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DS Homebrew Thread: Still Alive

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Posts

  • WindfayirWindfayir Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Digging for my Rise of the Triad CD right now. Who can forget Ludicrous Gibs, Shrooms, and of course, Dog Mode?

    Oh wow, I forgot about dog mode. You could hold attack and do this super bark AoE attack. Oh and the baseball bat that shot 8-10 baseballs in a wide arc in front of you. That game had the best weapons

    Windfayir on
  • TheGreat2ndTheGreat2nd Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I almost forgot about StillAlive DS!
    Been meaning to try it out.

    BTW, for anybody in the market for a homebrew card, CycloDS. Works perfectly with my code.
    PA_Lib for those interested coders :)

    TheGreat2nd on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I almost forgot about StillAlive DS!
    Been meaning to try it out.

    BTW, for anybody in the market for a homebrew card, CycloDS. Works perfectly with my code.
    PA_Lib for those interested coders :)

    Oh, I've heard that the CycloDS was awesome and had every feature imaginable, but it was $60 and the DSTT was $20. Damn, I'm glad that somebody fixed the menu for this thing, though.

    Daedalus on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Holy shit wow, this YSMenu? It will auto-start anything named default.nds. So instead of the crappy DSTT menu or the less crappy YSMenu, I can use DSOrganize as the system menu. Fuck yes.

    Daedalus on
  • redhaloredhalo Also a Professional Alcoholic Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I almost forgot about StillAlive DS!
    Been meaning to try it out.

    BTW, for anybody in the market for a homebrew card, CycloDS. Works perfectly with my code.
    PA_Lib for those interested coders :)

    That's what I'm rocking and I haven't had any problems in my coding experience. Do people usually have problems?

    redhalo on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    redhalo wrote: »
    I almost forgot about StillAlive DS!
    Been meaning to try it out.

    BTW, for anybody in the market for a homebrew card, CycloDS. Works perfectly with my code.
    PA_Lib for those interested coders :)

    That's what I'm rocking and I haven't had any problems in my coding experience. Do people usually have problems?

    There are a handful of very bad cards that have some problems. Some cards don't have DLDI drivers. Some cards don't stream data from the MicroSD card fast enough (the Datel Games and Music is particularly bad, which is a damn shame because it's the only card you can get without mail-ordering from Hong Kong). I remember one firmware version of my EZFlash V didn't run homebrew at all. The version before it was fine, and the one after it was fine, but for a few weeks all I had was white screens whenever I tried to run anything.

    There isn't too much quality control in this market and Cyclo is a great exception to that. I'd have bought one if I wasn't a bit short on cash. Still, after I got past the menu problems, my DSTT is doing fine.

    Daedalus on
  • DeathPrawnDeathPrawn Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    So I'm thinking about buying a DSTT, but I'm trying to figure out what the storage situation is like. Did you guys need to buy MicroSD cards or something? If not, how much built-in storage is there?

    God do I love buying products with vague descriptions from sketchy dealers.

    DeathPrawn on
    Signature not found.
  • mntorankusumntorankusu I'm not sure how to use this thing.... Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    DeathPrawn wrote: »
    So I'm thinking about buying a DSTT, but I'm trying to figure out what the storage situation is like. Did you guys need to buy MicroSD cards or something? If not, how much built-in storage is there?

    God do I love buying products with vague descriptions from sketchy dealers.

    The DSTT and other cards like it have no internal storage, so yeah, you need to get a microSD card for it. If you want one you don't need an SD card for, you can buy something like the N-Card or Firecard with 1 GB or 2 GB built in, but they don't have a memory card slot at all, so you can't expand it.

    mntorankusu on
  • AmpixAmpix Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    So hey I really want to get in on this hot DS Homebrew action, but I don't want to mess with the hardware of my DS. I know that I can just get a slot device, so which one do y'all recommend? Also, I'd like to know a place where I can buy this from then, and I live in Holland, so shipping could potentially be a problem.

    Ampix on
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  • TheGreat2ndTheGreat2nd Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Wow, CycloDS actually went up in price.
    I bought it when it was $40 something, maybe in January or February.
    If you have the money, I can't suggest CycloDS enough.
    http://www.realhotstuff.com/cyclods-evolution-p-213.html

    BTW, is there a thread for PA_lib programming or programming on the DS?
    I could use some tips and stuff like that.
    I'm bad at managing my sprites =/

    EDIT: Ah, you live in Holland.
    A quick Google should let you know where to buy it.
    But, yeah, CycloDS.

