DS/DSi/3DS "hacking" F.A.Q.

The Basics

Q - Is the DS/DSi/3DS hackable?
A - Yes. The DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL, and 3DS can all be hacked. The "DSi LL" is the japanese name for the DSi XL.
Q - How do you hack the 3/DS/i?
A - You buy and use a "flash cart".
Q - Aren't there any soft mods to do this? You know, for free?
A - No. There was only one soft mod (EA Sudoku game exploit), it was not free, it was only for the DSi(ware), and less than 250 people downloaded it from Nintendo's servers before it got pulled and patched, so if you're asking this question it's likely that you don't have it. In addition this hack is quite limited and cannot run game backups.

Flash Carts

Q - Okay, what exactly is a flash cart?
A - It is a device that has the same look and shape as a DS game cart (and goes into the same slot), but it's unofficial, and it has a MicroSD slot to store your ROMs and homebrew.
Q - Do I have to have a MicroSD card to use it?
A - Most likely yes. Only a few flash cart have internal storage, and those tend to be the old ones. A MicroSD slot is the standard nowadays.
Q - What brand, size and class of SD card should I get for my flashcart?
A - What size you choose is a question of how many games you want to keep on the card. Homebrews are usually only a few megs in size. The size of DS/i games range between 4 and 512 megabytes, most of them are 32 or 64. An average size of 50 megs is probably a good guess, but the larger RPGs and such can be over 200. Make sure that your flashcart supports SDHC cards before picking a MicroSD card. All recent flashcarts can handle them, but there's still some older carts on the market that don't. To keep it simple: if it's larger than 2 GB it's a SDHC card, if it's 2 GB or smaller it's normal SD.

Most known brands work well and there's rarely any difference in brand name alone. A better indicator of performance would be the class (only applicable to SDHC). There are different classes of SD cards. The class only defines at what speed you can write files to the SD card, not at what speed you can read them, and theoretically the write speed is unimportant (the only thing that's written to the SD card are save files and those are very small). Reading speed however is important, and higher-class cards are higher-quality cards and most often have a good read speed as well because they're designed and built well. Read speed is very important, since the flashcart streams game data off the SD card when you play. If the game doesn't get the data it requests fast enough, it might become choppy, freeze, and behave strange in a lot of different ways. As a bonus, a faster SD card sometimes cuts loading times between game scenes and areas. That's not to say a lower-class card can't get better read speeds than a higher-class card, but it's better to play it safe.

Do not order your flash memory off of ebay or other reseller sites like it (and be wary of flash memory from chinese sites). It's possible to format a card so that it appears to hold more data than it actually does (for example a card that says 8 gigbytes might actually only hold 1 gigabyte of data), and people will buy cheap 1 gigbyte cards to re-mark as 8 gigabytes and scam people online. In addition cheap memory off ebay, even if it's not fake, tends to be crappy. As stated above a slow MicroSD card can cause all sorts of issues, it's not worth the money you think you'll save as you will just end up needing to buy another. Buy from an official store to be safe.
Q - Do I need a card reader for the MicroSD card?
A - Yes, you need some way of letting your computer use it so you can transfer files. Flash carts tend to come with a cheap one, but some sites don't include it in order to make it cheaper.
Q - Can I use the SD card slot on my 3/DSi/XL?
A - No.
Q - How much are flash carts?
A - Generally $5-$45 depending on the model.
Q - Does a flash cart give me anything extra over playing a normal game?
A - Of course. Being able to run ROMs gives you the ability to play ROM hacks and unofficial translations. In addition to the ability to carry around your entire collection, you can keep multiple save files per game, use cheats, and some carts have even more features, such as slow-motion, or save-states. Not all homebrew is games, either. There's media players and such so you can read text, play music, and even watch some videos.
Q - Does a flash cart effect battery/power drain?
Somewhat, it depends on a couple factors. This thread has more information and tests.
Q - Do I need anything else?
A - No, the flash cart plugs right into slot-1 and runs from there, reading the data off of the MicroSD card.
Q - What about the 3/DSi/XL's firmware updates?
A - These will often block flash carts that haven't been updated to bypass the latest blocks. It's recommended that you not update your 3/DSi/XL until after you apply the latest firmware fix to your flash cart. The DS/Lite have no firmware updates and thus do not have this concern.
Q - Are flash carts for the DSi or 3DS different?
The DSi added more checks, so normal DS flash carts will not boot on the DSi or 3DS, and you can't fix that. You will have to get a cart that specifically works with the DSi/3DS.
Q - People talk about a cart's firmware/menu/OS, what are these?
A - The cart's firmware is the software that's installed onto the cart itself (not your MicroSD). This is generally only updated to bypass a new 3/DS/i firmware that attempts to block flash carts. On the other hand, the menu/OS is what you run on your MicroSD that lets you choose and launch ROMs and homebrew. This is sometimes called the "firmware", but in reality it's not, it's the OS (Operating System) of the cart. In general a cart type will have it's own OS. For example Acekards use AKAIO, the Supercard DSTWO uses EOS, some R4 models can use Wood, and so on and so forth. YSmenu is a special menu/OS that's intended to run on as many carts as it can. Having a cart that gets updates to it's menu/OS is important, as this is what provides fixes for new games, and new features.
Q - A flash cart uses another game's icon, why is that?
A - The DSi, DSi XL, and 3DS do additional checks on game carts, so flash carts that work on recent firmwares for those systems need to disguise themselves as an actual game in order to try to bypass the security checks.
Q - I don't like the game icon that my cart uses, how do I change it?
A - You generally don't. The icon selected is part of the protection, so if you modify it's likely that it'll break. While some flash carts change the icon they use as needed, downgrading to an older version to get a different game's icon can be risky, and even then you only have a choice between 2-3 icons.

