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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spoiler: Videos

Also, a video thanks to Robz8:


And another thanks to Alerdy:

 

[metroid maniac]

Yeah i think the opposite is actually true. /IF/ we have enough cpu cycles available, compressing the data may actually lead to faster loading times.
there is a delicate balance between i/o speed and decompression overhead.

Maybe @ahezard can toy around with the idea of something like a tiny zram

I was informed IPC was the major overhead here, I don't think I/O speed is a problem.
Maybe compression would make the most of the WRAM cache once that's implemented fully. There's only 768KB available and I believe there's only 512KB mapped in current releases of nds-bootstrap. But we'll see if that's necessary, because I don't think at this time that the DSi WRAM is being utilised as a cache fully.

 

[Fatalanus]

Devs, do you know if you still can improve the beast after this major step?

 

[ahezard]

I was informed IPC was the major overhead here, I don't think I/O speed is a problem.
Maybe compression would make the most of the WRAM cache once that's implemented fully. There's only 768KB available and I believe there's only 512KB mapped in current releases of nds-bootstrap. But we'll see if that's necessary, because I don't think at this time that the DSi WRAM is being utilised as a cache fully.

For now I use only 32kb for cache at arm9 level + 128kb at arm7 level (fat table), the WRAM also hold my code that is running in parallel of the game (64 kb arm9 + 64 kb arm7). I plan to use 512kb of cache at arm9 managed in 32kb block (the WRAM is organized in 32kb block). This is why 32kb cluster size for the SD should be optimal, because it is matching the WRAM physical organisation. Once this is implemented properly (i have to implement a round-robin algorithm or something similar) this should reduces further the loading time.

Then some compression may be done, this is not a bad idea, even if it would increase the complexity of the cache management. But first I want to implement a prefetch algorithm that try to guess what will be the next clusters accessed on the sd and preload them into the cache in background. This is not easy to do but it should provide a big boost, particularly during cut-scene.

What I want to look also is to improve the arm7 part to reduce the blocking usage, currently when the arm7 is loading data from sd I deactivate all other thread/interrupts so nothing so running in parallel, not even high priority stuff. This was done to avoid bug but it creates this sound choppiness and lack of responsiveness of controls that is observed in some games. I have some ideas to improve that.

 

[Chuu]

^Have u tested it on this new version of bootstrap?

Are you implying it works? :o

 

[vander263]

Are you implying it works? :o

Nop, just asking

 

[SCN0]

Nop, just asking

Nope, The World Ends With You white-screens on the latest official and unofficial.

 

[vander263]

^I hope that someday the compatibility list greatly increases like the speed improvement in this latest version

 

[TinchoX]

Latest commit made Pokemon Explorers of Sky load and work just like Blue Rescue team, it is playable but it lags hard every time it has to load up text and sprites.
Anyone with access to the chart kindly modify that entry, thanks in advance.

It is slowly improving, it's amazing how far it's gone.

Note: It's the EUR version already on the list.
VRAM Boost ON and Lock ARM9 SCFG_EXT off

I'll try the USA version later on and see it that one works as well.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Explorers of Sky (USA) now boots up just fine, loading times are the same as the rest.
Maybe consider adding this one to the list as well, let people know both versions work now.

 

[raphamotta]

Professor Layton and the Curious Village (both US and EUR) used to work in very early versions of bootstrap (before save management). Now it's just white screen.

999 is almost working. I can hear the sound in the begging of game and then it's black screen. Maybe a problem with the save I don't know...

 

[TheArcadeStriker]

Tried Sonic Rush Adventure. Unpatched it did load but brought a save error. Patched it with MCM and it does load! Surprisingly the 3D cutscenes don't have any loading times while they are playing (Maybe before them, but not while they are playing), as well as the 2D ones (except for when they go to a location to another, and similarly there are loading times BEFORE the cutscenes), and the title screen and Intro do have some lag/loading times, but the game runs perfectly (Just passed the Training level).

 

[ahezard]

Guys, here is a new release : https://github.com/ahezard/nds-bootstrap/releases/tag/V0.3.0
It brings an overall better compatibility than 0.2.0, slightly better speed than 0.3.0beta1 and the option to swap the arm7 binary in an easy way, without having to do it manually.

 

[NightScript]

Guys, here is a new release : https://github.com/ahezard/nds-bootstrap/releases/tag/V0.3.0
It brings an overall better compatibility than 0.2.0, slightly better speed than 0.3.0beta1 and the option to swap the arm7 binary in an easy way, without having to do it manually.

I personally recommend to post releases here in a format like Robz8 does for TWLoader.

 

[SCN0]

Great work Ahezard! Hotel Dusk seems to boot now, although there's graphical glitches and stuttering

 

[vander263]

Let's try some games again!! , thanks buddy!!

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How i use ARM7_DONOR_PATH?

 

[RocketRobz]

How i use ARM7_DONOR_PATH?

Set it to a rom with working save, like Mario Kart DS (fat:/roms/nds/MarioKartDS.nds).

 

[vander263]

i put this line on nds-bootstrap.ini right?

 

[TLNiles]

So, how exactly donoring works? No MaxCrass... does it mean that I just put donor ROM, put an address and that's it? Or should I still MaxCrass the donor before that first, and only then it'll work?

 

[RocketRobz]

i put this line on nds-bootstrap.ini right?

Yes.

So, how exactly donoring works? No MaxCrass... does it mean that I just put donor ROM, put an address and that's it? Or should I still MaxCrass the donor before that first, and only then it'll work?

Just put donor rom.

 

[vander263]

Yeah it's working thanks buddy , great job with this ARM7_DONOR

 

[TLNiles]

Alright, what of MaxCrass patched ROMs then? Should I get rid of them and replace with regular ones, or keeping patched one is fine?