Homebrew DS(i) NOOB PARADISE - Ask questions here

[Pk11]

Being the F-ing new guy, I'll ask my NOOB question!

So I've done some work on the StellaDS given the nicely organized original codebase for that emulator.

And I figured I'd peek at some of the other emulators to see if I could help improve them... but very few seem to have their source code available. I tried my other "loves"... the PC Engine (NitroGrafx) and the Atari 7800 (A7800DS) as potentially good places for me to spend some time to see if I can manage some help ... but those projects seem to have largely disappeared except the (semi-ancient) .NDS binaries.

Am I just bad at googling this stuff? Or are a lot of the older emulator source code repositories lost to time and attrition?

I was curious so I did a bit of searching too, I couldn't find anything for NitroGraphx besides a dead link on GameBrew, even the official site doesn't have links for source code on archive.org, other than that even on archive.org there wasn't much archived...

Emutopia has A7800DS's source though: https://emutopia.com/index.php/emulators/item/272-atari-7800/217-a7800ds

 

[igdegoo]

Autoboot doesn't work. Re-add the original firmware/kernel files.

im booting it from the wood firmware. i just put BOOT.NDS in root and placed the _nds folder in root following the instructions https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/TWiLightMenu/wiki/installing-(flashcard)#installing

 

[RocketRobz]

im booting it from the wood firmware. i just put BOOT.NDS in root and placed the _nds folder in root following the instructions https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/TWiLightMenu/wiki/installing-(flashcard)#installing

You'll need a DS Memory Expansion Pak then.

 

[wavemotion]

Emutopia has A7800DS's source though: https://emutopia.com/index.php/emulators/item/272-atari-7800/217-a7800ds

Fantastic! It didn't build as-is ... it's got some compilation/linker errors that were easily resolved. Got past the intro to the main menu. Doesn't recognize touch input but the code is very similar to the StellaDS I worked on recently so it won't be long before I figure it out and have it working.

Edit: Well... it's got some significant slowdown even in DSi mode - but this is where I shine

 

[cloudstr]

It is awesome that A7800DS's source is still available! Unfortunately the source code of A5200DS and A7800DS2 are lost in the sands of time..

Alekmaul's email is [email protected]. I wonder if we could send him a message and ask for his help to release the source ?

 

[wavemotion]

Alekmaul's email is [email protected]. I wonder if we could send him a message and ask for his help to release the source ?

I emailed Alek earlier today to see if he would be willing to release the A5200DS source which would let me update all 3 main Atari consoles from the late 70s and 80s. Fingers crossed.

 

[igdegoo]

You'll need a DS Memory Expansion Pak then.

you should add that to the wiki page then it seems pretty important

 

[pen_name_generator]

Noob question here:
Is it safe to use the "Format System Memory" function in the DSi System Settings with Unlaunch installed ?
I do not mean to use it as a way to remove Unlaunch, but actually can it be used to empty the console from user data ? (I read from someone here that Unlaunch would remain after formatting, I just want to make sure about whether it is safe or not)
Thank you !

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Noob question here:
Is it safe to use the "Format System Memory" function in the DSi System Settings with Unlaunch installed ?
I do not mean to use it as a way to remove Unlaunch, but actually can it be used to empty the console from user data ? (I read from someone here that Unlaunch would remain after formatting, I just want to make sure about whether it is safe or not)
Thank you !

I did it once on my (now dead) test DSi. Nothing bad happened. It worked just like on an unmodified console (and unlaunch stayed of course). It throws away the user profile and installed DSiWare. That's all. Launcher may obviously not be removed by the official formatting option -- for the same reason unlaunch stays intact.

I have no idea why anyone should ever use this function but I see almost no problems. Almost? Yes: Please test if your Cameras both work and don't throw "An error has occurred..."
After "Format System Memory" the camera tutorial has to be completed in order to use Memory Pit again (if needed -- which is not the case with unlaunch installed).

Good luck and have fun!
==========



To make that extra clear: My own DSi failed not because of Format System Memory but from hardware experiments. Just mentioned the failed console to explain why I'm currently unable to do DSi related experiments.

 

[pen_name_generator]

I did it once on my (now dead) test DSi. Nothing bad happened. It worked just like on an unmodified console (and unlaunch stayed of course). It throws away the user profile and installed DSiWare. That's all. Launcher may obviously not be removed by the official formatting option -- for the same reason unlaunch stays intact.

I have no idea why anyone should ever use this function but I see almost no problems. Almost? Yes: Please test if your Cameras both work and don't throw "An error has occurred..."
After "Format System Memory" the camera tutorial has to be completed in order to use Memory Pit again (if needed -- which is not the case with unlaunch installed).

Good luck and have fun!
==========



To make that extra clear: My own DSi failed not because of Format System Memory but from hardware experiments. Just mentioned the failed console to explain why I'm currently unable to do DSi related experiments.

