Can a Homebrew Only Flash Cart Be Made ?

[wraggster]

With all the recent bad press from Nintendo who are targeting the DS Flash Cart scene and who think that everyone is a pirate although i think that pretty much anyone in the world has some time downloaded something dodgy to their PC but anyway :P

Is it possible to create a Homebrew Only Flash Card for the DS a card that locks out Commercial games and one that Nintendo itself might welcome. It would be something is Nintendo themselves released such a cart, what are your thoughts on such an idea ?

[zzt]

I think it would be cool if they could allow you to download stuff off of the VC and/or wiiware to a ds card (DSWare?!:eek:).

[masterchief929]

it has already been done. its called a Games n' Music card.

[Epic Pie]

it has already been done. its called a Games n' Music card.

My friend has one of those, he said it can play pirated games. o.O

[agenericperson]

My guess is it can... but it would be costly developing it. My guess is they are and have been working on the DS2. I'm sure it's much better protected. Nintendo may have finally learned their lesson about carts.

[spinal_cord]

My friend has one of those, he said it can play pirated games. o.O

Unless Your friend is talking about the download demos he not being truthful with you, the Datel GnM can not play commercial games, the loader included on it can only load homebrew and demos.

So the answer to the above question is YES! Datel have released both a slot-1 (Games n Music) and a slot-2 (Max Media Dock) card designed only to be able to play homebrew. The someone later released a commercial loader for the MMD, but the GnM still only plays homebrew.

[Grey Acumen]

I call baloney. If it can download and play demos successfully, then it's only a firmware modification to being able to play full scale pirated games.

It might mean the games have to be individually patched to be allowed by the card, but it's still doable. If it hasn't been done already, it's only because there are other, better options more readily available already.

[Eric]

I believe the reason why FlashCarts like R4 are able to play is there is a certain code available for each commercial game. If the numbers are 92442632 or something like that and the flashcart doesnt have that number on the card then the game wont play. These flashcarts include flashware updates so they can update these codes into the cartridge and you can download a illegal roms and play them. Now i am not sure what i said is totally correct and some information could be correct but if this information is at all illegal please delete post.

[spinal_cord]

I call baloney. If it can download and play demos successfully, then it's only a firmware modification to being able to play full scale pirated games.

It might mean the games have to be individually patched to be allowed by the card, but it's still doable. If it hasn't been done already, it's only because there are other, better options more readily available already.

You are right, its JUST a firmware mod needed to do this, however it is something that DATEL (the creators of the card) are unwilling to do, keeping the card homebrew only.

[oooooomonkeys]

i would buy a card that was homebrew only, thats a great idea, still not sure if nintendo would endorse something like that though

[policrat]

I was under the impression Nintendo has their own flash card in the pipeline; I guess being partially why they're stomping out the upstarters right now. Where did I hear this?

[NeroMaverick]

It wouldn't really matter, a homebrew only flashcart will most likely be hacked to work with commercial games... either that, or the commercial games will be hacked to work with the flashcart, either way it will still bring the same situation we have now.

I can see where Nintendo is getting at, people who own the system need to start buying the games, how else are the companies supposed to make money/know what we like.

I can also see our side of the story, we love our homebrew and not having to lug around additional cases just to hold our favorite games...

I can even see the side of the pirate... why pay for things... when you can get them for free :P... sort of... You have to admit, there is a point to that, even if you don't agree.

We'll see as time goes on.

[Eviltaco64]

I think there could be a homebrew loader or something like that made that could bypass the homebrew only thing and boot pirated software.

[spinal_cord]

It wouldn't really matter, a homebrew only flashcart will most likely be hacked to work with commercial games... either that, or the commercial games will be hacked to work with the flashcart, either way it will still bring the same situation we have now.

Nobody paying attention today? The Datel Games'n'Music card is HOMEBREW ONLY, it has not been hacked and has been around for ages. It is not possible to play commercial games from it. It is the product that you are all saying can't or wont be done, and it is OLD, homebrew coders have been using it for a long time now, google it or something.

Commercial games do not get hacked to run on a card, that would be a complete waste of time and effort asit is the cards firmware that should be doing that. The firmware needs to patch the games to load differently from a different (from nintendo offical cards) card as well as set up the DS hardware to handle it. There is a great ds coder called chishm who wrote a homebrew only loader that works on most current (and probably future) cards, it does not load commercial games, and if you try, rather than just not load, the DS crashes. Proving yet again that it is entirely possible and easier than commercial compatability.

