Homebrew Is installing DS Cias (like pokemon platinum) possible on new 3ds cfw?

[zhdarkstar]

what kind of patch?

I don't have the technical knowledge to know if it's even possible. I'm merely hypothesizing based on the fact that some degree of TWL_FIRM patching is possible. The overall solution might likely be 1-3 patches put together between TWL_FIRM and homebrew software. For the purpose of this post, a "patch" is referring to a patch to TWL_FIRM or an update of the Wood R4 Kernel (or equivalent DS flashcard loader).

The first patch would be finding a way to reinitialize the SD slot while the console is in DSi-mode. This may already be possible though. Watching the video of ApacheThunder's DSi homebrew launcher makes it seem like that's already possible.

The second patch would be to redirect the filesystem calls that Wood R4 Kernel makes to the SD slot. I foresee an obstacle being the availability of source code for the launcher. This may very well require REing Wood R4 to make it work, or it may take creating a new loader from scratch.

The third patch would be to handle gamecard emulation. This is probably the biggest hurdle of them all, although looking at a DS emulator's code may be useful in creating such a patch. Since my technical knowledge of how the 3DS operates is very limited, I don't know the feasibility of such an endeavor. If DSi-mode underclocks the 3DS processors, couldn't the unused power of the processors be tapped into to handle the emulation? This would likely need to be applied to the TWL bootloader and possibly be an obstacle itself.

 

[Ghost Liberator]

I don't have the technical knowledge to know if it's even possible. I'm merely hypothesizing based on the fact that some degree of TWL_FIRM patching is possible. The overall solution might likely be 1-3 patches put together between TWL_FIRM and homebrew software. For the purpose of this post, a "patch" is referring to a patch to TWL_FIRM or an update of the Wood R4 Kernel (or equivalent DS flashcard loader).

The first patch would be finding a way to reinitialize the SD slot while the console is in DSi-mode. This may already be possible though. Watching the video of ApacheThunder's DSi homebrew launcher makes it seem like that's already possible.

The second patch would be to redirect the filesystem calls that Wood R4 Kernel makes to the SD slot. I foresee an obstacle being the availability of source code for the launcher. This may very well require REing Wood R4 to make it work, or it may take creating a new loader from scratch.

The third patch would be to handle gamecard emulation. This is probably the biggest hurdle of them all, although looking at a DS emulator's code may be useful in creating such a patch. Since my technical knowledge of how the 3DS operates is very limited, I don't know the feasibility of such an endeavor. If DSi-mode underclocks the 3DS processors, couldn't the unused power of the processors be tapped into to handle the emulation? This would likely need to be applied to the TWL bootloader and possibly be an obstacle itself.

Your point is actually very interesting, although i don't think is quite simple, i'm not quite the guy to reply to the idea. But by reading i could say.

1.- @Apache Thunder dsi homebrew channel from homemenu works the same way as a dsiware and it access to the sd slot.
2.- the patch needed to redirect the fs to the sd slot could be a way into get the games to launch
3.-emulation of the .nds games can be the pain in the ass, because it would make the game play very slowly.

following this line of reasoning what is needed is still a way to swap sd slot with gamecart slot and should be done at the same time the game is loaded because the rom will call for data in the gamecard slot when we want it to load from the sd card.

i'm not by any chance a dev whatsoever and i'm still learning how to program in C, if by any chance any of my statements is wrong i'll be very pleased to read the explanation

 

[zhdarkstar]

Your point is actually very interesting, although i don't think is quite simple, i'm not quite the guy to reply to the idea. But by reading i could say.

1.- @Apache Thunder dsi homebrew channel from homemenu works the same way as a dsiware and it access to the sd slot.
2.- the patch needed to redirect the fs to the sd slot could be a way into get the games to launch
3.-emulation of the .nds games can be the pain in the ass, because it would make the game play very slowly.

following this line of reasoning what is needed is still a way to swap sd slot with gamecart slot and should be done at the same time the game is loaded because the rom will call for data in the gamecard slot when we want it to load from the sd card.

i'm not by any chance a dev whatsoever and i'm still learning how to program in C, if by any chance any of my statements is wrong i'll be very pleased to read the explanation

I guess this is why external hardware solutions remain the better alternative. If GW were to flip the script on the DSTWO+ by being able to emulate a DS gamecard, that would make flashcarts relevant again.

 

[Ghost Liberator]

I guess this is why external hardware solutions remain the better alternative. If GW were to flip the script on the DSTWO+ by being able to emulate a DS gamecard, that would make flashcarts relevant again.

i really think the more feasbile solution is to make a custom dsiware, so it stays on NAND, that would make the idea of swapping slot-1 with sd card possible, but of course it would have to be used on custom emunand too, as the whole thing is swapped when you run the flashcart firmware using the cia it will read the sd card, then again, as slot-1 and sd card slot are swapped, when the game calls the gamecard the firmware itself tells that the gamecard is the sd slot.

This is just hypothesis, again, i am not a dev and i don't know how hard it would actually be, i think that in the first place slot-1 address whould be found, and the adress for the sd card and swap them in place... other crazy thought would be that the custom emunand could actually use the r4 firmware to start... but then there is no source code of the firmware...

