Homebrew Is it possible to play DSi ware rom (.cia) on 3ds emulator ?

[bosskay]

Hello, I have a bunch of DSi ware with the extension .cia and I supposed that rom was firstly destinated to the 3ds(play directly on the 3ds), but I want to play on my emulator because I want to take some screenshot and some other purpose. So, I try to decrypt the cia file but it doesn't work. Then I try to use No$Gba as emulator but it doesn't work too... So, if there is anyway that I can play DSi ware on my PC I will thanks a lot to give me the solution.
I said ANYWAY. So, maybe the roms that I found are broken and so if you have good rom with the good extension please give me the link and the instruction to be able to read it with an emulator, or some other tool that allow me to play DSi ware on my PC.

I put the file I that tried to read with No$GBA and Citra, it's crystal monster a very cool game you shoudl test it if you have the opportunity to do it.

Thanks to pay attention to this post.

 

[pepedeab]

The cia can be installed on Citra. You need to do it before to be able to use it. I never hear about that game, but please do not post illegal content like Roms in this forum. Thank you.

 

[Deleted User]

you can install it but it needs to boot into ds firmware (thats why it takes so long to boot ds cartridges/dsiware on 3ds) but citra doesnt support it so it wont play, you will have to find the dsiware rom and play it in no$gba. also do not link to roms on this forum, it's against the rules.

 

[bosskay]

The cia can be installed on Citra. You need to do it before to be able to use it. I never hear about that game, but please do not post illegal content like Roms in this forum. Thank you.

Yeah I know but this one can't pass because citra said that is not decrypted so that's why I tried to decrypted it, but it doesn't work neither.

you can install it but it needs to boot into ds firmware (thats why it takes so long to boot ds cartridges/dsiware on 3ds) but citra doesnt support it so it wont play, you will have to find the dsiware rom and play it in no$gba. also do not link to roms on this forum, it's against the rules.

Which extension DSi ware rom have ? Because .cia doesn't pass on no$gba

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Yeah I know but this one can't pass because citra said that is not decrypted so that's why I tried to decrypted it, but it doesn't work neither.


Which extension DSi ware rom have ? Because .cia doesn't pass on no$gba

DSiWare normally has .nds just like other DS ROMs. When dumping them from a DSi or a 3DS they have the extension .app – this is not a different format; just rename them to .nds

 

[bosskay]

DSiWare normally has .nds just like other DS ROMs. When dumping them from a DSi or a 3DS they have the extension .app – this is not a different format; just rename them to .nds

I have some DSi ware on my 3ds and I put my SD card on my PC and I retrieve all the .app file and I rename them to .nds file and it's still doesn't work. And I don't foudn any website that propose DSi Ware rom, a lot of forum talk about play DSi ware rom directly on 3ds or DSi but not on PC. I know it's illegal to share this type of website but can you please indicate me where can I find some people(on a forum maybe) in the same case as me ?

I have the feeling that's a dead-end :'(

 

[KleinesSinchen]

I have some DSi ware on my 3ds and I put my SD card on my PC and I retrieve all the .app file and I rename them to .nds file and it's still doesn't work. And I don't foudn any website that propose DSi Ware rom, a lot of forum talk about play DSi ware rom directly on 3ds or DSi but not on PC. I know it's illegal to share this type of website but can you please indicate me where can I find some people(on a forum maybe) in the same case as me ?

I have the feeling that's a dead-end :'(

It is not a dead end. I have been playing around with this topic for more than two weeks now and got very positive results. What is the problem with No$gba? It works pretty well once set up for DSi emulation – which is quite some work. Maybe my (unfinished/ work in progress) tutorial can be useful for you.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/setting-up-no-gba-for-dsiware-emulation.554196/


If you dumped your own .app files from a 3DS you can be pretty sure these are good ROM. An illegal download – which we may not share here for good reason – is no better.

