Homebrew Twilight Menu++ vs R4 performance.

[MrDevourer]

Hey Y'all, it's me again with probably another dumb questions.
So, Previously I posted about SD card size affecting the r4 performance. and turns out, it did. or the sd card I got was very old.
So I bought a 32gb sandisk class 10 sdcard which works really well. Pokemon black feels smooth as hell. But recently I've started to notice a small framedrop/stutter in some of my games. Pokemon black in the battle menu, whenever I finished using a move and the next turn began, Metal slug and plant vs zombie when there's lot of projectile (obviously). Idk if that's normal or not but it definitely didn't happen for sometime after I got that new sdcard. And then I read some discussion in a local forum in another website talking about Twilight Menu being a lot smoother even with an old sd card. So I've been reading some more about it and might try to install one.
But is it really worth it to switch over to it than staying with the R4?

What I have is a R4 dual-core 2021 and a DSi with 1.4.3J firmware so I don't really know if twilight menu will work or not.
Thanks for anyone answering

 

[Sypherone]

Why just dont try it https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilightmenu/installing-flashcard
As you check point 7, you will have e.g. vram boost by running the flashcard through the installed TWLmenu in nativ DSi menu.

 

[banjo2]

If you want a performance increase, installing TWLM++ on the console SD card would be your best bet. https://dsi.cfw.guide/

it definitely didn't happen for sometime after I got that new sdcard.

Dunno about that, though

 

[MrDevourer]

Why just dont try it https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilightmenu/installing-flashcard
As you check point 7, you will have e.g. vram boost by running the flashcard through the installed TWLmenu in nativ DSi menu.

Yea I've read about that and found a video on it. But they say it missing some features if installed in a flashcart. Also I'm a bit confused on that point 7 for the dsi. They said to change the setting of twl menu through the console sd card. So Ihave to remove the microsd from the flashcart and insert it there to change the setting then put it back to the r4?

If you want a performance increase, installing TWLM++ on the console SD card would be your best bet. https://dsi.cfw.guide/

Dunno about that, though

I only had one good sd card rn and its the one I used for the R4. I might buy an sd card adapter, but still not quite sure about the installation. Like do I need to format the sdcard like when I installed the r4 firmware or am i able to keep the r4 firmware while using twl? also, most of the guide I see seems keen on having the latest 1.4.5 firmware while mine were 1.4.3 so that's a bit worrying.

 

[banjo2]

Like do I need to format the sdcard like when I installed the r4 firmware or am i able to keep the r4 firmware while using twl?

It should be able to co-exist, though a TWLM++ DSi and TWLM++ flashcard installation couldn't co-exist.
You might need to re-format it if you choose to install Unlaunch

also, most of the guide I see seems keen on having the latest 1.4.5 firmware while mine were 1.4.3 so that's a bit worrying.

Any version will do fine with the guide

 

[Sypherone]

It should be able to co-exist, though a TWLM++ DSi and TWLM++ flashcard installation couldn't co-exist.
You might need to re-format it if you choose to install Unlaunch

Depends on the setting. If the R4 kernel is autoboot, TWLmenu++ can be launched like a DS game. But because TWLmenu will run inside the kernel OS, there will be performance issues.
The R4 flashcard can also (automatically) launched through the TWLmenu++ on nativ DSimenu, but dont know if it has some boost then.

If TWLmenu autoboot kernel is installed on the flashcard, TWLmenu will be autolaunched and will use the flashcard microSD only.
Then if launching TWLmenu on nativ DSimenu you can choose starting normal and using the 3DS flashcard. Or launching through it the flashcard TWLmenu on the flashcard, which gives e.g VRAM boost and will use the 3DS microSD. You can also switch between the two microSD Cards then by touching the Card symbol in the 3DS Theme, but in my case the games on the flashcards microSD doesnt show up.
EDIT: Now it works on latest version, you can play the game from flashcardSD or consoleSD

But they say it missing some features if installed in a flashcart. Also I'm a bit confused on that point 7 for the dsi. They said to change the setting of twl menu through the console sd card.

Sure, a flashcard is DS specific and cant run e.g. DSi games. So some features are disabled if running TWLmenu on flashcard only. And just follow the guide to enable the function in TWLmenu running in nativ DSimenu which access the consoleDScard. There is nothing written about changing the microSD`s

 

[banjo2]

Depends on the setting. If the R4 kernel is autoboot, TWLmenu++ can be launched like a DS game. But because TWLmenu will run inside the kernel OS, there will be performance issues.

I believe it could only have an affect if using nds-bootstrap. If TWLM++ is booting a game using the flashcard kernel, it should work the same as it does there. I doubt nds-bootstrap on the flashcard would do you any better performance-wise though, yeah

 

[MrDevourer]

Depends on the setting. If the R4 kernel is autoboot, TWLmenu++ can be launched like a DS game. But because TWLmenu will run inside the kernel OS, there will be performance issues.
The R4 flashcard can also (automatically) launched through the TWLmenu++ on nativ DSimenu, but dont know if it has some boost then.

If TWLmenu autoboot kernel is installed on the flashcard, TWLmenu will be autolaunched and will use the flashcard microSD only.
Then if launching TWLmenu on nativ DSimenu you can choose starting normal and using the 3DS flashcard. Or launching through it the flashcard TWLmenu on the flashcard, which gives e.g VRAM boost and will use the 3DS microSD. You can also switch between the two microSD Cards then, but in my case the games on the flashcards microSD doesnt show up.


Sure, a flashcard is DS specific and cant run e.g. DSi games. So some features are disabled if running TWLmenu on flashcard only. And just follow the guide to enable the function in TWLmenu running in nativ DSimenu which access the consoleDScard. There is nothing written about changing the microSD`s

Thank you very much, Kind sir. Im gonna try to install it tonight.

Post automatically merged: Oct 16, 2022

So yeah, I followed the instruction clearly but there seems to be something wrong. So after you put the necessary files and added the game you wanted, you should open the BOOT.NDS file through the r4 right? I opened it and I'm stuck on here. or am i doing this wrong?

 

[Sypherone]

The _nds folder need to be in the maindirectory of your flashcard. The BOOT.nds for launching TWLmenu++ can be everywhere. The first time TWLmenu is started takes some time also everytime its updated to a new version.

Else check in the downloaded package for a autoboot kernel for TWLmenu for directly booting in TWLmenu. Backup the original kernel before to a seperate folder.

 

[MrDevourer]

Another problem. So since I can't figure out about the whole R4 things. I've tried using Twilight menu on the SDcard using a different microsd. It worked well. Until I tried to soft reset (L+R+Down+B) in pokemon black which causes a white screen freeze which makes me unable to do anything. tried the power button, tried turning it off and it just froze like that.

Update: It finally turned off after I pressed the power off long enough. Now. is that supposed to happen?

 

[Sypherone]

Twilight menu has a own ingame menu by pressing L+Down+Select where you can soft reset the game.

 

[MrDevourer]

Twilight menu has a own ingame menu by pressing L+Down+Select where you can soft reset the game.

that is definitely helpful. And turns out the previous freeze were partially caused by my old sd card. After I converted my new one into twl it runs better.
I just wanna say thank you very much for responding for this stupid thread of mine. Your suggestions and the help from Mr. Banjo2 there were very helpful. although it's full of hiccups but I learned a lot today. Thank you very much! Mr. @Sypherone and Mr. @banjo2