Hacking I did bite the bullet and got the DSTWO. Have a few questions!

[dirtydignity]

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking around for a while trying to figure out the first card that I should get for my Nintendo 3DS. After a lot of reading and by unanimous vote of people everywhere I decided to spend the extra dollars and get the Supercard DSTWO. My final choice was between R4i Gold (Wood) and DSTWO. I have a few question before the card arrives. I'm hoping people would be kind enough to answer.

1. The R4i was easily available for $15.99 and I spent $40 for the DSTWO. How well do they fair compared to each other ? Was it a wise decision to spend the extra $25 dollars ? What are the MAJOR differences between two ?

2. I have downloaded over 250 NDS Roms, renamed them and classified them by category. I hope the DSTWO plays them all (most of them at least) ?

3. What is the DS mode ? Would my DS games run with black bars on the side ? Any way to make them go full screen ?

4. Does the DSTWO allow downloading ROMs without hooking it up to the computer (wifi) ?

5. Is there any replacement warranty for the DSTWO in case it dies ? I bought it from RealHotStuff (USA), how good are they with customer service ?

6. I'm confused as to how DS games are different than DSi games and would the DSTWO handle them ?

7. How good is the SNES emulation on the DSTWO ?

Thanks

 

[metroid maniac]

1. The DSTwo has an onboard CPU. This allows for better homebrew (although it has to be specifically coded to work with the DSTwo CPU) and the ability to update the cart after the 3DS has been updated (although this carries a risk of damaging the cart, and it is still a better idea to update the cart before). Unfortunately, this reduces the battery life a little. Also, the rest of the hardware is improved, and to this day the DSTwo has not needed any hardware updates to survive 3DS updates while the R4i has had several.
2. The DSTwo should play them all normally. If it doesnt, the cart will almost certainly still be able to play them, although without cheats or other enhancements via "Clean Mode".
3. DS Mode basically means that the 3DS pretends to be a DS when a DS cart is inserted into it. The black bars are present because the game is unable to "see" anything beyond the portion of the screen the 3DS tells it exists, and there is no way to bypass this.
4. There might be some sort of FTP server, but it isnt worth the hassle. A Micro SD card adapter is far more convenient.

6. DSi games are programmed to make use of the better specifications of the DSi that the DS and DS Lite did not have. This is limited to only a few games, such as Pokemon Black and White, and typically only allows access to the cameras and WPA WiFi. The DSTwo only runs in DS mode, not DSi mode, so it would play these games as if it were being played on a DS or DS Lite.
7. SNES emulation on the DSTwo is probably the best of any cart, but still nothing special.

 

[Pong20302000]

teh main advantage of DSTwo is you do not have to wait for Game Patches to play new new game

e.g
when pokemon Black 2 / white 2 where leaked early on the net, DStwo users put the rom on the SD card, changed the mode to Clean Mode (this means no modifying the game data or cheats, this feature is only on DSTwo) and they where playing straight away, no waiting at all, not stopped by the games Anti-Piracy like every other card on the net

 

[Rydian]

1 - Both get updates fairly quickly and both run games well. The DSTwo, however, has never been blocked (unlike older R4i Gold models that stopped being able to update), and has a bunch of extra features.

2 - The DSTwo's clean mode has allowed it to play ROMs while other carts were waiting for updates, and in the few times it needs to update for something (because it's base anti-AP stuff is such a good cover), it does.

3 - DS-mode means your games all act like DS carts in the 3DS (and anywhere else). The whole "black bars" thing is how the 3DS works (it does it with legit DS games too), simply hold Start/Select while starting up a DS game (or flash cart) to get it to go "fullscreen" (do note that the top screen on the 3DS is a different aspect ratio than the earlier systems). Also DS-mode means you're limited to WEP wireless encryption, WPA and WPA2 do not work on ANY flash cart.

4 - Potentially via homebrew, but don't bother. Homebrew Wifi on the DS series is limited to extremely slow speeds, it'd be MUCH faster to do it via the PC.

5 - Depends on the shop, but most will do a replacement if there's something wrong. I think RHS will.

6 - Everything plays as if it was in a DS, without the added abilities of the DSi/3DS (meaning some of the extra features are cut), but the extra features are generally things nobody cares about, and WPA/WPA2 Wifi doesn't work on any flash cart anyways.

