Hacking New to the Flash Cart Scene

[Antoids]

Hello, all. I'm sorry for making a thread like this, as I'm sure there's a megatopic or something around for me to post such a question in, but I couldn't find it after searching (this search function on this forum is a little unwieldy for me).

Basically, I'm just getting into the whole NDS flash cartridge deal. I'm already very experienced with homebrew, emulation, etc. with other consoles, but this is new territory for me. I'm considering purchasing one of these. Unfortunately, I don't know much more than that, including how to actually USE a flash cart (though I presume I would just use my SD reader with it) or what I need to pull out of the two dropdown menus. None of my friends, online or otherwise, have any flash cart experience, so I really just need some help getting started.

Again, I'm sure there's probably a place for this that isn't here, and I apologize if that turns out to be the case. I just figured "guides" was the closest thing to what I needed. If I was horribly wrong, someone might please point me in the right direction.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Knyaz Vladimir]

Just get a DSTWO and post in the NDS forums next time. Has all DS support, GBA and SNES emulation, and much more. It's quite good.

 

[dan80315]

I get where you're coming from. I'm in the midst of purchasing a PSP 100x and I've no modding exp when it comes to PSP's.

What you linked there is an Acekard 2i. This is a flashcart (obviously) there are countless others, think of them as brands or something like that. There's CycloDS, DSTWO, DSTT, R4, etc. Acekard 2.1 and Acekard RPG are previous versions of the 2i but way outdated, specially Acekard RPG.

Anyway, once you order one of these babies and you get it in your mail. You open it up and you get the flashcart and most likely a reader with no microSD included. You insert a microSD into the flashcard which you then insert into your NDS.

Before you do all that though, you have to get the latest firmware for the flashcart. There's official firmware for it and another one that's currently developed by a sepperate team (called AKAIO). The official firmware is incredibly outdated and AKAIO 1.8.1 is the latest one at the time I write this. So you install the firmware on to your flashcart, paste the commercial ROMS you own into any folder and that's about it.

Just remove your microSD from your computer and insert it into the flashcart. And insert that flashcart into the DS. You start up your Nintendo DS and you just load up any ROMS/Homebrew you want on it.

This isn't really a step-by-step guide as to how to get it to work. This is just a general explanation. I can write one up for you if you want, just let me know what kind of NDS console you're running and which kind of flashcart you use. I really recommend AK2i, it works on the DSi/XL/LL and it's really cheap.

Hope this helps!

Just get a DSTWO and post in the NDS forums next time. Has all DS support, GBA and SNES emulation, and much more. It's quite good.

^I agree on this if money/budget isn't a deciding factor for you. AK2i is $12~$15 while the DSTWO is somewhere around $35. The big upsides to DSTWO are GBA emulation, SNES emulation, almost all new NDS releases work without patching and has distinct features like realtime save, .txt reader while in-game, enable/disable/make cheats while in-game.

Acekard currently has none of these; except for SNES emulation. New DS releases work with "By-pass anti-piracy" enabled though.

 

[Gh0sti]

if your going to get the ak2i, i suggest since you dont know much about adding stuff to the cart, do the express version where you need to buy a microsd card from their site, they will make sure that the ak2i will be able to bypass nintendo dsi's firmware, and also put in the latest OS for the cart and preinstall some homebrew for you before you get your cart, and once you recieve it, just plug it in and it will work

 

[Sephxus]

Yes. This is the wrong section. This is for posting reviews and guides. You want to go to Nintendo DS Discussions > NDS - Flashcarts and Accessories > Acekard.

The only difference between the Acekard 2.1 and Acekard 2i is that the Acekard 2i can be played on the DSi.

This guide should help you set up everything you need: Link

Note: You may need to flash the Acekard 2i if you have firmware 1.4.1 in order for it to work.
Select the premium option on Shoptemp and they will do it for you.

Or you can do it yourself if you have a DS Lite or a DSi with firmware 1.3.

 

[Antoids]

Thank you all for your advice, and the mod who moved this thread.

I have one of the original big DSes, the Phat. Got it at launch! I like the looks of that card Knyaz mentioned, that's really impressive and I'm tempted. I'm sure there's a lot of variance of opinion on cards, though. I made my choice from a poll on this site, actually. Both of those cards are compatible with my DS, correct?

I have something that can read SD cards, already (I used it to set up my Wii's homebrew), so I don't think I need a reader, but maybe I do, I guess. I obviously don't know.

I think the general explanation will work fine for me, I just looking for something like that, really. I can do stuff pretty intuitively with tech if I have a starting place. But I'll keep the guide linked in mind.

 

[Evo.lve]

Uh, no, no,no.

Your Wii uses an SD card.

Your flashcart uses a microSD card, unless you bought a NinjaDS.

There's a big difference. When it comes in the mail, just try sticking that SD card in there (yes I know that sounds wrong)

Pic explaining the differences shortly.

EDIT:

The SD card you have would be the one on the top.
The microSD your flashcart will use is the one on the bottom.