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{{Inappropriate tone|date=December 2007}}
{{Inappropriate tone|date=December 2007}}
{{Original research|date=November 2007}}
{{Original research|date=November 2007}}
'''Nintendo DS [[Homebrew (video games)|homebrew]]''' is software written for the [[Nintendo DS]] handheld [[games console]] by [[hobbyist programmers]], as opposed to a software/game production company. Software is typically written using unofficial development kits and is used on the DS via third-party rewritable game cartridges. However, homebrewing enjoys a dubious status since the rewritable cartridges required to run homebrew software could also be used for [[software piracy]] although most manufacturers prohibit users from using the cards in this way.[[Image:0312071905-00.jpg|thumb|An Onyx Nintendo DS Lite running [http://www.dragonminded.com/?loc=ndsdev/DSOrganize DS Organize] on a M3 Simply Flash cart]]
'''Nintendo DS [[Homebrew (video games)|homebrew]]''' is software written for the [[Nintendo DS]] handheld [[games console]] by [[hobbyist programmers]], as opposed to a software/game production company. Software is typically written using unofficial development kits and is used on the DS via third-party rewritable game cartridges. However, homebrewing enjoys a dubious status since the rewritable cartridges required to run homebrew software could also be used for [[software piracy]] although most manufacturers prohibit users from using the cards in this way.[[Image:0312071905-00.jpg|thumb|An Onyx Nintendo DS Lite running [http://www.dragonminded.com/?loc=ndsdev/DSOrganize DS Organize] on a M3 Simply Flash cart]][[Image:SuperCard_DS_Lite_01.JPG|thumb|Nintendo DS Lite with SuperCard DS Lite and Micro SD card.]]


==Storage devices==
==Storage devices==

Revision as of 01:50, 6 February 2008

Nintendo DS homebrew is software written for the Nintendo DS handheld games console by hobbyist programmers, as opposed to a software/game production company. Software is typically written using unofficial development kits and is used on the DS via third-party rewritable game cartridges. However, homebrewing enjoys a dubious status since the rewritable cartridges required to run homebrew software could also be used for software piracy although most manufacturers prohibit users from using the cards in this way.

File:0312071905-00.jpg
An Onyx Nintendo DS Lite running DS Organize on a M3 Simply Flash cart
Nintendo DS Lite with SuperCard DS Lite and Micro SD card.

Storage devices

Further information: Nintendo DS storage devices

Since the Nintendo DS is not sold with a storage medium, a third-party storage solution is required to store homebrew.

SLOT-1 and SLOT-2 devices

The earliest solutions for homebrew employed a storage device in the GBA cartridge slot (referred to as "SLOT-2") and a booting tool in the DS cartridge slot (referred to as "SLOT-1"). These are commonly referred to as "SLOT-2" or "1st Generation" devices. Later on, cards that only utilize the DS slot (SLOT-1) to store and run homebrew software were developed. These devices are referred to as "SLOT-1" or "2nd Generation" cards.

There are a few main differences between the two technologies used:

  • SLOT-1 devices do not require the user to purchase and use a separate booting tool in addition to a storage device.
  • Only SLOT-2 devices are capable of running GBA homebrew. Programs such as "gbaldr" can be used to copy a GBA program from a SLOT-1 card to a Game Boy Advance flash cartridge in SLOT-2.
  • Homebrew compatibility has typically been better on SLOT-2 cards because they have been around longer, and thus many early programs were written for them specifically. This is changing with increasing adoption of SLOT-1 devices by developers and the introduction of Dynamically Linked Device Interface (DLDI) drivers, which allows a piece of homebrew specifically written for a particular device to work with others. However, not all developers have adopted this technology yet, and as a result many programs from before 2007 have been abandoned and may never be updated.

SLOT-2 devices include basic GBA flash cartridges, the GBA Movie Player and the related M3 Perfect, the Max Media Dock, and the SuperCard.

SLOT-1 devices include the related R4DS and M3 Simply cards, MK5, SuperCard DS One, CycloDS Evolution, the AceKard, the DS Link, the DS-Xtreme, the NinjaPass X9, EZ-Flash V, the Datel Games n' Music and the new NDSTT (2007).

Each one of the available solutions for Game Boy Advance or Nintendo DS emulation differ mainly in size, compatibility with commercial ROM images, bundled special features (such as included media players), availability, and cost. To store homebrew, all flash cards will utilize either built-in flash memory, or will use exterior flash memory cards, like microSD or CompactFlash. If the memory of the device is internal, capacity will be measured in megabits (Mb) or gigabits (Gb), while exterior cards will use megabytes (MB)/ gigabytes (GB). The difference is due to the way Nintendo states the capacity of their cart games. To know how much internal memory a mega/gigabit card has, one merely has to divide the capacity by eight.

