nds-bootstrap loader: Run commercial NDS backups from an SD Card

nds-bootstrap:

Thanks to the work of ahezard, Gericom, Apache, Robz8, _catcatcat, and shutterbug2000 and other contributors, we can now load NDS games from the SD card, without any flashcard/SLOT-1 card.

Don't expect high compatibility, but do expect many, many updates.

:arrow: Compatibility listing:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LRTkXOUXraTMjg1eedz_f7b5jiuyMv2x6e_jY_nyHSc/edit#gid=0

:arrow: The official Discord server for nds-bootstrap:
https://discordapp.com/invite/7bxTQfZ

:arrow: The thread for the recommended loader (by Robz8):
https://gbatemp.net/threads/twloader-ctr-mode-nds-app.448375/

:arrow: SRLoader for softmodded DSis (by Robz8):
https://gbatemp.net/threads/srloader-nds-app-for-dsi.472200/

:arrow: If you're more of a forwarder person:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/nds-forwarder-cias-for-your-home-menu.426174/

:arrow: Link to the releases page:
https://github.com/ahezard/nds-bootstrap/releases

:arrow: Anti-Piracy patch list by Robz8
https://gbatemp.net/threads/ap-patch-preservation.477536/

Also, thank you to our testers:
Historian
JoshuaDoes
thejsa
Alerdy
PokeAcer


Also, a video thanks to Robz8:


And another thanks to Alerdy:
 
Last edited by shutterbug2000,

RocketRobz

Stylish TWiLight Hero
Developer
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
16,905
Trophies
3
Age
25
XP
21,744
Country
United States
I cant manage to boot games like Golden Sun or gives me weird slowdowns like with Metroid Pinball
Im on TWiLight Menu++ v27.6.0 and nds-bootstrap v1.5.5, Im using a flashcart on a DS Lite.
Golden Sun will not work on nds-bootstrap for flashcards.
In TWLMenu++, switch the `Game Loader` setting to `Kernel` for that and other non-booting or problematic games.
If you get an error after doing do, please follow the flashcard firmware steps here: https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilig...rd#to-run-games-using-your-flashcard-firmware
 

RocketRobz

Stylish TWiLight Hero
Developer
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
16,905
Trophies
3
Age
25
XP
21,744
Country
United States
v1.6.0-v1.6.2
Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.7.0 (GBATemp thread)

What's new?
  • For consoles which improperly trigger sleep mode (with opened lid), sleep mode can now be disabled!

Bug fixes​

  • Improved stability of wireless communications by moving SD R/W operations from vBlank & IPC Sync IRQs (of arm7) to main loop (of arm7) (once again, achieved by hooking SWI Halt calls)!
    • This means little to no random connection dropouts (may vary, depending on the game).
    • Mario Kart DS will now properly host a single-card multiplayer game.
    • No more slowdowns during ROM reads from the SD card with wireless comms.!
    • Compared to prior versions which implemented SWI Halt hooking, some optimizations have been made to reduce slowdown from said hooking. No slowdown has been found in known games which had those prior, such as CTGP Nitro (v1.0).
  • Fixed an overlooked bug (which occurred since v1.1.0) which caused a Data Abort crash when attempting to connect to PBR via Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum.
    • The same disconnection bug will likely persist.
  • Cut the Rope no longer shows black screens for Memory Pit users!

Known bugs​

Due to moving SD R/W operations to main loop, the following will occur.
  • Compared to previous versions, there may be some minor slowdown in certain games (such as Pokemon B/W 2, during the title screen).
  • On DSi consoles, Nervous Brickdown & Big Bang Mini will crash on black screens after the company logos. Both will still run on 3DS consoles, as those games are pre-loaded to RAM.
  • If you still encounter random connection dropouts, try turning off the `Card read DMA` setting in either TWLMenu++ or the forwarder per-game settings menus.
 
Last edited by RocketRobz,

RocketRobz

Stylish TWiLight Hero
Developer
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
16,905
Trophies
3
Age
25
XP
21,744
Country
United States
v2.0.0: 200th Release


Welcome to nds-bootstrap's 200th release!
In this new version, you'll find many new improvements for game compatibility! Also, in B4DS mode, some games which have not booted in a long time, now finally boot!

Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.8.0 (GBATemp thread)

