Hacking What can I do with a DS Lite? (n00b facing withdrawal)

elevenism

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So I broke my back a few years ago. Now, I am a losing a powerful prescription opiate which I have been prescribed since 2015 and will be sick in bed for some time, VERY sick in fact. I recently got hold of a ds lite and think that a handheld would be a lot of help to keep my mind off the agony of withdrawals.

Now, I have 2 softmodded Wiis, but the last handheld I had was the original game boy, about 28 years ago. I know nothing about modding possibilities when it comes to this handheld.

Is CFW possible? I guess I'm mostly interested in playing backup ds and gba games. Which flashcarts are right for me? Is NES and SNES emulation possible?

I'm currently eying a 208 in 1 cartridge which has a lot of DS games I'd like to play: has anyone had any luck with these?

I'm sure the answers to these questions are already here in the forums and I apologize for not finding them myself. I HAVE been looking, but since I'm new to the handheld mod scene, I'm a little overwhelmed. And the time when the sickness will begin is rapidly approaching.

I will not post a question like this in the future and will do a better job of searching for myself: again, my apologies.

thank you SO much in advance to anyone willing to help me here.
 

Mnecraft368

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I dont recommend going for a multicart (e.g. that 208 games in 1 cart). Instead, go for a flashcart. A basic R4i cart will do. There are NES emulators for them, should be some SNES in there too. You can load them up with as many games as your micro sd card can fit.

Make sure to buy from official sites incase of a clone cart.
 
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tech3475

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You'll want to get a flash cart and I wouldn't bother with those x in 1 carts, bearing in mind GBA games will require additional hardware (either a separate GBA flashcart or IIRC the EZ Flash 3in1).

The closest the DS has to CFW is something like FlashMe but that's very limited when it comes to running games, although still useful e.g. brick protection.

Never tried SNES but NES emulation was good enough for me, you may want something like a PSP or an Android device if you're interested in portable retro emulation besides the DS.
 
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SCOTT0852

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There technically is a CFW for original DSes/lites, but it's pretty pointless nowadays. It's called Flashme, and was only important for booting your Slot 2 DS flashcarts without a Passme.
Personally, I use an R4i Gold 3DS +, which has worked with every game I've tried. Only real problem with it is that it doesn't seem to work with TWLoader or DSiMenu++, but Wood works well enough for me.
 

elevenism

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Thank you guys.
And let me ask: are the multicarts a waste of time because they don't work well, or because the flashcarts are capable of doing the same thing and more?
 

SCOTT0852

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Flashcarts are like multicarts, but you can choose what games you want on them instead of being limited to what's built in. The only downside is you need an SD card to store the games on, but they're getting pretty cheap nowadays.
 

Mnecraft368

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Thank you guys.
And let me ask: are the multicarts a waste of time because they don't work well, or because the flashcarts are capable of doing the same thing and more?
Flashcarts can do the same and more, and multicarts usually have fake versions of games on them, or the same game but with a bad rom hack of it. The larger ones often have duplicates as well.
 

Ryccardo

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Many DS and GBA bootleg games (multicart or not) are in fact flashcards with a non-easily-removable storage; but you won't know what you're getting (and looking at the forums you can see how bad it is already with tens of completely unrelated "R4 something" products) and, well, you would be supporting professional for-profit piracy

And yes, you can run almost every commercial game, plus almost every homebrew - including music and video players, and surprisingly good NES/GB/GBC/PC emulators - on pretty much every flashcard
 
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elevenism

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Personally, I use an R4i Gold 3DS + which has worked with every game I've tried. Only real problem with it is that it doesn't seem to work with TWLoader or DSiMenu++, but Wood works well enough for me.
Alright, so R4i Gold 3DS+, micro sd card, and usb adapter for the computer I assume?
And do I need to put a kernel or anything on the cart or is it already installed?

Edit: nevermind. I've got it from here.

Man, thank you guys SO much for pointing me in the right direction so fast.
it means a lot to me.
 
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Technicmaster0

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Alright, so R4i Gold 3DS+, micro sd card, and usb adapter for the computer I assume?
The card comes with an adapter, so only a micro sd card.

Regarding multi game cards:
today, most DS multi game cards that are sold are ace3ds+ cards with a simple sticker over the microsd slot. The ace3ds+ is a clone of the r4i gold 3ds plus, but the r4i gold has better rom compatibility etc.
 
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The Catboy

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There technically is a CFW for original DSes/lites, but it's pretty pointless nowadays. It's called Flashme, and was only important for booting your Slot 2 DS flashcarts without a Passme.
Personally, I use an R4i Gold 3DS +, which has worked with every game I've tried. Only real problem with it is that it doesn't seem to work with TWLoader or DSiMenu++, but Wood works well enough for me.
Flashme does remove the health and warning screen, so it does trim off some time when booting. That's personally why I used Flashme back in the DS days because I just wanted to go from power on, to flashcart. That aside, I second everything in this post.
 
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The Catboy

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The Catboy

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What about an interpreter like GBARunner2?
They aren't very good and using the saving feature of GBARunner2 does have a risk of corrupting the SD card.
Still the emulation is pretty bad and no where near as good as DSTWO's emulator.
 

Kwyjor

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Which flashcart should I choose for running GBA games on the DS Lite?
I suggest getting a proper Slot-2 cart like the EZFlash IV or the EZ Flash Omega. It might be overkill, but it will save you some hassle – plus it will be handy if you ever decide to switch to a GBA or a Game Boy Player. The EZ Flash 3-in-1 is another option; it's supposed to load games stored on Slot-1 cart, but that can be tricky. (They call it a "3-in-1" since it also includes a RAM expansion and a rumble pack, but those are very rarely used.)
 

elevenism

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Personally, I use an R4i Gold 3DS +, which has worked with every game I've tried.

I ordered from the site you linked and everything has been great!
But i need a couple more of them, and NDS-Card.com is down.
Do you guys know of another place from which i can order the R4i Gold 3DS +, that accepts paypal?


I'm ordering my brother a DS Lite for his birthday, and i've already given my DS Lite to my niece, along with my copy of New SMB, and bought myself another DS. (i just HAD to give it to her. She is 6 and was having so much fun playing it. I just couldn't help it; it was too freaking adorable :P ) Anyway, i'm trying to get and set up an R4i Gold 3DS + for each of them.
 

elevenism

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Word.

Thanks. Unfortunately, that one doesn't ship to my location. It looks like i'm going to have to break down and use a credit card. What do you guys think about this site and card? http://www.digimartz.com/r4i-gold-3ds-plus-support-3dsds-game-and-b9s-installation_p1312.htmla

Edit: Oh, alright. I just noticed the aliexpress link. It doesn't look like they take paypal either though. It's the same card with micro sd reader, right? And do you feel like it's a reasonably safe site to order from?
 
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zfreeman

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You're right, my mistake. I guess it's up to the seller if they want to use Paypal. I have never had any trouble with Aliexpress, but I believe that's completely up to the individual sellers. Honestly, while the R4i Gold 3DS+ is a great cart, R4i gold 3ds RTS is the same cart without NTRboot.

plus1.png

nds-card: [email protected]
"Some people have complained about us, our site is blocked by godaddy, we are trying to fix it.
it should work tomorrow
Thank you very much for your trust and support."
 
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    SylverReZ @ SylverReZ: But I bet that would be more for a flashcart than a consumer repro board.