Hacking Starting up the R4

[Pou]

Well, this is the first time i look at this forum, and every thread i read i see a new term/word that i don't know what it means.... So i decided to make a thread asking whatever i need to know before buying my R4.
First of all, i know you have to install a thing called Kernel or something like that. So, assuming that i just got my R4, i download this Kernel thing, and how exactly do i install it? And where do i put my ROMS and my music/movie/img files to play on moonshell? And what directories i have to create on my microSD to make things run correctly?
And about emulators...
I've read that it's not possible to play GBA games using R4DS, but i saw a lot of emulators to download, including GBC emulator...How come it's possible to play GBC games and it's not possible to play GBA games? And how exactly do i install SNEmulDS?

Sorry to ask a lot of stuff, but i'm new at the modding world, so i tried to search for the info before asking but i couldn't understand a lot of things, so i decided to ask here and hope for replies that explains those process in a simple way, and without using complicated terms ( or explaining them xP)

~Pou

 

[stonefry]

Forget you ever heard the word kernal. When you get the R4, download the software from their website and put it on your card. Then put games on the card and play them. It really is as simple as that.

Do you really need to know why GBA games don't work, but GBC games do? Just know that there is an emulator for the GBC and not for the GBA. The GBA is more ... advanced.

You install homebrew by copying the software onto your flash card. It is usually pretty easy, especially with the more popular stuff.

 

[DarkAura]

GBA games don't work cuz there isn't enough RAM in a slot 1 to run one.

Put your ROMs anywhere on your SD, some people make folders. ANd put all the things that come with the installation CD with the R4 on the root. I also think that the R4 install comes with Moonshell 1.6 or something, get 1.71. You have to convert your videos to .dpg format with Batch, or dpgtools or Super, or any other convertor out there. Moonshell can run a lot of different music files, like mp3 and ogg. And make sure that the latest kernel/firmware/software is 1.11.

If you want to play GBA games, you might want to consider buying an EZFlash V 3-in-1, as all it does it play GBA games off your R4 and support Rumble, as well as acting as a RAM expansion so you can run browsers.

Have fun!

 

[suprneb]

after i start up the R4, is there any way i can get to the regular ds startup screen (ds game, pictochat, load gba, etc.) without restarting the ds and taking out the r4?

 

[Destructobot]

after i start up the R4, is there any way i can get to the regular ds startup screen (ds game, pictochat, load gba, etc.) without restarting the ds and taking out the r4?

No, that's not possible.

 

[DarkAura]

Maybe in the next kernel?

Not to beg or whine or anything. But that'd be a good feature for it, IMO, like holding down R at startup or something.

 

[DanTheManMS]

Actually yes, it's possible, but you'll probably only have access to a few of the features. Loopy aka olimar aka "the guy who made FlashMe" turned a firmware dump into a bootable *.nds file. Grab it from http://home.comcast.net/~olimar/DS/firmware.nds and launch it from your R4 if you need to.

 

[Omoikane1979]

Actually yes, it's possible, but you'll probably only have access to a few of the features. Loopy aka olimar aka "the guy who made FlashMe" turned a firmware dump into a bootable *.nds file. Grab it from http://home.comcast.net/~olimar/DS/firmware.nds and launch it from your R4 if you need to.

Good topic I didn't think of it myself. Anyhow sometimes it is handy to have the normal start-up menu of the DS (I really dislike the slot-2 loader window). I wonder just how good it will work (i.e. the program).