[robman84]

there would be a Market for it but nintendo are unlikely to embrace such a device unless they had an ongoing revenue stream from each title produced. So many commercial games already fall way below the quality of the top homebrew games that they would be killed if there was a readily available source of legal free games of better quality. I could certainly see ninty doing a vc store or even a closed app store like apple.

[megaxzeo]

I don't know, this just seems to me like something nintendo should be trying to take advantage of, rather then destory.

Think about this, treat the files the same way the music companys are treating their files.

Consider this. Nintendo produces a flash cart that works for the DS, or even possibly future portables. Every person who buys this flash cart ( think ipod ) can download the games from nintendo's website for a price. And the download can be linked somehow to a specific flash cart so that the file cant be traded. Kind of like burn rights for mp3's.

Not only would nintendo profit from it ( less piracy, less money spent on producing cards, paper manuals, etc.. ), but so would the users because the cost of the games could be dropped slightly. And they wouldent have to make room for like, 20 carts or have to worry about loosing them.

Of course no situation is ever going to be perfect, your ALWAYS going to have people that are going to steal, hack, and get their own way for free.

I dont know, any other thoughts?

[Jeric]

Sure Datel's GnM disallows pirated roms, but lets face facts. The GnM is a crummy card that's terrible when it comes to homebrew compatability (though it DOES seem to behave better when you stick to the card it comes with).

This from a GnM owner that's continually frustrated with how things like to either not work, or simply break with him.

[Brifry]

I have a Games n Music card, and yeah most of the things said are true. But for all of you who think that commercial games will run, that's false, unless of course an updated firmware, but that won't happen. Even if you could boot commercial games, the read speed is sooo slow it's ridiculous. I mean, some of the bigger homebrew takes up to a minute to boot up. So even if commercial games worked, they'd be unbearable to play. And as for homebrew, it's great, I don't know what some of you are talking about. Yeah, for some select homebrew it's a hassle to boot up homebrew, but everything works fantastic once it's boot up. I personally have never run into any homebrew that had DLDI that I couldn't get to run. Now, if you're talking about piracy, sure it can run emulators, and there's no way of stopping it, so saying it can run pirated games is also true. But that's not the biggest part of what Nintendo is concerned about. I'm pretty sure they're basically targeting the actual NDS roms, the don't want to lose money on current software. I mean, the older games are run on emulators on every system imaginable, and I don't think they could ever stop that, I personally believe they're trying to stop the NDS piracy, and with the Games n Music, the piracy can't happen. Or if it somehow became possible, it wouldn't be worth it. Have you ever played a game and it just kept lagging? Well, it's not worth it, the speed is just not there.

[crookedmouth]

Sure Datel's GnM disallows pirated roms, but lets face facts. The GnM is a crummy card that's terrible when it comes to homebrew compatability (though it DOES seem to behave better when you stick to the card it comes with).

This from a GnM owner that's continually frustrated with how things like to either not work, or simply break with him.

I don't think the GnM is a crummy card at all. It runs every DLDI homebrew I've thrown at it. Sure jenesisDS needs to be run through spinal cords Menu program, but that is an easy work-around. Perhaps you should try Spinal's menu to try to fix your problem's your having with other apps/games.
Go and get yourself a 1Gig Sandisk MicroSD and use v1 of the DLDI patch. It works great with the GnM,Don't get a 2gig though.The 1G should be able to be found cheaply too.
Another thing that is funny, is that Nintendo went after Datel for the GnM, something to do with the way it's built or something.
Anyway I agree Brifry,GnM gets a bad wrap when IMO, it's homebrew compatibility is very good. The only problem is the slow read speeds, so games like Doom,Quake and the large NeoGeo games run with lots of lag.

[Sonny_Jim]

The Datel GnM IS a crummy card, the only reason is that it's popular is the fact that you can buy it locally rather than online.

[spinal_cord]

Can someone please explain what is so wrong with the GnM?

Please name a few genuine reasons to not like it.

[Brifry]

I don't think the GnM is a crummy card at all. It runs every DLDI homebrew I've thrown at it. Sure jenesisDS needs to be run through spinal cords Menu program, but that is an easy work-around. Perhaps you should try Spinal's menu to try to fix your problem's your having with other apps/games.
Go and get yourself a 1Gig Sandisk MicroSD and use v1 of the DLDI patch. It works great with the GnM,Don't get a 2gig though.The 1G should be able to be found cheaply too.
Another thing that is funny, is that Nintendo went after Datel for the GnM, something to do with the way it's built or something.
Anyway I agree Brifry,GnM gets a bad wrap when IMO, it's homebrew compatibility is very good. The only problem is the slow read speeds, so games like Doom,Quake and the large NeoGeo games run with lots of lag.

