Hacking NDS Mode via Flashme

[Kyni]

Hi GBAtemp.

I'm Kyni. Not new here, but I do not at all remember anything about what I used to have here. Not even what I used to go by!

After losing my old EZ3 about 3 years ago, I gave in and I purchased a new-wave EZ4. I would like to run some DS games using this, and so I borrowed a slot-1 flash card from a friend to install the "noauto" Flashme v8. The problem is, when I try to boot NDS mode with the EZ4 (by holding select) I just get two white screens. I had looked in records for about 5 hours yesterday through GBAtemp and other sites, and had no luck figuring out why that happened. I spent some time trying to install old firmwares too, but no luck.

If it helps any, I am using a 2GB SD standard, and my DS lite is v7. Also, my friend's slot-1 card was a Gateway blue. Any help would be appreciated.
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Edit: Just a little update.

I tried to install the normal Flashme with my friend's help. We seem to have done so successfully. We have noticed, though, that when the EZ4 is in slot-2 the white screens do stay there; this seems to me that it can tell there is DS software on the cart. When we put in a standard GBA game, one of the white screens turns off while the other starts the game after about one second.

I believe the problem isn't with the firmware, but rather with the EZ4's NDS mode. Does anyone know how to fix this?

 

[Kyni]

Never mind, everyone!

I did not realise that when I bought this, a new wave had been released, actually (which naturally came as a shock when I hadn't received what I thought I had ordered; these shops really need to change the pictures to the new black model). In that sense, I have found through research of this newer model (I suppose I should have considered it was the new model sooner) that they have, for some reason, removed the ability to enter NDS mode entirely. I suppose, then, that I have no choice but to finally cave in and buy a slot-1 card as well (unless by some strike of luck I can get my hands on the transparent model; that seems unlikely, though).

With that, I'll do my best to continue to post in this forum.

Later!

 

[Aliogeek]

Never mind, everyone!

I did not realise that when I bought this, a new wave had been released, actually (which naturally came as a shock when I hadn't received what I thought I had ordered; these shops really need to change the pictures to the new black model). In that sense, I have found through research of this newer model (I suppose I should have considered it was the new model sooner) that they have, for some reason, removed the ability to enter NDS mode entirely. I suppose, then, that I have no choice but to finally cave in and buy a slot-1 card as well (unless by some strike of luck I can get my hands on the transparent model; that seems unlikely, though).

With that, I'll do my best to continue to post in this forum.

Later!

I have the white model since 1 year, and the NDS mode is really out dated : Only game releases before 2008 works fine, and there's no possibility to extend this compatibility with a YSMenu.

 

[Nathan Drake]

It sounds like you are still playing around with some relatively outdated hardware for DS purposes. If you don't want to spend much, and I mean almost anything, I suggest an "original" R4. I put original in quotes because all of the ones available now are 1:1 reproductions, but these things cost less than $1 depending on where you shop. The one caveat is that they only accept regular MicroSD cards (no SDHC), so that means you're limited to 2GB. At the same time, if you've been without a dedicated slot one card for this long, I don't think you'll be all that disappointed. They lost official support, well, too long ago to care. Thankfully, in the last few years of the DS's life, Wood R4 rose up to take the original cart firmware's place making for near perfect NDS support at this point (I won't claim that absolutely every game works 100%, but it has to be pretty close to that).

Alternatively, for about $10, you can get a newer 3DS supported DS mode cart that works just as well, but with SDHC support. The original R4 will only work up through the DSlite, but one of these other ones can work on DSi and even 3DS, though only to play regular DS games if used on the 3DS. If you're interested going this route, just say so and I can give a recommendation.

 

[Aliogeek]

I recommend you this card : http://www.peachds.com/?product=/r4isdhc-v2015/

Works fine with all games, and compatible with all NDS (Lite/DSi/3DS/new 3DS), and this card support SDHC. This site is serious, i buyed my flashcardcard on it.

 

[Kyni]

I have the white model since 1 year, and the NDS mode is really out dated : Only game releases before 2008 works fine, and there's no possibility to extend this compatibility with a YSMenu.