What You Can And Can't Do

Q - What can I do with a flash cart?
A - You can run DS/i ROMs and homebrew.
Q - What's a ROM?
A - A ROM is a copy of a game in a digital format (usually a single file, "whatever.nds" for DS games). When people refer to ROMs, they're talking about DS game copies in general that you use with flash carts.
Q - Where can I download ROMs?
A - It is illegal in most countries (including the US) to download ROMs off the internet, even if you own the game. You are only allowed to back up your own games.
Q - How do I make my own ROMs?
A - You can use a flash cart (or other tools) to copy your own games, this is known as "dumping" your own ROM/game. There's a guide for that here.
Q - What's "homebrew"?
A - Any game/program for a game system that's made by a normal person (and not the official company) is referred to as "homebrew". This can include simple tools like picture viewers and text editors, all the way to full complex homemade games and video players.
Q - Will 3DS games run?
A - There is currently no way of playing 3DS game backups.
Q - Will DSi games run?
A - DSi games will only run on a DSi-mode flash cart. Just because a flash cart works on the DSi/XL does not mean it runs in DSi mode. Most carts run in DS mode, as DSi mode is a very recent thing to unlock. DSi-enhanced games will run in DS mode on a normal flash cart. Basically if your flash cart doesn't have DSi mode, then your games will run as if you're using a DS (even if you're actually on a DSi/3DS).
Q - What is DSi mode?
A - DSi mode is the mode that DSi-enhanced and DSi-only games run in while in a DSi/XL. The DSi/XL has better specs so while this could mean a lot of improved games, in reality Nintendo hasn't done anything with it that the gaming community in general cares about. The DSi/XL have cameras, so most of the DSi-enhanced games or DSi-only games involve just the cameras.
Q - Will DSi-enhanced things run slower in a DS (or DS-mode flash cart)?
A - It's unclear, most likely no.
Q - Will DSiware run?
A - There is currently no way of playing DSiware backups.
Q - Will GBA games run?
A - Maybe. Most normal flash carts cannot run GBA games because you can't run them from Slot-1 (the DS card slot). You can either buy a slot-2 card (DS/Lite only) and use that, or buy a special Slot-1 card (with an on-board processor) that can emulate the GBA (works on the DSi/XL as well).
Q - Can I view pictures, listen to music, and watch videos?
A - Yes. Every standard flash cart supports Moonshell (the media viewer), though your videos should be in a special format (most likely DPG) to play on the DS. Some special flash carts (with an on-board processor) can play more video types at a higher quality.
Q - Can I run emulators for other systems?
A - Yes, there's various pieces of homebrew that let you emulate other systems. Take note that the DS/i series as a handheld is quite weak processing-wise, you'll be limited to old/2D systems, and even then there's various issues with SNES/Genesis emulation. If you're thinking of buying a DS and flash cart for portable emulation, I advise against it.