7 - Not perfect, but a lot better than it's been.
http://gbatemp.net/threads/ndssfc-catsfc-revival.339600/
USE THIS EMULATOR, NOT THE ONE ON THE SITE.

 

[dirtydignity]

1. Just the fact that R4i has gone through so many revisions makes it worth to buy the DSTWO. I would personally not prefer buying a new card every other month (or the hassle of updating it). Great!

2. Well since I'm one of those who have never used cheats for any of their games, this is great news. Sounds like clean mode would play them all which is what i need. Thanks Rydian, merroid maniac.

3. As long as the 3DS does that with legit DS cartridges I'm not missing anything. @Rydian as you mentioned pressing Start/Select would get it full screen. The bottom would be just fine and only the top would have bars, right ?

4. I though there might be a eShop or something from where I can download ROMs directly. I guess it's pretty easy to download ROMs on the computer and copy them to the microSD card (considering the fact that there are so many places to direct download them online).

5. I looked around for reviews and I believe RHS has pretty decent reviews. Has anyone ever had a occasion where DSTWO goes corrupt and how often ? (Not considering the situation of updating or flashing the cart).

6. I use WEP at the house because of variety of devices that do not have one or the other compatibility. This is again good news. Which brings me to another question.If i connect using Wifi do downloaded ROMs play absolutely fine in multiplayer/online mode ?

7. Thanks Rydian, I would try this emulator out.



While going through the forum there are a couple of questions that came to my mind. I hope someone can answer these :

A. What's the best capacity/class SD card should I use ? Consider the fact that my downloaded ROMs are around 9GB and SNES ROMs are around 3GB (Total of 12).

B. Since most of the games I would be playing would be DS ROMs, how far have the games come since DS (compared to 3DS games). Basically how better are 3DS games compared to DS games (If we don't keep the 3D fact) ?


Once again, thank you all for being so patient.

 

[GianFrangiamore]

Can i ask, where did you purchase your DSTWO?

 

[Technicmaster0]

Can i ask, where did you purchase your DSTWO?

He wrote

RealHotStuf

 

[Sicklyboy]

3. As long as the 3DS does that with legit DS cartridges I'm not missing anything. @Rydian as you mentioned pressing Start/Select would get it full screen. The bottom would be just fine and only the top would have bars, right ?

4. I though there might be a eShop or something from where I can download ROMs directly. I guess it's pretty easy to download ROMs on the computer and copy them to the microSD card (considering the fact that there are so many places to direct download them online).

5. I looked around for reviews and I believe RHS has pretty decent reviews. Has anyone ever had a occasion where DSTWO goes corrupt and how often ? (Not considering the situation of updating or flashing the cart).

6. I use WEP at the house because of variety of devices that do not have one or the other compatibility. This is again good news. Which brings me to another question.If i connect using Wifi do downloaded ROMs play absolutely fine in multiplayer/online mode ?

A. What's the best capacity/class SD card should I use ? Consider the fact that my downloaded ROMs are around 9GB and SNES ROMs are around 3GB (Total of 12).

B. Since most of the games I would be playing would be DS ROMs, how far have the games come since DS (compared to 3DS games). Basically how better are 3DS games compared to DS games (If we don't keep the 3D fact) ?

3 - It's not really "full screen", it disables scaling and instead displays the game at its native resolution. Both the top and bottom screens are shrunk to
256x192, making the viewable area much smaller (it's almost Gameboy sized) but it gives you the crispest possible view.

4 - First off that's something we wouldn't be allowed to discuss here even if it were available, but to my knowledge, something like that doesn't exist. You're pretty much just gonna have to stick to your rom sites and copy them to the SD card.

5 - RHS is great, in my experience. I've never had a DSTWO break on me though (I've had mine for well over a year now), the microSD slot is still solid, and I've never had it corrupt a card either.

6 - ROMs will work just like a retail game over Wifi.

A - DSTWO supports up to 32GB microSD cards, so anything that floats your boat up to that. I wouldn't worry too much about class as that pertains more to write speeds than read speeds. Anything class 4 or higher ought to be fine. Ive been using a class 4 8GB Lexar one in mine for the longest time and haven't had any problems. Have you thought about trimming your DS roms? It can save a LOT of space.

