Confused with all of those terms that members use in the NDS section?
This is a glossary for new members to understand terms in this forum by using simple words!

ROM A computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board.
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Flashcart A device which allows you to hack a console that uses cartridges and cannot be softmoded, it is used for homebrew and ROM's
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Homebrew Unofficial software written for the Nintendo DS by hobbyist programmers, as opposed to software written by a game production company or corporation (using the official development tools from Nintendo).
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Kernel A bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. It is mostly used to overcome updates that block flashcarts. [/p]

Firmware A the GUI that loads ROM images / homebrew.
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GUI In hacking terms, a graphical user interface (GUI, sometimes pronounced gooey,) is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands.
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Patch In DS hacking terms, a fix for ROM's, mostly used to pass Anti-Piracy.
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Anti-Piracy In hacking terms, not allowing a ROM image to load.
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Moonshell A homebrew multimedia player for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS lite and Nintendo DSi dual-screen handheld videogame systems. It is a well known piece of Nintendo DS homebrew software, and offers a way to play videos and audio on the DS, along with other homebrew games.
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Brick In flashcart terms, a flashcart that doesn't support the DSi system because it was updated, and it useless as a brick. This can be fixed if a special .nds update will be run on the flashcart from a original DS/DS lite or a DSi that wasn't updated yet.[/p]

Dump A method of backing up an original cartridge to a PC.[/p]

WOOD R4 An unofficial firmware that is used on real R4's or 1:1 clones. There are some carts that have there own WOOD R4 firmware: R4i DSN, R4i Gold, R4i Gold 3DS and R4i-pro gold.[/p]

akAIO An unofficial firmware for the Acekard. Based on the open sourced Acekard R.P.G firmware.[/p]

WAIO An acronym of "Wood-All-In-One". An unofficial firmware that works on most R4 clones, but development is dead at this moment. [/p]

R4 clone A flashcart that is hardware-based on another flashcart, like "R4i Ultra", "R4i Gold". Most clones don't have any support at all, sometimes the "official" website doesn't even give the firmware or kernel.[/p]

1:1 clone A clone of the original R4 DS that can use WOOD R4 as default firmware. 1:1 clones of the R4 DS work only on the NDS PHAT and NDS Lite. Note that "R4i DSN", "R4i Gold" and "R4i-pro gold" are not 1:1 clones.[/p]

More to be added soon!

 

[jurassicplayer]

Kernel and firmware are seriously swapped as Mbmax already said.
Wikipedia entries:

Spoiler: Kernel

While it is today mostly called the kernel, originally the same part of the operating system was also called the nucleus or core[1][5][6][7], and was conceived as containing only the essential support features of the operating system. However the term core has also been used to refer to the primary memory of a computer system, because some early computers used a form of memory called core memory.

In most cases, the boot loader starts executing the kernel in supervisor mode.[8] The kernel then initializes itself and starts the first process. After this, the kernel does not typically execute directly, only in response to external events (e.g., via system calls used by applications to request services from the kernel, or via interrupts used by the hardware to notify the kernel of events). Additionally, the kernel typically provides a loop that is executed whenever no processes are available to run; this is often called the idle process.

Spoiler: Firmware

There are no strict boundaries between firmware and software, as both are quite loose descriptive terms. However, the term firmware was originally coined in order to contrast to higher level software which could be changed without replacing a hardware component, and firmware is typically involved with very basic low-level operations without which a device would be completely non-functional.

Low-level firmware typically resides in a PLA structure or in a ROM (or OTP/PROM), while higher level firmware (often on the border to software) typically employs flash memory to allow for updates, at least in modern devices. (Common reasons for updating firmware include fixing bugs or adding features to the device. Doing so usually involves loading a binary image file provided by the manufacturer into the device, according to a specific procedure; this is sometimes intended to be done by the end user.)

 

[AlanJohn]

Kernel and firmware are seriously swapped as Mbmax already said.
Wikipedia entries:

Spoiler: Kernel

While it is today mostly called the kernel, originally the same part of the operating system was also called the nucleus or core[1][5][6][7], and was conceived as containing only the essential support features of the operating system. However the term core has also been used to refer to the primary memory of a computer system, because some early computers used a form of memory called core memory.

In most cases, the boot loader starts executing the kernel in supervisor mode.[8] The kernel then initializes itself and starts the first process. After this, the kernel does not typically execute directly, only in response to external events (e.g., via system calls used by applications to request services from the kernel, or via interrupts used by the hardware to notify the kernel of events). Additionally, the kernel typically provides a loop that is executed whenever no processes are available to run; this is often called the idle process.

Spoiler: Firmware

There are no strict boundaries between firmware and software, as both are quite loose descriptive terms. However, the term firmware was originally coined in order to contrast to higher level software which could be changed without replacing a hardware component, and firmware is typically involved with very basic low-level operations without which a device would be completely non-functional.

Low-level firmware typically resides in a PLA structure or in a ROM (or OTP/PROM), while higher level firmware (often on the border to software) typically employs flash memory to allow for updates, at least in modern devices. (Common reasons for updating firmware include fixing bugs or adding features to the device. Doing so usually involves loading a binary image file provided by the manufacturer into the device, according to a specific procedure; this is sometimes intended to be done by the end user.)

 

[gifi4]

AlanJohn, I don't mean to burst your bubble but if this is for the competition, it has been done before, twice to be exact. An extremely outdated one and a fairly new one, I have links in one of my previous posts: This post.

The rules say no duplicates...

 

[AlanJohn]

AlanJohn, I don't mean to burst your bubble but if this is for the competition, it has been done before, twice to be exact. An extremely outdated one and a fairly new one, I have links in one of my previous posts: This post.

The rules say no duplicates...

Mods feel free to close this.