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DSpico - An open-source flashcart for the DS(i)

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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:

dspico-1-3-real-hw-top-res.jpg

dspico-top-1.png

image-min.png

HorizontalCustom.png





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.
 
Last edited by XLuma,
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Click to expand...
SylverReZ said:
Yes. It needs to be renamed in order for Pico-Loader to know that it's there and to run encrypted ROMs.
Click to expand...
Ah, gotcha. I did just that, and my extracted Virtual Console ROMs now boot properly. Not that it matters anyway, because I got them decrypted about a year ago, but forgot which tool I used to decrypt them.

Anyways, I do have one suggestion for the Pico Launcher. I think an option to adjust the brightness on later original DS models should be added, since the stock DS menu allows you to turn the backlight on or off.
 
DolphinPussy said:
Goodbye DSTWO, you may rest now.
Click to expand...
Least the DSpico doesn't consume as much power like the DSTWO. The DSTWO these days is more of a novelty because emulators like GBARunner can already run GBA software w/o requiring an extra CPU to do the work.
 
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I booted up ScummVM 1.2.1 on my DSpico just to play classic LucasArts point-and-click adventures, but it threw a data abort error. I launched ScummVM directly from the Pico Launcher.

What should I do? I have a couple of options I could try:

1. Launch ScummVM 1.2.1 from within TWiLight Menu++
2. Use the DSi port (2.9.1 is the latest version for now)
 
For the ones struggling with the theme creation, like me, there are two great sites for helping us in the quest:

pl Theme Creator


A powerful, entirely browser-based tool to create, edit, and extract custom themes for Pico Launcher. Generate perfectly formatted .zip themes with a live preview, or decode proprietary .bin textures and palettes back into .png images.

Created using
[HTML5]
[JavaScript]
and needing
[No Backend]


You can access this tool via the URL: https://santiagovalencia109.github.io/pl-Theme-Creator/ and the source code is on: https://github.com/santiagovalencia109/pl-Theme-Creator

✨ Features​


🛠️ 1. Ultimate Theme Creator​

Create a complete, ready-to-use theme .zip package in seconds:
  • General Settings: Customize your theme's name, author, description, and base UI colors (MD3 Base, Menu Selected/Unselected).
  • Dark Mode Support: Easily toggle the Dark Mode metadata flag.
  • Advanced Image Cropping: Upload your wallpapers and crop them specifically to the exact 256x192 resolution required by dual-screen hardware.
  • Live Overlay Preview: Add and adjust a custom translucent overlay box for the top screen. You can control the fill color, independent border color, opacity, and corner radius with real-time feedback.
  • Auto-Conversion: The tool automatically processes your images and colors into the precise bit-depths and formats required (15bpp, A3I5, A5I3, .pltt).

🔍 2. Universal .bin Decoder​

Extract and view hidden images and masks from existing Pico Launcher themes:
  • Intelligent Detection: Automatically detects the file type based on its original filename (ignores extra padding bytes that break other tools).
  • Backgrounds (topbg.bin, bottombg.bin): Decodes 15bpp RGB arrays into standard visible images.
  • Alpha Masks (bannerListCell.bin, gridcell.bin, scrim.bin): Accurately renders proprietary A3I5 and A5I3 transparency masks so you can see their exact shapes and gradients.
  • Palette Viewer (*Pltt.bin): Reads 15bpp color palettes and renders them into a neat visual color grid.
  • PNG Export: One-click download to save any decoded texture as a standard .png file.

1774635856302.png



Pico Cover


If you are like me and have a big NDS ROMs collection and want to have the covers for the DS Pico Art zone, you can use this small but powerful assistant allow you to scan a list of DS ROMs and generate the correspondent covers to be used on the DS Pico Loader:

You can access the tool on the URL: https://scaletta.github.io/PicoCover/ the source code is available on: https://github.com/Scaletta/PicoCover

⚜️Description​


Automatically download and convert Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance cover art for Pico Launcher

🌐 Primary experience: PicoCover Web UI on GitHub Pages

Cross-platform tool to fetch GameTDB cover art, convert to 8bpp BMP format, and organize for Pico Launcher by LNH-team​