Booting tools

Running DS homebrew using a SLOT-2 storage device requires a booting tool. A booting tool is a device that sends the DS' program counter to an address in the GBA slot, allowing programs to be run from storage there. A booting tool is not required for SLOT-1 devices, nor is a booting tool required to use GBA homebrew on the DS.

FlashMe

One of the most prevalent booting tools is the program FlashMe. This is a modified firmware for the DS. Once it is installed over the existing firmware on the DS, homebrew applications can be booted directly from SLOT-2. In addition to being a booting tool, it also protects the DS from trojan horse programs and removes the RSA check on DS Download Play, allowing the user to use WifiME(Wireless Multi Boot) to download homebrew applications. Many users of SLOT-1 devices still install FlashMe because of these extra features.

Since the FlashMe installation program is itself a homebrew program, another homebrew booting tool is required for its installation. The other homebrew booting tool is only needed once, at install time, and therefore can either be borrowed for this occasion or sold after use. Upgrades to FlashMe can be booted from the existing FlashMe installation. In some places, shops will help customers install FlashMe for a nominal fee.

NoPass

The other method commonly seen is a device called a NoPass. This is a physical card, sold under brand names such as SuperKey and MAX Media Launcher, that resembles a DS Game Card. The program inside contains instructions that immediately send the program counter to the GBA slot. Some SLOT-1 cards, such as the M3 DS Simply, have this built into their firmware so they can act as a slot 2 booting device; other SLOT-1 cards can run a program stored on the card to jump to SLOT-2 in the same way.

Older methods

Before the encryption on SLOT-1 was reverse-engineered, which allowed the creation of SLOT-1 storage and NoPass devices, booting tools had to exploit flaws in early versions of the Nintendo DS' firmware or in specific games. Booting tools under this category include PassMe, which exploited a flaw in the DS firmware's header check for Game Cards; WiFiMe, which exploited a flaw in the DS firmware's header check for DS Download Play; and PassMe2, which exploited a flaw in the DS BIOS. Some PassMe and PassMe2 devices came with a serial port for some homebrew apps to use. PassMe and WiFiMe worked only with early versions of the DS firmware, causing mild confusion until a method of checking a DS's firmware version involving crashing PictoChat was discovered. But because these methods require a DS with older firmware, must be programmed to work with a specific game, or leave chunky dongles hanging off the back of the DS, these booting tools have seen decreasing popularity as of 2006.

Homebrew Utilising Expanded RAM

The DS as a system is relatively underpowered, this has provided many obstacles that homebrew programmers have found difficult to navigate when developing their projects. The introduction of the Nintendo DS Memory Expansion Pak (included with Nintendo DS Browser) and the recent inclusion of extra RAM in some Slot-2 devices (SuperCard SD/CF/Lite) has allowed programmers to overcome some of these obstacles.

Notable homebrew

Homebrew applications for GBA or DS add many features to the DS. There are many internet related tools like web browsers, instant messengers and email clients. Multimedia programs allow users to enjoy movies, music, ebooks, comics and pictures on the DS. Emulators let people play games designed for another system.

Applications

Emulators

* signifies GBA homebrew, which can be used with most slot 2 DS homebrew tools.

Programming on the DS

Programming

Homebrew DS applications are generally programmed using C/C++. A popular toolchain is devkitARM. A few libraries that make programming easier include libnds and PAlib. libfat helps developers write to a FAT file system on the homebrew storage device while DSWiFi allows developers use WiFi on the DS. Several tutorials have been written about the various aspects of the system.

One of the biggest issues of programming homebrew on the DS is accessing a card's file system. This is due to each homebrew device using a different interface to access an inserted media card. This has been solved by the introduction of DLDI (Dynamically Linked Disc Interface) drivers, which superseded the use of drivers statically linked into the homebrew application during compilation. The current FAT library, libfat, is provided with the ability to use these drivers. Its predecessor, GBA NDS FAT, can be modified to use these drivers too.

Popular development packages:

Tools and libraries:

  • GBA NDS FAT Library for using the Filesystem (outdated)
  • libfat Library for using the Filesystem (successor of GBA NDS FAT)

DLDI

Due to the fact that there are so many different flash carts available for the NDS, and they all write to their flash card differently, a unified architecture was needed so programmers would not have to recompile their program for each flash cart that was released. A programmer called Chishm solved this by creating DLDI(Dynamically Linked Device Interface), which allowed users to "patch" homebrew with a cart-specific version of the patch.[1]

References

  1. ^ Chishm's DLDI Homepage
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