    TheGreat2nd on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Ampix wrote: »
    So hey I really want to get in on this hot DS Homebrew action, but I don't want to mess with the hardware of my DS. I know that I can just get a slot device, so which one do y'all recommend? Also, I'd like to know a place where I can buy this from then, and I live in Holland, so shipping could potentially be a problem.

    DSTT is cheap, CycloDS is good. Pick one. I buy from DealExtreme, which is slow but reliable and cheap. Dunno if they ship to Holland. You will also need a MicroSD card. Both the DSTT and the Cyclo support regular MicroSD (up to 2GB) and MicroSDHC (4GB+).

    Daedalus on
  • AmpixAmpix Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Ampix wrote: »
    So hey I really want to get in on this hot DS Homebrew action, but I don't want to mess with the hardware of my DS. I know that I can just get a slot device, so which one do y'all recommend? Also, I'd like to know a place where I can buy this from then, and I live in Holland, so shipping could potentially be a problem.

    DSTT is cheap, CycloDS is good. Pick one. I buy from DealExtreme, which is slow but reliable and cheap. Dunno if they ship to Holland. You will also need a MicroSD card. Both the DSTT and the Cyclo support regular MicroSD (up to 2GB) and MicroSDHC (4GB+).

    So I really don't know anything from the homebrew scene, what is "good"? I have a MicroSD card, so that's no problem. But really, Pros and Cons of both? The website linked to before didn't really help (just a lot of homebrew Lingo).

    EDIT: Dealextreme ships internationally :) aaand DSTT has got some bad reviews (some don't work correctly, which is what you meant by cheap I guess). Unfortunately, DealExtreme doesn't sell CycloDS (or I couldn't find it) and I'm rather hestitant of ordering something online from a website I randomly found using google...

    Ampix on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Ampix wrote: »
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Ampix wrote: »
    So hey I really want to get in on this hot DS Homebrew action, but I don't want to mess with the hardware of my DS. I know that I can just get a slot device, so which one do y'all recommend? Also, I'd like to know a place where I can buy this from then, and I live in Holland, so shipping could potentially be a problem.

    DSTT is cheap, CycloDS is good. Pick one. I buy from DealExtreme, which is slow but reliable and cheap. Dunno if they ship to Holland. You will also need a MicroSD card. Both the DSTT and the Cyclo support regular MicroSD (up to 2GB) and MicroSDHC (4GB+).

    So I really don't know anything from the homebrew scene, what is "good"? I have a MicroSD card, so that's no problem. But really, Pros and Cons of both? The website linked to before didn't really help (just a lot of homebrew Lingo).

    EDIT: Dealextreme ships internationally :)

    Basically it comes down to build quality (the CycloDS Evo is better-constructed than the typical Chinese-designed piece of shit), the system menu (the DSTT's system menu is absolutely terrible, as I've mentioned, and the Cyclo's menu is particularly good) and, well, come to think of it, that's it, outside of reasons that only criminals care about.

    Personally, I don't think it's worth the extra price. Both cards have working DLDI drivers. Both cards do auto-patching. Both cards support SDHC. When it comes down to it, that's really all you need. But if you've got the extra money kicking around, go for it.

    Daedalus on
  • AmpixAmpix Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Ampix wrote: »
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Ampix wrote: »
    So hey I really want to get in on this hot DS Homebrew action, but I don't want to mess with the hardware of my DS. I know that I can just get a slot device, so which one do y'all recommend? Also, I'd like to know a place where I can buy this from then, and I live in Holland, so shipping could potentially be a problem.

    DSTT is cheap, CycloDS is good. Pick one. I buy from DealExtreme, which is slow but reliable and cheap. Dunno if they ship to Holland. You will also need a MicroSD card. Both the DSTT and the Cyclo support regular MicroSD (up to 2GB) and MicroSDHC (4GB+).

    So I really don't know anything from the homebrew scene, what is "good"? I have a MicroSD card, so that's no problem. But really, Pros and Cons of both? The website linked to before didn't really help (just a lot of homebrew Lingo).

