Hacking Completly Lost

[otomon]

I recently got this...thing for NDS and I have no idea what to do with it,it has 2 parts,one goes in the port 2 and the other one goes in port 1,it has this on the card "DSGBA" and below that it says "N-CARD"

I have no idea how to use this,at first I tougth it was an N-card but I draged and droped some Roms,when I try to run any of the games it says "FAT Cluster must > 16k byte! Please reformat card!",once I do reformat it gives me this error "Dsystem not found",I have no idea what Dsystem is..im guessing its a folder so I make a new folder and I start it again with uuploaded roms,it gives the same "FAT Cluster must > 16k byte! Please reformat card!" error...So Im stuck in this cycle...can anyone help me?

 

[leinad]

Hm, here a (I hope...) newbie friendly N-Card info~

The Slot 1 Card (Thats what goes into the DS Cartridge - the smaler one) is the think you need to play. There is a chip inside wich stores all files.

The Slot 2 Card (The old GBA-Format card) - This card you only need to Copy Files to the Chip in the Slot 1 Card.
So when you are playing, there is no need to have it in the Slot.


- - -

Now to your Problem:
Hmm, I dont know this error , but first, try to fully format your card (Insert Slot 1&2 Card, Press L+R+Select+START+UP during starting until it starts to format)
After that, update your Firmware to one of the newer one (since DSystem folder isn't creating by itself with all the files, I guess that you're using one of the older)
here you can find a guide: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=61977

 

[otomon]

Hm, here a (I hope...) newbie friendly N-Card info~

The Slot 1 Card (Thats what goes into the DS Cartridge - the smaler one) is the think you need to play. There is a chip inside wich stores all files.

The Slot 2 Card (The old GBA-Format card) - This card you only need to Copy Files to the Chip in the Slot 1 Card.
So when you are playing, there is no need to have it in the Slot.


- - -

Now to your Problem:
Hmm, I dont know this error , but first, try to fully format your card (Insert Slot 1&2 Card, Press L+R+Select+START+UP during starting until it starts to format)
After that, update your Firmware to one of the newer one (since DSystem folder isn't creating by itself with all the files, I guess that you're using one of the older)
here you can find a guide: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=61977

You dont understand man...pressing that combo does nothing..if I have a usb cable while starting the DS it goes into USB mode and then I format by rigth-clicking the icon and selecting quick format,if I dont have the usb cable connected it just goes to the menu where the roms are suposed to be loaded from,but like I said pressing L+R+Select+START+UP does nothing at all! I mean..am I suposed to hold the keys? I tried that... am I suposed to press them 1 by 1...I also tried that and nothing happens!

 

[leinad]

Did you Formated your Card by windows o0 ??? |- NEVER format your card with windows again =x it will just slow it down and / or damage it -|

When you are starting your DS, there should be a Health Info Screen on smth. like that (dunno how its named in english...) press the key combo when you see this screen and hold it.
Then it should work.

 

[otomon]

Did you Formated your Card by windows o0 ??? |- NEVER format your card with windows again =x it will just slow it down and / or damage it -|

When you are starting your DS, there should be a Health Info Screen on smth. like that (dunno how its named in english...) press the key combo when you see this screen and hold it.
Then it should work.

There is no Health Info Screen its takes me directly to the rom list,oh and when I use the USB it just says "Loading USB" or something along those lines...If I press the combo while the "Loading USB" messages shows up..the texts flashes many colors until it stays on green,if I press nothing the text stays on blue.

 

[Porkdish]

Your DS is in auto start mode. That means it tries to boot the slot 1 card without loading the Nintendo DS menu.

This makes it impossible to format via key combo and impossible to update.

Take all the cards OUT of the DS and turn it on, then open the config option at the bottom-middle of the NDS default menu. Pick the spanner icon, and then the top arrow pointing to an open rectangle icon (boot options).

Make sure the DS is in Manual boot mode.

Now put BOTH slot 1 card and USB dongle into the DS, hold DOWN (direction) on the D-PAD while you turn on the device.

Still holding DOWN, the health and saftey screen will appear.

Now add L + R + B and at the DS Menu also add A

(so you should be holding DOWN+L+R+B+A at this point)

Pressing A last selects the Slot 1 card and the combo should kick in the quick format process *

* I believe the format combos are standard now but there's a slight chance the combo is different depending on the firmware already on your card.

 

[otomon]

Your DS is in auto start mode. That means it tries to boot the slot 1 card without loading the Nintendo DS menu.

This makes it impossible to format via key combo and impossible to update.