 

[Confusion_18]

You can convert DSiWare to nds and play it with a DS emulator

 

[bosskay]

I actually found a huge bank of DSi ware in .nds format but still doesn't work because of this error:
"the rom image has crashed"
How can I fix that ?
(I use no$gba)

 

[KleinesSinchen]

I actually found a huge bank of DSi ware in .nds format but still doesn't work because of this error:
"the rom image has crashed"
How can I fix that ?
(I use no$gba)

Missing biosnds7.rom and biosnds9.rom can cause this error as well as trying to boot to "Launcher" when no DSI-1.MMC is present.
Don't know what else could be the reason (if it happens with all DSiWare games). Do you have all files (BIOS, NAND dump, virtual SD)?

To just get a game started: I think it is enough to have the DS BIOS files and setting "Reset/Startup Entrypoint" to direct. However: DSiWare will not be able to save when started without complete NAND/SD emulation.

 

[bosskay]

Can you please give me the list of files we must have to run this type of game on no$gba because I already download some of them and here is the list:
BATTERY (it's a folder with some file about the games I already play in it)
SLOT (folder with nothing in it)
biosnds_gbamode.nds
biosnds7.rom
biosnds9.rom
description.txt
DSI-SD.rar
firmware.bin
gba.rom
key.cfg
NO$GBA.exe
NO$GBA
NO$GBA.INP
README

Which file missing in this folder to run DSi ware on no$gba ?

 

[Deleted User]

you can find a dsi nand dump on the wayback machine (archive.org) and it contains the stuff you need to run dsiware

 

[bosskay]

you can find a dsi nand dump on the wayback machine (archive.org) and it contains the stuff you need to run dsiware

The wayback machine need a link, I can just type on the searchbar "dsi nand dump". Which website propose dsi nand dump in the past ?

 

[Deleted User]

The wayback machine need a link, I can just type on the searchbar "dsi nand dump". Which website propose dsi nand dump in the past ?

just search 'wayback machine dsi emulation setup' on google

 

[bosskay]

Missing biosnds7.rom and biosnds9.rom can cause this error as well as trying to boot to "Launcher" when no DSI-1.MMC is present.
Don't know what else could be the reason (if it happens with all DSiWare games). Do you have all files (BIOS, NAND dump, virtual SD)?

To just get a game started: I think it is enough to have the DS BIOS files and setting "Reset/Startup Entrypoint" to direct. However: DSiWare will not be able to save when started without complete NAND/SD emulation.

Finally I follow all your advice and I found a solution. So actually I play crystal monster without problem(maybe there is a problem with european version but it doesn't really matter because I understand english). My problem was about the setting of no$gba I put "Start Cartridge Directly" and "DSi retail 16Mb" and it's work perfectly !

Thanks for all your solution, thanks for all your messages, thanks for all your advice it's been a while I desire to do this you help me to accomplish my dream thanks a lot !

just search 'wayback machine dsi emulation setup' on google

I finally found it but it works without it(maybe I already dowload it !) thanks anyway !

 

[bosskay]

Finally I follow all your advice and I found a solution. So actually I play crystal monster without problem(maybe there is a problem with european version but it doesn't really matter because I understand english). My problem was about the setting of no$gba I put "Start Cartridge Directly" and "DSi retail 16Mb" and it's work perfectly !

Thanks for all your solution, thanks for all your messages, thanks for all your advice it's been a while I desire to do this you help me to accomplish my dream thanks a lot !


I finally found it but it works without it(maybe I already dowload it !) thanks anyway !

Actually some game works well, but there is a problem with the saving system: every game display beofre start an error message like: "data are corrupted" "we can't find data" and one of these game guinely start with "Backup data is corrupted and it will be reset" then it display an another error message: "Saving attemps failed" and the game loop on this error message. So I can't go further. I think for many game it's like this. So how can I solve this problem ?

There is another problem about the tactil screen, it seem that it doesn't work, how to fix this ?

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Actually some game works well, but there is a problem with the saving system: every game display beofre start an error message like: "data are corrupted" "we can't find data" and one of these game guinely start with "Backup data is corrupted and it will be reset" then it display an another error message: "Saving attemps failed" and the game loop on this error message. So I can't go further. I think for many game it's like this. So how can I solve this problem ?

