Hacking Opera DS Browser

[magic01]

I purchased my DS Lite last year along with a mini Supercard (which is not flush with the DS) and flashed the firmware in order to use the SC. This setup worked great.

Recently, I purchased an R4, mainly so that the DS would be clean looking (no protruding Slot 2 device), plus I learned how easy the R4 was to use and customize.

NOW.... I would like to run the Opera DS Browser, but can't seem to make it work.

I put a patched version of the EUR DS Browser (using Triforce's patch) on my R4.

I put the mini SC in slot 2 (containing the old min SD card).

The patched Opera rom starts to run but then a message pops up asking for the ram expansion pack and then makes me power the DS down.

I figured the problem lies with my flashed firmware, so I used No Flashme Lite on the R4 (while shorting the SL1 leads) to supposedly restore the original firmware.

Now, with only the R4 in slot 1, OR the R4 in slot 1 AND the SC in slot 2, the DS turns on by displaying the health warning screen first (never displayed before), and then immediatly (automatically) loading the R4 menu..... Is this an indication that the firmware is NOT the original? Shouldn't I be getting the setup screen which shows the different slots, pictochat, etc.?

Whether or not this is an issue, can anyone suggest something so that I can make the Opera DS Browser work? I really want to be able to check my Yahoo email on the DS.

You guys are awesome, and this is a great Forum... Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Rayder]

You're OK, that's the way an unflashed DS works with the R4. You'll see the health warning screen, then "Loading....", then the R4 menu. The R4 bypasses the DS's menu stuff and negates the need for a flashed DS. Just eject the R4 if you want to get to the DS's menu options.

Does the browser work now?

 

[DanTheManMS]

Only two things I can think of:
1. You patched for the correct device, the Supercard, right?
2. Obviously the hack won't work on Supercard Rumbles, so if you're using a Rumble cart that's the problem.

 

[thomasroberts6]

Sorry, Im a Bit confused, Is the Opera browseryou have a ROM or the real thing?

If its a ROM, you need a 4GB slot 2 card.

 

[TLSpartan]

Sorry, Im a Bit confused, Is the Opera browseryou have a ROM or the real thing?

If its a ROM, you need a 4GB slot 2 card.

No you dont. You need to patch if you own a SC,M3 or EZF slot 2. Except for the EZF 3 in 1

 

[xcalibur]

can you use the clean rom for the opera browser if you have a EZIV card and use the 2 in 1 tool?>

 

[thomasroberts6]

oh...


sorry, i didnt know what that is until now

 

[Rayder]

I sent this guy a PM with a link to the "patched for SC" browser that I've been using. He said it still didn't work. I've been hearing that from a few people now. Maybe Supercard's have changed something internally? Maybe because he flashed his DS? I don't really see how that would matter though. It works fine on my R4/SCminiSD combo, but I never flashed my DSlite. It worked whether my SC was running the 1.70 or the 1.81 firmware, so firmware in the SC isn't the culprit.

I don't know what more to tell the dude. He says he has the mini Supercard, so I assumed he meant the SCminiSD.......maybe he has a CF version? That might explain it.

He responded to his PM, but I think he forgot about this post.

 

[magic01]

Thanks everyone for your contributions.... I certainly did NOT forget about this post, because getting the Opera Browser is my number one priority right now, if anything, for the principle of it all.

Just to reiterate, my DS Lite was Flashed when i initially got it. I have the SCminiSD like you said (purple with Boba Fett on the cover). It has a 1GB Kingston mini SD card in it that is about 1/4 full of GBA and NES Roms.

I unflashed the DS Lite using an noflashme program just to "be sure."

I DID use the ROM graciously sent by Rayder, and still got the same error. I am going to use my R4 and SC on my friend's "virgin" DS Lite this morning, and will let you know how it goes. I'm quite certain that flashing the DS has something to do with it.

Nothing needs to be done to the SC right, cuz I did NOTHING special to it?

I REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S HELP.

 

[MikeyTaylorGaming]

it isnt an error... you need the opera ram expansion pack to use the Browser. simple as that, it will not work without it no matter what. sure there is a rom for it because it is classed as a game but you still cant play it without the Ram expansion.

for some large Mega drive roms in picodriveds you need the RAM expansion to play games. one example of this is sonic 3 and knuckles (the game made by connecting sonic 3 to the sonic and knuckles game cart. but you can download it as one whole rom and its better than the two games seperately lol.)

without the ram expansion it says rom info: 0 bytes and a smiley face when i try to load the rom... but put it into the GBA slot and then try it and it'll say using opera ram expansion pack. it wasn't a waste of time me buying that thing after all XD


or there maybe a patch or something to get it to work without itbut i have no idea about that lol

 

[magic01]

I tried unflashing the firmware once more, and this time, the unflashme software indicated that the firmware didn't appear patched, meaning that I must've done it "properly" before. Anyway, I ran a different version of unflashme lite, to see if that was the problem (I know, a bit risky), connected the SD and R4, ran the rom with the patch, and same thing - it's asking for the expansion pak.

The patched ROM doesn't seem to like my SC as an expansion pack.

