Hacking so, to make this gw blue card useful...

[codezer0]

So yeah, I found my old Gateway blue card, and it's my understanding that I could possibly flash this with firmware to enable it to jailbreak basically any 3DS system as I please.

So, with that in mind, I wanted to at least see if it works, but where I am at presently is simply... had to find the old Ace3DS loader software, since I didn't have a copy of the old GW blue card files on hand. Just wanted to be sure it still worked, and all. but as I pop it into my DSi, I find that it just throws up the error "can't open _dsmenu.dat". Just wondering what I could do, or if this is a sign that I might not be able to use this particular card?

Just trying to get my bearings on this, since obviously I've been out of it for a while.

 

[Quantumcat]

Gateway blue card is not compatible with ntrboot. You can only use it for installing B9S with MSET (the same exploit that it uses to load Gateway mode). ie 4.x firmware. I don't think it works on 6.x so it can't be used for MSET on that firmware (though MSET technically works there, but the flashcart of course needs to not be blocked on 6.x).

You should be able to get the files to have it work as a normal DS flashcart from the Gateway website (but without CFW it will only work on 4.x or below, or on DSI or DS).

 

[mikefor20]

Actually, 2 of the 3 types of blue GW cards out there can easily be used for ntrboot. Not that I really want to help you Code Zero. What game does your gateway show up as?

 

[codezer0]

Gateway blue card is not compatible with ntrboot. You can only use it for installing B9S with MSET (the same exploit that it uses to load Gateway mode). ie 4.x firmware. I don't think it works on 6.x so it can't be used for MSET on that firmware (though MSET technically works there, but the flashcart of course needs to not be blocked on 6.x).

You should be able to get the files to have it work as a normal DS flashcart from the Gateway website (but without CFW it will only work on 4.x or below, or on DSI or DS).

https://3ds.hacks.guide/ntrboot This says I can.

And that's just it. Even if I wanted to at least test and make sure that it does work as a normal DS flash cart, the gateway site is gone, so there's no way for me to re-download the files.

 

[Vague Rant]

Even if I wanted to at least test and make sure that it does work as a normal DS flash cart, the gateway site is gone, so there's no way for me to re-download the files.

The Archive.org Wayback Machine is an incredible resource: https://web.archive.org/web/20190324153633/http://www.gateway-3ds.com/

 

[KleinesSinchen]

[…]
And that's just it. Even if I wanted to at least test and make sure that it does work as a normal DS flash cart, the gateway site is gone, so there's no way for me to re-download the files.

You could try the downloads from Filetrip:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/trying-to-get-blue-card-gateway-to-work.539767/#post-8658495
This worked for leontas2007

The Archive.org Wayback Machine is an incredible resource: https://web.archive.org/web/20190324153633/http://www.gateway-3ds.com/

Some time ago I spent some hours searching for Gateway blue – current sites and on the Wayback Machine. No success on the captures of the official website. As far as I can judge this (never had Gateway), the files from there were for the main (red) cartridge.

 

[codezer0]

The Archive.org Wayback Machine is an incredible resource: https://web.archive.org/web/20190324153633/http://www.gateway-3ds.com/

Oh huh. I only thought the site itself just held the pages, but not the content too. There we go, now I got it working again, at least as a regular DS cart.

Okay, now with that verified... so I have a DSi XL that I can run the GW blue card in. Looking on the guide site, it recommends I use the dsi mode flasher; except the release site with the download warns that the DSI mode version lacks the ability to backup or possibly restore the cart. On the other hand, the standard NDS version of the file does.

I'm wondering which I should use, since in theory I should be able to use either, right?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Oh huh. I only thought the site itself just held the pages, but not the content too. There we go, now I got it working again, at least as a regular DS cart.

Okay, now with that verified... so I have a DSi XL that I can run the GW blue card in. Looking on the guide site, it recommends I use the dsi mode flasher; except the release site with the download warns that the DSI mode version lacks the ability to backup or possibly restore the cart. On the other hand, the standard NDS version of the file does.

I'm wondering which I should use, since in theory I should be able to use either, right?

The GW blue cart doesn't boot on newer 3DS firmwares (anything above 4.3 IIRC), so for many people the .nds version is just not an option. That's probably why it's not the recommended method. Since you have a console that can load it, you're probably better off using the .nds.

 

[codezer0]

That just leaves the question of which flasher to use. the faq page about it here implies the GW blue cart is an Ace3DS clone, while GW's official files for the cart implies it's an R4i clone. I'm just curious as to which I should try, given it's implied it's a one-way trip.

 

[Lacius]

If you don't want to potentially mess up your Gateway blue cartridge, you can hack your 3DS with the Seedminer method.

 

[mikefor20]

What rom shows in the 3DS menu when you have the Gateway blue card in the slot? Which game does it show?

 

[codezer0]

If you don't want to potentially mess up your Gateway blue cartridge, you can hack your 3DS with the Seedminer method.