Thank you for your answer ! I do not mean to use this now, as I just set up Unlaunch and TWilight Menu++ on a freshly formatted DSi, but I was just wondering how to go about emptying the console should I ever want to do so in the future.

 

[esv_83]

Being the F-ing new guy, I'll ask my NOOB question!

So I've done some work on the StellaDS given the nicely organized original codebase for that emulator.

And I figured I'd peek at some of the other emulators to see if I could help improve them... but very few seem to have their source code available. I tried my other "loves"... the PC Engine (NitroGrafx) and the Atari 7800 (A7800DS) as potentially good places for me to spend some time to see if I can manage some help ... but those projects seem to have largely disappeared except the (semi-ancient) .NDS binaries.

Am I just bad at googling this stuff? Or are a lot of the older emulator source code repositories lost to time and attrition?

you could improve RACE! DS Neo Geo Pocket Color emulator.

 

[wavemotion]

you could improve RACE! DS Neo Geo Pocket Color emulator.

Right now I'm working on 3 different emulators which is soaking up enough time that my wife is starting to get concerned
Hopefully someone else will step up!

 

[RocketRobz]

Right now I'm working on 3 different emulators which is soaking up enough time that my wife is starting to get concerned
Hopefully someone else will step up!

Speaking of other emulators, I've recently contacted FluBBa, requesting the latest source codes for S8DS and NitroGrafx.
Would you be willing to work on those, when the sources are made available?

 

[wavemotion]

Speaking of other emulators, I've recently contacted FluBBa, requesting the latest source codes for S8DS and NitroGrafx.
Would you be willing to work on those, when the sources are made available?

I consider FluBBa to be the grand-wizard of DS emulation. What he's been able to do with S8DS and NitroGrafx on the DS (original - not the more powerful DSi) is beyond comprehension. I'm guessing he must have written them in hand-tuned assembly language. While I can read and write Assembly, the ARM core is not where my machine language skills shine. I'm guessing I won't be a ton of help with those - but I'll take a peek to see if anything is in my wheelhouse when/if the sources are available.

 

[wavemotion]

NooB here!

Popping my SD card in and out about a million times caused the case to crack!

The DSi has wireless - is there a simple way to wirelessly transfer .NDS files and the occasional ROM onto the SD card so I don't have to eject it so much?

 

[RocketRobz]

NooB here!

Popping my SD card in and out about a million times caused the case to crack!

The DSi has wireless - is there a simple way to wirelessly transfer .NDS files and the occasional ROM onto the SD card so I don't have to eject it so much?

View attachment 241915

Nope, there isn't.
We'd need WPA1/2 implementation first.

 

[Pk11]

NooB here!

Popping my SD card in and out about a million times caused the case to crack!

The DSi has wireless - is there a simple way to wirelessly transfer .NDS files and the occasional ROM onto the SD card so I don't have to eject it so much?

View attachment 241915

ftpd has a DS version and works from the DSi's internal SD natively so it's the best FTP server afaik, it still only works with WEP/open wifi though.

There's also nocash's Wifiboot which is included with Unlaunch actually supports WPA, but it like doesn't work with libnds homebrew or something, I've never been able to get anything besides Unlaunch's installer and nocash's Magic Floor to work with it

 

[wavemotion]

More Super-Noobiness...

So on my crappy $10 R4 clone card, A7800DS and A5200DS both load directly. But for StellaDS, I have to use an intermediate program like TWL++ or HBMENU to launch it otherwise it freezes on load.

I looked at the little info boxes and StellaDS has a "Game Code" of ESTA ... whatever the hell that means. And the other two have #### (probably indicating some unknown code). Is there a way for me to make StellaDS look "unknown" to the R4 so it launches fine?

In case it helps, my 3 makefiles for these projects is up at: https://github.com/wavemotion-dave

 

[RocketRobz]

More Super-Noobiness...

So on my crappy $10 R4 clone card, A7800DS and A5200DS both load directly. But for StellaDS, I have to use an intermediate program like TWL++ or HBMENU to launch it otherwise it freezes on load.

I looked at the little info boxes and StellaDS has a "Game Code" of ESTA ... whatever the hell that means. And the other two have #### (probably indicating some unknown code). Is there a way for me to make StellaDS look "unknown" to the R4 so it launches fine?

In case it helps, my 3 makefiles for these projects is up at: https://github.com/wavemotion-dave

View attachment 242495

ESTA is a title ID I added so that it could be made as a proper CIA.
You can change it to #### in the Makefile.

 

[wavemotion]

Thanks @Robz8 - gave that a try. It now shows as #### in the menu but still just freezes on load. Maybe the DS has some info cached somewhere preventing this from loading right?

Loading through TWL++ or HBMENU and it loads up fine. It is a bit larger (1MB vs half that) but I don't see why that would matter as it still fits fine in the DS memory.

Perplexing...