boot carts with the USB flasher that some firmware upgrade packages come with. The one included here can be used to do that:

http://linfoxdomain.com/nintendo/ds/dl/NCard_v1.45_v2.53_v25.zip

But yeah some games might have trouble running. The main issue is the save chip type can't be set via the USB app because the stage2 rom the n-card cart boots up to facilitate the USB communication doesn't support that. (I think the USB dongles were originally used for that).

Don't use the bat file included in that zip file for flashing the rom. That one uses a fixed flash size so it won't work for non udisk stuff.

To use that in the manner you intended you have to open a command window in the folder that contains the usbnds app and use the following command:

usbnds.exe Mario64.nds

(mario 64 being the example used here)

And that's it. Don't add the "2 1" at the end like the bat file does as that was meant for doing the udisk update thing which skips the save type selection and uses a fixed flash size.

Note however stage2 SRL on normal N-Cards don't support flashing roms larger then 16MB. The older DSFlash2 style stuff with the USB dongles were originally used for that I would guess.

You could try and boot the game you intend to flash to it via xmenu first so that save type can be set before flashing it to the cart as the single rom later. Don't think I've tested if that gets around that limitation with the USB app.

PS C:\Users\46427\Desktop\nand_stable_25> .\USBNDS.exe .\test.nds
NAND FLASH WRITER USB TEST V1.5 UP FIRELINE
init usbdll
init usb writer
nand_init error!


My system is Win11.

what mode should nds be in?

 

[SylverReZ]

PS C:\Users\46427\Desktop\nand_stable_25> .\USBNDS.exe .\test.nds
NAND FLASH WRITER USB TEST V1.5 UP FIRELINE
init usbdll
init usb writer
nand_init error!


My system is Win11.

what mode should nds be in?

You need to check the ROM using smth like DSLazy or other ROM identification tool, to find out the save chip size.

 

[Archeychen]

You need to check the ROM using smth like DSLazy or other ROM identification tool, to find out the save chip size.

I can't flash it even run `USBNDS.exe udisk.nds 2 1` like the bat file did.

Should I use WinXP or set my nds to some special mode?

 

[SylverReZ]

I can't flash it even run `USBNDS.exe udisk.nds 2 1` like the bat file did.

Should I use WinXP or set my nds to some special mode?

Yes. Try a PC running Win XP. A virtual machine does not work unfortunately.

 

[Apache Thunder]

Yeah the USB stuff works best in a native Windows OS. I've been able to use it on my main PC since it's using Windows 10 64-bit.

It's possible you might have issues using this on machines with USB 3.0 ports. Actually unsure if I currently have mine connected via one of the USB3 ports on the back. mine has a few USB2.0 ports along side those. Use the USB 2.0 ports on your PC if you notice issues using them on the 3.0 ones.

 

[LunarPurin]

So I didn't get ahold of a new bootleg cart, but I found this in my collection.
Definitely not a traditional board, but I'm also unsure if it's an N-Card.

It seems to pre-date Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver as they are incomptaible.
Very odd either way, and in getting the board, sadly destroyed the original shell (Sticker had been long-since lost, but I'm getting off-topic.)
Chip on the left reads:
DATELV
NDSAR
0946MP205
JAPAN

 

[Apache Thunder]

Does it show up on DSi System Menu? If not, this may be a similar board to what the MaxMediaDock slot-1 cards use and that cart doesn't show up on DSi System Menu.

Otherwise you could get nrioTool and check if it sees it as a N-Card. NrioTool is meant to run on a DSi though so you need to use either a 3DS or DSi to check with that.

Another way of checking is rom dumping it and seeing if it uses DSGB game code. All N-Cards main rom uses that game code so if a rom dump of this cart doesn't return that, then it's not an N-Card.

 

[LunarPurin]

Does it show up on DSi System Menu? If not, this may be a similar board to what the MaxMediaDock slot-1 cards use and that cart doesn't show up on DSi System Menu.

Otherwise you could get nrioTool and check if it sees it as a N-Card. NrioTool is meant to run on a DSi though so you need to use either a 3DS or DSi to check with that.

Another way of checking is rom dumping it and seeing if it uses DSGB game code. All N-Cards main rom uses that game code so if a rom dump of this cart doesn't return that, then it's not an N-Card.

It shows up on the 3DS menu, but does not boot.
I do not actually own a DSi, despite owning four working DS Lites, so I can't speak on that side of things.