Homebrew DS(i) NOOB PARADISE - Ask questions here

RocketRobz · Sep 5, 2022

CrimsonRed said:
Hi! I just bought a brand new PAL region DSi XL that I am looking to play the old DS classics on. Some of those classics were never released in Europe and/or are very expensive. A good example is Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace/Red Joker. It is USA/JP only and it costs 500 USD for a sealed copy (Yes, I buy sealed lol). So my only option now from what I understand is to buy an R4/TTDS/DSTwo flashcart or mod my DSi XL.

So I have some questions when it comes to modding:

1. Is it possible to mod my DSi with "hacks" that can be removed later without any risk of bricking the system?

2. Is it possible to run the roms via icons on the vanilla DSi menu, as if the game was downloaded via the DSi Shop?

3. Is it possible to make the roms run natively on the DSi hardware? Is this what the NDS-Bootstrapper is for?

4. How can I do all this with as few 3rd party software as possible? I want as close to a vanilla experience as possible.

5. Is it possible to replace the graphical assets in said hacks/3rd party software? I strongly dislike how Unlaunch looks as an example (no offense to the creator).

6. Does any of the required software need to be installed on the system memory? Is that what SysNAND is? I hear it is quite risky to do that. I would prefer software that only runs on the SD card.

Any feedback/help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

(Please ignore my previous message I wrote it before I made the account, so it was automatically posted when I made my account haha)

Yes. The hacks (aside from Unlaunch, which is optional) are installed to the SD card.
Yes. That requires Unlaunch to be installed, as well as hiyaCFW. I see no point in doing this though, as TWiLight Menu++ already looks pretty much like the DSi Menu.
Yes, the ROMs are run natively with nds-bootstrap.
You can do this with either Nintendo DSi Camera or Flipnote Studio.
Yes. TWiLight Menu++ has a feature to replace the background from Unlaunch.
No. The only thing that's installed to the SysNAND is Unlaunch (which again, is optional).

See this guide to get started: https://dsi.cfw.guide/

CrimsonRed · Sep 5, 2022

RocketRobz said:
Yes. The hacks (aside from Unlaunch, which is optional) are installed to the SD card.

Yes. That requires Unlaunch to be installed, as well as hiyaCFW. I see no point in doing this though, as TWiLight Menu++ already looks pretty much like the DSi Menu.

Yes, the ROMs are run natively with nds-bootstrap.

You can do this with either Nintendo DSi Camera or Flipnote Studio.

Yes. TWiLight Menu++ has a feature to replace the background from Unlaunch.

No. The only thing that's installed to the SysNAND is Unlaunch (which again, is optional).

See this guide to get started:

Oh wow! Not having to use Unlaunch is a big relief! Thank you for you answers, it is very helpful!

TWiLight Menu++

1. Can the graphical assets for TWiLight Menu++ be edited as well? Can the intro be removed, or should the intro be there because the menu is loading? Can I edit the menu theme to look like the vanilla DSi menu?

2. Is there a lighter version of TWiLight Menu++ with only the GBA emulator available?

3. How well does the GBA emulator work? Is it as good as a real GBA or the Wii U Virtual Console?

4. Will DSi Ware run as intended with NDS-Bootstrapper? How about DSi Enhanced games?

5. Does running DS games from the SD Card give equal in-game performance like a DS cartridge would? With performance I mean slow-downs etc. I will use a Class 10 Micro SDHC 32 GB SD card. Would a smaller card be better?

Dumping DS cartridge save files and game data without Unlaunch

6. Is there a way to backup/dump save files from DS cartridges without the use of Unlaunch? GodMode9i requires Unlaunch from what I see.

Again, thank you for your help! It is greatly appreciated!

RocketRobz · Sep 6, 2022

CrimsonRed said:
Oh wow! Not having to use Unlaunch is a big relief! Thank you for you answers, it is very helpful!

TWiLight Menu++

1. Can the graphical assets for TWiLight Menu++ be edited as well? Can the intro be removed, or should the intro be there because the menu is loading? Can I edit the menu theme to look like the vanilla DSi menu?