Picking A Flash Cart

Q - How do I know which flash cart to get?
A - There's many things to take into consideration, such as what you plan to do, which DS model you have, how much money you're willing to spend, and if you care about special/addon features. If you check the Which Flash Cart Should I Get? sticky you'll find info on the modern flash carts, but if you're confused about a few of them or have other questions feel free to ask. Please make a thread about a flash cart you find before you buy it, because there's many many "clones", fakes, and knockoffs out there.
Q - I was using flashcart/emulator X, and I've moved to flashcart/emulator Y, but the save files don't seem to be compatible. What do I do?
A - First try making sure the file has the correct name (*.sav instead of *.nds.sav) and is in the same folder as the ROM. Second try converting the save file with a converter.

QUOTE(Changelog)

5/27/2011 - Added question on the DSi/3DS carts, since everybody wants their DS cart to run on the 3DS. Also fixed a typo.
4/27/2011 - Added CF's battery test thread link.

Very nice guide
- although despite you saying 'one for info... one for carts', I think you should still mention (perhaps under 'picking a flash card') that there are quite a few cards available but many are cheap knock-offs of other popular cards (or 'clones') and don't usually have good 'after sales' support...

Perhaps even mention the 'R4 brand' - about how it's often used on such clones to boost sales - & that many clones have difficulty playing newer ROM's because of the lack of updates (maybe even link to this post to let them see a few examples ??)

You could also add something about 'playing ROMs' & how some cards won't work without a update, when on deciding on which card to choose - about checking how often they are updated etc will help make your choice

