You can call me DarkPacMan77 - glad to be here

[DarkPacMan77]

I'm DarkPacMan77. You can google me if you really want to find out more about me, but to keep it simple, I'm a PSP expert and administrator of www.pspbrew.com. Please note, I'm not trying to advertise that openly, simply trying to legitimize myself. Anyways, even though I'm a "PSP user", that doesn't make me a fanboy. I'm here to learn as much as I can about the Nintendo DS and what the best solution(s) would be to get a DS lite supporting homebrew.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-DarkPacMan77-

 

[TLSpartan]

Any current Slot-1(SCDS,EZ5,R4) and you will be fine

 

[choupette]

it's quite simpler, just buy a slot1 solution (m3dss, r4ds, g6r, etc)
and you're ready to go (providing you bought the specific card your linker needs)
it's really easier than with psp.

 

[DarkPacMan77]

Thank you for such swift replies. If possible, I'd be interested talking via instant messenger (MSN / AIM) to learn any additional information that you guys can tell me. I'm on right now. My AIM is "DarkPacMan77", and my MSN is "[email protected]".

I'm also fairly certain that homebrew is easier on the DS than the PSP lol. That I've known, but as far as "slot one" / "slot two" solutions and what-not, I get confused as to what would provide the best homebrew solution for a DS Lite. Slot 1 = DS game slot? - two = GBA game slot? Anyways, contact via AIM or MSN would be preferred.

Again, thanks a lot. Great forum here btw!

-DarkPacMan77-

 

[OSW]

Most solutions involve microsd memory cards and a few have inbuilt memory. More recently there has been increased support for microsd high capacity cards (sdhc) which allow for sizes greater than 2 gigabytes.

for homebrew only, 1 gig is usually plenty (unless you're stashing alot of media on the cart).

for warez too, i recommend at least 1 gig.

 

[DarkPacMan77]

I don't plan on putting a lot of media on there. Perhaps homebrew, DS roms, and possibly music. What is the output frequency of the DS Lite's speakers? - 44kb ?

If you guys could go "all out" and get the very best Nintendo DS homebrew equipment, what would you purchase? I'm interested in pushing my DS to the limits.

-DarkPacMan77-

 

[Lumstar]

Homebrew is easier to run on DS, also a bit more expensive for initial setup since it needs hardware. However PSP has much faster processing power and can do things like emulate PS1 or GBA that DS hasn't so far (using a slot2 card to play GBA games isn't emulation).

 

[OSW]

DS speakers - not sure exactly, but they aren't great that's for sure. I use it for music, but i'm not an audiophile and i'm told that the sound output isn't particularly good either.

Slot 1 vs Slot 2 (generalisations)

Slot 2: earlier cart trend, requiring a passme device (in slot one). most can play gba roms and homebrew too (check as there are a couple of exceptions). some very old homebrew (not much worthwhile) only works properly on these carts. NDS rom playback is usually sufficient, but not as perfect as slot one carts (alot of newer games have problems). Some have ram which can be utilised in a few homebrews (usually optional and not super useful).

Slot 1: the newer trend. usually 100% or close compatible with nds roms. Fat read and write tends to be faster. keeps your slot two free. cheaper. newer technology.


As for going all out barring any price restrictions. I'd probably go for a slot one and a slot two cart.

Slot one has some tight competition; For ease of use, speed (And dual memory) i'd go acekard RPG (from my limited experience, although this cart is new to the market i'd wait it out a bit longer). For a larger and more advanced list of features (cheats, soft reset etc) and still with excellent speed, i'd go CycloDS. M3Real (also new) and Supercard one (menu speed a bit slow) are also solid competitors.

Slot two; the stand outs to me are M3 lite perfect (nice menu), Ezflash (great hardware, less perfect software, great gba compatibility).

(although considering you can emulate gba on psp and the ram isn't particularly useful at this stage in time, in your specific case i would ignore it)


I'm sure i'm missing some important points. i'm just a little tired and i'll try and help some more tommorow, if indeed no-one else can be of help (i'm sure they will)

 

[DarkPacMan77]

So slot 1 seems to be the way to go. I was assuming it would be. Can slot 1 do GBA emulation/ playback? I'm just wondering. My PSP handles my GBA needs quite nicely, but it's always nice to have options.

Also, you referred to "fat" - does that mean the first model DS? Also, do certain models of slot 1 choices offer differences in compatibility? I'm looking for the most stable thing I can get. And as I've said before, contacting me via AIM or MSN is fine.

edit* found some good info on system specs here - http://www.creativeuncut.com/hwnintendo.html#Nintendo%20DS

I suspect that it is capable of 44khz surround sound. Not terrible. I know it's not very powerful though.

-DarkPacMan77-

 

[Hadrian]

No GBA emulation on slot 1 sadly.

Welcome to the forum anyway, nice to see a gbatemp newbie who I can actually understand.

 

[OSW]

Slot one can't emulate gba. it's not really feasable with the ds's power. same with n64 etc. and you can't trick the system.
see my post above for some lengthy notes i edited in.

FAT. ie. FAT16/FAT32. it's just the file system type for memory. it's not very important.

oh and i'll try remember to add u on msn tomorrow.

welcome to gbatemp.

 

[DarkPacMan77]

Thank you hadrian - at least for noticing that I can put together sentences properly lol. If you don't mind, I will try to contact you via PM soon.

Also, thanks for the tips OSW. As a beginner, it's very reassuring to hear those things. I'm thinking I may just ignore a slot 2 option because anything regarding GBA emulation can be done on my PSP - probably with better GUI and compatibility also, though that's just my guess.

-DarkPacMan77-

 

[OSW]

Yeah i'm not 100% sure on the state of gba emulation on psp, but i'm told it's pretty good so i think you're heading in the right direction/

Only if you didn't have a psp i'd recommend a slot 2.

 

[DarkPacMan77]

Well, on the PSP, you can get gpSP ver. 0.9 and it has nearly 100% boot compatibility and zero artifacting (that I've noticed from over 400 roms). It's very sufficient. No multiplayer, but that's fine. It even has a turbo mode that works for most games at about 2x speed.

As I understand, the DS has a core clock of 67mhz - capable of 200mhz, but doesn't reach that very often (I'm assuming). But the PSP has a 222mhz capable of a solid 100% overclock to 333mhz so it's probably the smartest solution compared to a slot 2 solution - especially since I already have a PSP (2 in fact

).

-DarkPacMan77-

 

[BakuFunn]

What did you just say?...

 

[JPH]

Welcome to the temp dawg.How bout I call you Ducky and you call me Steve? And go with the R4 Slot 1 solution. It's great fer noobs.

 

[OSW]

don't go R4 man, it's really popular but it has alot of problems currently, and it looks like it will be abandoned soon.

 

[superrob]

 

[rhyguy]

if your really interested in the ds, you could buy the gbaccelerator and over clock your ds to 33mhz IIRC

if i could buy the most stuff, i'd get any slot 1 (all pretty much the same[some with more useless features]) and a m3 lite

 

[kvad]

don't go R4 man, it's really popular but it has alot of problems currently, and it looks like it will be abandoned soon.

What would you suggest then? is the m3 simply in the same boat? (haven't been keeping up, looking at buying a slot 1 now as well)