Hacking plug n play?

[bluechill]

hi,

would like to know how plug n play is defined in the R4's context.
according to the neat R4 review done here by gbatemp (http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=41279), it says that "In fact, the R4 DS doesn't require or even come with any software. The cart really is fully "drag 'n' drop" friendly."

however, there is still "hardware installation" part in the R4 manual on R4's website.

so, if i get my R4 and i just plug in a microSD card that contains ONLY roms and nothing else, will it be able to work?
or is it necessary to put in the new firmware files into the microSD card first?

thanks

 

[Katalyst]

No, you'll need to transfer the firmware. What it means by drag n' drop is that you don't have to do any patching of the rom beforehand for it to work. You can just put the clean rom on there and it should work. And "hardware installation" has to do with just that..hardware. Not software (in this case, it would be rom patching software..which you don't need because it's "drag n' drop").

 

[Killermech]

Technically it would just work by draging them without a firmware update. But unfortunely, this kind of perfect world does not exist as several slot 1 developers likes to think (100% compability).

Even though you won't need it in theory, it is highly recommended as it improves alot of its functionality compared to a non updated one.

 

[msakmar]

You need to put the new firmware files on the micro sd first. Get the latest version (1.05).

 

[bluechill]

hmm so it's not purely drag n drop yet i guess.. hopefully that day will come soon.

i'm gonna put in the 1.05 firmware and start loading up my card so that when my R4 arrives i can really plug n play!

thanks for all the fast replies!

 

[Katalyst]

hmm so it's not purely drag n drop yet i guess.. hopefully that day will come soon.

i'm gonna put in the 1.05 firmware and start loading up my card so that when my R4 arrives i can really plug n play!

thanks for all the fast replies!

Guess that depends on your definition of "drag n drop." Once the firmware is on the card, it's drag n drop, in the sense that you can drag whatever rom you want and drop it onto the card without having to patch it or modify the rom beforehand with a proprietary software, as you've had to do with a lot of older flash cards before they would play at all. That's what I think they mean by "drag n drop"

 

[digital_sin]

and technically, the firmware itself IS "drag and drop".

drag and drop
plug and play
drop and roll
live and learn

it's all too confusing!! let's hope we dont catch on fire and start plugging and playing, or try to pirate roms and start dropping and rolling. i guess we'll live and play...

 

[Katalyst]

and technically, the firmware itself IS "drag and drop".

Haha yeah. Pretty much anything that R4 needs is "drag n drop." I don't think anything requires pre-modification before it can be loaded by R4. Minus some homebrew that needs to be patched with the R4 DLDI. But that's only due to the fact that not many developers have been able to code in support for R4.

 

[Katalyst]

drag and drop
plug and play
drop and roll
live and learn

it's all too confusing!! let's hope we dont catch on fire and start plugging and playing, or try to pirate roms and start dropping and rolling. i guess we'll live and play...

Whoa now. It's stop, drop, and roll. I mean, dropping and rolling when you haven't stopped?....That's blasphemy

 

[mcbey]

Whoa now. It's stop, drop, and roll. I mean, dropping and rolling when you haven't stopped?....That's blasphemyÂ

Yeah thats how my brother died. If forgot to stop first so he was running when he dropped and broke his neck.

that fire sure was pretty though.

 

[Katalyst]

Whoa now. It's stop, drop, and roll. I mean, dropping and rolling when you haven't stopped?....That's blasphemyÂ

Yeah thats how my brother died. If forgot to stop first so he was running when he dropped and broke his neck.

LMAO. I lawled long time at that

 

[bluechill]

hmm. so first i'll drag and drop the firmware and the roms, then i'll plug and play it into my ds, and finally i'll stop drop and roll if the thing catches fire.

got it.

thanks for all the help!

 

[digital_sin]

no problem bluechill, live and learn

 

[bluechill]

urgh my plug n play idea didnt work after all.. i loaded up the ENGLISH firmware only to discover my R4 was a CHINESE set.

had to wait til i got home to transfer the chinese firmware over.

dang.

luckily i know how to read chinese, or i would probably have flipped out.

 

[BlueStar]

urgh my plug n play idea didnt work after all.. i loaded up the ENGLISH firmware only to discover my R4 was a chinese set.

dang.

luckily i know how to read chinese, or i would probably have flipped out. :\

You can change it to the english version by soldering one point:

(And then putting the english firmware on, obviously)

 

[bluechill]

one small question which has been asked many many times before (but somehow i cant find it using search!) but i still have to ask..

how can i exit to the R4 menu from a game (besides turning off the ds and back on again)? i have an impression that it has something to do with the START button, but i can't exactly remember it

would appreciate any help

 

[BlueStar]

The only way is to turn the DS off and on again at the moment AFAIK.

 

[leps]

it works great on a mac i love it =D