2. Is there a lighter version of TWiLight Menu++ with only the GBA emulator available?

3. How well does the GBA emulator work? Is it as good as a real GBA or the Wii U Virtual Console?

4. Will DSi Ware run as intended with NDS-Bootstrapper? How about DSi Enhanced games?

5. Does running DS games from the SD Card give equal in-game performance like a DS cartridge would? With performance I mean slow-downs etc. I will use a Class 10 Micro SDHC 32 GB SD card. Would a smaller card be better?

Dumping DS cartridge save files and game data without Unlaunch

6. Is there a way to backup/dump save files from DS cartridges without the use of Unlaunch? GodMode9i requires Unlaunch from what I see.

Again, thank you for your help! It is greatly appreciated!

Yes, they can be edited. Also the intro can be disabled, and the menu gets loaded after it plays. Also, it already looks much like the vanilla DSi Menu.
No, but you can delete the included emulators/apps.
GBARunner2 has some compatibility issues.
Yes, they'll run as intended in DSi mode.
A few games will run with some issue, but most games will work fine. To ensure the game runs at the expected performance, DS mode games up to 8MB are pre-loaded into RAM. If the ROM is larger, the loaded data gets cached into RAM.
Unfortunately, no. Slot-1 access is not available without Unlaunch, because it gets disabled after launching the exploited DSiWare title.

CoolMe · Sep 6, 2022

CrimsonRed said:
Not having to use Unlaunch is a big relief!

It's actually a very useful tool..

CrimsonRed said:
TWiLight Menu++

1. Can the intro be removed, or should the intro be there because the menu is loading?

You mean the splash screen you? also the health & Safety screen? Yes, for both. You can change it in Twilightmenu's settings..

CrimsonRed said:
Can I edit the menu theme to look like the vanilla DSi menu?

TWilightmenu has many themes, you can add more if you want..

CrimsonRed said:
3. How well does the GBA emulator work? Is it as good as a real GBA or the Wii U Virtual Console?

No, it's not that good as it's emulation. Better it's getting better gradually..

CrimsonRed said:
4. Will DSi Ware run as intended with NDS-Bootstrapper? How about DSi Enhanced games?

Yes, DSiWare games run well.

CrimsonRed said:
5. Does running DS games from the SD Card give equal in-game performance like a DS cartridge would? With performance I mean slow-downs etc. I will use a Class 10 Micro SDHC 32 GB SD card. Would a smaller card be better?

I don't think there's much of a difference between the cart and TWilightmenu's speed, apart from the initial game boot up.
The size shouldn't be an issue, just use a newer one that h2test-ed..

CrimsonRed said:
Dumping DS cartridge save files and game data without Unlaunch

6. Is there a way to backup/dump save files from DS cartridges without the use of Unlaunch? GodMode9i requires Unlaunch from what I see.

From what i know you don't need Unlaunch to boot GodMode9i. You can just launch from TWilightmenu..

RocketRobz · Sep 6, 2022

CoolMe said:
From what i know you don't need Unlaunch to boot GodMode9i. You can just launch from TWilightmenu..

While that does work, Slot-1 access isn't available, due to DSiWare disabling it after launch.
Because of that, Unlaunch is required.

jtai94 · Sep 6, 2022

Hello all! I havent touched a DS cart since 2007 and Im trying to get back into some old pokemon games I just found after a decade. Whats the flashcart scene like now? Where should I go to get started on learning how to use them in 2022? Im not trying to do anything fancy, I just want to be able to use some flash some DS Distribution roms to a cart so i can use them to distribute some some legendaries to my old legit games from one DS to another. Is there an idiot proof guide on what cart to buy and what kernel(?) to use so i can jut plop in a rom of my choice and plop the cart into a OG fat DS or 3DS and just use it as mentioned before?