B - Aside from the 3D, the newer 3DS games are higher resolution, and fill the entire top screen. They can take advantage of the systems newer hardware and specs, notably the accelerometer in some games. Honestly, it's just like the move from any generation of console to the next. Xbox to Xbox 360 - Yeah, games look nicer. Aside from that? Better specs that aren't going to concern you much, just the games that come out can take advantage of them and are sometimes better because of it.

 

[Rydian]

1 - Well the R4i Gold usually lasts a good number of updates, it's other clones like R4-SDHC that bring out a new cart every month or two.

2 - Most games don't need to be run in clean mode anyways, it's sort of a "last resort" for the week or so when a game comes out that needs it.

3 - Yeah the bottom screen is still the 4:3 aspect ratio.

4 - Hosting ROMs is illegal in the US, most flash cart teams won't touch that because they don't want to get taken down.

5 - I haven't had my DSTwo do anything like that, but there was a bad batch a few weeks ago (but it looks like people got newer replacements that sorted it out).

6 - Yes, the ROMs run as if they were legit.

7 - Welcome.

A - Anything up to 32GB will officially work. Most people go 8 or 16GB.
http://gbatemp.net/threads/ds-dsi-3ds-hacking-f-a-q.278137/
Read the "What brand, size and class of SD card should I get for my flashcart?", it's an explanation on class and important info on what to avoid.

B - The DS came out in 2004, if that says anything... 3DS games are held to a MUCH higher graphical standard, but as usual there's always companies putting out good games, and others putting out shit.

 

[dirtydignity]

3 - It's not really "full screen", it disables scaling and instead displays the game at its native resolution. Both the top and bottom screens are shrunk to
256x192, making the viewable area much smaller (it's almost Gameboy sized) but it gives you the crispest possible view.

4 - First off that's something we wouldn't be allowed to discuss here even if it were available, but to my knowledge, something like that doesn't exist. You're pretty much just gonna have to stick to your rom sites and copy them to the SD card.

5 - RHS is great, in my experience. I've never had a DSTWO break on me though (I've had mine for well over a year now), the microSD slot is still solid, and I've never had it corrupt a card either.

6 - ROMs will work just like a retail game over Wifi.

A - DSTWO supports up to 32GB microSD cards, so anything that floats your boat up to that. I wouldn't worry too much about class as that pertains more to write speeds than read speeds. Anything class 4 or higher ought to be fine. Ive been using a class 4 8GB Lexar one in mine for the longest time and haven't had any problems. Have you thought about trimming your DS roms? It can save a LOT of space.

B - Aside from the 3D, the newer 3DS games are higher resolution, and fill the entire top screen. They can take advantage of the systems newer hardware and specs, notably the accelerometer in some games. Honestly, it's just like the move from any generation of console to the next. Xbox to Xbox 360 - Yeah, games look nicer. Aside from that? Better specs that aren't going to concern you much, just the games that come out can take advantage of them and are sometimes better because of it.

Well that pretty much answers all of my questions. Thanks for bringing ROM trimming into light. I would see if I can fit my games after trimming them into a 8GB card otherwise I would have to go for my 32GB (don't have a sweet middle of 16GB with me ).

 

[dirtydignity]

1 - Well the R4i Gold usually lasts a good number of updates, it's other clones like R4-SDHC that bring out a new cart every month or two.

2 - Most games don't need to be run in clean mode anyways, it's sort of a "last resort" for the week or so when a game comes out that needs it.

3 - Yeah the bottom screen is still the 4:3 aspect ratio.

4 - Hosting ROMs is illegal in the US, most flash cart teams won't touch that because they don't want to get taken down.

5 - I haven't had my DSTwo do anything like that, but there was a bad batch a few weeks ago (but it looks like people got newer replacements that sorted it out).

6 - Yes, the ROMs run as if they were legit.

7 - Welcome.

A - Anything up to 32GB will officially work. Most people go 8 or 16GB.
http://gbatemp.net/threads/ds-dsi-3ds-hacking-f-a-q.278137/
Read the "What brand, size and class of SD card should I get for my flashcart?", it's an explanation on class and important info on what to avoid.

B - The DS came out in 2004, if that says anything... 3DS games are held to a MUCH higher graphical standard, but as usual there's always companies putting out good games, and others putting out shit.