    EDIT: Dealextreme ships internationally :)

    Basically it comes down to build quality (the CycloDS Evo is better-constructed than the typical Chinese-designed piece of shit), the system menu (the DSTT's system menu is absolutely terrible, as I've mentioned, and the Cyclo's menu is particularly good) and, well, come to think of it, that's it, outside of reasons that only criminals care about.

    Personally, I don't think it's worth the extra price. Both cards have working DLDI drivers. Both cards do auto-patching. Both cards support SDHC. When it comes down to it, that's really all you need. But if you've got the extra money kicking around, go for it.

    Alright, I'll just go for the DSTT, apparently dealextreme replaces it if it doesn't work, and oh well, it's only 13 euros.

    Ampix on
    steam_sig.png
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Ampix wrote: »
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Ampix wrote: »
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Ampix wrote: »
    So hey I really want to get in on this hot DS Homebrew action, but I don't want to mess with the hardware of my DS. I know that I can just get a slot device, so which one do y'all recommend? Also, I'd like to know a place where I can buy this from then, and I live in Holland, so shipping could potentially be a problem.

    DSTT is cheap, CycloDS is good. Pick one. I buy from DealExtreme, which is slow but reliable and cheap. Dunno if they ship to Holland. You will also need a MicroSD card. Both the DSTT and the Cyclo support regular MicroSD (up to 2GB) and MicroSDHC (4GB+).

    So I really don't know anything from the homebrew scene, what is "good"? I have a MicroSD card, so that's no problem. But really, Pros and Cons of both? The website linked to before didn't really help (just a lot of homebrew Lingo).

    EDIT: Dealextreme ships internationally :)

    Basically it comes down to build quality (the CycloDS Evo is better-constructed than the typical Chinese-designed piece of shit), the system menu (the DSTT's system menu is absolutely terrible, as I've mentioned, and the Cyclo's menu is particularly good) and, well, come to think of it, that's it, outside of reasons that only criminals care about.

    Personally, I don't think it's worth the extra price. Both cards have working DLDI drivers. Both cards do auto-patching. Both cards support SDHC. When it comes down to it, that's really all you need. But if you've got the extra money kicking around, go for it.

    Alright, I'll just go for the DSTT, apparently dealextreme replaces it if it doesn't work, and oh well, it's only 13 euros.

    Yeah, my DSTT has been working fine so far. Then again, a year ago I could have told you that about my EZFlash V, and right now my EZFV is in a garbage can.

    Apparently the card to really stay away from is the "N5": there've been reports of them blowing some fuse in peoples' DSes. Just say no, I guess. Apparently it's from some Chinese factory blatantly copying the R4's board layout and then cutting costs just a little too much.

    Daedalus on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Okay, so I just discovered that my DSTT won't run DSLinux. Not too big a deal, but frustrating. If you're buying a card and you're a huge Linux geek, keep that in mind.

    Daedalus on
  • redhaloredhalo Also a Professional Alcoholic Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Okay, so I just discovered that my DSTT won't run DSLinux. Not too big a deal, but frustrating. If you're buying a card and you're a huge Linux geek, keep that in mind.

    Interestingly enough, I haven't really heard of anyone being able to get it to work. I haven't tried it myself.

    redhalo on
  • xWonderboyxxWonderboyx Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    DeathPrawn wrote: »
    So I'm thinking about buying a DSTT, but I'm trying to figure out what the storage situation is like. Did you guys need to buy MicroSD cards or something? If not, how much built-in storage is there?

    God do I love buying products with vague descriptions from sketchy dealers.

    I have a DSTT and the contacts eventually will stop making..er..contact with the DS. For your future enjoyment, take a small DS game sized piece of paper and slide it in with your DSTT. If it doesn't work, make the paper thicker (folding, or just thicker paper). Eventually your DSTT will load without problems.

    Edit: Also to the people concerned about the DSTT's shitty menu, you can use a custom menu (give me a few minutes of poking around to find one) that makes it look like the R4 menu.

    Edit edit: Ah motherfucker the site I used is no longer around. Hmm... just know it's possible to have a custom menu (you can even do backgrounds but I just stick with gray).

    xWonderboyx on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    redhalo wrote: »
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Okay, so I just discovered that my DSTT won't run DSLinux. Not too big a deal, but frustrating. If you're buying a card and you're a huge Linux geek, keep that in mind.

    Interestingly enough, I haven't really heard of anyone being able to get it to work. I haven't tried it myself.