Pk11 · Sep 6, 2022

jtai94 said:
Hello all! I havent touched a DS cart since 2007 and Im trying to get back into some old pokemon games I just found after a decade. Whats the flashcart scene like now? Where should I go to get started on learning how to use them in 2022? Im not trying to do anything fancy, I just want to be able to use some flash some DS Distribution roms to a cart so i can use them to distribute some some legendaries to my old legit games from one DS to another. Is there an idiot proof guide on what cart to buy and what kernel(?) to use so i can jut plop in a rom of my choice and plop the cart into a OG fat DS or 3DS and just use it as mentioned before?

The r/flashcarts quick start guide is good for what's easy to get and recommended at the moment.

On the 3DS you could actually skip getting a flashcard and just install CFW and TWiLight Menu++. A flashcard is still required for the original DS though.

CrimsonRed · Sep 11, 2022

Thank you for you answers!

I have softmodded my PAL DSi XL using the Flipnote Lenny exploit. I only installed Twilight Menu.

Is it possible to return to the Twilight Menu while playing a rom launched with NDS Bootstrap? L + R + D-pad down + B sends me back to Flipnote Studio.

RocketRobz · Sep 11, 2022

CrimsonRed said:
Thank you for you answers!

I have softmodded my PAL DSi XL using the Flipnote Lenny exploit. I only installed Twilight Menu.

Is it possible to return to the Twilight Menu while playing a rom launched with NDS Bootstrap? L + R + D-pad down + B sends me back to Flipnote Studio.

The only way to return to properly return to TWLMenu++ is to install Unlaunch.

Lavender01 · Sep 13, 2022

Can i use wiimfi for animal crossing wild world? I reaaaally want nookingtons, so i need to have people visit my nook store, and i saw a tutorial for connecting to wiimfi via the wifi settinfs but the wiimfi site says i need a patch or whatever so I'm confused

Lavender01 · Sep 13, 2022

CrimsonRed said:
Not having to use Unlaunch is a big relief!

Okay I'm a noob too and i didn't want to install unlaunch either at first, but i did it anyway and I'm glad i did! It has so many benefits, and installing only took 5 seconds and it didn't brick my dsi xl, even though that console has been trough a lot (I've had that thing since i was 7) so, i highly recommended unlaunch! Oh and also, corrrect me if I'm wrong but i think unlaunch also protects the console against bricks!

CrimsonRed said:
Can I edit the menu theme to look like the vanilla DSi menu?

This was my question too but i quickly figured out that it is entirely possible by downloading a theme onto the sd card (i did white yelllow dsi menu) you can also disable the TWL++ intro and enable the normal dsi health and safety screen. On top of that, you can also choose to hide the folder icons (only do that when you're in the folder where you will store roms etc) so yeah

elCerebrain · Sep 13, 2022

Mariposa said:
Can i use wiimfi for animal crossing wild world? I reaaaally want nookingtons, so i need to have people visit my nook store, and i saw a tutorial for connecting to wiimfi via the wifi settinfs but the wiimfi site says i need a patch or whatever so I'm confused

Check in the cheats for the game. Some can be patche that way afaik.

RocketRobz · Sep 13, 2022

Mariposa said:
Can i use wiimfi for animal crossing wild world? I reaaaally want nookingtons, so i need to have people visit my nook store, and i saw a tutorial for connecting to wiimfi via the wifi settinfs but the wiimfi site says i need a patch or whatever so I'm confused

A patch is not required, and the same goes for cheats. Adding the DNS to the DNS settings is enough for Wiimmfi to work.

CrimsonRed · Sep 25, 2022

Mariposa said:
Okay I'm a noob too and i didn't want to install unlaunch either at first, but i did it anyway and I'm glad i did! It has so many benefits, and installing only took 5 seconds and it didn't brick my dsi xl, even though that console has been trough a lot (I've had that thing since i was 7) so, i highly recommended unlaunch! Oh and also, corrrect me if I'm wrong but i think unlaunch also protects the console against bricks!

