Hacking R4 - Booting an Alternate NDS file

[Mantis41]

Does anyone know if it is possible to boot either of these R4 cards from an alternate NDS file?

 

[yusuo]

Does anyone know if it is possible to boot either of these R4 cards from an alternate NDS file?

For most R4 cards as long as you put what ever file you want it to autoboot on the root of the SD card a rename it default e.g. default.nds
It should autoboot

EDIT
Apparently I didn't read the question properly, you could try http://filetrip.net/...pdate-6-74.html works for most clone r4 cards just choose the one that applies to you within the zip file and then use the method above to get it to autoboot upon selecting the r4 card from the normal ds menu. It's an alternative firmware with better game compatibility but you have to run it along side whatever firmware you currently have on the card

 

[Mantis41]

Hi @yusuo.
your first comment was what I was looking for however, this method "default.nds" no longer seems to work on the newer carts. I have also tried dldi patching, encrypting and renaming to the boot file but this method also only works on the older R4s and Acekards.

 

[yusuo]

Sorry I wasn't aware of it, in that case I'm kinda clueless and cant help you, the above method is what has worked for me on every R4 ive ever had the displeasure of dealing with

 

[Mantis41]

As far as flashcarts the two above are pretty decent. It is just a pity they are so locked down. It makes things a tad boring when you can't experiment with different boot files and configurations.

 

[jurassicplayer]

Popped in really quick (:/ so little time around these days). Just thought that I would mention something.
The initial _DS_MENU.dat is used SPECIFICALLY for just booting and redirecting to a different file. Nothing else is required of it and thus there is no real "other functions" to it (no need for themes, language, font, cheats, etc.). To make things simple to understand, why would you need to update it?
Optimally, it would be best to find the smallest distribution of Wood for the R4iGold with autoboot (likely the oldest distribution) and take the _DS_MENU.dat from there, hex edit it, and use that. The updated WoodR4.nds is placed wherever and run when needed.

 

[Mantis41]

Thanks jurassicplayer.

I guess the old re-direct method will still work. I was thinking the boot loader needed updating as well but as you said it doesn't matter which version is used at boot.

It would be nice if we could get them to direct boot an NDS though. It would add a bit of speed at boot and soft reset.