Hacking Clarify how to run homebrew and roms.

[Pher64]

Alright, I am in the process of getting a Nintendo DS Lite, and an Acekard 2.1 to run homebrew and DS Roms.
This is my understanding of how this works, I get the Acekard, put it in the Top slot, and it takes over from there.
It takes care of itself basically right?
And for running the roms, am I right that I would need an Micro SD card and just put the DS Rom files on there, and it would just let me run them?
I'm a bit mixed up over this, and I am sorry if this is in the wrong area of the forums.
Please help,
And thank you.

 

[Rydian]

Yes. You need the "firmware" (operating system / menu) for your cart on the microsd as well, for acekards this consists of an akmenu file and an _aio folder.

Once you have that and choose to start the flash cart (from the DS's menu) it takes over and presents you with menus to browse around the contents of the microsd and choose the game or homebrew file to run.

Games can go anywhere (except in the _aio folder), homebrew is best left in the root (main section, not in a folder) of the card. While some homebrew works fine anywhere, many do not so it's safer to just put them all in the root anyways.

 

[Evo.lve]

Alright, I am in the process of getting a Nintendo DS Lite, and an Acekard 2.1 to run homebrew and DS Roms.
This is my understanding of how this works, I get the Acekard, put it in the Top slot, and it takes over from there.
It takes care of itself basically right?
And for running the roms, am I right that I would need an Micro SD card and just put the DS Rom files on there, and it would just let me run them?
I'm a bit mixed up over this, and I am sorry if this is in the wrong area of the forums.
Please help,
And thank you.

No, you need to pet it every 15 minutes otherwise it gets sad and stops working.

Nah, but seriously, what Rydian said.

Get the _aio and akmenu.nds files off akaio.net

 

[Pher64]

So I just get those files off of the site, and then make a separate files for my games and such?
And those all go on my SD card?
That simple?

 

[Rydian]

Yup.

_aio (folder)
ROMS (or whatever folder you name it where you stick your games)
akmenu4.nds (or whatever)
homebrew_game_1.nds
homebrew_game_1_folder (folder)
homebrew_game_2.nds
homebrew_game_2_folder (folder)

Whatever, too lazy to make it pretty.

 

[mechadylan]

Yup. Just keep in mind that the first time you run a .nds file, a .sav will be created with the same name (except for the extension.) These .sav files are generally only about 512 kb in size. Don't max out your micro sd with so many .nds files that there is no room for .sav files because they will be created anyway and possibly corrupt your micro sd.

 

[Pher64]

Will the firmware and all that come on the card or is that from an external source?

 

[Evo.lve]

Refer to my previous post.

EDIT: Unless you get Premium Flashing for $2 @ ShopTemp.

EDIT 2: Also, you simply must get MoonShell 2 (Google it), it's a media player for flashcarts that can display images, play music, movies, etc.

 

[Pher64]

Sorry, just a big noob about all this, sorry if it is a bit tiring with all these simple questions.

 

[Pher64]

Why would I need moonshell if I just want to use the DS for playing ROMS?

 

[Pher64]

And, I don't need a specific Emulator for DS games? The ROMS will just run off of the SD Card?

 

[Dr.Aqua]

This is obviously a troll... -_-

 

[Pher64]

No, it's just really pathetic.
I am seriously lost, I did mention n00b.. :/
Anyways, if someone can help and explain this all to me, I'd be greatly appreciative.

 

[Sinistral89]

The roms will just work as the flashcart kinda acts like an emulator in some ways.

 

[Sephxus]

Why are you asking random questions? First get the ds lite and the acekard. Then, try things for yourself, and you will notice that most of this stuff is pretty much self-explanatory.

We will help you if you don't get something to work, but first try it yourself.

 

[Rydian]

You don't need moonshell if you're just going to play DS games.

Yes, the DS games just run right off the flash cart.

This is obviously a troll... -_-

So what, you came out of the womb knowing this info?