Over the past four years, we - the LNH team - have been working hard on a project that some of you guys may have already heard about: an open-source flashcart that supports the DS, DSi and 3DS (in DSi mode), by the name of DSpico.


The project evolved from a simple flashcart, to a collection of individual components that work together. Each component has been separated in their own repositories, and can be modified to your liking. Each repository comes with their own README's and documentation.The DSpico project consists of the following components:

• DSpico Hardware - The hardware of the DSpico.
• DSpico Firmware - The firmware for the DSpico.
• DSpico Bootloader - Bootloader for the DSpico.
• DSpico DLDI - The DLDI for the DSpico.
• WRFUxxed exploit - Full-access DSi-mode exploit for WRFU Tester that can be used with DSpico.
• Pico Launcher - Front-end for Pico Loader.
• Pico Loader - DS(i) rom loader. Supports various flashcards, including the DSpico.

Guides to build your own DSpico, as well as instructions for compiling the software are also available. We tried to make the process as friendly as possible. An overview of the features can be found on the website, although each README has much more extensive documentation.

DSpico project index and guide: https://github.com/LNH-team/dspico
Our website: https://www.lnh-team.org/

---

Here are a few images of DSpico:

Spoiler: Images

---

QUICK FAQ (will be updated over time)​

- Q: Why use micro-usb over usb-c ?
- A: When we were making the hardware, using USB-C introduced more components that simply didnt fit on the board. We also had concerns of the usb-c port fitting nicely in the cartridge port, and fragility concerns with the shell.

- Q: Where can I order one ?
- A: Your best shot is joining a group buy, or finding a store that manufactures DSpico. We (the LNH Team) will not sell any boards.

- Q: How is compatibility ?
- A: Most of the DS library, as well as homebrew, should work. We do not have an official compatibility list, and we are aware of a few titles that do not work correctly at the moment.

- Q: Does this plays 3ds executables ?
- A: No.

- Q: Am I forced to use Pico launcher ?
- A: No. For instance, Wood menu and TwilightMenu++ work just fine. And vice versa as well, pico launcher is usable on other flashcarts.

- Q: Can i use ntrboot with this ?
- A: Yes, you can perform ntrboot on both 3ds and DSi. We recommend powering the board via micro-usb for DSi ntrboot.

- Q: I need assistance. Where do i go ?
- A: Join the DSi hacking discord, there is a dedicated dspico channel where you can ask your questions.

 

[LoggerMan]

You can freely swap the DSi's SD card.
The recent version(1.5.0~1.6.2) of hiyaCFW works on all Retail DSi (except DEV DSi's hiyaCFW?).

Then I guess this DSPico is kinda useless at the moment. Swapping SD card is no harder than swapping flashcard.

 

[k66]

Then I guess this DSPico is kinda useless at the moment. Swapping SD card is no harder than swapping flashcard.

SD cards have many things they cannot do due to lack of hardware.
I believe DSpico has a bright future. The developers selflessly made it open-source, and many 'people looking to profit from it'(not meant negatively) will take notice.

 

[LoggerMan]

SD cards have many things they cannot do due to lack of hardware.
I believe DSpico has a bright future. The developers selflessly made it open-source, and many 'people looking to profit from it'(not meant negatively) will take notice.

Yeah, and it's not expensive either, I saw I was $30 on Aliexpress before it sold out, might have even be AUD. And anyone can make it so it might get cheaper.

 

[TKLF]

Possibly a dumb question, any chance this will have the ability to play GBA ROMs down the line?

 

[Dionicio3]

Possibly a dumb question, any chance this will have the ability to play GBA ROMs down the line?

Possibly a dumb question, any chance this will have the ability to play GBA ROMs down the line?
I'm pretty sure you can with GBARunner2/3

 

[DSoryu]

Possibly a dumb question, any chance this will have the ability to play GBA ROMs down the line?

You already can using GBARunner3, which has a pretty decent compatibility with the whole GBA library.

 

[linuxares]

Just downloaded a Dockerfile. Just waiting for my micro SD Card from Amazon now.
Then its time to test it on my 3DS

 

[Flame]

Just downloaded a Dockerfile. Just waiting for my micro SD Card from Amazon now.
Then its time to test it on my 3DS

You don't need Dockerfile. I did every thing, its ready to go, you just need micosd then lunacher and some games.

im kind.