This was my question too but i quickly figured out that it is entirely possible by downloading a theme onto the sd card (i did white yelllow dsi menu) you can also disable the TWL++ intro and enable the normal dsi health and safety screen. On top of that, you can also choose to hide the folder icons (only do that when you're in the folder where you will store roms etc) so yeah

Sorry for the late response! I bought my DSi XL brand new, so I don't want to risk bricking it. I don't mind the 20 seconds it takes to initiate the Flipnote exploit. So it's good enough for my use.

That's a nice tip! I have too many roms on my SD card though, so I have to use the folders. The DSi menu is limited to only have 39 roms in each folder.

CrimsonRed · Sep 26, 2022

I have some more questions:
1. Is it possible to do the Pokémon mainline games and the Pokémon Ranger series Mystery Gift/Special Online Missions with the roms, or does it only work with game cartridges? (For those who don't know, you can get all of the Mystery Gifts by using an internet setting exploit)

2. Is the GBARunner2 emulator still being worked on? I tried playing Pokémon Emerald and it looks and plays amazing! GBA games look so damn good on a DSi XL. Much better than the Wii U Virtual Console, but the sound... I am using the Flipnote Lenny exploit, so it does not affect the sound in that way, but the some parts of the music in Emerald is very off-pitch. It's very noticeable and off-putting. Will this be fixed in the future?

CoolMe · Sep 26, 2022

CrimsonRed said:
I have some more questions:
1. Is it possible to do the Pokémon mainline games and the Pokémon Ranger series Mystery Gift/Special Online Missions with the roms, or does it only work with game cartridges? (For those who don't know, you can get all of the Mystery Gifts by using an internet setting exploit)

You can download Mystery Gift items & event Pokémons in main-line Pokémon games (all of them) with the Wiimmfi DNS. Not sure about Pokémon Ranger but i'd assume it'd work too..

CrimsonRed said:
2. Is the GBARunner2 emulator still being worked on? I tried playing Pokémon Emerald and it looks and plays amazing! GBA games look so damn good on a DSi XL. Much better than the Wii U Virtual Console, but the sound... I am using the Flipnote Lenny exploit, so it does not affect the sound in that way, but the some parts of the music in Emerald is very off-pitch. It's very noticeable and off-putting. Will this be fixed in the future?

GBARunner2 is an emulator, you just take what you get. It's not perfect, but it's getting better..

Horizon_ · Sep 28, 2022

Hey all, I'm at my wit's end with trying different tools, and hoping I'm missing something simple.

I'm trying to extract sprites out of Age of Empires: Age of Kings DS. Here's what it looks like when you open it in Tinke:

Using Unpack on everything doesn't help, it's just stuck with what seems to be a mess of file fragments. I haven't found a single tool that can make any sense of it, except for a script that extracted all the sounds as wav.

Is there anything I can do to make this usable? Or am I going to have to resort to emulator screenshots?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

Jumping-Jolteon · Oct 5, 2022

Heyo, pretty new to this. I'm having trouble transferring a save from DeSmuME into twilight menu, and I'm wondering if there's a way to do it, and if they're even compatible.

Pk11 · Oct 5, 2022

Jumping-Jolteon said:
Heyo, pretty new to this. I'm having trouble transferring a save from DeSmuME into twilight menu, and I'm wondering if there's a way to do it, and if they're even compatible.

Put the save file in a "saves" folder, with that folder in the same place as the ROM. Ex. for "sd:/roms/DS/Mario Kart DS.nds" it goes in "sd:/roms/DS/saves/Mario Kart DS.sav".

Also, when exporting from DeSmuME it's best to export as a "Raw Save File", though DSV files will work too if you just rename them to .sav instead of .dsv.

Jumping-Jolteon · Oct 5, 2022

Pk11 said:
Put the save file in a "saves" folder, with that folder in the same place as the ROM. Ex. for "sd:/roms/DS/Mario Kart DS.nds" it goes in "sd:/roms/DS/saves/Mario Kart DS.sav".

Also, when exporting from DeSmuME it's best to export as a "Raw Save File", though DSV files will work too if you just rename them to .sav instead of .dsv.

Yeah, that's the first thing I tried. It keeps ignoring my save file and making a new one.

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