Thanks a lot Rydian. I have bookmarked so many of your articles, it's unbelievable. It was your poll about flash carts that helped me decide what to go for. Most of the microSD cards that I won are class 10 and are of reputable brands. Now I have my fingers crossed and eagerly waiting for the DSTWO to arrive. It would be here any day. I would definitely post back my experience and ask any questions that I might have. Thanks a lot once again.

 

[Rydian]

S'cool, have fun with it.

 

[dirtydignity]

Yay! My DSTWO arrived and I have been playing with it for the last 2 days. Now I have some more questions. Please help me out.

1. How do I see the total space and left space of my SD card in the 3DS ? I am talking about the SD Card NOT the microSD that's in DSTWO. I know settings tells you the size in blocks but how am I supposed to figure out the space left from that (I have a 8GB in SD Card slot and a 32GB in DSTWO).

2. I play a lot of DS Games in the DSTWO. Is there a way to add the games I play the most to Nintendo home screen ? If not, is it possible to add them at the DSTWO home screen (Plugin screen) ?

3. I know I can exit a DS Game in DSTWO by pressing L+R+Start and I can get out of DS_GAME by pressing B at the root of microSD. How do i exit out of SNES or GBA emulators? I was able to configure CATSFC to come back to main menu using L+R as global hotkey. What about NDSSFC and GBA ?

4. The SNES video is choppy in every emulator I have tried. I don't care how the audio is but I want the video to be perfect. How do I do that. Most of the SNES games I play are Mario All Stars, Adventure Island, Contra and Double Dragon.

5. Whenever I start a title from MAME4ALL it gives me a message "Error:No Games Found". How do I resolve that ?

6. In the last two days this happened once. I started the DSTWO and it said an error has occurred and asked me to turn the system off completely. Should I be worried ? Why did this happen (As a sidenote the system was downloading a bunch of demos from the eShop) ?

7. Is there a way to reset the demo game counter ?

8. I'm playing Pokemon Black 2 in the DSTWO and I use RTS to save the game. It is a bit glitchy for black 2 i must say. Doesn't the game itself save the progress after a while ? Because every time I start it gives me a option to start a new game and then I have to load the RTS. I don't want to do that.

9. I tried to mess around with cheat codes in black 2 and now the game goes super fast and now both the pokemon keep on playing by themselves. I cleared all the cheats but no use. How do I get back to normal ? I don't want to restart the whole game.

10. I am trying to conserve battery by disabling streetpass. How do I do that. I went into settings and removed all applications that streetpass uses. Is that good enough ? Is it a good idea to turn off wireless when I've put the 3DS to sleep ? How do I permanently shut off the 3DS (not sleep) ?

That's all for now

 

[metroid maniac]

2. No, it is not possible to add them to the 3DS home screen. I cannot say for the DSTwo, I do not own one.

 

[Sicklyboy]

1 Settings - Data Management - 3DS Ware - Software

2 - Not on the home screen, on the DSTWO you can, you have to write a plg file for it (it's only a few lines text document you have to rename) I don't remember how off hand though.

3 - Emulator doesn't have an exit/quit button?

4 - SNES emulation is still far from perfect on the DSTWO. Look up the CATSFC revival by Nebuleon here for your best bet.

5 - I don't use it, no answer

6 - Likely a contact issue between the 3DS and the card. If it happens, it's going to. Might want to try contacting your retailer to get an exchange if it keep shappening.

7 - Not sure

8 - Save option is in the games menu. X to access it. You have to save from there if you want to save properly. Game itself doesn't have auto-save.

9 - It should just be a "disable cheats" option in the in DSTWO menu...

10 - DOn't bother -just- disabling streetpass (which needs to be deactivated for every title that uses it). Turn Wifi off or just leave it, I'd say. But you're not really going to be getting any of the streetpass tags that way. To completely turn it off just hold the POWER button until the system turns off.

 

[Azadar]

Just got the DStwo hands down the best investment for 3ds, SNES, and GBA games without a hassle. Just install and play. Thats what I like.. Best $40.00 ever.

using on 3DSXL just wish they would allow something to stretch the screen to fill top.

 

[metroid maniac]

Just got the DStwo hands down the best investment for 3ds, SNES, and GBA games without a hassle. Just install and play. Thats what I like.. Best $40.00 ever.

using on 3DSXL just wish they would allow something to stretch the screen to fill top.