There is another problem about the tactil screen, it seem that it doesn't work, how to fix this ?

Well… I don’t know what to say now. I really want to help you… but I can't do everything for you.

DSiWare emulation is not as easy to use as other emulators at the moment. Starting DSiWare as “cartridge” in No$gba works only partially – I already mentioned this – saving does not work.

The only way to proper DSiWare emulation is providing DS and DSi BIOS files and a full DSi NAND dump. In case you do not have a DSi: @98otiss gave you the best hint we are allowed to give. The NAND image from the Internet Archive already has a lot of DSiWare preinstalled. Those should fully work with saving.

To get more DSiWare working with saving I don’t know of any other way than installing them. If I knew a better way I would not have created such a long tutorial. There is no way around a good amount of reading if you do not have previous knowledge about DSi homebrew/custom firmware.

The problem with the uninitialized touchscreen should also disappear when booting the original DSi home menu “Launcher”.

Good luck.
If you get stuck at some point just ask again.

 

[bosskay]

The problem with the uninitialized touchscreen should also disappear when booting the original DSi home menu “Launcher”.

If I start in the menu I can't access to any game I loaded in no$gba I only have access to some game already here. So I select the option Start Cartridge Directly and for example Crystal monster active the touche screen only in the first screen the presentation screen. And then nothing, so we can't continue the adventure because to write your name you need the touchscreen. How I suppose to use the Launcher ??

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Once again: I do not know of any short “one-click” method¹ of loading additional DSiWare with saving and touch input. Loading DSiWare as cartridge will always fail saving because DSiWare does not want to write to cartridge but to the NAND.

The only methods I know are installing

• unlaunch on the virtual NAND (DSI-1.MMC) followed by
• HiyaCFW and TWiLight Menu++ on virtual SD (DSI-1.SD) …
• … and then adding the games to HiyaCFW(SDNAND) and/or TWiLight Menu++

– or –

• Installing unlaunch and
• Manually(!) creating the structure for each game inside DSI-1.MMC with ninfs

The second method is far more limited and harder and has no benefits I can think of. I did not yet have the concentration to write it down.

If you do not have any previous knowledge about unlaunch, Hiya and TWL++: Nobody can do the reading/learning for you. https://dsi.cfw.guide/ contains all information about setting up unlaunch and HiyaCFW.
I tried to put everything that is different from a real DSi into my tutorial. You will find empty virtual SDs attached to the tutorial.

If there are parts unclear: Please tell me exactly where the problem is. I want to improve the tutorial.​

__________________
¹ Technically it’s possible to prepare an ultimate “one-click” archive containing all DSiWare in existence (the games are small!). Unpack → start No$gba → TWiLight Menu++ loading and all games are there. To my knowledge nobody has done this yet. As this is obviously copyright infringement it will not happen on GBAtemp – which is a good thing.

 

[spotanjo3]

Yeah I know but this one can't pass because citra said that is not decrypted so that's why I tried to decrypted it, but it doesn't work neither.


Which extension DSi ware rom have ? Because .cia doesn't pass on no$gba

Did you know that Citra is now able to emulate encrypted games. No need to decrypted them anymore. However, you will need aes_keys.txt with special code lists in it and put it inside sysdata folder. Take a look at:

https://citra-emu.org/wiki/aes-keys/

And works fine for me. I prefer encrypted games.

Can you please give me the list of files we must have to run this type of game on no$gba because I already download some of them and here is the list:
BATTERY (it's a folder with some file about the games I already play in it)
SLOT (folder with nothing in it)
biosnds_gbamode.nds
biosnds7.rom
biosnds9.rom
description.txt
DSI-SD.rar
firmware.bin
gba.rom
key.cfg
NO$GBA.exe
NO$GBA
NO$GBA.INP
README

Which file missing in this folder to run DSi ware on no$gba ?

You need DSI BIOS and do this:

1. Open no$gba, and go to the Options > Emulation Setup menu. Change "Reset/Startup Entrypoint to "GBA/NDS BIOS" and change "NDS Mode/Colors to "DSi (retail/16MB)".