Hacking "DS with a question mark" icons for all .NDS Files?

Epicenter

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Hello! I read through the FAQ thread and googled thoroughly but to no avail. This is my first time using Slot 1 devices- my last one was an old-fashioned "M3 Adapter" for Slot 2 on my flashed DSL. I have tried two different DS Slot 1 flash cards, and this same issue has cropped up on both, but with slightly different symptoms.

Previous device (now nonworking): R4 "Dual Core" SDHC card, junk clone-of-a-clone. Didn't work properly with the software from the "official" website, which made it report that it was an AceKard 2 "RPG" (what). Kind of-sort of worked with "R4 for Clones". The "Wood"-style list would show up, but to the left of each NDS file's name would be a gray icon of a DS with a big question mark over it, which I interpret as "Unreadable file". The occasional file would work- like the .NDS that is used to update the onboard chip to work on newer DSi/3DS FW, but most games and homebrew would not, giving this [?] icon. I found that testing version after version of the "Wood" software (by launching .nds files) would sometimes make particular .nds files work, but not most of them.

I switched to the ACE3DS because the R4 "Dual Crap" spontaneously became nonworking and won't even recognize as a cartridge to the NDSL or 3DS it worked perfectly in moments before. You win some, you lose some.

Current device: ACE3DS Plus. Using the supplied software, the ACE menu comes up and I am able to run all the emulators they pre-included (.NDS files), Moonshell and use the "NDS" option, which launches what looks like a variation of Wood. However, inside "Wood," only the emulators can be launched. Other NDS files show up, again, as question mark icons! If I list the .NDS files in Moonshell, they work from there too (which was surprising, as that never worked on my old Slot 2!) But .NDS Files I placed there myself do not- they give an error that it's not a recognized file.

I have heard of "DLDI Patching" NDS ROMs to make them see a FAT filesystem, but I've never heard of having to patch or modify NDS files (games, homebrew) to be recognized by a flash card (on Slot 1). Is there something amiss with all of these, with my firmware, with "Wood"..? As far as I can tell these are perfectly clean ROMs and work "out of the box" in Desmume and No$GBA (DS 'edition').

Thanks for any input, and sorry if this is a question that's been asked a billion times. I'll provide a photo of the screen and the [?] icon I keep encountering if it helps.
 

Epicenter

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UPDATE: Using a brand-name MicroSD card made more stuff work- Moonshell can now open files without crashing, one NDS game works (Bangai-O Spirits, it can't detect others.. yet) and the onboard emulators can now find ROM files in the folders I put them in.

However, other ROMs/Homebrew NDS files tend to show up as question marks, which "Wood" is calling "Corrupted DS Program File". So far tested DSlinux, an X86 emulator, ichfly's GBA emulator, and jEnesis. The .nds file for jEnesis that ACE includes with their firmware works fine, but the one I downloaded from the author's website doesn't. How strange...
 

Another World

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try a different reader. format your msd card using the panasonic formatter. it sounds to me like your reader is corrupting your msd cards. did you buy your cards from a legit source? are you sure they are real? what brand msd cards have you tested with?

verify your nds roms by crc value against a known good set listing. it is possible your files are corrupted.

dldi patching is for homebrew. most modern slot-1 kits will auto patch. there really is no reason for you to dldi patch. if the installed emulators can see roms and launch them, then the file is being dldi patched.

-another world
 

Epicenter

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Thanks for the reply!

Tried a different SD card (labelled SanDisk rather than .. nothing) and had the same problems. Then out of nowhere, boom, perfect. Strange!

Seems the Ace3ds+ likes FAT32, not FAT16- but FAT32 on the no-name card doesn't work quite right- just better than FAT16.

On the new MicroSD card, so far only one NDS ROM isn't working- New Super Mario. Getting a 2nd copy of the ROM to verify since I haven't got a tool to compare the CRC (nor a value to compare it to, can you make a recommendation?) Now all that isn't working is Mario and some homebrew software (DSLinux, an X86 emulator .. trying some other stuff now.)

BTW: Formatted the card using regular Windows format tool .. using the Panasonic tool resulted in a card that nothing worked on.
 

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