Next time, it would be better to post something relevant to the thread. As it stands this post is wasted space.

 

[Rydian]

1. How do I see the total space and left space of my SD card in the 3DS ? I am talking about the SD Card NOT the microSD that's in DSTWO. I know settings tells you the size in blocks but how am I supposed to figure out the space left from that (I have a 8GB in SD Card slot and a 32GB in DSTWO).

You do know that flash carts can't use the DSi/3DS SD card, right?

3. I know I can exit a DS Game in DSTWO by pressing L+R+Start and I can get out of DS_GAME by pressing B at the root of microSD. How do i exit out of SNES or GBA emulators? I was able to configure CATSFC to come back to main menu using L+R as global hotkey. What about NDSSFC and GBA ?

Tap the bottom screen to get to the menu, and use the "exit" or "return" button.

4. The SNES video is choppy in every emulator I have tried. I don't care how the audio is but I want the video to be perfect. How do I do that. Most of the SNES games I play are Mario All Stars, Adventure Island, Contra and Double Dragon.

Make sure you're using CATSFC with the speed up, but emulation on the DS isn't perfect once you get past the NES/GBC stuff.

6. In the last two days this happened once. I started the DSTWO and it said an error has occurred and asked me to turn the system off completely. Should I be worried ? Why did this happen (As a sidenote the system was downloading a bunch of demos from the eShop) ?

Could be a contact issue between the DSTwo and it's MicroSD, since it needs data off of that to bypass the 3DS's anti-flashcart stuff.

7. Is there a way to reset the demo game counter ?

Can't modify the 3DS's software at this point, so outside of resetting you clock I don't know.

8. I'm playing Pokemon Black 2 in the DSTWO and I use RTS to save the game. It is a bit glitchy for black 2 i must say. Doesn't the game itself save the progress after a while ? Because every time I start it gives me a option to start a new game and then I have to load the RTS. I don't want to do that.

You use the save option in the Start/X/whatever menu.

9. I tried to mess around with cheat codes in black 2 and now the game goes super fast and now both the pokemon keep on playing by themselves. I cleared all the cheats but no use. How do I get back to normal ? I don't want to restart the whole game.

Sure all the codes are cleared? Enable one, then tap the "clear" button, then go see if it's been disabled (to make sure it's registering your press of the button).

 

[YayMii]

1. Use a unit converter to turn blocks to MB.

2. Nope, neither is possible.

3. Pretty sure the emulator menu pops up when you touch the bottom screen. Also, I see no point in using NDSSFC, as CATSFC is just a open-source update of it.

4. If you're using CATSFC, there should be a toggle in the settings for changing priority between fluid audio and fluid video. But as other people mentioned, SNES emulation is not that great even on the DStwo, so don't be surprised if it doesn't make that much of a difference.

5. Are you sure you're loading them correctly? The MAME games should be in .zip format and placed in the \MAME\roms\ folder.

6. The DStwo can't power up immediately after insertion, and provides that error whenever you try. It should be fine, but maybe wait 30 seconds before selecting its icon on the 3DS menu. But if you haven't removed it at all, it could be a contact issue.

7. I don't think that's even possible. Nintendo made it so you can't reset the counter even if you redownload the demo.

8. If you save the way you would save on a legitimate cartridge (press X to open the menu, hit Save), it should function normally. It takes a bit longer than RTS though.

9. The cheat menu on the DStwo is a bit buggy. If the "clear" button doesn't work properly, just delete the game's .dtc file from the microSD.

10. I don't think it's worth it to disable StreetPass. It's a lot of hassle (depending on how many 3DS games you own) and probably won't save much more battery compared to simply turning off wireless.
And to turn off the 3DS, just hold the Power button until a "Power Off" button appears on the touch screen (the message about Sleep Mode on the top screen's simply advising you that you lose wireless functionality if you turn off).

 

[Sicklyboy]

Next time, it would be better to post something relevant to the thread. As it stands this post is wasted space.

Whoa whoa whoa cool your shit, man. He was saying how much he likes his purchase, and I think that the OP could appreciate knowing that he likes his purchase as much as other people do, so it's safe to say that he made a pretty solid investment on $40.

The kettle may as well be shining porcelain compared to how the pot is looking right now.