Gaming Does the DS Lite have any hardware revisions?

[AnotherMuggle]

Does anyone know if the DS Lite had any hardware revisions... or is any DS Lite a candidate donor for another?

Thanks

 

[Valery0p]

I remember reading about different firmware versions, that you could check by entering a pictochat room, removing the cartridge from the slot and search up for the color code displayed to know what revision do you have, but I don't have any first hand experience

 

[AnotherMuggle]

I remember reading about different firmware versions, that you could check by entering a pictochat room, removing the cartridge from the slot and search up for the color code displayed to know what revision do you have, but I don't have any first hand experience

That sounds interesting enough that I may investigate out of curiosity!

 

[Valery0p]

Ok, I've found the source https://web.archive.org/web/20151101030145/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_homebrew
It's a pretty old article, and it's not on the current page...

 

[Lumstar]

Chinese and Korean versions have different firmware language options.
iQue DS games are region locked, but roms can be patched to get around that.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

Ok, I've found the source https://web.archive.org/web/20151101030145/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_homebrew
It's a pretty old article, and it's not on the current page...

Thanks!

Chinese and Korean versions have different firmware language options.
iQue DS games are region locked, but roms can be patched to get around that.

Thanks too!

I wonder if the firmware revisions represent any changes to the actual hardware, or if any physical parts can be moved from one system to another.

 

[ZoNtendo]

https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-how-to-check-your-firmware-version-on-ds-ds-lite.456211/

You also have this tutorial

 

[KleinesSinchen]

https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-how-to-check-your-firmware-version-on-ds-ds-lite.456211/

You also have this tutorial

That thread was interesting to read. Thanks.

I wonder if the firmware revisions represent any changes to the actual hardware, or if any physical parts can be moved from one system to another.

Refer to the thread above. It explains a bit: There seems to be a real hardware revision for the DS-"Phat". I never heard of anything like this for the DS-Lite (that does not mean much…).

One piece of information in the archived Wikipedia article is wrong. I have a late DS-Lite model, dark blue, imported from the USA. It came with V7 (did not crash pictochat when removing cart).

Being now on latest FlashMe (based on V5) this console crashes pictochat with magenta screens on cart removal.


My slightly older (from European market) DS-Lite in black came with V5. The screens on the later model are a bit better but that does not say they are different in terms of compatibility. When searching for DS-Lite spare parts I never have seen any differences (like for the GBA screens that exist with different number of connector pins depending on the motherboard). Nintendo delivered different quality screens on the 3DS family as well (TN vs. IPS) and I think I read somewhere that Switch screens are also not all the same – but "Switch" is not my topic.

@Lilith Valentine even proved that the WiFi chip (containing the firmware) can be hotswapped on DS-Lite consoles to revive a firmware bricked unit. Very short but good blog entry!

 

[IC_]

I swapped parts from many DS lites and they always worked perfectly fine with each other

 

[Valery0p]

I wonder if this behavior (crash to a different color for each firmware) was chosen purposely by Nintendo or it was just a side effect...

 

[AnotherMuggle]

I wonder if this behavior (crash to a different color for each firmware) was chosen purposely by Nintendo or it was just a side effect...

Likewise, it seems very convenient that the colour is consistent... it's not like a crash where the system would beleft in some random state.

 

[VzUh]

i dissasembled some ds lites (not more than ~12 i guess, so not that many), and while i have no real knowledge about it, there were some obvious diferences
https://gbatemp.net/threads/differences-between-ds-lite-mobos.481192/
all of these were EUR if that's relevant

 

[MaxiBash]

I think that most DSes run firmware v5, v7 is very uncommon in my case, and v3 is more common on DS Phats.

 

[The Catboy]

@Lilith Valentine even proved that the WiFi chip (containing the firmware) can be hotswapped on DS-Lite consoles to revive a firmware bricked unit. Very short but good blog entry!

Now that you've mentioned it, it's still my main DS Lite and still working just fine since that day. It's actually rather impressive and kind of odd that The Big N put the firmware into the removable Wifi chip, but damn does it come in handy for people like me.

 

[orangy57]

There are multiple types of LCDs they use on the Lite screens. I know my glossy black lite always had HORRIBLE ghosting to the point which Mario would just be a blob with a huge back ball around him in NSMB, but all of my matte Lites are pretty good with it. It seems to be a complete gamble whether a screen you get has bad ghosting or not though, because problems with it have been reported on almost every model.

 

[DSoryu]

There are multiple types of LCDs they use on the Lite screens. I know my glossy black lite always had HORRIBLE ghosting to the point which Mario would just be a blob with a huge back ball around him in NSMB, but all of my matte Lites are pretty good with it. It seems to be a complete gamble whether a screen you get has bad ghosting or not though, because problems with it have been reported on almost every model.