Thanks for that information Aliogeek! That means about half of the games that I own would be playable on the system which isn't bad! See my reason for wanting it is because I have only a DSlite and a GB Advance SP. I had my EZ3 simply to keep my collection of commonly-played GBA games in the system, but I took that out to play WarioWare Twisted about 3 years back, and I haven't managed to find it since. I've a feeling one of my acquaintances might have made off with it.

It sounds like you are still playing around with some relatively outdated hardware for DS purposes. If you don't want to spend much, and I mean almost anything, I suggest an "original" R4. I put original in quotes because all of the ones available now are 1:1 reproductions, but these things cost less than $1 depending on where you shop. The one caveat is that they only accept regular MicroSD cards (no SDHC), so that means you're limited to 2GB. At the same time, if you've been without a dedicated slot one card for this long, I don't think you'll be all that disappointed.

Alternatively, for about $10, you can get a newer 3DS supported DS mode cart that works just as well, but with SDHC support.

And thank you for that, Nathan! I was throwing around the idea of getting a DSTWO because, as I said above, I've only a GBA SP and a DSlite but, as I'm sure you know those are very hard (if not impossible) to come by these days. That is why I got the EZ4; I could still play my GBA games, and I thought I'd be able to play a few from my DS collection too. My friend got a Gateway a couple of years back and so after buying this I asked if we could use the blue card for flashing my DSlite. Unforunately, after this, I learned that the DS mode was removed from this newer EZ4. That's okay, though! I'll consider buying a slot-1 card, seeing as I have delayed it for so long.

 

[Nathan Drake]

Well with the EZIV, at least you'll still be set for GBA. I personally just use an EZ3in1 with my R4 so that I can launch and deal with GBA games all through my slot 1 cart, but a dedicated GBA cart is just as good (and might be usable the same way, but I have no experience there). Otherwise, yeah, the DSTwo is a rarity these days. It was as good as DS flashcarts get, although the GBA support of course never hit the level of perfection that just using a slot 2 cart can. The only thing you truly, truly miss out on is the better SNES emulation, but considering it still sucks on the DS regardless, it wouldn't be worth paying outlandish prices from the few retailers still stocking a DSTwo.

Like I said, if you don't mind a limited MicroSD size of 2GB, original R4 is the way to go since you have a DSlite. If you want SDHC, I recommend this cart (this exact cart), but I'd shop around for a slightly better deal since the average price is more like $10: http://nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=149

Regardless of which one of those you pick, they'll work in your DSlite, and they'll have near perfect DS game compatibility.

 

[Kyni]

Well with the EZIV, at least you'll still be set for GBA. I personally just use an EZ3in1 with my R4 so that I can launch and deal with GBA games all through my slot 1 cart, but a dedicated GBA cart is just as good (and might be usable the same way, but I have no experience there). Otherwise, yeah, the DSTwo is a rarity these days. It was as good as DS flashcarts get, although the GBA support of course never hit the level of perfection that just using a slot 2 cart can. The only thing you truly, truly miss out on is the better SNES emulation, but considering it still sucks on the DS regardless, it wouldn't be worth paying outlandish prices from the few retailers still stocking a DSTwo.

Like I said, if you don't mind a limited MicroSD size of 2GB, original R4 is the way to go since you have a DSlite. If you want SDHC, I recommend this cart (this exact cart), but I'd shop around for a slightly better deal since the average price is more like $10: http://nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=149

Regardless of which one of those you pick, they'll work in your DSlite, and they'll have near perfect DS game compatibility.

Thank you for your information in that regard! I considered getting the 3 in 1 too, but I thought if I had to choose between slot 2 cards it would have to be the EZ4; the 3 in 1 can't be used on the SP (unless I'm mistaken), and I like being able to play on the charged console when the other has made its way to empty! Granted, I'd have not had that ability with the DSTWO had I decided to buy that, but it had a lot more to offer also! Thank you earnestly for the recommendation though, and I will consider this one. I'll keep my eye out for bargains.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I recommend you this card : http://www.peachds.com/?product=/r4isdhc-v2015/

Works fine with all games, and compatible with all NDS (Lite/DSi/3DS/new 3DS), and this card support SDHC. This site is serious, i buyed my flashcardcard on it.

