Homebrew DS Forwarder and TWiLight Menu game issue

[ne1weknow]

Hi

I have a problem with Top Spin 3 on NDS. I wanted to come back to playing Top Spin 3 on my 3DS after previously using TWiLight Menu to play it and I learned about DS Forwarder so I installed it. At the same time, I updated TWiLight Menu to the latest version which also comes with an update to nds-bootstrap as I understand it.

However, after these updates, both the forwarder and TWiLight Menu cannot start Top Spin 3. Not sure of compatibility as there is no entry for this game in the compatibility sheet, but I played it before as mentioned.

What happens:

• nds-bootstrap screen shows, then black screen (if there is a ramdump.bin)
• If there is no ramdump.bin, I get the message about saving to ram and a 32Mb ramdump.bin is generated
• Either way, I can access the Home screen - the 3DS is not frozen

What is working:

• Forwarder I generated for for Picross DS is working fine - .nds for this is in the same location as the Top Spin 3 .nds
• I can start other games from TWiLight Menu - I tested two other .nds files which are in the same location as the Top Spin 3 .nds

What I've tried:

• Obtaining new copies of the .nds rom for both USA and Europe regions - no difference
• Deleting / renaming the save file - I get a message saying save file is being created, but same end result
• Deleting fatTable and patchOffsetCache folders - no difference

I've gone through the FAQs on DS Forwarder and TWiLight Menu and searched gbatemp but this seems to be a very particular issue.

Something I'm confused about is that both the DS Forwarder SD Card pack and TWiLight Menu provide copies of nds-bootstrap-hb-release.nds and nds-bootstrap-release.nds, so which one takes priority? Not sure if it makes a difference in my case seeing as other games are working fine.

It would be remiss of me to not close with a shout out to @Robz8 for his awesome work on these tools which makes all of this possible!

Cheers
Matt

 

[RocketRobz]

With TWiLight Menu++, have you tried turning off heap shrink?

 

[demc]

Hi,

I am having nearly an identical issue. Pokemon HeartGold launches fine via TWL but fails to launch using the forwarder CIA.
I am stuck at a black and white screen.

Any hints appreciated, thank you!

 

[demc]

Okay, here is my resolution for the black and white screen on launch:

1. Delete sd:/_nds directory (probably not entirely necessary).
2. Drop forwarder pack into sd:/ to restore sd:/_nds (warning: you will have to reinstall
3. Install CIAs from Forwarder3DS.

Word of Warning:

The Forwarder3DS UI is not good and you can easily skip the fact that you must manually enter the ROM path:

Collapsed (default):


Expanded (click on the card):

 

[lone_wolf323]

Okay, here is my resolution for the black and white screen on launch:

1. Delete sd:/_nds directory (probably not entirely necessary).
2. Drop forwarder pack into sd:/ to restore sd:/_nds (warning: you will have to reinstall
3. Install CIAs from Forwarder3DS.

Word of Warning:

The Forwarder3DS UI is not good and you can easily skip the fact that you must manually enter the ROM path:

Collapsed (default):
View attachment 220257

Expanded (click on the card):
View attachment 220258

Well. That is kinda common sense. There are multiple ways of installing this. be it to your console or to a flashcart. The app does not know which way you plan on adding the game. So you need to tell it where the game is.

 

[ne1weknow]

@demc - Please don't hijack my thread. Don't mean to be harsh but your issue is not the same - I think you missed a step to point the forwarder to your nds rom path.

@Robz8 - Thanks for the response. I didn't know each game had settings - I found that setting and turned it off, but the end result is the same. TWiLight Menu++ dumps to ramdump.bin almost immediately (when ramdump.bin is missing - TWiLight Menu++ takes much longer to load when this file is present)

I assume I couldn't have messed up copying files to install DS Forwarder and TWiLight Menu++ if I have games working? I wonder if anyone else has Top Spin 3 working with latest TWiLight Menu++ and nds-bootstrap.

 

[RocketRobz]

@Robz8 - Thanks for the response. I didn't know each game had settings - I found that setting and turned it off, but the end result is the same. TWiLight Menu++ dumps to ramdump.bin almost immediately (when ramdump.bin is missing - TWiLight Menu++ takes much longer to load when this file is present)

I assume I couldn't have messed up copying files to install DS Forwarder and TWiLight Menu++ if I have games working? I wonder if anyone else has Top Spin 3 working with latest TWiLight Menu++ and nds-bootstrap.

If Top Spin 3 doesn't work at all, then it's incompatible with nds-bootstrap.

 

[ne1weknow]

If Top Spin 3 doesn't work at all, then it's incompatible with nds-bootstrap.

Yes, I'd agree with this if I hadn't previously played it like 1 year back. So, if someone could advise that it no longer works, then I can stop chasing my tail I guess! Is there any dependency / requirement for latest luma3DS? I haven't updated in awhile - I'm on 9.1

 

[RocketRobz]

Yes, I'd agree with this if I hadn't previously played it like 1 year back. So, if someone could advise that it no longer works, then I can stop chasing my tail I guess!

Later nds-bootstrap versions break compatibility with certain games.
For example, Tony Hawk's American Sk8land worked in a previous nds-bootstrap version, but doesn't on the current version, due to card read DMA issues.

Is there any dependency / requirement for latest luma3DS? I haven't updated in awhile - I'm on 9.1

There are no requirements for the latest Luma3DS.

 

[ne1weknow]

Later nds-bootstrap versions break compatibility with certain games.
For example, Tony Hawk's American Sk8land worked in a previous nds-bootstrap version, but doesn't on the current version, due to card read DMA issues.

Thanks, I'll try progressively downgrading nds-bootstrap to see if I can get it working. Should be fun!