Gaming I want to modify my DS Lite and/or DSi RAM

[Etiennea]

I'm not sure if this is the right place, but:

I know there is an expansion pack of about 10 MB to a DS lite, but what would happen if the DS had a BIG BOOST of RAM, like at least 50+ MB?

Is there a way to allocate memory of it to a flashcard or is there someone who literally opened a DS and physically modified it? Is there a limitation on how much RAM a DS could have without overheating or something? I think it would be awesome to see things like this, but I need to know answers first.

 

[Fishaman P]

I'm not sure if this is the right place, but:

I know there is an expansion pack of about 10 MB to a DS lite, but what would happen if the DS had a BIG BOOST of RAM, like at least 50+ MB?

Is there a way to allocate memory of it to a flashcard or is there someone who literally opened a DS and physically modified it? Is there a limitation on how much RAM a DS could have without overheating or something? I think it would be awesome to see things like this, but I need to know answers first.

I can't think of any technical issues that would stop someone from using the MicroSD as swap space. It'd be hella slow, though, and wear out the MicroSD.
As for adding RAM chips... the DS has RAM mapped in special ways, and I think adding more RAM would mess that up if you could even get the DS to recognize it.

 

[Foxi4]

Virtual RAM a'la what Windows does with is pagefile is impossible due to bus constraints - it's not only slow, there's actually no direct access from the SD card controlled by the flashcart microcontroller and the DS's CPU's. As such, this space cannot be used for any form of operations, you can only stream data into a buffer in the actual RAM.

As for SLOT-2 RAM, I'm not familiar with the limitations of expansion in that area, but keep in mind that the stock Nintendo RAM expansion cart is 8MB while for example an EZ 3in1 contains 16MB PSRAM which can be used as RAM. I do believe that the only limitation you'd face would be the total size allowed by the interface itself. Keep in mind that this isn't a simple re-solder job - you have to consider the memory controller, the firmware etc. and on top of that, SLOT-2 RAM is aprox. four times slower than on-board RAM as again, it as to "travel" quite a bit before the CPU can actually make use of it.

EDIT: According to this resource, the maximum amount of RAM available for allocation via the SLOT-2 bus is 32MB. Supercard Lite offers this much RAM, however good luck finding one.

One question though - what do you need the additional RAM for?