[lanwarrior]

I saw a video in YouTube of a Nintendo DS being able to play MP3 music and read comic books and I was intrigued with it. I did a Google search and find out that it is even possible to play NDS games downloaded from the Internet!

It uses some sort of "flash" card, but after spending almost 1 hour reading through multiple websites, I am getting confused. Passcard? Slot-1 Flash card?

Can anyone explain to me how does this works?

Easy, I got my DS last week.

What you need to play NDS roms (downloaded games), GBA roms and any homebrew stuff:

- The DS.
- A Slot 1 card (get the R4DS aka Revolution for DS)
- A Slot 2 card (only needed if you want to play GBA, EZ-Flash 3-in-1 does the job here)
- a MicroSD aka TransFlash card. 1GB or 2GB will do fine.

^^^You don't need anything more than that^^^

You can find all the latest homebrew stuff and firmware updates at http://www.ds-scene.net

First place the firmware you need on the transflash card, the R4 CDROM has instructions on where to place stuff and what you need, etc.

Drag and drop .NDS roms into the root of the microSD card. Place the card in the back of the R4 and place the R4 in the Slot 1 in the DS.

Switch on DS, play.

It's as simple as it gets, there's nothing more you have to know. If you need any more help post back here. The DS is so much fun, it really brings back the oldskool feel of gaming. I absolutely love it!

Good luck!

Oh, and for getting DS roms.. BitTorrent, ed2k, IRC, etc. is your friend.

[lanwarrior]

Hey, thanks for the info, TGB. Just placed an order for the R4DS from Amazon (yep, they sell it from 3rd party) and will let everyone know how it goes.

Oh, one thing to ask: does the R4DS takes all types of NDS ROMS? I.e. I've seen ROMS with different extension, like .nds so wondering if there is any limitation. Note that I just want to play NDS games, not GBA.

[LZF]

The R4DS can only use clean roms with extension NDS if you want to play commercial games. Best is to use a fast 1GB micro SD like a Japanese Kingston. Some games will lockup when used on a slower card. I have a Jap Kingston and never had a lockup so far. And I got all roms of course, almost 1200 by now. Homebrew? yeah sure, what matters is the commercial roms

[lanwarrior]

Hey LZF,

Just got my R4DS and it's awesome! So far worked very well. I foudn out that non-working ROM (white screen, blank screen, etc.) is caused by either of these:

- bad ROM (re-download can fix it)
- Filename is longer than 10 characters (i.e. rename from "1045 - game-name" to "game-name")
- Some game just problematic, like Castlevania

I am using SanDisk 2GB Ultra II, so that should be fast enough.

[LZF]

Long filenames are no problem at all. I've got games on my cart with names longer than 25 characters.
If you got problems with games like Castlevania, then your card is just to slow. I had also a Sandisk 2GB card, lockups with several games. Changed to a Japanese Kingston and the problem never occured again. Sandisk is just crap in my opinion, even the Ultra II is to slow. Also be sure you download the latest kernel (atm v1.10) and don't use the one provided with your R4DS.

[kareem]

kind of off topic, but nebody know WHERE i can get DS roms?? i searched everywhere and it seems impossible, i found an emulator, juss not the roms:(

Um use torrent if you cant find any sites!!
Try and see if youcan get an invite to blackcatgames..has all the Nintendo ds rom and very well seeded

[LZF]

I get all my roms from usenet, very fast and always the latest releases

[lanwarrior]

I get all my roms from usenet, very fast and always the latest releases

Which one is it?

I got my ROMS from TorrentSpy.com. Search for "nds".

[LZF]

For usenet, most NDS ROM's are located and posted in alt.binaries.emulators.nintendo-ds

Try these sites too

http://www.nintendo-ds-roms.com/

http://ds.rom-news.org/

I personally prefer the M3DS Simply http://www.m3adapter.com/SLOT-1/main.htm
Its easy and uses only one slot and microSD cards and i have tested all type of ROMs on this and it works flawlessly. The latest build for the app is 1.06...

You can buy it from

Here http://www.echostore.com/game.html?gclid=CMic7uHarY0CFQNbHgodMyFMtg
or Here http://www.gameyeeeah.com/index.php?gclid=CNX1uvXarY0CFSMKGgodFgYi1Q

[kareem]

ok, i feel dumb cuz i should have said nintendo gamecube roms, can't find them anywhere...so ne helP?

[LZF]

A Gamecube doesn't have ROM's but mini DVD's. So technically you should ask for GC images or ISO's

Also, a Gamecube must be have a special chip which allows it to play copied games, but i guess you already knew that.

[fizzy]

good stuff...i may get 1 of these and help my 9yr old sister out and get her sum games