Hacking 3DS Hack: "We hacked it"

[RukaRoaw]

I just wish there was a hack to get rid of that pesky region lock so that people could play imported games and use other country eShop content..

 

[McHaggis]

Source code aside, I said it once and I'll say it again, the 3DS is quite weak for Android-related purposes. Technically it has just about enough resources to run it, but it would run it poorly. Moreover, there are far better Linux distributions that could be ported to the 3DS - why would you even want Android to begin with when that system is built first and foremost for Smartphones, what the 3DS is not?

Can you clarify your use of the word better? Do you mean it as an objective fact, e.g. better performing, or subjective, e.g. better features? Honestly, I could see Android being infinitely more useful than other Linux operating systems. I mean, it is a gaming machine, after all. I've never really understood the interest in running DS Linux, but I can understand the desire to run Android apps on a 3DS. Logically, I think it makes a lot more sense, I guess I just don't get the hard-on others get for running Linux on everything (I'm happy enough with it on my phone and my PC). Android is designed for handheld devices, the 3DS is a handheld device.

Of course, I'm not disputing your claim that Android wouldn't run very well on the 3DS (although I don't think it would be completely unusable with the 3DS's two cores and separate GPU), but I do wonder if at least a few apps would run if someone were to port Dalvik/Alien Dalvik. There are a lot of android apps out there that use a minimal amount of processing power; port Dalvik, and boom, instant homebrew library.

 

[Foxi4]

Can you clarify your use of the word better? Do you mean it as an objective fact, e.g. better performing, or subjective, e.g. better features? Honestly, I could see Android being infinitely more useful than other Linux operating systems. I mean, it is a gaming machine, after all. I've never really understood the interest in running DS Linux, but I can understand the desire to run Android apps on a 3DS. Logically, I think it makes a lot more sense, I guess I just don't get the hard-on others get for running Linux on everything (I'm happy enough with it on my phone and my PC). Android is designed for handheld devices, the 3DS is a handheld device.

Of course, I'm not disputing your claim that Android wouldn't run very well on the 3DS (although I don't think it would be completely unusable with the 3DS's two cores and separate GPU), but I do wonder if at least a few apps would run if someone were to port Dalvik/Alien Dalvik. There are a lot of android apps out there that use a minimal amount of processing power; port Dalvik, and boom, instant homebrew library.

Android is a system dedicated for smartphones, although there are good Android games out there, none of those would be playable on the 3DS since it doesn't have nearly enough resources to support both the system and the games. On the other hand, there are far more lightweigh Linux distros which would be better suited for the device.

As for the 3DS being *dual cpu* (not dual core) and with a separate GPU, most smartphones these days are dual core and with a dedicated GPU - in fact, we're slowly entering the quad core era of smartphones. The 3DS wouldn't be able to compete - its 250-odd Mhz ARM's wouldn't be able to keep up with the latest and fastest smartphone CPU's for which Android is designed. Sorry to be the party pooper, but the performance would be very poor.

 

[lismati]

I don't really see the point of forcing android on the 3DS. As Foxi said, it would barely run. And even if some apps were usable, why bother, when you probably have a device fully made for this in your pocket - your Android phone. (And I think iOS and Windows count here, there isn't a task you can accomplish only on one of the platforms now)

 

[heartgold]

Android is a system dedicated for smartphones, although there are good Android games out there, none of those would be playable on the 3DS since it doesn't have nearly enough resources to support both the system and the games. On the other hand, there are far more lightweigh Linux distros which would be better suited for the device.

As for the 3DS being *dual cpu* (not dual core) and with a separate GPU, most smartphones these days are dual core and with a dedicated GPU - in fact, we're slowly entering the quad core era of smartphones. The 3DS wouldn't be able to compete - its 250-odd Mhz ARM's wouldn't be able to keep up with the latest and fastest smartphone CPU's for which Android is designed. Sorry to be the party pooper, but the performance would be very poor.

How do you know 3DS's CPU isn't dual core? lol Where's your source.

 

[pwsincd]

My motorola defy phone , has a single core ARM cortex A8 cpu with a powerVR SGX350 GPU and 512 ram , it runs the older android 2.2 perfectly well , so in comparison a 3DS should run similar revs of the android OS equally or even better than the phone . Also they are including the android OS in many devices tablets/e readers etc that arent smartphones , unless you used the term smartphones generically.

 

[McHaggis]

Android is a system dedicated for smartphones, although there are good Android games out there, none of those would be playable on the 3DS since it doesn't have nearly enough resources to support both the system and the games. On the other hand, there are far more lightweigh Linux distros which would be better suited for the device.

As for the 3DS being *dual cpu* (not dual core) and with a separate GPU, most smartphones these days are dual core and with a dedicated GPU - in fact, we're slowly entering the quad core era of smartphones. The 3DS wouldn't be able to compete - its 250-odd Mhz ARM's wouldn't be able to keep up with the latest and fastest smartphone CPU's for which Android is designed. Sorry to be the party pooper, but the performance would be very poor.

