Hacking Running homebrew aps on ez-flashIV?

[ZuluEdison]

how do you go about doing this?

i am not at my house with my ezflash stuff on the computer so i havn't actually tried, but i've found a number of programs i'd like to put on my ds, but when i started thinking about it, i can't see how i would go about doing it.

the ez-loader only recognizes games on the list that you update it with, so is it even possible to run homebrew applications with an ezflashIV?

 

[faceless]

how do you go about doing this?

i am not at my house with my ezflash stuff on the computer so i havn't actually tried, but i've found a number of programs i'd like to put on my ds, but when i started thinking about it, i can't see how i would go about doing it.

the ez-loader only recognizes games on the list that you update it with, so is it even possible to run homebrew applications with an ezflashIV?

yes, you can run homebrew on EZIV

you have to use the '.ds.gba' version of homebrew (header.bin added) and rename the homebrew from .ds.gba to .bin and, if necessary, apply a DLDI patch

 

[OSW]

lol with my new micros-sd card i can't run any DLDI homebrew on my ez4 deluxe. no moonshell for me.

 

[Miika]

how do you go about doing this?

i am not at my house with my ezflash stuff on the computer so i havn't actually tried, but i've found a number of programs i'd like to put on my ds, but when i started thinking about it, i can't see how i would go about doing it.

the ez-loader only recognizes games on the list that you update it with, so is it even possible to run homebrew applications with an ezflashIV?

yes, you can run homebrew on EZIV

you have to use the '.ds.gba' version of homebrew (header.bin added) and rename the homebrew from .ds.gba to .bin and, if necessary, apply a DLDI patch

I could use the .nds version of some homebrew too. I just renamed .nds to .bin and it worked like the ds.gba version.
And I DO NOT need to rename the ds.gba version in order to run it properly. No problems.

 

[ZuluEdison]

all responses were way over my head.

 

[FAST6191]

Fair enough
EZ4 homebrew 101

To actually run homebrew requires the use of the .ds.gba format i.e. have a GBA header attached.
You can either grab a header and use something like the following command line:

copy /b homebrew.ds+header.gba newhomebrew.ds.gba

naturally you would change the names to match.
For the header I would normally link to the flashme site but that seems to be down and out now so I am afraid it is searching time.
Or you can use DSBuild, now it comes as part of the devkitpro tools but 20 megs for a file only a couple of KB is a bit of a time waste so it is up on my site:
http://www.4shared.com/file/2228491/ef07d789/dsbuild.html

Alternatively you can try naming the file with a .bin extension.

DLDI is a feature of the new versions of Chism's FAT libraries. Where before each app would have to be compiled for each card (to a limited extent) now the app only has to be patched by the end user. Read this thread to understand or take a look at the EZFlash wiki article on it for more specific EZFlash data.
Thread:
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=43288

 

[ZuluEdison]

thanks for the informative replies, i'm trying to sift through them and understand.


what exactly is a "header"

what i am currently hearing is that i need to take the file and rename is so that it ends with .ds.gba?

 

[Verocity]

This may help you this may not, but this is what I do...

I patch the .nds file with the DLDI patcher, then I try that. If that fails to boot then I use the .ds.gba and that usually works fine.

When you are booting the .nds homebrew files open them with moonshell, the newer moonshells do not work with homebrew for some odd reason. So find a older version to boot your homebrew.

Now when it comes to saving homebrew files like DSLiveWeather your zipcode and things like that, ive never been able to get it to save so I just type it in manually each time. Maybe someone else knows how. Anyway hope this helped and good luck!

 

[KidIce]

Here is an example of how you would get DSLive weather to function properly on an EZ4 or 5:

Download this and unzip it somwhere. There are three tools in it that you'll use. Note: I probably won't leave the file up there for very long so don't be surprised when the link goes dead.

Then grab DSLiveWeather and unzip it somewhere... I'd suggest the same place you unziped the other file.

In the DSLiveWeather folder find the .nds version, this is the one you'll be working w/. I'm just going to call it DSLW.

In either set of the following instructions a new file will not be generated, the file you used w/ either tool will be the one that you need.

For EZ4:

1. Run the DLDITool and make sure that the DLDIFile field says EZ Flash 4, if doesn't change it.

2. Click the ... gadget to the right of the Binaries field and select the DSLW file.

3. Click the patch button.

4. Rename the DSLW file and change the .nds to .bin

For EZ5:

1. To make this easy, copy the DSLW file to the DLDIFixV directory.

2. Drag the DSLW file on top of the DLDIfixV.exe.

Copy the DSLW file to your SD.

Create a new folder on your SD called DSLiveWeather.

Run the DSLW file from the EZ4/5 menu like normal... Not from Moonshell.

Really, I suppose that's an example of DLDI patching, but I thought I'd give Verocity a hand as well. DLDI allows homebrew to read/write from/to your flashcart's removable media (eg SD). Not all homebrew uses this, but more and more is, so it's a nice thing to know. If the homebrew you want to use supports DLDI (check the docs), you'll need to do the above to get it to work properly. When you download homebrew for the DS it will usually come as a .nds file, a .ds.gba file or both. When using homebrew that supports DLDI use the above methods w/ the .nds version, in my experience patching the .ds.gba version doesn't work.

"So what's the DSLazy tool for then?" Well, that applies the loader/header others spoke of... Fast9161's method works as well, but is probably a bit cryptic for those not familiar w/ a DOS prompt. .nds files do not have this loader and .ds.gba files do. What this loader is/does isn't as important as is the fact that most .nds files are going to need it to work on an EZ4... I haven't found anything that needs it on the EZ5, though. .nds files don't have this loader and .ds.gba files do, if the homebrew you want to use doesn't support DLDI and comes w/ a .ds.gba version just go a head and use that. If it does support DLDI or only comes w/ a .nds version then sometimes just changing the .nds to .bin is enough to get it working on the EZ4 (DSLW being an example)... But more often you are going to need to use DSLazy on it. I'd just try changing the /nds to .bin first, if it does load try DSLazy on it.

Oh, and if you're using DSLazy w/ something that supports DLDI, make sure you do the DLDI patching first.