ROM Hack DS Downloading station hacked!

[zidane_genome]

I'm pretty sure only the RECIEVING ds needs to be flashed, as I have 1-8 of the DLS's, and friends use them from my DS (stock DSphat with G6 Real).

Problem is flashing the DS... haven't ever gotten into that, since it was never needed, so I don't have the first clue on how to.

 

[FAST6191]

As far as I know the compression was figured out way back (gbadev had some stuff on it from around the time of the first release or even earlier (work was done and then replicated by others)) and they may have even been BIOS compatible implementations of things (I am probably confusing it with the firmware decompression tool but I think there was even an app).

FCSR: flash cart save ram or some such. Basically it is a way of attaching a premade file system with files embedded (which is not that easy to pull off in windows) and duping older carts into thinking they are sorted for DLDI. The ubiquitous nature of DLDI, no saving worth a damn and serious file size limits tend to make this a less than attractive option unless you are one of the holdouts of older carts or are doing emulator testing (some emulators added in a "flash cart emulation" of sorts making this even less attractive).

EFS: a file system fairly close to the nitroSDK format used in nearly every DS rom there is (I say nearly as some roms use it but still have one or two massive files with their own file system). You will have to compile the app for this one.

 

[zidane_genome]

Tile Molester doesn't work on the icon*.* files... just comes up all gobly-gooked... I'm working on a way to replace the files correctly, and to rename the "demos"... I've tried extracting the demo files that are in the DLS, and playing them standalone from my flash card, but none of them work like that...

 

[Apache Thunder]

Really? Then could you point me to the tools needed to decompress the demos? I would like to give that all a shot (even if this still requires a flashed DS)

What would have to be done to MoonShell for example so that moonshell uses EFS to run videos and access configuration files?

On the EFS idea, this would work great untill you start putting alot of data into them,(especially MoonShell or most emulators) then you reach that file size limit I mentioned earlier pretty quick.

I know for a fact that the DS receiving the SRL file is limited to 4mb. Unless multiboot roms arn't stored in the 4mb section of the DS ram, then it could be less or more. I did read that info you linked to ealier, but thats alot of stuff to read and I'm not sure if I came across anything that mentioned what part of the DS the sent roms eventually execute from. The SRL file is probably cleared out of the client DS ram once its boots one of the demo games. (the srl file probably starts decompression then deletes itself to leave the DS on its own with the rest)

The demos probably arn't running on your flashcart since they were originally intended to be run on the ds and not on a slot-1 or slot-2 device, so your flashcart's rom would have to be hacked to accomendate them. Or perhaps there is something in the SRL file (or the demomenu file)that gives each of those files their header info or something, so thats why thy won't boot outside of the Download Station. Keep in mind, I'm just speculating on most of this!

The DS Opera browser seems to be a great example of EFS, I unpacked that to find that alott of its GUI is stored as small PNG files and such. Allot of it can be changed, like the default homepage that loads up or the configuration files. All it are PC readable with standard software, so thats EFS alright! (heck my copy of the browser has a custom boot screen logo (both screens are stored as PNG files).

 

[Music_Lord]

What if you put homebrew/ROMs to send in the /stats folder? Thats where all the demos are located....Just a theory. As for FlashMe, thats too bad, because both mine and my sister's DS's are not flashed! Ah well....Maybe someone can make a patch that will bypass the RSA check? Nah, probably not possible.

 

[Apache Thunder]

stats folder? Which download station are you using? DL Station vol1 doesn't have a stats folder, the demos are in ds_demos.

As I've said earlier, doing that requires me to decompress the demo files and the demomenu file (I'm currently checking other DS Station volumes to see if there is one easier to hack then vol.1, but chances are Vol1 will be the easiest to work with)

You can't just drop NDS files into the stats folder. You're coing to have to compress them, then hex edit some files to get them to show up on the client DS. (other wise it won't show up and only the Demo games will appear in the menu even if they are no longer present on the server!)