Sorry, I meant dual CPU, today has been a long day :-) Android is just an operating system, the first Android device running 1.0 had only a 528MHz single core processor and no dedicated GPU. Bits can be tweaked, chopped and changed and it can be made to run. I'm not saying that you'll be able to install apps and run amazing games on it, but bare minimum apps should work. But I wasn't really arguing that you wouldn't get a good experience from running Android on your 3DS. Just like I don't think you'd get a great experience running Linux on your 3DS, I just don't see the point (maybe someone could enlighten me)?

 

[Snailface]

How do you know 3DS's CPU isn't dual core? lol Where's your source.

Here's his source
<Processor Core ARM11 MPCore 2x 268MHz & 2x VFP Co-Processo>
from http://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Hardware#SoC

silliness snipped

 

[Foxi4]

Sorry, I meant dual CPU, today has been a long day :-) Android is just an operating system, the first Android device running 1.0 had only a 528MHz single core processor and no dedicated GPU. Bits can be tweaked, chopped and changed and it can be made to run. I'm not saying that you'll be able to install apps and run amazing games on it, but bare minimum apps should work. But I wasn't really arguing that you wouldn't get a good experience from running Android on your 3DS. Just like I don't think you'd get a great experience running Linux on your 3DS, I just don't see the point (maybe someone could enlighten me)?

Yeah, the bare minimum setup would likely work, it's just that nobody really wants the bare minimum - if you install an OS, you expect at least some apps to work properly.

How do you know 3DS's CPU isn't dual core? lol Where's your source.

It's a dual-CPU setup, which is beneficial in some cases but less so in others - depends on how often you wish to use CPU-to-CPU communications.

EDIT: Oh? Apparently it's dual-core after all. Well, that's good, I suppose. I was led to believe it was Dual CPU. I'd love to see the thing decapped before "being 100% sure", seeing that the chip is custom-made.

I was basing my post on this article, among others stating the same thing: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/nintendo-3ds-specs-leaked-dual-arm-processors/

 

[McHaggis]

Yeah, the bare minimum setup would likely work, it's just that nobody really wants the bare minimum - if you install an OS, you expect at least some apps to work properly.
It's a dual-CPU setup, which is beneficial in some cases but less so in others - depends on how often you wish to use CPU-to-CPU communications.

That's why I think porting Dalvik would be a better idea. Brushing games aside for a second and thinking about apps that barely use any CPU/GPU/RAM, running official apps like Twitter or Facebook on your 3DS could be somewhat useful, infinitely more useful than an operating system that wasn't built for the device. I bet even some of those terribleresource-friendly "free app of the day" apps from the Amazon store would run

 

[SifJar]

That's why I think porting Dalvik would be a better idea. Brushing games aside for a second and thinking about apps that barely use any CPU/GPU/RAM, running official apps like Twitter or Facebook on your 3DS could be somewhat useful, infinitely more useful than an operating system that wasn't built for the device. I bet even some of those terribleresource-friendly "free app of the day" apps from the Amazon store would run

The "free app of the day" stuff would probably be more complicated to get running than regular apps, as they have extra protections, checking with Amazon that they're allowed to run and stuff like that.

 

[heartgold]

Here's his source
<Processor Core ARM11 MPCore 2x 268MHz & 2x VFP Co-Processo>
from http://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Hardware#SoC

silliness snipped

The fuck? From the same source.

the CPU used is a dual-core ARM11 CPU, clocked at 268MHz. One core is dedicated to system software, while the other is used for application programming, each known as the syscore and appcore, respectively.

Two cores mate.

 

[McHaggis]

The "free app of the day" stuff would probably be more complicated to get running than regular apps, as they have extra protections, checking with Amazon that they're allowed to run and stuff like that.

I didn't know that. Generally, the apps on offer don't seem worth it so I steer clear.

 

[synce]

Well I'm 37 pages late to the party... Have there been any major updates since original post? Is it finally time to buy a 3DS?

 

[SifJar]

I didn't know that. Generally, the apps on offer don't seem worth it so I steer clear.

There were one or two games I grabbed, only to have them bug me about not having an internet connection when trying to run them. (To clarify, I should say I don't have a mobile data plan, so rely on WiFi most of the time, and this was when without WiFi). Doesn't seem to always happen, but it does happen sometimes.

 

[SgtLunatics]

Well I'm 37 pages late to the party... Have there been any major updates since original post? Is it finally time to buy a 3DS?

This. I may buy a 3DS next month anyway but i'd like to import some games from the US.

 

[the_randomizer]

Judging from the hardware, Snes, Genesis/Megadrive, GBA, etc shouldn't have any trouble being emulated.

 

[nukeboy95]

hmm i wonder why this was updated
http://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Title_Data_Structure

 

[the_randomizer]

hmm i wonder why this was updated
http://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Title_Data_Structure

How can you tell if it was updated or not?

 

[nukeboy95]

How can you tell if it was updated or not?

http://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Special:RecentChanges
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