Stargate 3DS is pretty good.

[moon_rabbit]

This is just for flashcart collectors.
I just bought it out of curiosity about the cartridge.
It's not expensive, as it's currently around $30 on aliexpress.

It arrived today and I've been playing around with it.

The unusual thing about this cartridge is that it has two EEPROMs, and presumably each one has 3DS and NDS mode firmware.
The unique feature of this cartridge is that it has two SPI flash.
Each one holds different data: save data and Alex Rider data for NDS.

The important thing to remember about running 3DS ROMs is that you should not use decrypted ROMs.
you must use the original encrypted ROM.

Pros.
Exfat support.
Fast rom switching.
NDS mode support (since it's a 3ds cart, this is not possible with DS, DSL, DSI).

Cons.
No firmware update support.
No direct NDS boot from LUMA3DS environment.
Expect a lot of unplayable 3DS roms.
Unable to run Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 in NDS mode.


Additional Information.
https://web.archive.org/web/2019071...sources/stargate-3ds-ds-menu-system-files.10/
NDS mode file

https://mega.nz/file/ILgExRzA#FEfUKBEFcwuV-tnyhWG02H-nldmGYMvHVjj06TKBMVU
Manual v1.2

https://www.elotrolado.net/wiki/Análisis_Stargate_3DS
Review with pictures


Troubleshooting.
1.
https://eden.fm/ndstoykotrim/
If LED turns red and stops working when changing roms, trimming the rom file may help.

2.
https://github.com/LumaTeam/Luma3DS/issues/2046
Currently, with LUMA3DS, NDS mode does not start up properly.

https://archive.flashcarts.net/stargate-3ds.com/SG_Launcher_CFW
However, This launcher makes it easy to use.

 

[linuxares]

Is this the Plus version?

EDIT: I thought of Sky3DS+, sorry

 

[Tofu_mommy]

Considering that with Luma there's no point in owning one, I prefer just keeping something even cheaper, like a common 3ds game cart to protect the pins of the cartridge slot.

 

[emmanu888]

Is it good if i wanna keep an unmodded 3DS but still be able to play 3DS ROM files on a unmodded system?

 

[moon_rabbit]

Is it good if i wanna keep an unmodded 3DS but still be able to play 3DS ROM files on a unmodded system?

Yes, it's the most suitable environment, but games like Pokémon Sun and Moon may not run due to security issues.
Also, due to regional restrictions, you can only run Roms that are specific to your device's region.

 

[TheStonedModder]

Yes, it's the most suitable environment, but games like Pokémon Sun and Moon may not run due to security issues.
Also, due to regional restrictions, you can only run Roms that are specific to your device's region.

Wait why can’t sun and moon run? Are you sure you had a good dump?

I’ve never heard of single games being blocked on the flashcarts

 

[moon_rabbit]

Wait why can’t sun and moon run? Are you sure you had a good dump?

I’ve never heard of single games being blocked on the flashcarts

I've seen this in several reviews, but haven't tested it myself.
I'm going to give it a try.

 

[Tofu_mommy]

Is it good if i wanna keep an unmodded 3DS but still be able to play 3DS ROM files on a unmodded system?

I see no point of doing so, especially if you have a N3DS, and because you won't be able to use Pretendo otherwise.

 

[moon_rabbit]

Wait why can’t sun and moon run? Are you sure you had a good dump?

I’ve never heard of single games being blocked on the flashcarts

I tested Pokemon sun dumped by myself and it doesn't work.
Error seems to be on the firmware side, as the moment I switch to Pokemon sun, cart freezes.

 

[The Catboy]

Honestly the biggest problem with this cart is that it's built on empty promises with actual bad game support. All on top of being a paid product.

 

[ack]

does it have ntrboot support?

 

[moon_rabbit]

does it have ntrboot support?

According to this YouTube, it seems to be possible.
Manual also shows how to do it, so it should be possible.

 

[Tofu_mommy]

According to this YouTube, it seems to be possible.
Manual also shows how to do it, so it should be possible.

Unless it's done to recover from a brick, I'd stick to newer exploits that don't involve extra hardware, that might be a bad and unreliable clone.

 

[Deleted member 702243]

one niche advantage this has over sky3ds is that it actually works with testmenu, given that you can select a game with a graphical interface by booting into ds mode (use a different cfw, not luma.) cant do that with sky3ds, you can't see which game you're switching to on testmenu

I guess this card is more of a jack of all trades master of none kind of thing. competitors need separate cards for ds or 3ds, but their separate cards run every game. while this one does everything in one card, but with lower compatibility for both ds and 3ds

if the card switches between 3ds and ds mode via hardware, then presumably you could get the ds mode working on dsi, if you cut off the tab, and pressing both buttons to switch it into ds mode. it would switch it to the ds mode firmware and show up on the menu. but it's not worth damaging a card like this that might be difficult to get replacements for a few months from now, just to run a sub-par ds mode flashcart on a ds/i

the original pricing was very steep, but for $30 this is a fucking bargain honestly. you can complain about cias on cfw being superior all you want, but if you're going to be buying a flashcart for ntrboot and for playing ds roms anyway, you might as well get this one instead for just a little bit more and also benefit from being able to run probably at least 85% of the 3ds library from slot-1. you would be sacrificing some ds game compatibility though, but pokemon black 2/white 2 you might be better off running from twilightmenu anyway, just so you can run them in dsi mode

I wonder if this card could run bl2ck, actually? it wouldnt be able to select 3ds games while using alternative kernel, but it would at least fix the ds mode compatibility. maybe one day some galaxy brain will reverse engineer it, make it be able to boot bl2ck if it can't already, and add the 3ds game selecting functionality to bl2ck, then you could have perfect ds game compatibility while still having the 3ds game selection function

