Hi everyone! I’m Rich from VideoGameMore, and I’ve released DSPico QuickReturn, a free, open-source community fork of LNH-team’s Pico Loader.
I love using DSPico, but rebooting my DS every time I wanted to switch games got old. So I built a return-to-menu hotkey: hold L + R + Down + Select for approximately half a second to return from a game to the Pico menu, ready to launch another.
Watch the installation walkthrough and see QuickReturn working on my DS Lite:
The video covers installation, demonstrates the return hotkey, and explains some of the trial and error behind the project.
Downloads and source
Project:
https://github.com/VideoGameMore/pico-loader/releases/latest
The release includes installation instructions, source code, a detailed technical writeup, and a full SD-card software package for setting up the loader and launcher on DSPico. Games are not included.
Preorder Games
If you already have a working DSPico installation, the hotkey update requires replacing picoLoader7.bin and picoLoader9.bin. Back up your existing files first and follow the release instructions.
Testing and known limitations
My hardware testing has been on a Nintendo DS Lite with DSPico. I’ve tested successful returns with several games, including returning to a usable Pico menu and launching another game afterward.
Other console models, DSi modes, and other flashcarts have not been validated. I plan to expand hardware testing once I’m satisfied with stability and compatibility on the DS Lite.
Please save your progress in-game before returning. The hotkey does not save for you.
The return request is handled at supported wait or card-read points, so timing can vary. Some games may require a screen transition or entry into gameplay before returning. This is not a claim of compatibility with the entire DS library.
How I got it working
This took many numbered builds and tests on real hardware. Early versions ignored the hotkey, froze at white screens, or produced graphical corruption during return attempts.
I added patch-memory diagnostics to help identify allocation failures. Some games had enough free space overall, but no individual block large enough for the patch. I split the return code into smaller, independently placed pieces, corrected an alignment issue, and made an older reset redirect optional when its allocations couldn’t fit.
Another challenge was restoring the launcher with working storage access. The return path preserves the storage driver and launcher information, coordinates the ARM7/ARM9 handoff, and stops ARM9 DMA before repurposing video memory. The final breakthrough was ensuring loader storage reads happened after card ownership transferred.
I used Codex to help develop and debug the changes, then tested the builds on my DS Lite. The technical writeup and numbered development log document the experiments, fixes, and testing limits.
Credit to the original project
Huge thanks to LNH-team and the original Pico Loader contributors. Their open-source work provided the foundation for this project.
QuickReturn is my community fork, not an official LNH-team release.
Original Pico Loader:
https://github.com/LNH-team/pico-loader
Help test it
If you give QuickReturn a try, please share:
Thanks for checking it out! I share retro repairs, mods, and projects like this on YouTube as @VideoGameMore.
Rich
VideoGameMore
I love using DSPico, but rebooting my DS every time I wanted to switch games got old. So I built a return-to-menu hotkey: hold L + R + Down + Select for approximately half a second to return from a game to the Pico menu, ready to launch another.
Watch the installation walkthrough and see QuickReturn working on my DS Lite:
The video covers installation, demonstrates the return hotkey, and explains some of the trial and error behind the project.
Downloads and source
Project:
https://github.com/VideoGameMore/pico-loader/releases/latest
The release includes installation instructions, source code, a detailed technical writeup, and a full SD-card software package for setting up the loader and launcher on DSPico. Games are not included.
Preorder Games
If you already have a working DSPico installation, the hotkey update requires replacing picoLoader7.bin and picoLoader9.bin. Back up your existing files first and follow the release instructions.
Testing and known limitations
My hardware testing has been on a Nintendo DS Lite with DSPico. I’ve tested successful returns with several games, including returning to a usable Pico menu and launching another game afterward.
Other console models, DSi modes, and other flashcarts have not been validated. I plan to expand hardware testing once I’m satisfied with stability and compatibility on the DS Lite.
Please save your progress in-game before returning. The hotkey does not save for you.
The return request is handled at supported wait or card-read points, so timing can vary. Some games may require a screen transition or entry into gameplay before returning. This is not a claim of compatibility with the entire DS library.
How I got it working
This took many numbered builds and tests on real hardware. Early versions ignored the hotkey, froze at white screens, or produced graphical corruption during return attempts.
I added patch-memory diagnostics to help identify allocation failures. Some games had enough free space overall, but no individual block large enough for the patch. I split the return code into smaller, independently placed pieces, corrected an alignment issue, and made an older reset redirect optional when its allocations couldn’t fit.
Another challenge was restoring the launcher with working storage access. The return path preserves the storage driver and launcher information, coordinates the ARM7/ARM9 handoff, and stops ARM9 DMA before repurposing video memory. The final breakthrough was ensuring loader storage reads happened after card ownership transferred.
I used Codex to help develop and debug the changes, then tested the builds on my DS Lite. The technical writeup and numbered development log document the experiments, fixes, and testing limits.
Credit to the original project
Huge thanks to LNH-team and the original Pico Loader contributors. Their open-source work provided the foundation for this project.
QuickReturn is my community fork, not an official LNH-team release.
Original Pico Loader:
https://github.com/LNH-team/pico-loader
Help test it
If you give QuickReturn a try, please share:
- Your console model and build number
- Game title and region
- Whether you used the hotkey at a menu or during gameplay
- Whether Pico returned successfully and you could launch another game
Thanks for checking it out! I share retro repairs, mods, and projects like this on YouTube as @VideoGameMore.
Rich
VideoGameMore
Last edited by VideoGameMore,
