Help needed with installing Pokemon ROM hack for DSi

Pokejay9595 · Sunday at 3:00 AM

I'm trying to install Pokémon Sword + Shield Ultimate Plus (a ROM hack of Pokémon Fire Red) onto my DSi, but even though I'm following the guide on GitHub, whenever I boot it up in GBARunner2 on my DSi XL, it just greets me with a white screen. I'm sure I'm installing the right patch and using the right version, and it boots on mGBA emulator, but it won't work on my DSi. I've heard people have played it on a DS, so can somebody help me out?

RafaelNavarroDC · 2026-06-10T02:50:26+0100

Pokejay9595 said:
I'm trying to install Pokémon Sword + Shield Ultimate Plus (a ROM hack of Pokémon Fire Red) onto my DSi, but even though I'm following the guide on GitHub, whenever I boot it up in GBARunner2 on my DSi XL, it just greets me with a white screen. I'm sure I'm installing the right patch and using the right version, and it boots on mGBA emulator, but it won't work on my DSi. I've heard people have played it on a DS, so can somebody help me out?

The truth is that the Nintendo DS system doesn't have enough power to run hackroms, especially Pokemon.
It's not that you patched it incorrectly, the console simply can't run it.
One that did work for me is Pokémon Team Rocket; it has 3 regions and a bit more extra content.
I forgot to mention that this only happens with GBA ROM hacks, because GB/GBC ROM hacks run perfectly fine, like Pokémon Prisma.
The NDS ROM hacks also run perfectly.

k66 · 2026-06-10T04:06:15+0100

RafaelNavarroDC said:
The truth is that the Nintendo DS system doesn't have enough power to run hackroms, especially Pokemon.
It's not that you patched it incorrectly, the console simply can't run it.
One that did work for me is Pokémon Team Rocket; it has 3 regions and a bit more extra content.
I forgot to mention that this only happens with GBA ROM hacks, because GB/GBC ROM hacks run perfectly fine, like Pokémon Prisma.
The NDS ROM hacks also run perfectly.

No, the DSi has enough performance to play GBA ROM hacks.
There is a very famous Pokemon ROM hack in China called '漆黑的魅影' (Pokemon Ebonyphantom), the DSi can play it with GBARunner2, and it works very well.

TeamObsidian · 2026-06-10T06:38:55+0100

I heard GBARunner2 tends to be pretty hit-or-miss when it comes to rom hacks, maybe check out GBARunner3 or another emulator if you can get it working?

Pokejay9595 · 2026-06-10T16:50:34+0100

RafaelNavarroDC, k66, and TeamObsidian, thanks for the help! I got Pokemon GarbageGold to run on my dsi, but the gba roms haven't been working for me (except for Pokemon Ultra Violet), so your statement makes total sense. I might try Pokemon Ebonyphantom, sounds fun! I'll definitely give GBARunner 3 a shot!

k66 · 2026-06-10T17:36:35+0100

I tried using GBARunner2 and it works. (I only tested for a little while)
Rom: Pokemon - FireRed Version (USA, Europe) (Rev 1)
Patch: Sword and Shield Ultimate Plus English v1.2.1.2 FireRed (USA, Europe) (Rev1)
Casual and Performance Patches are not installed.
This ROM hack has severe frame rate drops and graphics error.
(Even after installing Performance patch, I can only say the optimization is very bad.)

If you start the game and get a white screen:
copy GBARunner2_arm7dldi_dsi.nds to the SDcard root, and start GBARunner2 from there.

Help needed with installing Pokemon ROM hack for DSi

Active Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads

Popular threads in this forum