How to backup your games using any slot 2 and slot 1 cards combination.

I take no responsibility for damage or bricks or anything related.

please make sure to leave comments to improve the guide.

I made this guide\tutorial because after trying and trying i couldn't dump my games using my dstwo and ez flash iv cards... and i wanted to share and keep this info "stored" for future reference...

note, according to other tutorial i had seen here this MAY work with 3ds games but you need a way to insert them in your ds console but please dont use this for 3ds games...

for this tutorial you will need:
a nds/lite and the game you want to make a backup.
a slot 1 flashcart (this is optional, see notes) (for this tutorial i used a DSTWO
a slot 2 flashcart (for example ez iv, others will also work) (for this tutorial i used a ez flash iv)
i will assume you are using a windows computer, otherwise make your way around...


IF YOU HAVE A EZ 3 IN 1 PLEASE USE ANOTHER GUIDE. THERE ARE SPECIFIC TOOLS FOR THAT CART.

Using a Slot-1 cart to boot in ds mode to dump the game to slot 2:

1. make sure your carts ready to run homebrew\backup games. (they have the firmware\kernell stuff)

2. download NDS Backup tool. there is also other alternative but this one can also write\read saves and does have a nice menu
NOTE: in file trip it will say there is a newer version of the program, ignore that message.

3. Unzip NDS_Backup_Tool_Slot2.nds and NDS_Backup_Tool_Slot2.ini to a folder on your computer (or the desktop)

Now you need to know which slot-2 (gba slot) flashcart you have. you can use a ez iv, you can use a super card slot 2, or other ones as long they do have memory to hold the game you will make a backup.

4. you need to patch NDS_Backup_Tool_Slot2.nds to make it work with your slot-2 flashcart. this is called DLDI patching.
why you need this? because you need the software to know "how to deal with your cart" its equivalent to drivers. because there are so many carts and insert code for every single one would make conflict problems, so homebrew developers solved the problem in this way.

4.1 finding your cart dldi patch. most dldi patchs are listed here some cart manufacters provide dldi files on the carts website or forums, i can't help much more on this...
NOTE: in case the website will go down, i made a mirror of the files in this thread...

4.1 download the dldi patcher GUI (so you have an easy menu) in the above website or here (its the same link)
NOTE: i annexed to this thread a single zip with the dldi patcher + all the dldi files i can provide. for convenience you can just download my zip and select your patch

4.2 after unziping dldi tool to a folder, copy your dldi file inside the program folder, and run the dlditool32 program
now in the program it will happear some options, choose your dldi file in the first option.

4.4 drag and drop NDS_Backup_Tool_Slot2.nds inside dldi tool, if done correctly now you have in the first box, your cart name, and in the binaries list the backup tool. now you just hit patch and its done. simple as that you can close the dldi tool... (maybe the tutorial is harder than the process :unsure: )

5. now you have the backup tool ready to run, but you just need a last thing. some SLOT-1 flashcarts (especially DSTWO) will override your dldi patch for is own. this will make the patch useless and some times you can't turn the automatic patch off... this can be done with another tool, the anti patcher.. after successfully dldi patch you need to use this tool on the NDS_Backup_Tool_Slot2.nds this will make sure your slot 1 flashcart doesn't patch the program by removing the "<insert dldi here>" flag
NOTE: usually this second patch is not needed but some carts like DSTWO needs it, so to make sure you dont come with problems like i did, just patch it... its free...


6. now the best part, move the patched NDS_Backup_Tool_Slot2.nds to a folder in your SLOT-1 cart and NDS_Backup_Tool_Slot2.in to the root...

7.1 put both your slot-1 and slot-2 carts in your ds\lite run the slot 1 cart and run NDS_backup, the picture will be the slot 1 and 2 carts.

7.2 when you run the program it will ask for change the slot 1 cart, just eject your slot 1 cart and put your ds game which you want to make a backup then press A

7.3 some information will happear, use L\R to change options, you can select:
Save Backup (copy your saved game from your retail cart to a folder inside slot 2 cart)
Save Restore (copy the save from slot 2 cart to your retail game)
Rom Backup (this will make a copy of your ds game to a folder inside slot 2 cart)
the tool is self explanatory.. just press the right option and then wait a couple of minutes and you have your rom\save inside your slot 2 flashcart.

now you just need to take out your slot 2 flashcart memory (usually a sd card) connect to your pc and you have your own rom\save.


TODO: add pictures to the tutorial. (need a good lifetime host for pictures...)
make a better tutorial. fix my dumb english
make a better layout...
add download mirrors... i dont have time for do it now...
 

StarkNebula

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Great stuff! I had to hunt down a few resources since it's been over 5 years since the original post. I figured I would post internet archive links for any future readers trying to get this to work.

NDS Backup Tool: https://web.archive.org/web/2019031...download-nds-backup-tool-slot2-0-4-f5820.html
DLDI Patches: https://web.archive.org/web/20180905140617/https://www.chishm.com/DLDI/index.html
DLDI Patcher: https://web.archive.org/web/2015042...nkencoders.com/uploads/c/cd/Dldino-apatch.zip

gbatemp has a wiki page for DLDI should you want more information: https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/DLDI
 
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