 

[Music_Lord]

I am using DS Download Station Volume 6.

 

[Music_Lord]

You can't just drop NDS files into the stats folder. You're coing to have to compress them, then hex edit some files to get them to show up on the client DS. (other wise it won't show up and only the Demo games will appear in the menu even if they are no longer present on the server!)

Ah, I see.

 

[Apache Thunder]

Ahh yes, it seems Vol1 is the oddball, since all others after it use the stats folder.

I'm downloading all the other ones now, so that I can get familiar with them. I am also checking out the European version that only has two games. I'm exploring all possibilities at the moment.

Looks like the European version is proving to be the simpliest file structure wise. It doesn't even have folders. Its got TWO srl files in the root of the NDS. and a "info.txt" file that appears to act as a menu for them. Looks like it may be possible to have multiple homebrew with this one as the srl files and the info.txt file are not compressed. I will play around with that and see what happens.

Ok also note for newbies on rom hacking, NitroExplorer2 can't be used to ADD things to NDS files. It only seems to replace existing files. So if you are going to add additional homebrew beyond what is there file wise, you will have to use DSLazy/DSBuff to decompile the NDS and the add the files, then recompile. Minor inconvince, but this is how its been done for ages. Unless someone updates NitroExplorer so that it can add new files to NDS roms.

 

[Apache Thunder]

UPDATE:

The Icons can infact be edited with Tile Molestor. After 30 minutes of tinkering, I found the currect codec and block size for it to display. Now the only thing left is to set up a usuable color palette!

Here's what some of the icons appears as: (ones with numbers as names are from the EU rom)

As you can see, all it needs is a correct color palette. I includes a few others. Two of them show what they looked like after my attempt to fix their palettes.

Here is the settings I used in Tile Molester:

Canvas size: 16x16 (found under "Image" menu)

Custom Block size: 4x4 (set under the "View" menu. Be sure to uncheck "Full Canvas" that is right above this setting)

Interleaved?: No (default is off, so don't worry about this)

Codec: 4bpp Linear (Reverse order)

Recommended Palette setting when fixing palette: 24bpp RGP (default)

Palette Byte order: Intel (default)

Basic Info if you want to use this with something other then Tile Molester:

Pixal dimision's: 32x32 (same as standard ROM icons)
Color depth: 16 colors (or is it 256 colors? I can't remember, I think its 16 is most of the icon changers I have for roms limit me to 16 colors)

I haven't gotten any of the smaller ones (icon.nbfp for example) to show up properly, but I'm sure there is a currect setting. Perhaps this file is merely a compressed version of the same icon? Or it could be the Nintendo Logo that appears before the rom boots up on the client DS.

Update!:

The NBFP file is infact a palette file! I open the palette using the import function of Tile Molestor! It now loads 100% accurate! I created a bookmark to make the needed changes.

I am now modifing the XML code for Tile Molestor to ease the process of opening these files. I'm adding a file type for the NBFC icon files, and a palette file type for the NBFP files.

I will post up the modified TileMolestor shortly.

Here's an image of what the icon.nfbc file for DS Download Station Vol1 looks like:

 

[DarthNemesis]

As you can see, all it needs is a correct color palette. I includes a few others. Two of them show what they looked like after my attempt to fix their palettes.

You can view all game icons from banner.bin using the following settings:
Codec = 4bpp linear, reverse-order
Mode = 2-dimensional
Offset = 32 (dec)
Block size = 1x1
Canvas size = 4x4
Palette = import from -> this file -> offset 544, size 16

 

[Apache Thunder]

That works for standard roms.

Right now I'm modifing the icons for the DS Multiboot roms, which store their icons in seperate files with palettes in seperate. This is the icon that appears when the game is shown in the DS Multiboot menu which doesn't have the same icon as the ones stored in banner.bin. At least for the DL Station rom I'm using.