My friends are not around for me to test the hardware on a virgin DS lite, so I'm stuck! I'm thinking of actually BUYING the program now, since I really want this to work (I don't mind too much, since I haven't bought one game yet).... or.... "exchange" this DS lite at Costco.

Let me know if you have anymore suggestions. I'm not giving up until I verify that the hardware works on a virgin DS lite.

 

[pkprostudio]

My DS is flashed and it's a pain in the ass. Everytime I turn my DS on, I need to hold START+SELECT so the SC won't boot, and I can get to R4. My Browser is patched and it is working fine. I made a topic in the NDS Games section about it.

PS: No, I'm not on the Browser right now.

 

[MikeyTaylorGaming]

can someone tell me what flashing actually is?

 

[Rayder]

it isnt an error... you need the opera ram expansion pack to use the Browser. simple as that, it will not work without it no matter what. sure there is a rom for it because it is classed as a game but you still cant play it without the Ram expansion.

for some large Mega drive roms in picodriveds you need the RAM expansion to play games. one example of this is sonic 3 and knuckles (the game made by connecting sonic 3 to the sonic and knuckles game cart. but you can download it as one whole rom and its better than the two games seperately lol.)

without the ram expansion it says rom info: 0 bytes and a smiley face when i try to load the rom... but put it into the GBA slot and then try it and it'll say using opera ram expansion pack. it wasn't a waste of time me buying that thing after all XD


or there maybe a patch or something to get it to work without itbut i have no idea about that lol

Um....sorry to tell you, but it DOES work with the SCminiSD. That's the way I use it all the time. The ROM has been patched to do so.

Still, I'm at a loss as to why it's not working for him........try pulling the miniSD out of the Supercard. See if that works. I heard some people say they had to do that to get it to work. I don't need to do that, but anything is possible. I still don't know why it ain't working for you. I pulled that ROM directly off my R4 that I've always used.


Do this for me. Eject the R4 and boot your DS. Hit "Start GBA game" and hold the left and right trigger to make the SCminiSD go into test mode. Keep hitting A until it tells you what firmware it is running. It will go through a bunch of tests and the last one will be "Now SC Version: x.xx" where X is your firmware version.
I never tried to run the browser with anything less than version 1.70. Maybe that's the problem if you're running an older firmware.

 

[magic01]

Rayder, I did what you suggested below, and it says I'm running "SC Version:1.81"

I tried taking out the miniSD and botting the ROM, but the same message appears, looking for the expansion pack.

I'm gonna downgrade the firmware to 1.70 like yours and see if the older firmware will do the trick.

THANK YOU AGAIN.

 

[MikeyTaylorGaming]

doesnt matter, i only got my R4 2 months ago and i had the browser a long time before that, i did try to trade it in at one point at a game shop but it wouldnt scan. good thing too lol sonic 3 n knuckles is the greatest game combo ever!

 

[magic01]

Okay, my friend brought up another good point. My 1GB mini SD card is half full. Could it be I need to clear out the SD card to make memory available?

Also, it was suggested that the R4's micro SD card should be formatted FAT16 AND the Supercard mini SD should be formatted the same way.

Do you guys think this will make a difference? I'll try anything, as I just found out that this damn game is pretty much sold out at all the local stores in my area, so I couldn't buy it anyway if I wanted to.

 

[pkprostudio]

The free space in the card has nothing to do with it. The format for R4 doesn't really matter, but FAT16 will load the game faster from the menu. FAT32 is capable of more space, but 1GB is enough, so FAT16 is the best right now. MiniSD has to be FAT32 in order for it to work. I tried to do FAT16, and the SuperCard said NO. There might be something wrong with your DS or your MicroSD card...

 

[Rayder]

Okay, my friend brought up another good point. My 1GB mini SD card is half full. Could it be I need to clear out the SD card to make memory available?

Also, it was suggested that the R4's micro SD card should be formatted FAT16 AND the Supercard mini SD should be formatted the same way.

Do you guys think this will make a difference? I'll try anything, as I just found out that this damn game is pretty much sold out at all the local stores in my area, so I couldn't buy it anyway if I wanted to.

Both my microSD and miniSD are formatted in FAT16. Also, both my SD's are crammed to capacity, so that shouldn't matter. None of that should matter simply because the browser is supposed to be using the built-in RAM on the Supercard, not the SD. I had my SCminiSD at 1.81 and the browser still worked.....I only backed off to 1.70 because GBA games seemed to slow down even more in 1.81.


You could try formatting the microSD in FAT16 and see if that's the problem. I never bothered with FAT32 simply because it slows access to the card.

I don't know why it's not working for you if that doesn't fix it.

 

[shinji257]

Just so you guys know here.

The patch for the DS Browser allows you to use a slot-2 device as a memory expansion unit. The only problem is that the slot-2 device must have on-board ram for it to work. This doesn't have to be a full 4Gb (Gigabit) at all.

Example:
R4DS (1.11 firmware)
M3 Perfect Lite (v34 firmware)
DS Browser patched to use M3 device as expansion unit

This setup does work although a bit slow. The real thing works quite a bit faster as a friend showed up at work with the retail unit and it works great. My setup and his setup work fine on both flashed and unflashed units as I have one of each.