    It used to work fine with my EZFlashV. It's really picky about the DLDI driver.

    It really isn't too useful, though. There's not really anything there that DSOrganize doesn't do better.

    Daedalus on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Well, this is pretty cool: There was this old piece of DS homebrew, made way back before DLDI was written, called MegaETK. It's basically a Mega Man style game with a full suite of custom levels and everything. Anyway, since it predates DLDI, it basically doesn't run on modern flash cards, and the author abandoned the project a long time ago.

    Except he released the source code a little while ago and somebody else duct-taped in DLDI support, so now it's usable. It's pretty good, too: you can check it out here.

    Daedalus on
  • TrusTrus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    quick question for you all, I'm planning on buying a EZFlash 3-in-1 Memory Expansion Pack for NDS Lite. This is of course assuming I can use this to run gba homebrew in conjunction with my r4 card, Can anyone verify that I can use this to run gba homebrew?

    Trus on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Trus wrote: »
    quick question for you all, I'm planning on buying a EZFlash 3-in-1 Memory Expansion Pack for NDS Lite. This is of course assuming I can use this to run gba homebrew in conjunction with my r4 card, Can anyone verify that I can use this to run gba homebrew?

    Yes.

    However, only the EZFlashV (naturally) and the CycloDS have this functionality built in. Everyone else needs to use a program to load .gba files onto that expansion pack. Rudolph's ExpLoader is particularly good: I'd been using it instead of the EZFlash's built-in functionality.

    There isn't a whole hell of a lot of worthwhile GBA homebrew, though. But on the bright side, the EZFlash 3-in-1 is very useful for some DS homebrew because it has 16 MiB of RAM in it, required for DSLinux and, more importantly, Quake II (and a couple other programs that I don't remember). Also you can use it to rip your DS games to your flash card but I don't know if we can talk about that here (it takes fucking forever anyway, not really worth the bother).

    Daedalus on
  • ÆthelredÆthelred Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    This thread is great. I got an R4 a short while ago and have gone through the entire thread; lots of great stuff.

    Does anyone know whether it's possible to customise the R4's main screen a little deeper? It has the three options - Applications, Media, Slot-2 - across the bottom screen at the start, but I'd like to change that so there's more buttons, for specific applications. Anyone know if that's possible?

    Æthelred on
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  • HallucinogenHallucinogen Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Hmm, so I'm trying to decide between the R4, and the M3. Are there any significant differences?

    Hallucinogen on
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  • prawnstar69prawnstar69 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    This thread is great. I got an R4 a short while ago and have gone through the entire thread; lots of great stuff.

    Does anyone know whether it's possible to customise the R4's main screen a little deeper? It has the three options - Applications, Media, Slot-2 - across the bottom screen at the start, but I'd like to change that so there's more buttons, for specific applications. Anyone know if that's possible?

    I could be wrong but I don't think so, not without tinkering with the R4 kernel files and I have no idea where to start with those.

    Although, anything's possible.

    prawnstar69 on
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  • HallucinogenHallucinogen Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Huh. Apparently the G6 Real comes with 1gb onboard. $64 though.

    http://www.realhotstuff.com/real-gigabyte-p-211.html

    Hallucinogen on
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  • ZerounZeroun Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Huh. Apparently the G6 Real comes with 1gb onboard. $64 though.

    http://www.realhotstuff.com/real-gigabyte-p-211.html

    I had one of those and the homebrew support was kinda dodgy, half of my programs didn't work even with newest firmware. Bought myself a CycloDS and never looked back, it's an awesome card.

    Zeroun on
  • IdolNinjaIdolNinja Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Zeroun wrote: »
    Huh. Apparently the G6 Real comes with 1gb onboard. $64 though.

    http://www.realhotstuff.com/real-gigabyte-p-211.html

    I had one of those and the homebrew support was kinda dodgy, half of my programs didn't work even with newest firmware. Bought myself a CycloDS and never looked back, it's an awesome card.

    I recently got my Cyclo DS, and I love it too. The interface is fantastic. It's also been able to run just about every piece of homebrew I've thrown at it with minimal fuss. Having portable versions of the Lucasarts SCUMM games are totally worth the price of admission alone. Word Up is also made of pure awesome.

    IdolNinja on
  • HallucinogenHallucinogen Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Hmm, so should I get the CycloDS over the M3 or R4?