Thanks for the info though, I could use this other standard roms (ones that don't go though via multiboot, aka via flashcart)

I am putting together a modified Tile Molester so that it will recognize the NBFC and NBFP icon files, and a bookmark so that you can change to the currect tile size/canvas size etc, once loaded.

banner.bin file is for the roms that appear in the main DS Menu and on some flash carts. The roms once placed into a DS Station rom to be sent to another DS doesn't use that bin file any more. The DS Station stores the icons for the demo games separately and is sent to the client DS to be displayed.

The files I'm modifying are for the icon that appears in the DS Download Play menu. The banner.bin file is sometimes used in retail games when it is starting a multplayer game, however the DS Station roms don't do it this way.

Sorry if there is any confusion on what I am doing here.

Update:

Custom TileMolestor now uploaded:

http://rapidshare.com/files/126423018/TileMolestor.rar.html

With this you can now easily modify the icon files for the DS Download station rom files (not the station rom it self, the homebrew roms that you will be putting it it). All you have to do is open a icon file, then import the palette file. I can't get the stupid bookmark I save to stick, so you still have to select all the tile settings and such. However the correct codec is already loaded upon loading the file, so all you have to do is set the block size and disable full canvas.

 

[DarthNemesis]

I am putting together a modified Tile Molester
QUOTE(Apache Thunder @ Jul 1 2008, 03:37 PM) I can't get the stupid bookmark I save to stick

Wait, Tile Molestor is open source? Oh man, that thing with bookmarks and palettes only being saved for a single file has really been bugging me; now I can fix it. Thanks for bringing that to my attention XD

 

[OSW]

sorry, this doesn't work. u posted before testing.
head to gbadev they have some discussion on the kind of stuff from ages back.

 

[Apache Thunder]

sorry, this doesn't work. u posted before testing

Um......Your going to have to add more grammer to that and further explain that statement for me to understand that properly.

I tested at least one rom before I posted the thread, so I didn't jump the gun here. Yes this doesn't work on unflashed DS's but thats not the point of this thread.


Also, I've been to gbadev, but its a maze to navigate. I just don't feel like it right now.

On a different subject, I didn't modify Tile Molestor's jar file directly, I merely added some stuff the the xml and dtd files. I think Tile Molestor is open source. Its a Java app, so for some programmer's, it will be easy to edit. Even if it isn't open source, modifying the program for personnel use only won't hurt (personnel use means changing a program but not distributing it). (what I changed were only configuration files, and did not involve any source code)

I successfully changed the icons for the multiboot roms:

TileMolestor did a bang up job!


Believe me I tried googling for alot this stuff, but google sucks monkey ballz when it comes to searching for DS dev stuff!

 

[Diablo1123]

I just tried messing with DS Download Station for fun. I'm pretty sure that stats are the demos, the menu is in data/menu_esrb

Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to add/edit anyting in that with hex except that it starts with

4C5A4F6E002FF171000056180000

Which is pretty easy to tell xD

 

[Apache Thunder]

The file in question is compressed. You would have to decompress it if you actually want to do anything usefull to it.

Someone here mentioned that there is a decompression tool for demo roms/menu files. Could some one point me to it?

 

[FAST6191]

Sorry, I was out last night.

One tool (untested but as chishm is behind it...):
http://chishm.drunkencoders.com/NDS_Projec..._Decompress.zip
As I understand it is aimed at getting the demos to run on a cart without going through wifi but I am sure something can come of it.

 

[Music_Lord]

Sorry, I was out last night.

One tool (untested but as chishm is behind it...):
http://chishm.drunkencoders.com/NDS_Projec..._Decompress.zip
As I understand it is aimed at getting the demos to run on a cart without going through wifi but I am sure something can come of it.

That must work because I have downloaded DS demos off the internet, and they ran 100% on my flash cart.

 

[Apache Thunder]

Sadly, that tool does nothing but crash when I attemp to use it!