Thank you also for this recommendation! I will weigh this up with a few others. I definitely like the price offered by this site, after all.

 

[migles]

@Kyni
there is no really a reason to get a 3in1, a 3in1 will not fit the gba... and the ez 4 is pretty good

get a r4
but wait for more info about @Technicmaster0 there is an r4 got a really slow menu, i am not sure if is that one from peachDS, so wait for him to answer

as a side note, ez team removed the NDS mode in firmware 1.74, if you flash the 1.72 firmware on the card it will work, but its something not worth to touch, it's really shitty, specially that means if you want to play gba games you will probably have to flash the new firmware back..

 

[Kyni]

there is no really a reason to get a 3in1, a 3in1 will not fit the gba... and the ez 4 is pretty good

get a r4
but wait for more info about @Technicmaster0 there is an r4 got a really slow menu, i am not sure if is that one from peachDS, so wait for him to answer

as a side note, ez team removed the NDS mode in firmware 1.74, if you flash the 1.72 firmware on the card it will work, but its something not worth to touch, it's really shitty, specially that means if you want to play gba games you will probably have to flash the new firmware back..

Thank you for your reply. From what I have found, it wasn't only removed in the firmware; even when moving back to the 1.70 firmware I had no luck. I will still try with 1.72 now, and will report back if that changes anything. In that case, I apologise for my arrogance. I will also wait to see something from TechnicMaster0, thank you for letting me know!

Edit: I am currently downgrading to 1.720 Clearlooks v3.

And now I have rebooted the DS. I have the same 2 white screens as I had before. I read a post earlier that seemed to confirm my suspicions to me that it does not work on the new carts at all written by @FAST6191.

Found an old 8 gig microSDHC and got it booting in my EZ4 lite deluxe (released way before the new models came out). It does seem to have sacrificed SD support (my 1 gig card now shows an error) and DS mode with flashme just shows black screens (not ideal if you use it for a DS dumper, I still use my original EZ4 for tetrisDS as well but that is more laziness than anything else), it does also respect the DS setting for screens and leaves the other one powered off (both were issues with various GBA flash carts at points). For giggles I stuck a fat32 formatted 32 gig in and it booted, however I neglected to put any GBA games on there to test with.

I hadn't ever experienced black screens. Always white, no matter the kernel I used. If anyone can confirm that this is thanks to the new model it would be greatly appreciated (though by now I am pretty certain that is the case).

 

[Technicmaster0]

I feel honored that someone calls for me

So...
The EZ-Flash IV is really great for GBA games. The 3in1 is an option with a few more features but you have the IV and the features are not worth it (and the current version doesn't work with the GBA). Using the EZ-Flash IV for DS mode has two single advantages - it has access to GBAFS (the only homebrew I know of that uses it is Tickle Girl) and GBA expansion stuff (there's the browser and very few homebrews). Really not worth it. But you shouldn't use the EZ-Flash IV as gba expansion for homebrews you start with a Slot-1 solution (it might kill the card although it works).

Regarding the Slot-1 solution:
Every card with an "SDHC" in the url like r4isdhc.com or r4i-sdhc.com have a very slow menu. They work but they might require some playing alround to get every game to work. The better option is the R4i Gold 3DS RTS (r4ids.cn), the card Nathan linked.
If you want to use the card with normal DS consoles (no DSi/ 3DS) and you don't need more than 2GB space on the MicroSD of the slot-1 card: go with the original R4. http://nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=141 It uses the same OS as the R4i Gold 3DS RTS (http://nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=149) which is the alternative. The R4i supports the latest 3DS firmware and SDHC cards (which means more than 2GB).

 

[Kyni]

I feel honored that someone calls for me

So...
The EZ-Flash IV is really great for GBA games. The 3in1 is an option with a few more features but you have the IV and the features are not worth it (and the current version doesn't work with the GBA). Using the EZ-Flash IV for DS mode has two single advantages - it has access to GBAFS (the only homebrew I know of that uses it is Tickle Girl) and GBA expansion stuff (there's the browser and very few homebrews). Really not worth it. But you shouldn't use the EZ-Flash IV as gba expansion for homebrews you start with a Slot-1 solution (it might kill the card although it works).