    Edit: Fudge it, I'm going to get the CycloDS. VOIP here I come!

    Hallucinogen on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Huh. Apparently the G6 Real comes with 1gb onboard. $64 though.

    http://www.realhotstuff.com/real-gigabyte-p-211.html

    Cards with no MicroSD slot are either overpriced, terrible, or both. The G6 is from the same people as the M3, and it's not terrible, but you can do much better for $64. Hell, that would buy you a DSTT and like an 8GB MicroSDHC card, if you got the MicroSD from Newegg.

    Daedalus on
  • mntorankusumntorankusu I'm not sure how to use this thing.... Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Huh. Apparently the G6 Real comes with 1gb onboard. $64 though.

    http://www.realhotstuff.com/real-gigabyte-p-211.html

    Cards with no MicroSD slot are either overpriced, terrible, or both. The G6 is from the same people as the M3, and it's not terrible, but you can do much better for $64. Hell, that would buy you a DSTT and like an 8GB MicroSDHC card, if you got the MicroSD from Newegg.

    I know somebody who has a G6. It is pretty terrible.

    The N-Card, which is about $30 on Dealextreme and has 1 GB built in, is pretty good from what I hear. At least with unofficial firmware, like the TTDS.

    mntorankusu on
  • GSMGSM Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    My Firecard works okay, and it's an N-card clone. 1gig internal memory, and it runs most homebrew just fine. Can't go wrong for the price, really.

    I need to post that neat caveflier I found here. Lib lobby has been making some pretty impressive ad-hoc wireless games start to appear!

    GSM on
    We'll get back there someday.
  • meatflowermeatflower Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I would also say avoid built-in RAM cards. You're getting the lowest quality RAM in these units, with slow responses times and questionable longevity. Buying something like the R4 and a quality microSD card (I recommend Transcend) from Newegg, will probably end up cheaper per Gb and be all around better.

    Also, Colors has officially become my favorite time waster. It makes me want to buy that insanely expensive LCD drawing tablet Wacom makes.

    meatflower on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    really any brand of MicroSD on Newegg that isn't Sandisk is going to be fine. Toshiba are the best but they don't sell in the US for some reason. Kingston and Transcend buy from Toshiba, but not exclusively: some of their cards come from Korean fabs that aren't as good as Tosh's Japanese plant.

    Daedalus on
  • dr0neboydr0neboy Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I'm looking at the M3 Real, does anyone have any experience with that one? Heard som nice things about it from a friend but he aint exactly the gizmoking.

    dr0neboy on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    dr0neboy wrote: »
    I'm looking at the M3 Real, does anyone have any experience with that one? Heard som nice things about it from a friend but he aint exactly the gizmoking.

    It's pretty good, but pricier than it needs to be, and IIRC it doesn't do SDHC (unless I'm thinking of the M3 Simply).

    Daedalus on
  • TaminTamin Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Is there any easy way to test if the chip will support the SDHC format outside of purchasing the card? I mean, I have the R4DS, and there was something about a firmware patch for that, maybe?

    Tamin on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Tamin wrote: »
    Is there any easy way to test if the chip will support the SDHC format outside of purchasing the card? I mean, I have the R4DS, and there was something about a firmware patch for that, maybe?

    Usually it will be a heavily-advertized feature. I can only tell you from my own experience that the DSTT and CycloDS Evo support SDHC and that the EZFlash V does not; I haven't ever used any other cards.

    Daedalus on
  • dr0neboydr0neboy Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Daedalus wrote: »
    dr0neboy wrote: »
    I'm looking at the M3 Real, does anyone have any experience with that one? Heard som nice things about it from a friend but he aint exactly the gizmoking.

    It's pretty good, but pricier than it needs to be, and IIRC it doesn't do SDHC (unless I'm thinking of the M3 Simply).

    You know any that is as good but cheaper?

    dr0neboy on
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  • TaminTamin Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Tamin wrote: »
    Is there any easy way to test if the chip will support the SDHC format outside of purchasing the card? I mean, I have the R4DS, and there was something about a firmware patch for that, maybe?

    Usually it will be a heavily-advertized feature. I can only tell you from my own experience that the DSTT and CycloDS Evo support SDHC and that the EZFlash V does not; I haven't ever used any other cards.

    Ok. Thanks.

    Tamin on
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