When that happens, you just need to "calibrate" the LCD "frequeency" (I'm using quotes since I really don't know what the correct terms shoudl be). This is possible by removing the battery cover, and in the top of the battery housing you will see a set of three holes, one with a screw that keeps the sheel in place, and two with a kind of flat-headed screws that are potentiometers of some sort. One is for the bottom screen, the other for the top, unfortunatelly I can't remember the order but you could just try by spining carefully each one with a flat scredriver. You will see that the screen "blurrines" increases or decreases depending of the amount of "spins" you make to the screws, but be very carefull as these are very fragile, don't push them too hard!

 

[riml0sth]

Should probably start my own thread for this, but this kinda crosses into my issue.

I have good reason to think my DSLite has been hacked. (Don't want to go into details but will when required.) It could be the European version. Been awhile since I did the picto test.

I don't know whether it's the firmware, the wifi chip or the flash card (Heh, it's an old Cyclos EDGE card) or the bios?? ( I didn't know the DS had a 'bios' or is this the same thing as the firmware? or even the micro sd card. I've thought it could have something to do with Moonshell as I've used it occasionally and remember it doing fairly lengthy 'updates' or 'optimizations' a few times.

I have a EZ 3-in-1 slot 2 cart flashed with a GBA rom and nothing happens when I'm using it exclusively. As I would expect as the wifi module and all DS hardware is disabled in GBA mode.

So basically two things;

- I need to flash every thing flashable back to stock , the firmware. the bios? and the wifi module if possible (can the mac address be changed somehow?)

- Was going to ask about removing the wifi chip before someone saying that's where the firmware is held! Thought it might be boot malware preempting the boot cycle unless it could execute when it wouldn't boot when I removed the wifi chip.

I've had this guy for over 10 years and would hate to part with it as other than this hack its in okay shape as fewer and fewer Lites are nowadays.

Will wait for comments to elaborate further.

Thx for any and you can give.

(edited re spelling)

 

[AnotherMuggle]

Should probably start my own thread for this, but this kinda crosses into my issue.

I have good reason to think my DSLite has been hacked. (Don't want to go into details but will when required.) It could be the European version. Been awhile since I did the picto test.

I don't know whether it's the firmware, the wifi chip or the flash card (Heh, it's an old Cyclos EDGE card) or the bios?? ( I didn't know the DS had a 'bios' or is this the same thing as the firmware? or even the micro sd card. I've thought it could have something to do with Moonshell as I've used it occasionally and remember it doing fairly lengthy 'updates' or 'optimizations' a few times.

I have a EZ 3-in-1 slot 2 cart flashed with a GBA rom and nothing happens when I'm using it exclusively. As I would expect as the wifi module and all DS hardware is disabled in GBA mode.

So basically two things;

- I need to flash every thing flashable back to stock , the firmware. the bios? and the wifi module if possible (can the mac address be changed somehow?)

- Was going to ask about removing the wifi chip before someone saying that's where the firmware is held! Thought it might be boot malware preempting the boot cycle unless it could execute when it wouldn't boot when I removed the wifi chip.

I've had this guy for over 10 years and would hate to part with it as other than this hack its in okay shape as fewer and fewer Lites are nowadays.

Will wait for comments to elaborate further.

Thx for any and you can give.

(edited re spelling)

I may be overlooking it but... Did you say what the actual problem is? What makes you think something needs fixing?

 

[riml0sth]

I may be overlooking it but... Did you say what the actual problem is? What makes you think something needs fixing?

It would take too long to explain; basically I'd like a way to clean flash everything that's flashable.

Is flashme the only software that can do this? Are there more manual and
indepth methods that are proof against write-protect settings?

Also, you mentioned the bios previously, is this separate from the rest of the firmware? I'm familiar with pc bios' but
didn't realize the ds had anything besides firmware.

Finally, is there a way to impair or disable the wifi module and/or change its HW mac address?

The wifi module doesn't have its own rewritable firmware does it?

I'd like to go into more detail about what this is about, but believe me, ignorance truly is bliss, I don't want to needlessly negatively impact others enjoyment of their devices.

As b4 thx for the help!

 

[Hanafuda]

I swapped parts from many DS lites and they always worked perfectly fine with each other

Same. I made this FrankenDS out of a black Lite with fritzy top screen, and a white with broken hinges. I generally warn against the white for DSLite ... the plastic for the hinges always ended up cracking for me. This was actually my third white DSLite, having had two previous ones replaced under warranty back when the warranty was still alive. Then after the warranty expired, the third one did the same thing. Since this one has the black hinge loops, it is still going strong after years of use now.

Also worth nothing, the black one was a (J) model and the white a (U).