Hacking How do 3DS Linkers work (?)

[sarkwalvein]

Funny, but if you think about it it's a Cartridge, not a Cardrigde.

Also, this is a card

Hehe

In that case, this are cards:

This are cart(ridge)s:

And this is a Gateway supporting FW 9.2:









PS: Sorry, had to do it.

 

[Wiisel]

I would think the linkers thing goes back to the GBA flashcart days where (USB/ Parrallel to GBA Link cables were used to flash the carts. Or from Visloy / Bung standalone linkers.

 

[spinal_cord]

Why do le french people call flashcards linkers?

Back in the GBA days, flash systems used the LINK port on the console to transfer files to the Cart/RAM so they were called linkers. In some peoples minds, the term stuck and is given to any flash system, much like frisbee, velcro, plexiglass and many many others. It's a name that a product range got lumbered with, which may or may not represent every product in that range.

[edit]

Its a carT, the circuit board and chips are contained within a shell, making it a cartridge, not a card. A card would be the circuit board within the case.

 

[VinsCool]

Back in the GBA days, flash systems used the LINK port on the console to transfer files to the Cart/RAM so they were called linkers. In some peoples minds, the term stuck and is given to any flash system, much like frisbee, velcro, plexiglass and many many others. It's a name that a product range got lumbered with, which may or may not represent every product in that range.

[edit]

Its a carT, the circuit board and chips are contained within a shell, making it a cartridge, not a card. A card would be the circuit board within the case.

Thanks for the explanation, that made sens now

 

[Wiisel]

Its a carT, the circuit board and chips are contained within a shell, making it a cartridge, not a card. A card would be the circuit board within the case.

I always considered *DS* Game thingies carts also but Nintendo claim otherwise Link

Loading and starting software

Important: Always turn the power of your Nintendo 3DS system off before inserting or removing a Game Card.
The Nintendo 3DS system can use software designed for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS / Nintendo DSi. The illustration below shows how to insert a Game Card into the Game Card slot of your Nintendo 3DS.

If the Game Card has been inserted correctly you will hear a click and the card will stay in place in the slot. To remove it, press the Game Card in gently until you hear a click, after which the card will eject automatically.​

You can start any software by touching the corresponding icon in the HOME Menu, and then tapping Open at the bottom of the Touch Screen.

 

[Gamemaster1379]

This is a cart,

And this is a card,

Free Internet knowledge

As an English speaker, I refer to them as carts as well. I've heard cart and card, but always ended up settling on cart--as I figured it was short for flash cartridge.

 

[Cyan]

OptimusDark : sorry for offtopic!
Gateway use an exploit/kernel vulnerability.
I don't know enough about Sky3DS.

Back in the GBA days, flash systems used the LINK port on the console to transfer files to the Cart/RAM so they were called linkers. In some peoples minds, the term stuck and is given to any flash system

You beat me to it, but I guess you used better words than I would have used.
we, old modders, knew a lot of different devices.
Now people only know DS flashcarts and the easy method to transfer (lot of) games on a single MicroSD Card, and are not happy with the price.


GBA was a lot more expansive (150-200$) and could hold only ONE game (later, it could hold ~10 if you put little games on it). The transfer speed was verrrry slow and connected to LPT (parallel/printer port) where you plugged your GBA cartridge directly in the "Flash linker" (which made the link between the PC and the GBA cartridge).

You had to patch all games to make them work too.
Now everything is easy.


Edit:
Oh, and before GBA era, it was called a "Copier".
SNES had copiers to copy a game to floppy disks.

Copier, linker, flashcarts, etc.


Edit2:
Flashcart because a "cartridge" which could be flashed. Flash Cart(rige).
(even if the picture show "card" on it )
But there's no rule, and everyone is calling it like he want.

 

[spinal_cord]

I always considered *DS* Game thingies carts also but Nintendo claim otherwise Link

Nintendo employees are people too, they can be wrong. A company naming calling their product by the wrong name doesn't make it the right name.

 

[OptimusDark]

Funny that after more than 20 replies, only 2 are discussing about my specific topic
But it's no big deal if you feel like debating on vocabulary... I was only interested on technical aspects... and it seems that very few have the knowledge and they are not hanging around in this forum for now.
To answer the "cowboy" that claiming I'm spreading the cancer of piracy : I'm only talking about technics that are used by the different manufacturer...
AND YES, the 2 products are comparable since THEY BOTH ALLOW PIRACY and I'm sure most of gateway customers do buy it mainly for piracy purpose...

 

[gamesquest1]

Funny that after more than 20 replies, only 2 are discussing about my specific topic
But it's no big deal if you feel like debating on vocabulary... I was only interested on technical aspects... and it seems that very few have the knowledge and they are not hanging around in this forum for now.
To answer the "cowboy" that claiming I'm spreading the cancer of piracy : I'm only talking about technics that are used by the different manufacturer...
AND YES, the 2 products are comparable since THEY BOTH ALLOW PIRACY and I'm sure most of gateway customers do buy it mainly for piracy purpose...

well you did kinda answer your own question in the first post....gateway use a kernel exploit to take over the system in which case card/cart/linker etc etc emulation is not necessary, and sky 3ds try to emulate the retail card,etc etc

each way has their merits, but i think we can agree its better to have total system control which is what gateway target, whereas sky3ds aim to stick within the boundaries of a retail card.......which one the end user prefers is completely up to themselves

lets be honest for all we know, sky3ds could actually be the same team as gateway(unlikely but who knows ) , but they don't want to create brand confusion by having 2 completely different systems under the same name.....which certainly would just confuse the average end user

 

[OuahOuah]

Wow Cyan, I have a "linker" at home not for a Nintendo handheld, in fact.
NGP linker.
LPT transfer.
Longggggg.

And yes, French is using linker.
French rules the world

And for "non knowing people", I always heard "R4" as acommon name.

Was a videogame seller some years ago.
And people kept asking me "Do you sell R4 ?" lol Nintendo's commercial was not happy

 

[Kylecito]

and that's how this thread degenerated into smartasses playing internet linguistics. there should be a forum where only people who have any idea what they're talking about can reply, something like a wiki... brew..

 

[cracker]

I prefer unlicensed peripheral used to execute unlicensed code and/or licensed code obtained by sketchy means.

 

[WaryLouka]

I call my cards/carts/whattheshityounameit "bacon strips"
Because they are delicious

 

[donkeymilk]

You can only refer to it as a linker if you're unclipped.

 

[Veho]

Its a carT, the circuit board and chips are contained within a shell, making it a cartridge, not a card. A card would be the circuit board within the case.

Would that make memory cards "carts" too? Most of them have a plastic shell.

 

[spinal_cord]

Would that make memory cards "carts" too? Most of them have a plastic shell.

Some of them, yes.

 

[Foxi4]

Cart is just a shorthand for cartridge, and judging by the Wiki article all a device has to do to be classified as a cartridge is add new features or content. In that sense, a 3DS game is a cartridge because it adds access to new software - a game. By that definition, a memory card is not a cartridge, rather a medium for the user to save data on. With all that said, it's really more a matter of individual case nomenclature. For instance, TG16 software was distributed on HuCards and they were only called that because of their shape. I'd say that if Nintendo adapted the name "Game Card" then what they're selling is a card - that's the term they chose - it's more approachable for the less technologically-inclined customers and it's immediately understandable, unlike "cartridge" which is a term that's less and less popular as far as technology is concerned and is more often associated with printers.