Hacking 3DS Emulates the DS

[Dionysus]

Maybe the 3DS emulates the DS and therefore can only run that DS application at that time, and as it requires quite a bit of RAM it cannot run another app simultaneously. Another reason could be also that when running a DS game on the 3DS the upper screen is a slightly 'off' and pixelated even when readjusted with the start and select before boot up of the DS game.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9zMIs5-SZI...&lf=mh_lolz

Please watch in HD if able to, really makes a difference.

 

[machomuu]

I doubt it's powerful enough. Emulation takes a lot of power. Power I suspect the 3DS doesn't have.

 

[Dionysus]

I doubt it's powerful enough. Emulation takes a lot of power. Power I suspect the 3DS doesn't have.

Objection!

2 GB NAND flash memory, PICA200 graphics processor as well as a 128 MB FCRAM well exceeding the dsi at only a measly 16MB. I'm pretty sure the 3DS can run a DS game of an emulator from these specs.

 

[granville]

3DS was found to use an ARM11 cpu (apparently a dual core). From what i've heard, ARM11 is capable of running ARM9 code. So the ARM9 cpu wouldn't need to be emulated. ARM7 i don't know about. Would it be possible to run the ARM9 code natively but emulate the ARM7 code (and properly sync the two)?

If this is pure emulation (which i doubt), it's damn good. I never noticed anything "off" about the screen played in the smaller sized mode.

I might also suspect it's not being emulated because of the battery life. DS games drain the 3DS' battery far less than 3DS games from my experience. If they were being emulated, they would probably drain it in the same amount of time as regular 3DS games, emulation would require the full use of the CPU to run properly.

@blazergamer93

The flash memory doesn't really have any relevance, that's just storage. The rest could be a possibility, if they had the ability to make use of the GPU.

 

[Dionysus]

3DS was found to use an ARM11 cpu (apparently a dual core). From what i've heard, ARM11 is capable of running ARM9 code. So the ARM9 cpu wouldn't need to be emulated. ARM7 i don't know about. Would it be possible to run the ARM9 code natively but emulate the ARM7 code (and properly sync the two).

If this is pure emulation (which i doubt), it's damn good. I never noticed anything "off" about the screen played in the smaller sized mode.

I might also suspect it's not being emulated because of the battery life. DS games drain the 3DS' battery far less than 3DS games from my experience. If they were being emulated, they would probably drain it in the same amount of time as regular 3DS games, emulation would require the full use of the CPU to run properly.

thank you sir, you answer seems valid enough with reason so I'm just gonna go with it. As you said DS games don't drain the battery life as much as 3DS games plus it would require a lot of battery if emulated.

 

[habababa]

From what I've read, ARMv6 and higher architectures have hardware supported virtualization.ARM implemented this feature starting 2010, for dynamic binary translation of code intended to run on architectures v5 and lower.

It must be dbt and not just simple emulation.

 

[Alexrose]

I'll bet you anything it's a hypervisor. Disables the features that an original 3DS didn't have, much like running GC mode via MIOS on Wii. I doubt Ninty would do any differently.

Plus, DS emulation? Sure. As a rule of thumb to get emulation working efficiently you need 8x the processing power. Of course, this is variable depending on architecture, since their chipsets will have the same basis. Still, emulation just seems like a huge no-no (especially considering the unfaltering quality of play).

 

[spinal_cord]

Can people please stop using 'GFX quality' as proof of anything. It proves only that the 3DS has a higher resolution screen, nothing else. The reason the games don't look stretched or washed out on a DSiXL is because the screen has the same number of pixels there is no stretching involved.
If you run a DS game in native resolution on the 3DS (hold Select/Start while loading), it look excellent.

 

[rickdgray]

I'll bet you anything it's a hypervisor. Disables the features that an original 3DS didn't have, much like running GC mode via MIOS on Wii. I doubt Ninty would do any differently.

Plus, DS emulation? Sure. As a rule of thumb to get emulation working efficiently you need 8x the processing power. Of course, this is variable depending on architecture, since their chipsets will have the same basis. Still, emulation just seems like a huge no-no (especially considering the unfaltering quality of play).

Ditto

 

[SDODC13]

Can people please stop using 'GFX quality' as proof of anything. It proves only that the 3DS has a higher resolution screen, nothing else. The reason the games don't look stretched or washed out on a DSiXL is because the screen has the same number of pixels there is no stretching involved.
If you run a DS game in native resolution on the 3DS (hold Select/Start while loading), it look excellent.

Correct me if I'm wrong but couldnt they have had the native resolution "less small" on the screen while keeping the same pixel ratio? I mean in terms of pixels, whats the difference between the ds line and the 3ds?

 

[Thesolcity]

Can people please stop using 'GFX quality' as proof of anything. It proves only that the 3DS has a higher resolution screen, nothing else. The reason the games don't look stretched or washed out on a DSiXL is because the screen has the same number of pixels there is no stretching involved.
If you run a DS game in native resolution on the 3DS (hold Select/Start while loading), it look excellent.

Correct me if I'm wrong but couldnt they have had the native resolution "less small" on the screen while keeping the same pixel ratio? I mean in terms of pixels, whats the difference between the ds line and the 3ds?

3DS: 800×240 pixels

DS: 256 × 192 pixels


You can't stretch it over a higher resolution ratio without making it look bad, the DSi XL kept the same ratio which is why the games looked good still. The 3DS does NOT keep the same ratio, so nds games look like crap until you force the native resolution with start+select.

 

[SDODC13]

Makes sense.

 

[spinal_cord]

Can people please stop using 'GFX quality' as proof of anything. It proves only that the 3DS has a higher resolution screen, nothing else. The reason the games don't look stretched or washed out on a DSiXL is because the screen has the same number of pixels there is no stretching involved.
If you run a DS game in native resolution on the 3DS (hold Select/Start while loading), it look excellent.

Correct me if I'm wrong but couldnt they have had the native resolution "less small" on the screen while keeping the same pixel ratio? I mean in terms of pixels, whats the difference between the ds line and the 3ds?

DS/i/XL = 256x192 = All 3 systems have exactly the same number of pixel on the screen, the individual pixels are different sizes, thats why the screens are different sizes.
3DS = 320x240 + 800x240 = each 3DS pixel is 1.25 of the DS pixels. There is absolutely no way to stretch the screen and keep the pixels looking correct. To get a correct pixel resize, the screen must be an exact duplicate, the next largest screen from the DS would have to be 512x384, which is a lot larger than the 3DS screen.

 

[DiscostewSM]

Can people please stop using 'GFX quality' as proof of anything. It proves only that the 3DS has a higher resolution screen, nothing else. The reason the games don't look stretched or washed out on a DSiXL is because the screen has the same number of pixels there is no stretching involved.
If you run a DS game in native resolution on the 3DS (hold Select/Start while loading), it look excellent.

Correct me if I'm wrong but couldnt they have had the native resolution "less small" on the screen while keeping the same pixel ratio? I mean in terms of pixels, whats the difference between the ds line and the 3ds?

3DS: 800×240 pixels

DS: 256 × 192 pixels


You can't stretch it over a higher resolution ratio without making it look bad, the DSi XL kept the same ratio which is why the games looked good still. The 3DS does NOT keep the same ratio, so nds games look like crap until you force the native resolution with start+select.

It is the same (aspect) ratio, just not the same resolution.

 

[Keylogger]

The 3DS does NOT keep the same ratio, so nds games look like crap until you force the native resolution with start+select.

Only select button is needed to force native resolution.