1774635915012.png


✨ Features​

  • 🌐Web UI (Github Pages) – Recommended & easiest to use– No installation required
    • Automatic ROM scanning (NDS & GBA)
    • Real-time cover downloading and conversion
    • 🧪 GBA Support (Beta) – Game Boy Advance covers served from a curated library hosted on Cloudflare R2
    • Optional GBA toggle – Choose whether to include GBA games in processing
    • Works with File System Access API (Chrome, Edge, Opera)
    • Alternative method for non-supported modern browsers (Firefox, Brave)
    • Uses a proxy to fetch and cache GameTDB images for faster, more reliable downloads
  • 🖥️GUI Mode– Intuitive interface with automatic drive detection and tabbed view
    • Collapsible game lists (skipped/failed) for quick review
    • Overwrite toggle
  • ⌨️CLI Mode – Full scriptable control for automation
  • 🔄Auto-update – Built-in update checker with one-click updates
  • ♻️Auto-refresh – Detects new drives without restarting
  • 🌍Multi-region support – Tries EN, US, JA, EU, FR, DE, IT, ES, NL, PT until a cover is found
  • 🚀Fast processing – Parallel downloads with CPU-core adaptive threading
  • 📦Native packages – DMG for macOS, DEB for Linux, EXE for Windows
Post automatically merged:

InsaneNutter said:
The DSpico from ChisFamily Store is currently £4.29 delivered for anyone in the UK that's interested: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005011543735291.html

View attachment 561026

(log in to your account and hopefully that promotion should apply)

Apparently for new AliExpress accounts in the US you might even get it for $1: https://www.reddit.com/r/flashcarts/comments/1rn32se/is_this_sale_real/ - AliExpress will block you from ordering if you create a new account to abuse that from what I gather. Great if you have never used the site before though!
Click to expand...
ITS 20 USD FOR ME, MAY BE IS A «FIRST TIME DEAL»
 
Last edited by impeeza,
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Pico-loader v1.6.0 and Pico-Launcher v1.2.0 "Cheats Release" are here!

Note: You need to update both to fully use the cheats feature, and place the "usrcheat.dat" file inside the "_pico" folder (Get the most recent cheat database usrcheat.dat here)

Pico-Launcher: https://github.com/LNH-team/pico-launcher/releases/tag/v1.2.0

Added​

  • Support for cheats with Pico Loader API v3
  • Hide files/dirs with hidden attribute, or with a name starting with a period
  • New customization options for custom themes
    • Position of elements on the top screen
    • Text colors
    • Blend colors

Changed​

  • File name on the top screen now uses marquee when too long

Fixed​

  • Improve error handling for banners to better detect if a rom has a valid banner


Pico-Loader: https://github.com/LNH-team/pico-loader/releases/tag/v1.6.0

Added​

  • Support for the SuperChis slot 2 card - by @edo9300
  • Most of the remaining SDK 2-4 DMA patches - by @taxicat1
  • Support for cheats
    • The Pico Loader API was updated to v3 for this purpose.

Fixed​

  • Star Wars Jedi Alliance patch - by @taxicat1
 
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weird is....i added back the dsi binaries on a Pokemon White 2 romhack, using DSPico with TW++ on an dsi xl. it says Failed to Apply arm9 patches. any solution for this?
Post automatically merged:

not all of em give this error but some
Post automatically merged:

Pokemon Blinding White 2 and Aether White 2 work..... others not weird
 
Last edited by Space_Goddess_Samus_Aran,
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A quick buyers warning for anybody purchasing a DSpico from AliExpress. It has come to my attention that a marketplace is selling DSpicos that come inside a cheap, poorly made shell that is reminiscent of the Ace3DS+ & R4iLS carts; they may not fit well with some systems. Just like the WoodBeyond, please refrain from getting those and instead order the ChisCart one that has a better quality build.

I should've maybe linked here just so that you have options, but the Chis cart alone was the best in my personal experience of using it in all of my DS systems.

Screenshot_20260329-191300.png
Screenshot_20260329-191308.png
 
Last edited by SylverReZ,
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SylverReZ said:
A quick buyers warning for anybody purchasing a DSpico from AliExpress. It has come to my attention that a marketplace is selling DSpicos that come inside a cheap, poorly made shell that is reminiscent of the Ace3DS+ & R4iLS carts; they may not fit well with some systems. Just like the WoodBeyond, please refrain from getting those and instead order the ChisCart one that has a better quality build.

I should've maybe linked here just so that you have options, but the Chis cart alone was the best in my personal experience of using it in all of my DS systems.

View attachment 565375View attachment 565376
Click to expand...
Well at least they're actual DSpicos and not just Ace3DS+ clones with a different label. I wouldn't put it past Ali sellers to do that.
 
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rsx said:
Do not update to the latest:

Click to expand...

Stop Bitching about Open Source AND FREE PRODUCTS, you always can go to the Github and collaborate with improvements and report the issues.

Just tell «it is a bad product» will not help anybody.

people are working on the product ON THEIR OWN TIME AND EFFORT.
 
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