 

[hacksn5s4]

i could just use a dsemulator but it runs bad on my pc

 

[DocKlokMan]

i really think the more feasbile solution is to make a custom dsiware, so it stays on NAND, that would make the idea of swapping slot-1 with sd card possible, but of course it would have to be used on custom emunand too, as the whole thing is swapped when you run the flashcart firmware using the cia it will read the sd card, then again, as slot-1 and sd card slot are swapped, when the game calls the gamecard the firmware itself tells that the gamecard is the sd slot.

This is just hypothesis, again, i am not a dev and i don't know how hard it would actually be, i think that in the first place slot-1 address whould be found, and the adress for the sd card and swap them in place... other crazy thought would be that the custom emunand could actually use the r4 firmware to start... but then there is no source code of the firmware...

I was actually thinking this same thing. A TWL_FIRM patch that grants higher privileges then usual coupled with a custom DSiWare homebrew that makes use of these extra privileges. The DSiWare homebrew would install to NAND and when launched, essentially act as a flashcart firmware that allows you to choose and then redirect game and save calls to the SD card. The 3DS thinks it's loading a game from NAND but it actually being streamed a game from the SD.

 

[Deleted User]

for OP:
1. there are no DS CIAs.
2. even if there was- you cant install them.

 

[hacksn5s4]

thing is it could work like patching your emunand and emulating a gamecard by pressing a button like gw and selcting it and it appears in the game slot icon but you would also need to patch twl firm was well this would make it so slot one-cannot be used with real game cards while on emunand though. I think not having sd card access or nand acess in ntr is the main problem since the old ds never had an sd card slot meaning you need to edit the twl and get it to load the game and keep reading data from it like an emulator does. But the thing is when you save the wifi settings it saves it to the ds meaning ntr might have nand acess

 

[Ghost Liberator]

for OP:
1. there are no DS CIAs.
2. even if there was- you cant install them.

Actually there are ways to convert DS games to .cia

you can install the ds games converted into cia, but the game calls the slot-1 so actually the game that loads is the one in the gamecart slot

 

[RocketRobz]

Actually there are ways to convert DS games to .cia

you can install the ds games converted into cia, but the game calls the slot-1 so actually the game that loads is the one in the gamecart slot

And the size limit is 64MB, due to the size of the TWLN partition.

In case someone missed it, this is from another thread:

Well you could rewrite parts of TWL_FIRM to create a virtual slot-2 in FCRAM (perhaps on SD if possible. But it may not be fast enough) and create a simple passme NTR CIA that will load a rom to it and boot it. Booting DS game off slot-2 was what the pre slot-1 flashcarts use to do, so you could do that on a 3DS if you can find a way of mapping unused FCRAM for the virtual slot-2.

It's feasible. AGB_FIRM loads the game rom into FCRAM as well so the process would be similar.

You'd have to work out how you'd load the rom into FCRAM in the first place. NTR mode titles don't normally have SD access. FCRAM is limited (though you'd have a bit more wiggle room with n3DS), so it may not be the best method.

Not to mention the serious changes you'd have to do to TWL_FIRM to allow this. It would probably be less overhead for Arm7/Arm9 then trying to load the roms directly from SD.

But the problem is finding a way of unlocking the extra FCRAM space normally disabled in TWL/NTR mode.

Good luck with that.

 

[DiegitusXD]

So...it having passing many months of this thread...it is possible or it will imposible forever?? I only want to play pokemon soulsilver to remember that times lol

 

[Cuphat]

No, it isn't. Get a DS flashcart if you want to play DS games.

 

[proflayton123]

Retail rom loading from the SD card is yet to be done using a flashcart for now is more ideal

 

[CeeDee]

No, it isn't. Get a DS flashcart if you want to play DS games.

It is very much possible, in fact, we are closer to having it now than ever. Just because it's not done now, doesn't mean it won't ever be done. Stop lying.

 

[proflayton123]

It is very much possible, in fact, we are closer to having it now than ever. Just because it's not done now, doesn't mean it won't ever be done. Stop lying.

Using forwarders?

 

[CeeDee]

Using forwarders?

It's possible, but it's not done. Forwarders need a flashcart still.

 

[xtheman]

It is very much possible, in fact, we are closer to having it now than ever. Just because it's not done now, doesn't mean it won't ever be done. Stop lying.

I think he was referring to the best solution for now. You can pickup a cheap r4 card for like 3 bucks nowadays.

 

[GBAFail]

It is very much possible, in fact, we are closer to having it now than ever. Just because it's not done now, doesn't mean it won't ever be done. Stop lying.

Are you high? He isn't lying. It's not possible atm and that's all he said. You can get a $5 flashcard if you really want to play ds games.

 

[owek1]

..........or get a bootleg Soulsilver for $10 on ebay but that is still hard to find..and might not work on the 3DS..

 

[nl255]

So...it having passing many months of this thread...it is possible or it will imposible forever?? I only want to play pokemon soulsilver to remember that times lol

Not yet but it is fairly close. Loading download play demo roms and homebrew games (with working DLDI) from the SD slot is already working however retail games like soulsilver won't work as they will try to access slot-1 and the loader doesn't support the in memory patching required to redirect that to the SD card. However significant progress has been made in reverse engineering Max Overload which does something very similar, except it patches the DS roms to run from a "homebrew only" slot-2 (GBA slot) device.

Using forwarders?

No, using the existing .nds loader which can already load homebrew and download play demos. Though since there is no support for redirecting slot-1 access (by patching the rom in memory like the old GBA slot carts like the M3 Perfect did) retail games won't work until that is implemented.