My N3DS is already on Luma... just not on current firmware, since it's an already banned unit, and not really had an incentive to update, especially if it's expected to break homebrew.

I was hoping to prepare this cart as an NTR cart so that if I came across a second-hand model, or if someone wanted me to hack theirs, I could get it done in short order, and not care what firmware it's on.

 

[Lacius]

My N3DS is already on Luma... just not on current firmware, since it's an already banned unit, and not really had an incentive to update, especially if it's expected to break homebrew.

I was hoping to prepare this cart as an NTR cart so that if I came across a second-hand model, or if someone wanted me to hack theirs, I could get it done in short order, and not care what firmware it's on.

If you already have a system with Luma3DS, you should follow this guide to setup the blue flashcart for ntrboot. This is the safest way, since you can restore a backup of your blue cartridge.
https://3ds.hacks.guide/flashing-ntrboot-(3ds-multi-system)

 

[The Real Jdbye]

That just leaves the question of which flasher to use. the faq page about it here implies the GW blue cart is an Ace3DS clone, while GW's official files for the cart implies it's an R4i clone. I'm just curious as to which I should try, given it's implied it's a one-way trip.

The Ace3DS is an R4i clone. So, they are both technically correct.

 

[codezer0]

The Ace3DS is an R4i clone. So, they are both technically correct.

Huh. Didn't know that. Well, doing the process, and flashing the cart in my dsi implied success. Forgot I needed a magnet for testing it in a 3ds.

Curiously, with the sd card in, in my (hacked) n3ds, it shows up like it did originally; even able to boot it up where i couldn't before.

Not necessarily a bad thing, seeing as my regular dstwo seems to be in a bad way, and trying to find a replacement (or for that matter, a DStwo plus) is proving to be an exercise in frustration now.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Huh. Didn't know that. Well, doing the process, and flashing the cart in my dsi implied success. Forgot I needed a magnet for testing it in a 3ds.

Curiously, with the sd card in, in my (hacked) n3ds, it shows up like it did originally; even able to boot it up where i couldn't before.

Not necessarily a bad thing, seeing as my regular dstwo seems to be in a bad way, and trying to find a replacement (or for that matter, a DStwo plus) is proving to be an exercise in frustration now.

Sounds like you may have flashed an Ace3DS firmware onto it, rather than flashing ntrboot.

R4i Gold 3DS (Plus) is maybe the best DS flashcart to get for 3DS these days.

 

[codezer0]

Sounds like you may have flashed an Ace3DS firmware onto it, rather than flashing ntrboot.

R4i Gold 3DS (Plus) is maybe the best DS flashcart to get for 3DS these days.

Even so, i fear losing my ds two for good without a replacement. Putting it in my Dsi xl, and with the homebrew, emulating older systems on it felt great. It was like a CRT level effect on nitrografx that just didn't happen on any 3ds system ive used, be it new, old, xl or not.

As is, the most interesting bit for me on the dstwo plus is how much better stuff using the improved hardware could do. It would most likely just have a fixture in my dsi xl, or for ds(i) mode stuff on my 3ds.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Even so, i fear losing my ds two for good without a replacement. Putting it in my Dsi xl, and with the homebrew, emulating older systems on it felt great. It was like a CRT level effect on nitrografx that just didn't happen on any 3ds system ive used, be it new, old, xl or not.

As is, the most interesting bit for me on the dstwo plus is how much better stuff using the improved hardware could do. It would most likely just have a fixture in my dsi xl, or for ds(i) mode stuff on my 3ds.

NitroGrafx doesn't actually use the DSTWO's extra hardware, so it works on any flashcart.
The only things that need the DSTWO's extra hardware are the GBA emulators NDSGBA/TempGBA and the SNES emulators NDSSFC/CATSFC, as well as a media player and an ebook reader SC made.
On a DS/DSi, there is no real good alternative to those. GBArunner2 works decently for GBA games and for SNES games there's SNemulDS, but both are likely to have lower compatibility than the DSTWO, although they run at good speed.

 

[codezer0]

Yeah, now that i got my dsi xl on Hiya and TwilightMenu, i got to test some of the rom compatibility, and snes compatibility is, for lack of kinder wording, in the toilet. As in, even known games that worked off the ds flash cart won't even load that way. Let alone any of the more taxing romhacks, like Rockman 4 Minus Infinity.

Also to my disappointment was how it seems to break with any game that has newer AP going on. Unfortunately, most of them were/are roms that have DSi mode enhancement i was hoping to take advantage of, finally. Seeing as i was never even able to pick up that Cyclo DSi cart that was able to actually run in DSi mode. I get it's an indie effort; I'm just hoping compatibility improves to resolve that, if down the line i get to where i basically don't have a working ds flash cart anymore.

As for the gw blue cart, it is curious; before attempting to flash, it predictably didn't even show up on the 3DS since i had long ago updated its sysNAND accordingly. Since the attempted flash that reported correctly, it now shows up and loads, long as i got the sd card in it.

 

[Quantumcat]

If it is flashed for ntrboot it shouldn't show up at all