Take all the cards OUT of the DS and turn it on, then open the config option at the bottom-middle of the NDS default menu. Pick the spanner icon, and then the top arrow pointing to an open rectangle icon (boot options).

Make sure the DS is in Manual boot mode.

Now put BOTH slot 1 card and USB dongle into the DS, hold DOWN (direction) on the D-PAD while you turn on the device.

Still holding DOWN, the health and saftey screen will appear.

Now add L + R + B and at the DS Menu also add A

(so you should be holding DOWN+L+R+B+A at this point)

Pressing A last selects the Slot 1 card and the combo should kick in the quick format process *

* I believe the format combos are standard now but there's a slight chance the combo is different depending on the firmware already on your card.

K I set the DS to manual mode...and when I start the DS while pressiong down in this mode.. it just takes me to the NDS default menu(its highliting the DS Firewire),if I press the rest of the keys it just open the N-Card menu....

EDIT:I got the hang of formatting but...when I go on "upgrade mode" my pc shows that I have my ds connected but when I click on it,it says "Insert disc to H"..I dont get it. I can only copy files when in usb mode...but then if i cant acess the files while in upgrade mode how am i suposed to upgrade?

BTW It is suposed to say "USB SAFE BLOCK D14(ADDR5) on my ds when in upgrade mode rigth?

 

[Porkdish]

Ok. I'm assuming you have seen the black screen with the white text showing a percentage (%) - meaning the ncard has been self formatted.

Then you used another key combo to enter upgrade mode (safe block yadda yadda yadda - red text on white background).

That upgrade mode is to be used when the NDS is hooked up via usb cable to your PC - it is ONLY for upgrading via ONE of the two possible methods.

Firmware can come in two types. One, comes in .NDS rom format. You put your n-card in USB mode like you have before, not upgrade mode. Copy the firmware .nds over and run it like you would any rom or homebrew from xmenu.

The firmware type that upgrade mode is for is a bunch of files with a .bat file included. Typically its named "NAND_ALL.bat". You hook your NDS up to your pc, hit the key combo to get to the red text on white background. Then run the bat file from your PC. You do NOT open the NDS/N-card via 'My Computer' or anything. Just run the NAND_ALL.bat (from anywhere on your PC) and if it works, you should see a message in the bat file window to press any key to close... or similar.

After this, off the DS then power it up with the FORMAT key combo again. Once this is done, OFF/ON and pick the menu option (not usb) to auto-generate the DSYSTEM folder on your card. Off the NDS and On again, this time choose USB mode. Windows should mount it (if you have trouble mounting, try restarting windows) and you can now copy your roms/homebrew.

 

[otomon]

Well I finally got it to work thanks to you! Your my hero man!
Just one final question...how do I know what type of "save" each game uses?

 

[leinad]

If you're using one of the latest firmwares there should be "AUTO" selectable~
Or you can get the latest SaveSDB here: http://www.superdslink.com/

Just the "nc_savetype" zip file.
There is a SAVETYPE.SDB file in, this you must copy to your DSystem folder.
But I would prefer to make a backup of your old one, if somethink is wrong with the file it will be no problem to rechange it...

--

Or you can do it in the old way and try it out...
(There are just 3 Possible save types, its not to much to change it for some games (the most games are already set correct btw...) )

 

[paul1991]

Holding down start+select whle booting does the same thing as removing all carts.

 

[otomon]

If you're using one of the latest firmwares there should be "AUTO" selectable~
Or you can get the latest SaveSDB here: http://www.superdslink.com/

Just the "nc_savetype" zip file.
There is a SAVETYPE.SDB file in, this you must copy to your DSystem folder.
But I would prefer to make a backup of your old one, if somethink is wrong with the file it will be no problem to rechange it...

--

Or you can do it in the old way and try it out...
(There are just 3 Possible save types, its not to much to change it for some games (the most games are already set correct btw...) )

Is Auto good enough? I keep hearing about people having problems with games like Zelda.

 

[leinad]

Zelda has a new Save Type (4Mbit...) but it's the only 4mbit Save-Game for now. I've player over hundret different games until now, and the only games for which I had to change save type manualy only were Zelda and 2 Other games - Yes it's good ;D
And Homebrew must be set to EEPROM 64/512Kbit - Auto doesnt works for homebrew~

 

[otomon]

Zelda has a new Save Type (4Mbit...) but it's the only 4mbit Save-Game for now. I've player over hundret different games until now, and the only games for which I had to change save type manualy only were Zelda and 2 Other games - Yes it's good ;D
And Homebrew must be set to EEPROM 64/512Kbit - Auto doesnt works for homebrew~

Is there some sort of list to tell me which games settings are required changing? I dont wanna [email protected]#$ it up...