Tutorial  Updated

How to make and play region-free DSiWare

UPDATE: Please note all of this is quite useless now, as LUMA/AuReiNand has built-in region free.
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With patched TWL_FIRM release it's now possible to play out-of-region DSiWare using CFWs without built-in region free, such as ReiNand. It's pretty simple, but there isn't a guide on GBATemp yet so here we are.

What you need:
- A .nds rom of your DSiWare. If you want to dump it yourself, you can read this useful post by @MRJPGames. This doesn't work with a .cia file, you need a .nds rom.
- The patched TWL_FIRM installed. See this guide by @EpicLPer.
- An hex editor. You can use an online one if you want.
- make_cia (download the attached file).

Step-by-step guide:
- Put your .nds file(/s) in the same folder of make_cia. Use a simple name, like rom1.nds, mario.nds, game.nds...

- Open the .nds rom in your hex editor and go to offset 1B0. This is where the region flag is encoded. Change the first 4 bytes to "FF" to make the rom region free. Save and exit.
s12t0l.jpg

- Open cmd and write
Code:
make_cia --srl=YourGame.nds
then press start.
For example, if your rom is named "mario"
Code:
make_cia --srl=mario.nds
If it doesn't work: open cmd, drag and drop make_cia into it, then write " --srl=" (with space, without "), then drag and drop your rom and press start.

- In the same folder of make_cia you'll find the .cia of your game. Install it both on SysNAND and EmuNAND using FBI. Remember to press L to install it into NAND, FBI will give you an error if you try to install it into SD card!

Thanks to everybody who made the patched TWL_FIRM possible and @Apache Thunder for helping me patching my games!
 

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Last edited by Feffe,
D

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Yes, I have (I use TWL_SLOT1 BOOTER) and it still gives me an error. I even installed the DSi Shop and web browser, which both don't work.

EDIT: Even with region patched to FFFFFFFF it still errors.
 
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_Chaz_

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But if some dude make a NDS ROM converter to a NDSi games, is a possible way or not? Some DSi games have the same potential from DS games (Like Advance Wars and Soul of Darkness)
That sounds like quite a long shot. But I guess if Maestro! Jump in Music and Advance Wars Days of Ruin can be both NDS and DSiWare, who knows? I'm sure DSiWare has some sort of size limitation, since AW:DoR is supposedly lacking content in the DSiWare form.

In the highly theoretical scenario that someone were to be able to perfectly convert full-sized DS games into functional DSiWare, I see no reason that installing them on the 3DS wouldn't be possible.
 

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