Rydian	Post #1 Posted 07 February 2011 - 01:09 AM
Resident Furvert Group: Members Posts: 15,847 Member No.: 244,492 Joined: 04-February 10 Location: Virginia	DS/DSi/3DS "hacking" F.A.Q. The Basics Q - Is the DS/DSi/3DS hackable? A - Yes. The DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL, and 3DS can all be hacked. The "DSi LL" is the japanese name for the DSi XL. Q - How do you hack the 3/DS/i? A - You buy and use a "flash cart". Q - Aren't there any soft mods to do this? You know, for free? A - No. There was only one soft mod (EA Sudoku game exploit), it was not free, it was only for the DSi(ware), and less than 250 people downloaded it from Nintendo's servers before it got pulled and patched, so if you're asking this question it's likely that you don't have it. In addition this hack is quite limited and cannot run game backups. Flash Carts Q - Okay, what exactly is a flash cart? A - It is a device that has the same look and shape as a DS game cart (and goes into the same slot), but it's unofficial, and it has a MicroSD slot to store your ROMs and homebrew. Q - Do I have to have a MicroSD card to use it? A - Most likely yes. Only a few flash cart have internal storage, and those tend to be the old ones. A MicroSD slot is the standard nowadays. Q - What brand, size and class of SD card should I get for my flashcart? A - What size you choose is a question of how many games you want to keep on the card. Homebrews are usually only a few megs in size. The size of DS/i games range between 4 and 512 megabytes, most of them are 32 or 64. An average size of 50 megs is probably a good guess, but the larger RPGs and such can be over 200. Make sure that your flashcart supports SDHC cards before picking a MicroSD card. All recent flashcarts can handle them, but there's still some older carts on the market that don't. To keep it simple: if it's larger than 2 GB it's a SDHC card, if it's 2 GB or smaller it's normal SD. Most known brands work well and there's rarely any difference in brand name alone. A better indicator of performance would be the class (only applicable to SDHC). There are different classes of SD cards. The class only defines at what speed you can write files to the SD card, not at what speed you can read them, and theoretically the write speed is unimportant (the only thing that's written to the SD card are save files and those are very small). Reading speed however is important, and higher-class cards are higher-quality cards and most often have a good read speed as well because they're designed and built well. Read speed is very important, since the flashcart streams game data off the SD card when you play. If the game doesn't get the data it requests fast enough, it might become choppy, freeze, and behave strange in a lot of different ways. As a bonus, a faster SD card sometimes cuts loading times between game scenes and areas. That's not to say a lower-class card can't get better read speeds than a higher-class card, but it's better to play it safe. Do not order your flash memory off of ebay or other reseller sites like it (and be wary of flash memory from chinese sites). It's possible to format a card so that it appears to hold more data than it actually does (for example a card that says 8 gigbytes might actually only hold 1 gigabyte of data), and people will buy cheap 1 gigbyte cards to re-mark as 8 gigabytes and scam people online. In addition cheap memory off ebay, even if it's not fake, tends to be crappy. As stated above a slow MicroSD card can cause all sorts of issues, it's not worth the money you think you'll save as you will just end up needing to buy another. Buy from an official store to be safe. Q - Do I need a card reader for the MicroSD card? A - Yes, you need some way of letting your computer use it so you can transfer files. Flash carts tend to come with a cheap one, but some sites don't include it in order to make it cheaper. Q - Can I use the SD card slot on my 3/DSi/XL? A - No. Q - How much are flash carts? A - Generally $5-$45 depending on the model. Q - Does a flash cart give me anything extra over playing a normal game? A - Of course. Being able to run ROMs gives you the ability to play ROM hacks and unofficial translations. In addition to the ability to carry around your entire collection, you can keep multiple save files per game, use cheats, and some carts have even more features, such as slow-motion, or save-states. Not all homebrew is games, either. There's media players and such so you can read text, play music, and even watch some videos. Q - Does a flash cart effect battery/power drain? Somewhat, it depends on a couple factors. This thread has more information and tests. Q - Do I need anything else? A - No, the flash cart plugs right into slot-1 and runs from there, reading the data off of the MicroSD card. Q - What about the 3/DSi/XL's firmware updates? A - These will often block flash carts that haven't been updated to bypass the latest blocks. It's recommended that you not update your 3/DSi/XL until after you apply the latest firmware fix to your flash cart. The DS/Lite have no firmware updates and thus do not have this concern. Q - Are flash carts for the DSi or 3DS different? The DSi added more checks, so normal DS flash carts will not boot on the DSi or 3DS, and you can't fix that. You will have to get a cart that specifically works with the DSi/3DS. Q - People talk about a cart's firmware/menu/OS, what are these? A - The cart's firmware is the software that's installed onto the cart itself (not your MicroSD). This is generally only updated to bypass a new 3/DS/i firmware that attempts to block flash