Regarding the Slot-1 solution:
Every card with an "SDHC" in the url like r4isdhc.com or r4i-sdhc.com have a very slow menu. They work but they might require some playing alround to get every game to work. The better option is the R4i Gold 3DS RTS (r4ids.cn), the card Nathan linked.
If you want to use the card with normal DS consoles (no DSi/ 3DS) and you don't need more than 2GB space on the MicroSD of the slot-1 card: go with the original R4. http://nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=141 It uses the same OS as the R4i Gold 3DS RTS (http://nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=149) which is the alternative. The R4i supports the latest 3DS firmware and SDHC cards (which means more than 2GB).

Danke schön! (That's probably all of the German you'll get from me, but I see it as appropriate given that my computer thinks I am in Deutschland for some reason. I've a myriad of ads showing up saying "Parrot Minidrones [Jetzt kaufen]", which if my memory serves correctly means buy now...)

In this case I'll probably look into the original R4, given that I have plenty of standard SD Micro cards! If I run out of space, I can always swap the cards around! Though, @Technicmaster0 do you by any chance know if the newest EZ-Flash IV (with the black cartridge) supports DS Mode? My DSlite seems to beg to differ. Thank you for your information as to which slot-1 cards are better. I'll weigh up whether I might get the R4i with support for a 3DS should I ever get one!

 

[Nathan Drake]

DS mode support was dropped in the latest firmware for the EZIV, which is conveniently the only real usable firmware on the new EZIV model. So yeah, no more DS mode. It will ultimately be a small inconvenience, and probably far more convenient once you have a beautifully simple slot 1 solution.

 

[Kyni]

DS mode support was dropped in the latest firmware for the EZIV, which is conveniently the only real usable firmware on the new EZIV model. So yeah, no more DS mode. It will ultimately be a small inconvenience, and probably far more convenient once you have a beautifully simple slot 1 solution.

That's funny! I've managed to get 1.71-74 and 1.76 all installed and running on my cartridge! In any case, I'll take that as a yes! Thank you for that Nathan. Let us hope that I have no qualms with the slot-1 flashcard that I choose.

 

[Technicmaster0]

But I would really suggest the latest firmware for your card. It's just better.

 

[Kyni]

But I would really suggest the latest firmware for your card. It's just better.

And I am currently running 1.76, which as far as I recall is the latest! Thank you all for all of your help!

 

[migles]

Edit: I am currently downgrading to 1.720 Clearlooks v3.

And now I have rebooted the DS. I have the same 2 white screens as I had before. I read a post earlier that seemed to confirm my suspicions to me that it does not work on the new carts at all written by @FAST6191.



I hadn't ever experienced black screens. Always white, no matter the kernel I used. If anyone can confirm that this is thanks to the new model it would be greatly appreciated (though by now I am pretty certain that is the case).

btw, did you used a 2gb or smaller card with the old firmware?

as a side note, fast was talking about trying the new firmware 1.75 on his old version card.
he didn't mention anything on that post about new cards can't work in ds mode under old firmwares... or he wrote it on another post?

 

[Kyni]

btw, did you used a 2gb or smaller card with the old firmware?

as a side note, fast was talking about trying the new firmware 1.75 on his old version card.
he didn't mention anything on that post about new cards can't work in ds mode under old firmwares... or he wrote it on another post?

I don't actually have an SDHC cards. I have been using a 2GB card!

I understand that he was talking about the old card, but what I meant is that he found he could not boot past a black screen, whereas normally he could boot it. I always get a white screen, no matter the firmware. They appear to be different problems is all!

 

[migles]

I don't actually have an SDHC cards. I have been using a 2GB card!

I understand that he was talking about the old card, but what I meant is that he found he could not boot past a black screen, whereas normally he could boot it. I always get a white screen, no matter the firmware. They appear to be different problems is all!

maybe flashme is bad or something..
the screen should be black with a message saying it couldn't find the firmware file (he tries to update)

either way, get the r4 card, after having the card if you which you can use it as "flashme\passme" device, even if ds mode on ez iv sucks