Hacking Playing DS games with flashed DS lite on supercard mini sd?

[Echo24]

So today, after 5 years of being too scared, I flashed my DS Lite using my Action Replay DSi as a passthrough devices. At least I think I did - given the fact that I have yet to play a DS game from slot 2 and the ARDSi isn't usually listed as a passing device, I don't know if it actually worked.

Anyways, I tried to put Pokemon Soul Silver on my SC mini sd. First, I tried the fresh ROM. It didn't show up in the list of ROMs. I patched the .nds file using the software and the result was a .nds.dsq file. Didn't show up either. I tried changing the .nds.dsq file to a .sc.nds extension. Still didn't show up. I tried tacking on a .gba extension and it showed up this time. Strangely, when I opened the file, it only seemed to load 32mb (the file is 128mb). As you might expect, it booted to a white screen.

I'm not sure what to do at this point. I have SC firmware 1.85 and software version 2.71. I have a feeling that this is a dead end, which is a real shame because I've sunk an entire day into this at this point. Should I just give up and look into 3ds custom firmware?

 

[FAST6191]

If the installer said it worked then it should. If you did not install the stealth version then you will also be lacking the health and safety screen. I don't know for the lite but there might also be a variable brightness during the boot (there is for the original DS).

Equally there are various button combos like holding select or holding the face buttons to force boot various modes.

Similarily if the loader for the stuff is on both screens and you did not see the GBA logo before it loaded you have the DS mode. One screen and you saw the GBA logo and it is still going to GBA mode. You might have to force it to boot that mode
http://web.archive.org/web/20140109184829/http://home.comcast.net/~olimar/flashme/
Says
"To force it to boot [in DS mode] from SLOT-2, hold A+B+X+Y."
GBA mode might block the .NDS extension.

That said I don't know if you will be able to get soul silver working once you do. Playing DS games from the GBA slot required fairly extensive patching and while Supercard stuck with it for the longest it was still mid 2009 when they stopped and Pokemon HG/SS was mid-late 2010 and that franchise usually throws up a few frustrations for flash cart users. Games from mid 2009 and before will usually work (there might be some exceptions), and you can probably also get homebrew to work (it is one of the better ways to dump DS games and saves). That is still a few thousand games, and some of the better ones on the platform, but DS slot flash carts are the way to go. Sadly the Supercard GBA line's GBA abilities are also pretty suspect but I imagine you know about that already.

As far as playing DS games on a 3ds custom firmware I am not the most familiar. It is slightly annoying though and a flash cart is still the better way. If you do have a custom firmware on your 3ds you can also remove some of the blocks Nintendo has for DS flash carts which may spare you having to buy a really fancy one that works on stock firmwares. If you are buying one for your DS lite then it never blocked anything.

 

[migles]

@Echo24 weird that you say "i think i did" because flashme is actually a little process that you would be sure to do.
you open the program, the program will prompt you to short a pin hidden in the battery compartment and you have to short it for a minute or so, then in the end says 100% (not sure if there is a done message saying you can now turn it off)

there is 4 different choices of flashme when you downloaded it (there is also versions, but either v7 or v8 is fine IIRC)
if you used the normal version you won't see the health and safety screen anymore when you boot the console with a nds card or without any card (if you have a gba game it won't change anything, you see the same gba bios logo)
there is also the no autoboot, meaning you will have to press SELECT in the boot to load the slot2 as NDS mode
and the stealth versions of previous, which means it still shows the health and safety screen


if you boot the supercard and the gba logo shows up, it's still running in GBA mode.
if that happens, try to hold select when you turn on the console, if you still see the default gba logo: the console is not flashed or that card is not launching it for some weird reason

 

[Echo24]

Thanks guys, I didn't know there was a button combination to boot slot 2 in DS mode. I figured it just did it automatically. I held select to do so and it booted my SC in DS mode. I clicked on one of the many copies of Heart Gold that I had made, and to my surprise it actually worked! I'll see if I can save successfully and/or get past the "spinning balls" anti-piracy. I also tried patching a copy of Rayman DS (released 2005) but strangely, the software straight up refused.

EDIT: I finished my first trainer battle without the "spinning balls" freeze but it occasionally freezes when returning from the menu or changing maps. I'll see if there are any patched roms I can use instead.

@migles Yeah I shorted the SL1 and it got to 100% (flashme v8). There is in fact a done message saying you can now turn it off. However I installed stealth no auto so nothing about the UI actually changed. Now that I've booted in DS mode though I'm sure it completed. Has anyone ever successfully flashed their device on an ARDSi before? I didn't see it on the list of NoPass devices, so it might be worth listing somewhere.

@FAST6191 Yeah I figured I might have problems with that. I'm too cheap to buy any new hardware though, as evidenced by the fact that I still own a barely functional supercard lol.

 

[migles]

However I installed stealth no auto so nothing about the UI actually changed.

so that means if you want to launch the Slot 2 as a NDS cart you will have to hold select while turning on the console
if you have a gba game, put it in the console, boot it with select holded, if the console stays in a white screen\doesn't boot the gba game, you got a flashme flashed ds

edit: apparently you dont even need a gba game, just remove all the carts from the console and try to boot it while holding select, if the console stays in 2 white screens, flashme is working