carts. On the other hand, the menu/OS is what you run on your MicroSD that lets you choose and launch ROMs and homebrew. This is sometimes called the "firmware", but in reality it's not, it's the OS (Operating System) of the cart. In general a cart type will have it's own OS. For example Acekards use AKAIO, the Supercard DSTWO uses EOS, some R4 models can use Wood, and so on and so forth. YSmenu is a special menu/OS that's intended to run on as many carts as it can. Having a cart that gets updates to it's menu/OS is important, as this is what provides fixes for new games, and new features. Q - A flash cart uses another game's icon, why is that? A - The DSi, DSi XL, and 3DS do additional checks on game carts, so flash carts that work on recent firmwares for those systems need to disguise themselves as an actual game in order to try to bypass the security checks. Q - I don't like the game icon that my cart uses, how do I change it? A - You generally don't. The icon selected is part of the protection, so if you modify it's likely that it'll break. While some flash carts change the icon they use as needed, downgrading to an older version to get a different game's icon can be risky, and even then you only have a choice between 2-3 icons. What You Can And Can't Do Q - What can I do with a flash cart? A - You can run DS/i ROMs and homebrew. Q - What's a ROM? A - A ROM is a copy of a game in a digital format (usually a single file, "whatever.nds" for DS games). When people refer to ROMs, they're talking about DS game copies in general that you use with flash carts. Q - Where can I download ROMs? A - It is illegal in most countries (including the US) to download ROMs off the internet, even if you own the game. You are only allowed to back up your own games. Q - How do I make my own ROMs? A - You can use a flash cart (or other tools) to copy your own games, this is known as "dumping" your own ROM/game. There's a guide for that here. Q - What's "homebrew"? A - Any game/program for a game system that's made by a normal person (and not the official company) is referred to as "homebrew". This can include simple tools like picture viewers and text editors, all the way to full complex homemade games and video players. Q - Will 3DS games run? A - There is currently no way of playing 3DS game backups. Q - Will DSi games run? A - DSi games will only run on a DSi-mode flash cart. Just because a flash cart works on the DSi/XL does not mean it runs in DSi mode. Most carts run in DS mode, as DSi mode is a very recent thing to unlock. DSi-enhanced games will run in DS mode on a normal flash cart. Basically if your flash cart doesn't have DSi mode, then your games will run as if you're using a DS (even if you're actually on a DSi/3DS). Q - What is DSi mode? A - DSi mode is the mode that DSi-enhanced and DSi-only games run in while in a DSi/XL. The DSi/XL has better specs so while this could mean a lot of improved games, in reality Nintendo hasn't done anything with it that the gaming community in general cares about. The DSi/XL have cameras, so most of the DSi-enhanced games or DSi-only games involve just the cameras. Q - Will DSi-enhanced things run slower in a DS (or DS-mode flash cart)? A - It's unclear, most likely no. Q - Will DSiware run? A - There is currently no way of playing DSiware backups. Q - Will GBA games run? A - Maybe. Most normal flash carts cannot run GBA games because you can't run them from Slot-1 (the DS card slot). You can either buy a slot-2 card (DS/Lite only) and use that, or buy a special Slot-1 card (with an on-board processor) that can emulate the GBA (works on the DSi/XL as well). Q - Can I view pictures, listen to music, and watch videos? A - Yes. Every standard flash cart supports Moonshell (the media viewer), though your videos should be in a special format (most likely DPG) to play on the DS. Some special flash carts (with an on-board processor) can play more video types at a higher quality. Q - Can I run emulators for other systems? A - Yes, there's various pieces of homebrew that let you emulate other systems. Take note that the DS/i series as a handheld is quite weak processing-wise, you'll be limited to old/2D systems, and even then there's various issues with SNES/Genesis emulation. If you're thinking of buying a DS and flash cart for portable emulation, I advise against it. Picking A Flash Cart Q - How do I know which flash cart to get? A - There's many things to take into consideration, such as what you plan to do, which DS model you have, how much money you're willing to spend, and if you care about special/addon features. If you check the Which Flash Cart Should I Get? sticky you'll find info on the modern flash carts, but if you're confused about a few of them or have other questions feel free to ask. Please make a thread about a flash cart you find before you buy it, because there's many many "clones", fakes, and knockoffs out there. Q - I was using flashcart/emulator X, and I've moved to flashcart/emulator Y, but the save files don't seem to be compatible. What do I do? A - First try making sure the file has the correct name (.sav instead of .nds.sav) and is in the same folder as the ROM. Second try converting the save file with a converter. QUOTE(Changelog) 5/27/2011 - Added question on the DSi/3DS carts, since everybody wants their DS cart to run on the 3DS. Also fixed a typo. 4/27/2011 - Added CF's battery test thread link.
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Nujui	Post #2 Posted 07 February 2011 - 01:10 AM
I'm dumbstruck but also intrigued Group: Members Posts: 3,815 Member No.: 259,932 Joined: 12-August 10 Location: Dreamland.	Great guide Rydian, this will help many people!