(edit: the spanish review you linked claims they can run pokémon white 2 without any issues, I wonder why that is? maybe they were lying in their review?)

maybe one day another galaxy brain could reverse engineer the card's 3ds mode firmware too and make some unofficial firmware updates that fix 3ds game compatibility too, who knows. right now it's sub-par, but they gave us an entry point with the usb connector for updating the firmware, so maybe one day? it's been like two decades and people started making custom firmwares for supercard gba, maybe this can be done for stargate too. the firmware right now might be sub-par, but hardware wise it's very cool and has a lot of potential

it's cool hardware to have if you like collecting this kind of thing either way, and it's kind of a historical piece too. a relatively recent piece of history, but a part of 3ds history nonetheless. it might be more interesting 15 years from now, and by then you'll be glad you bought this for $30 instead of having to find someone willing to sell theirs

I'm gonna be dumping all my 3ds carts for this, aside from pokemon gen 7 the games I have are all older ones, so they shouldnt really have problems. with the way 3ds and switch cartridges like to deteriorate on their own when not in use, being able to back them all up and still be able to run them as physical carts from slot-1 is a very nice thing to have. you dont have to sacrifice portability by installing them as cia, if you want to just use the cart in a different 3ds you can, and the save data follows with the flashcart. win/win

 

[Technicmaster0]

Unless it's done to recover from a brick, I'd stick to newer exploits that don't involve extra hardware, that might be a bad and unreliable clone.

Ntrboot is THE 3ds exploit. Suggesting something else over it for these reasons is stupid. It's much simpler and thus safer than the current exploits, especially with a pre flashed card like the stargate.
Also, these clone fears are stupid. It's old stock, simple as that.

edit: the spanish review you linked claims they can run pokémon white 2 without any issues, I wonder why that is? maybe they were lying in their review?

Maybe they got a pre patched rom without knowing. Many roms floating around are pre patched

 

[Tofu_mommy]

Ntrboot is THE 3ds exploit. Suggesting something else over it for these reasons is stupid. It's much simpler and thus safer than the current exploits, especially with a pre flashed card like the stargate.
Also, these clone fears are stupid. It's old stock, simple as that.

Maybe they got a pre patched rom without knowing. Many roms floating around are pre patched

Are you saying that something like soundhax is inherently more risky?

 

[moon_rabbit]

(edit: the spanish review you linked claims they can run pokémon white 2 without any issues, I wonder why that is? maybe they were lying in their review?)

There could be a few reasons for this, but my guess is that it's a pre-patched rom.

 

[Technicmaster0]

Are you saying that something like soundhax is inherently more risky?

Soundhax was patched a long time ago. Mset9 is the current method and yes. The risk of doing it wrong is much higher compared to ntrboot with a stargate

 

[Deleted member 702243]

Maybe they got a pre patched rom without knowing. Many roms floating around are pre patched

There could be a few reasons for this, but my guess is that it's a pre-patched rom.

so at least you can get perfect compatibility on running ds games, as long as you're ok with prepatching some of the newer games. that's a lot better than I thought, considering that the ace3ds/x that are currently recommended as "the best" ds flashcarts to buy in 2024 (for ds and for ntrboot) also dont have built-in ap patches for those games

ace 3ds x is half the price currently, honestly unless you're very strapped for cash it would be super worth it to get the stargate instead. the extra 3ds functionality is worth paying double the price imo, and new old stock opportunities at a low price like this don't happen often

anyway I received mine, and yeah it's pretty cool. unfortunately the dldi included in bl2ck is not compatible, so it won't work, but knowing that you get perfect ds compatibility by simply prepatching your roms (or using ap bypass cheats) I don't think this is really a problem. no twilightmenu for an objectively superior ui though

seems also the card stays in the selected mode between reboots, and taking it out and back in. so it might be possible to run the ds mode on a ds/i, but like I said there's no reason to damage a stargate for this

it plays really well with test menu too, as I was thinking. you switch it to twl mode, select a game, it reboots with that game selected, and then you can run it. it's crazy fast too, regular home menu takes forever but with test menu you're back in like 5 seconds (I counted)

I'm also quite impressed by the build quality compared to a real 3ds cartridge. it clicks in and out like a normal cart would, doesnt fit tight, you dont have to force it down. so there is no higher risk of hardware damage to the cart reader, it might even reduce wear in the long run simply because you dont need to take cartridges in and out as often anymore

I haven't even bothered trying pokemon gen 7, sun/moon is already reported here to not be working and ultra sun/ultra moon probably don't work either. but otherwise every single one of my carts that I dumped appear to work as they should. and of course, nothing prevents you from running out of region games as long as you have region free mod

yeah this card is pretty cool, haters gonna hate though. you lose nothing by running this alongside cfw, only gain extra functionality

 

[Technicmaster0]

ace 3ds x is half the price currently, honestly unless you're very strapped for cash it would be super worth it to get the stargate instead. the extra 3ds functionality is worth paying double the price imo, and new old stock opportunities at a low price like this don't happen often

The stargate has it's clear pros, but also it's clear cons. It only works with 3DS consoles because of the form factor and the DS mode doesn't work if luma CFW is installed. Also, homebrew support is really bad because the DLDI driver doesn't work properly (can be related to exfat support).
But yeah, it's the only DS flashcart to support exfat so it's the only card where you can put all of the DS games onto one SD card and play them (without formating FAT32 devices to a larger size which windows doesn't support with it's utility).