Hacking About to get into the whole flashcart deal

[MegaManXis]

I'm getting a DSLite for Christmas, due to the 3DS not being available for Christmas. If it matters, I plan on getting the Red DSLite. I need help with the whole flashcart deal. I have no idea where to begin and was wondering if some "pros" could help me out. The only game I really want to play are the Pokemon Black/White games. I already started them on Desmume, so I want a flashcart that will allow me to transfer my ROM and save. Any help/comments?

 

[basher11]

if you have the money, get the SCDS2.
if you want to save some cash, get a acekard 2i.

there's other ones that work as well, but i don't know which ones.

as for the rom and save, just drag the rom to your SD card and convert the save file to the proper format.

 

[MegaManXis]

Thanks for the reply. Could I have a link to those two carts?
Also, I'd like to get the biggest size memory stick available for the carts. I know about microSD but I've been hearing some things about SDHC or something like that.

 

[Rydian]

SDHC refers to any card 4GB or larger. Both the SC DS2 and the AK2i support SDHC.

8GB is enough to hold ~90+ games.

http://shoptemp.com/products/Acekard-2i-Ca...e-DSi-p-30.html
http://shoptemp.com/products/Supercard-DST...e-DSi-p-97.html

Shoptemp is this site's partner shop, it's safe and recommended.
If you order the "premium flashing + update" service as well (shows up when you bundle with a microsd card) it'll come to you already set up.

 

[MegaManXis]

Are all flashcarts essentially the same?

 

[basher11]

not exactly. all flashcarts use different firmwares, unless it's a clone card.

 

[MegaManXis]

Ok, the Super Card DS Two is the one I'll get. So, I have ROMS for games and I'll change my Desmume save into a .sav file. I know about ISOs for PSP and putting them on my PSP is easy. Is this flashcart thing a similar situation?

 

[0ddity]

Not really. They all have differing support for games because they have different teams working on the firmware. SCDS2 is different, and supports almost 100% of games because it has a dedicated CPU on board and an active official team. This also allows it to run a GBA emulator without a slot 2 solution, as well as future support for playing AVI. Acekard has a very good community made firmware that also has a very high compatibility called AKAIO. Other cards, like the R4 and it's 1:1 clones, can run another community made firmware called Wood, which has good compatibilty as well, but these carts don't support SDHC, so you can only have micro sd cards up to 2GB. The "upgraded" R4 carts like R4i and R4 SDHC support higher capacity cards but can't run Wood firmware, and generally have poor official support. They can run YSmenu, another alternative firmware that can run on other carts that no longer have official support like DSTT, which has higher compatibilty then the official firmware for these cards, but generally not much support for newer games, and updates have become undependable for it.

edit:
its easy to install games, just insert the micro sd card into your computer with an appropriate usb/sd adapter, and drag and drop onto the card.

 

[Rydian]

Are all flashcarts essentially the same?

No. In general there's four categories.

1 - Old/clone cards. Do not get these, they will not play new games without a lot of hassle (or at all) and are in general a headache. This includes pretty much anything with "R4" in the title other than the original R4. Anything like "R4 Upgrade", "R4-Gold", anything like that is a clone. Do not want. Ever. Period.

2 - Old cards that still get third-party support... like the ORIGINAL R4, with it's Wood R4 firmware. This gets updates, lets you play the latest games, and is simple. However the original R4 only works in a DS/Lite, and doesn't support SDHC. Because of these limitations and it's age, you can get one for like $6 if you don't mind.

3 - More modern cards that still get support. Right now the main one is the Acekard 2i (there were others but they seem to be dying off). This gets updates, plays games, works on a DSi, lets you update stuff wirelessly (including cheats sometimes), works with SDHC, and is generally the card to get if you just want to play DS games and don't like the R4's limits. This is a "mid-range" card (and a very popular one at that) and can be had for about $16.

4 - "Beefy" cards, these have their own onboard processor/RAM so they can do a lot more than normal cards. This include cards like the EX4i, Supercard DSTwo, iPlayer, and maybe others. Generally the Supercard DSTwo is considered the best, as the iPlayer doesn't play commercial ROMs, the EX4i is "rough" and a bit behind, and others seem to be clones. The DSTwo can do much more than other cards, it's got a better SNES emulator, can update itself internally, can play GBA games natively or any DS system (including the DSi, other cards need extra hardware even on the DS/Lite), and a bunch of other stuff thanks to it's onboard processing power... but this is why it's the more expensive cart at about $35.

Jebus I need to make a copy-paste for this sometime...

 

[Rydian]

Ok, the Super Card DS Two is the one I'll get. So, I have ROMS for games and I'll change my Desmume save into a .sav file. I know about ISOs for PSP and putting them on my PSP is easy. Is this flashcart thing a similar situation?

Yes. Stick an .nds file anywhere on your flash cart (except in the firmware folder!) and you can run it. People like to organize their folders differently (or not at all), the card lets you browse for files to run.

 

[MegaManXis]

Not really. They all have differing support for games because they have different teams working on the firmware. SCDS2 is different, and supports almost 100% of games because it has a dedicated CPU on board and an active official team. This also allows it to run a GBA emulator without a slot 2 solution, as well as future support for playing AVI. Acekard has a very good community made firmware that also has a very high compatibility called AKAIO. Other cards, like the R4 and it's 1:1 clones, can run another community made firmware called Wood, which has good compatibilty as well, but these carts don't support SDHC, so you can only have micro sd cards up to 2GB. The "upgraded" R4 carts like R4i and R4 SDHC support higher capacity cards but can't run Wood firmware, and generally have poor official support. They can run YSmenu, another alternative firmware that can run on other carts that no longer have official support like DSTT, which has higher compatibilty then the official firmware for these cards, but generally not much support for newer games, and updates have become undependable for it.

It seems like SCDS2 is the best one then. Do I have to download firmware updates for it? If so, where are they?

I hope this is easier than the PSP situation. Is it as simple as putting the cart in and playing? No flashing custom firmware?

 

[MegaManXis]

Does that whole bundle pack come with an adapter or would I need to purchase one separately?

 

[Rydian]

Yes, SCDS2 is generally regarded as the best cart right now.

If you don't order the flashing service then you will have to download the firmware yourself (and you'll do it yourself when there's updates anyways). You download it from the card's site and put it on your microsd/sdhc card. Yes, you just put it in and play, no actual flashing needed. As you can see from the pictures, the DS2 does come with the adapter you need.

Yes, it really is that easy. People often mock Nintendo for not having great protection.

 

[MegaManXis]

Thank you for all the responses and help. Should I run into any problems come Christmas, I'll post back in this thread. Once again, thank you for all the replies.