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.Chris	Post #3 Posted 07 February 2011 - 01:14 AM
Little Known Member Group: Members Posts: 2,055 Member No.: 158,845 Joined: 20-February 09 Location: United States	QUOTE(Sheaperd121 @ Feb 6 2011, 08:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Great guide Rydian, this will help many people! i agree. It should be sticky'ed.
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SmokeFox	Post #4 Posted 07 February 2011 - 01:34 AM
Jesus Christ is the Lord Group: Members Posts: 536 Member No.: 270,760 Joined: 27-December 10 Location: Brazil	Great job Rydian, just a question, what about dsiware games, are they playable on NDS or just in DSI?
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Rydian	Post #5 Posted 07 February 2011 - 01:46 AM
Resident Furvert Group: Members Posts: 15,847 Member No.: 244,492 Joined: 04-February 10 Location: Virginia	Ah, forgot that question... EDIT: Okay, added the DSiware question.
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RupeeClock	Post #6 Posted 07 February 2011 - 03:42 AM
Lucario in my B2/W2? It's more likely than you think! Group: Members Posts: 4,983 Member No.: 125,264 Joined: 15-May 08	Nice guide, but it needs examples of actual flashcarts and their general capabilities. Explain how the iEvolution is the only DSi enhanced flashcart, explain how the DStwo has an embedded CPU to enhance certain things.
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Rydian	Post #7 Posted 07 February 2011 - 03:53 AM
Resident Furvert Group: Members Posts: 15,847 Member No.: 244,492 Joined: 04-February 10 Location: Virginia	There's like 452 threads about that already. I specifically made this to not mention any because every other "beginner" guide (including the currently-named sticky) barely goes into this stuff, and is just a list of flash carts. We don't need another list. We need actual info for newbies.
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RupeeClock	Post #8 Posted 07 February 2011 - 04:51 AM
Lucario in my B2/W2? It's more likely than you think! Group: Members Posts: 4,983 Member No.: 125,264 Joined: 15-May 08	QUOTE(Rydian @ Feb 7 2011, 02:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> There's like 452 threads about that already. I specifically made this to not mention any because every other "beginner" guide (including the currently-named sticky) barely goes into this stuff, and is just a list of flash carts. We don't need another list. We need actual info for newbies. That's like talking about games consoles and how they play games, but refusing to mention how they're different.
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Rydian	Post #9 Posted 07 February 2011 - 05:02 AM
Resident Furvert Group: Members Posts: 15,847 Member No.: 244,492 Joined: 04-February 10 Location: Virginia	QUOTE(RupeeClock @ Feb 6 2011, 10:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's like talking about games consoles and how they play games, but refusing to mention how they're different. Multiple threads. One for info in general for newbies, and another on which carts are currently good and what they currently do.
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kesadisan	Post #10 Posted 07 February 2011 - 07:52 AM
GBAtemp Regular Group: Members Posts: 176 Member No.: 138,606 Joined: 13-October 08 Location: Farplane	this will make fbi easier to track these pirates!
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CannonFoddr	Post #11 Posted 07 February 2011 - 08:09 AM
Regular GBATemp Lurker Group: Members Posts: 4,032 Member No.: 49,779 Joined: 23-September 06 Location: Sitting by computer	Very nice guide - although despite you saying 'one for info... one for carts', I think you should still mention (perhaps under 'picking a flash card') that there are quite a few cards available but many are cheap knock-offs of other popular cards (or 'clones') and don't usually have good 'after sales' support... Perhaps even mention the 'R4 brand' - about how it's often used on such clones to boost sales - & that many clones have difficulty playing newer ROM's because of the lack of updates (maybe even link to this post to let them see a few examples ??) You could also add something about 'playing ROMs' & how some cards won't work without a update, when on deciding on which card to choose - about checking how often they are updated etc will help make your choice
	Top Quick Edit Full Edit

JinTrigger	Post #12 Posted 07 February 2011 - 08:48 AM
Mega Jin II Group: Members Posts: 1,375 Member No.: 129,254 Joined: 25-June 08 Location: Lunesta	Rydian's guide FTW!!! Epic guide dude
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Maplemage	Post #13 Posted 07 February 2011 - 09:19 AM
ಠ_ಠ Group: Members Posts: 1,080 Member No.: 136,084 Joined: 23-September 08 Location: Why would you care?	Cheers Rydian, hope this guide is useful in the future (Like when the hacks and stuff come)
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--=ZerO=--	Post #14 Posted 07 February 2011 - 09:59 AM
GBAtemp Regular Group: Members Posts: 255 Member No.: 35,679 Joined: 18-January 06	Where is the "Hacking" part?
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The Composer	Post #15 Posted 07 February 2011 - 06:09 PM
GBAtemp Regular Group: Members Posts: 268 Member No.: 202,745 Joined: 13-September 09 Location: Chile	Congrats on the promotion Rydian. Very useful guide too.
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DS/DSi/3DS "hacking" F.A.Q.

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