What's new?​

  • Remember Foto Showdown? The Pokémon clone where you get new monsters using your DSi or 3DS camera, and use them in battles?
    You can now play it on your DS Phat or DS Lite console, with one difference!
    The camera lens will either be substituted with a video (Place the video file in `fat:/_nds/nds-bootstrap/dsiCamera/` and name it `default.bin`, must be recorded using dsi-camcorder), or it'll just be covered and you'll see nothing.
  • If you use a debug/dev model of the DS, you can now also play System Flaw & System Flaw: Recruit!
  • The ROM pre-load settings from the nds-bootstrap-extras repo are now part of nds-bootstrap itself, as they'll help reduce some ROM load issues causing some frame flickers and/or slowdown in certain games, regardless of which frontend you use!
  • Card Read DMA patching is now implemented in B4DS mode, making more games such as Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune, The Magic School Bus: Oceans, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat now work on DS flashcards!
  • Minna no Mahjong DS, Diddy Kong Racing DS, and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn now work in B4DS mode, as their save functions are now directly patched on arm9.
  • Mario Hoops 3-on-3 now works in B4DS mode, as a missing patch has been added.
  • The Kiosk Demo version of Mario Kart DS now boots on DS and DSi consoles!
  • Nintendo DS Guide Server now boots!
  • If your DSi console no longer has LEDs powering on (as a result of a bricked BPTWL I2C chip), but can still manage to boot it using ntrboot, patches are now implemented to allow games to work properly!
  • Card Read DMA patching has been re-enabled for TWL titles running in DSi mode.
  • Improved the ROM pre-loading feature on DSi/3DS, as it now tries to pre-load only the NitroFS data, if the ROM is slightly too big to fit in the console's RAM.
    • In addition, for full ROM pre-loading, 480KB of DSi WRAM are now allocated for a few more ROMs to be pre-loaded.
  • The Sound/Mic frequency setting now works in homebrew!

Bug fixes​

  • On DSi consoles, in Pokémon Black & White 1&2 running in DSi mode, scrolling in the bag menu no longer has slowdown.
    • Hopefully, the random crashes are also gone.
  • On DSi consoles, the intro of MegaMan Battle Network 5: Double Team DS no longer has slight slowdowns.
  • In B4DS mode, the European version of Super Princess Peach now boots!
  • On DSi/3DS consoles, flickering in the title screens of Dragon Quest IV & VI have been reduced.
  • On DSi consoles, Nervous Brickdown & Big Bang Mini no longer crash on black screens on startup!
  • Fixed bugged music playback in Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends running in DSiWare exploits (such as Memory Pit) and/or in DSi mode.
  • In B4DS mode, due to the implementation of Card Read DMA, Tony Hawk's American Sk8land no longer hangs when getting into gameplay.
  • In B4DS mode, due to the implementation of Card Read DMA, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 no longer crashes during a cutscene.
  • Nintendo DSi Shop & System Settings no longer crash on white screens.
  • Optimized touch screen mode switching code to fix where the sound would no longer play on certain DSi/3DS consoles.
  • Other minor fixes.

Known bugs​

  • As both Nintendo DSi Shop & System Settings no longer show white screens, they'll instead show the stock DSi error screen. This is due to them being unable to read the version data from TWLNAND, but the fix for this is unknown.
  • Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise now also works in B4DS mode, but does not save.
A special wallpaper featuring 5 games that now work in B4DS mode has been made available here!:
https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/nds-bootstrap/blob/master/images/200th Release/Wallpaper.png
 
Last edited by RocketRobz,

raxadian

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2018
Messages
4,638
Trophies
1
Age
41
XP
4,883
Country
Argentina
I think that's quite a good Viva Piñata game? Good thing I use a 3DS.

Will any improvements for New 2DS/New 3DS will be implemented to take advantage of the better hardware, maybe for loading stuff on ram or something?
 

RocketRobz

Stylish TWiLight Hero
Developer
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
16,905
Trophies
3
Age
25
XP
21,744
Country
United States
v2.0.1
Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.9.0 (GBATemp thread)

What's new?​

  • Removed the preload flag for old DS homebrew, as there are no (known) frontends which use it.
  • Old versions of some DSi system apps now boot.

Bug fixes​

  • The Singleplayer Nookingtons patch for Animal Crossing: Wild World no longer black screens in B4DS mode!
  • Fixed wrong placement of the sound frequency flag causing old DS homebrew (as well as GBARunner2) to not boot.
  • For proper changing of the DSi/3DS sound frequency, the codec is now written to.
  • Leftover garbage data is now cleared before boot when running from Slot-1 with SCFG access.
  • Some minor optimizations.
 
Last edited by RocketRobz,

RocketRobz

Stylish TWiLight Hero
Developer
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
16,905
Trophies
3
Age
25
XP
21,744
Country
United States
v2.0.2
Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.10.0 (GBATemp thread)

What's new?​

  • B4DS mode: Two DSiWare apps, Animal Crossing Calculator & Mario Calculator now boot on DS and DS Lite consoles!
    • Either a Memory Expansion Pak or a DS Debug/Dev console is required.
    • The European/Australian version of Animal Crossing Calculator only works on a DS Debug/Dev console.
  • For a tiny speed boost during CPU ROM reads from DSi/3DS SD card, the FAT code has been moved back to ARM9, along with the IPC Sync IRQ on ARM7 doing SD sector reads again.
    • No new wireless communication issues have been found so far. The same issues that have occurred since the release which has improved wireless stability will still occur.
    • DMA ROM reads and NAND save R/W will still have arm7 run the FAT code while on the main loop.
  • NitroFS FNT/FAT info will now pre-load into DSi WRAM when available.

Bug fix​

  • B4DS mode: Fixed a bug which could cause low quality sound output on DSi/3DS consoles.
    • Also fixes mic. test in Pokemon B&W 1&2 (and possibly other games) on DSi.
 
Last edited by RocketRobz,

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    DinohScene @ DinohScene: at work rn :x