 

[linuxares]

You don't need Dockerfile. I did every thing, its ready to go, you just need micosd then lunacher and some games.

im kind.

Neat!

Now I will build it even harder!

 

[aos10]

There's so many R4i 3DS carts, we talking about the gold one from R4iDS.cn or r4i-sdhc.com?

You can try to measure how much power consumption the flashcart uses with a multimeter.


Neat collection you've got. And I like the label on that DSpico.

Not surprising because the DSTwo uses more power for its extra CPU which takes up the battery life on a full charge.

so, is DStwo is more powerful then DSpico?

 

[ak1nok]

Hi all. I’m trying to run DSi games on a DS Pico / DSpico setup with a Japanese-region DSi. A cartridge dump of Face Training (EU) boots and runs, but DSiWare (from eShop as .nds files) always shows a white screen. When I try to launch DSiWare, a .pub file gets created on the SD card (similar to what you see on custom DSi setups), but the game still doesn’t start.

Is DSiWare supposed to work on DSpico at all? On my JP DSi, Face Training (cart dump) boots, but any DSiWare .ndsfrom eShop dumps just shows a white screen (it still creates a .pub file on the SD). Any idea what I’m missing?

 

[SuffahBish]

Hi all. I’m trying to run DSi games on a DS Pico / DSpico setup with a Japanese-region DSi. A cartridge dump of Face Training (EU) boots and runs, but DSiWare (from eShop as .nds files) always shows a white screen. When I try to launch DSiWare, a .pub file gets created on the SD card (similar to what you see on custom DSi setups), but the game still doesn’t start.

Is DSiWare supposed to work on DSpico at all? On my JP DSi, Face Training (cart dump) boots, but any DSiWare .ndsfrom eShop dumps just shows a white screen (it still creates a .pub file on the SD). Any idea what I’m missing?

Do you have your DSpico SD setup for nand redirection? It's required for dsiware games.

 

[ak1nok]

Do you have your DSpico SD setup for nand redirection? It's required for dsiware games.

Yes. I dumped my unmodded DSi XL NAND, then used HiyaCFW-Helper to extract the needed files and copied them to the DSpico SD (nand redirection setup). Face Training (DSi-enhanced cart dump) boots fine with this, so I assume the redirection part is working. The problem is specifically DSiWare titles (e.g. Mario vs. Donkey Kong Minis, Brain Age) — they still just white screen.

 

[XLuma]

Yes. I dumped my unmodded DSi XL NAND, then used HiyaCFW-Helper to extract the needed files and copied them to the DSpico SD (nand redirection setup). Face Training (DSi-enhanced cart dump) boots fine with this, so I assume the redirection part is working. The problem is specifically DSiWare titles (e.g. Mario vs. Donkey Kong Minis, Brain Age) — they still just white screen.

Post in the dspico channel of the dsi hacking discord server. we'll be able to assist you more.

 

[Gericom]

Hi all. I’m trying to run DSi games on a DS Pico / DSpico setup with a Japanese-region DSi. A cartridge dump of Face Training (EU) boots and runs, but DSiWare (from eShop as .nds files) always shows a white screen. When I try to launch DSiWare, a .pub file gets created on the SD card (similar to what you see on custom DSi setups), but the game still doesn’t start.

Is DSiWare supposed to work on DSpico at all? On my JP DSi, Face Training (cart dump) boots, but any DSiWare .ndsfrom eShop dumps just shows a white screen (it still creates a .pub file on the SD). Any idea what I’m missing?

For other people reading this. Aside from the nand files, DSiWare also requires the DS arm7 bios at /_pico/biosnds7.rom

 

[Ghost]

Credits to @SylverReZ

 

[Girtana1]

Post in the dspico channel of the dsi hacking discord server. we'll be able to assist you more.

Not looking for assistance just want to get in on the discussion but the thing is with trying to join that specific server I just get a generic message stating that I was unable to accept the invite, I can only assume that means I'm banned but the thing is I haven't been in the server in a good few years ever since shutterbug still owned it so I have no idea what I could've even said. I figure it's been so many years and with the server being under new ownership that nobody will probably even care about giving me a pardon, I just have no clue who to go to about it and where lol. I thought about trying to PM Rob on here maybe but I didn't want to bug him with such nonsense.

 

[SylverReZ]

so, is DStwo is more powerful then DSpico?

In its own mind, yes. The DSTwo uses an extra processor based on the Ingenic JZ4732 clocked in at 336 MHz while the DSpico is an RP2040 microcontroller at 133 MHz (the DSTwo is 203 MHz faster than the DSpico).

People wanted more options out of their flashcart, as it was only limited to DS games. The DS(i) and 3DS did not come with slot-2 for GBA games, and the removal could contribute both to its form factor and the discontinuation of the GBA and possibly lead to a backdoor like how the DS was exploited to boot DS ROMs through PassMe or NoPass. The DSTwo was the only flashcart that could play GBA games without needing slot-2, and it did this by utilizing its extra CPU. It could also emulate the SNES, albeit with some frame drops and delay in some parts depending on the game. At the time, no perfect emulator for the SNES could compete with the DSTwo because the DS's ARM processor was limited in terms of speed.

And now onto 2026, the DSTwo is obsolete but is clever in its own mind and more of a collector's item than something you have to use for playing GBA games, due to both its excessive usage of the battery (roughly 1 hour on a full charge; yes, I tested) and there being better alternatives now. If you have a DSpico or any flashcart for that matter, you can use GBARunner, which has good compatibility all around.

 

[aos10]

In its own mind, yes. The DSTwo uses an extra processor based on the Ingenic JZ4732 clocked in at 336 MHz while the DSpico is an RP2040 microcontroller at 133 MHz (the DSTwo is 203 MHz faster than the DSpico).

People wanted more options out of their flashcart, as it was only limited to DS games. The DS(i) and 3DS did not come with slot-2 for GBA games, and the removal could contribute both to its form factor and the discontinuation of the GBA and possibly lead to a backdoor like how the DS was exploited to boot DS ROMs through PassMe or NoPass. The DSTwo was the only flashcart that could play GBA games without needing slot-2, and it did this by utilizing its extra CPU. It could also emulate the SNES, albeit with some frame drops and delay in some parts depending on the game. At the time, no perfect emulator for the SNES could compete with the DSTwo because the DS's ARM processor was limited in terms of speed.

And now onto 2026, the DSTwo is obsolete but is clever in its own mind and more of a collector's item than something you have to use for playing GBA games, due to both its excessive usage of the battery (roughly 1 hour on a full charge; yes, I tested) and there being better alternatives now. If you have a DSpico or any flashcart for that matter, you can use GBARunner, which has good compatibility all around.

thanks for the info.
ok, then how the GBA/SNES emulation on DSpico? is it good?

 

[Gericom]

In its own mind, yes. The DSTwo uses an extra processor based on the Ingenic JZ4732 clocked in at 336 MHz while the DSpico is an RP2040 microcontroller at 133 MHz (the DSTwo is 203 MHz faster than the DSpico).

People wanted more options out of their flashcart, as it was only limited to DS games. The DS(i) and 3DS did not come with slot-2 for GBA games, and the removal could contribute both to its form factor and the discontinuation of the GBA and possibly lead to a backdoor like how the DS was exploited to boot DS ROMs through PassMe or NoPass. The DSTwo was the only flashcart that could play GBA games without needing slot-2, and it did this by utilizing its extra CPU. It could also emulate the SNES, albeit with some frame drops and delay in some parts depending on the game. At the time, no perfect emulator for the SNES could compete with the DSTwo because the DS's ARM processor was limited in terms of speed.

And now onto 2026, the DSTwo is obsolete but is clever in its own mind and more of a collector's item than something you have to use for playing GBA games, due to both its excessive usage of the battery (roughly 1 hour on a full charge; yes, I tested) and there being better alternatives now. If you have a DSpico or any flashcart for that matter, you can use GBARunner, which has good compatibility all around.

Just small nitpick. The DSpico runs at 200MHz. Also idk how the DSTwo works exactly, but the DSpico needs to process incoming card commands on the CPU in real time. After booting the second core is idle though and could probably do something else.