Yeah, I agree with most of this stuff. But jenesisDS you couldn't get to work? That's weird, works great for me. As for the Neo Geo, if you look at that compatibility chart, that's exactly what I've got on every game I've tried, it tells the fps, and I've got that. I like the 2nd release of QuakeDS because it runs faster, never really cared for Doom, so I don't know about that. See and I've got 2 2GB cards, and they both work great, it does depend heavily on the brand, and sometimes the individual card though. But I assume that's how it is with every flashcart. But yeah, it gets a bad rap, and I really haven't heard any valid arguments that makes me think twice about it. Yeah the read speed isn't as fast as others, but that also discourages NDS piracy. Obviously all the homebrew emulators and games, run at full speed (except sometimes NEO GEO, but those stats were on the compatibility sheet, so I'm guessing it's the same as others.) so yeah, there's nothing wrong there. Well, that's what I've got.



The Datel GnM IS a crummy card, the only reason is that it's popular is the fact that you can buy it locally rather than online.
Any reason in particular why it's crummy? And don't say just because it's available in stores, that doesn't automatically make it bad, not that you're thinking that, but the tone kind of puts that off.

[TechRat]

The only problem is the slow read speeds, so games like Doom,Quake and the large NeoGeo games run with lots of lag.

I don't believe this is true. The read speed affects the loading time, but once the game is loaded the speed will be the same for all DS systems regardless of the brand of flash cart used. The only exception is when data is streamed from the card, like during video playback.

I don't know why GnM is the homebrew whipping boy, but I have some theories:

THEORY 1 - GnM used to be a crappy card. Before Chism created a DLDI patch for it homebrew compatibility was pretty low. Now it has one of the highest compatibility rates of all of the brands of flash cards. Still, people remember that it was crummy at one time so that's how they always remember it.

THEORY 2 - People don't like it because it's the closest anything has come to a "mainstream" homebrew solution, and in such a grass roots community there can be an aversion to anything mainstream.

THEORY 3 - The read speed is slower than most other cards so people just conclude that it sucks. The truth is that it is slower, but not slow. It does not take a minute to load larger apps. I don't think any app has taken more than 20 seconds to load for me, and in todays gaming world where almost every game has loading times this really is a minor issue.

THEORY 4 - People don't like it because it does not have regular firmware updates to support DS ROMS. This reason is not even valid as far as I'm concerned. Such people are the ones who are causing the real problems for the homebrew community.

Again, these are just theories. I'm curious to hear other people's opinions about this.

[crookedmouth]

Yeah, I agree with most of this stuff. But jenesisDS you couldn't get to work? That's weird, works great for me. As for the Neo Geo, if you look at that compatibility chart, that's exactly what I've got on every game I've tried, it tells the fps, and I've got that. I like the 2nd release of QuakeDS because it runs faster, never really cared for Doom, so I don't know about that.

JenesisDS works fine, but through spinal's menu program.Many GnM and MMD users have the same problem. About the NeoGeo emulator, I would like to see how you run 1945, it's a shoot em up that when played along side my MMD or R4 has obvious slow downs especially during explosions.My FPS seems to be good even during slowdowns...
While I agree Quake doesn't run too badly, again along side the other 2 cards of mine, a bit of slow down is noticeable.




I don't believe this is true. The read speed affects the loading time, but once the game is loaded the speed will be the same for all DS systems regardless of the brand of flash cart used. The only exception is when data is streamed from the card, like during video playback.


Yes I know that streaming video has lag but the before mentioned 1945 is nearly 86 MB, Doom wads are much more then the 4mb as is Quake.

I'm not knocking the card just expressing w one downside.

[Jeric]

Well part of my beef with Datel's card is the fact that datel themselves seem to nolonger care, support, or even really acknowledge the card exists (outside of continue to offer it up for sale). It could easily just be my experiances but DSO has done nothing but completely destroy data, then again that could also be due to the fact I was trying to use the ds as a substitute notepad to write on.

Lets see, firmware updates arn't only to maintain pirating compatability, but to improve thigns like read/write speeds, update the default menue (which is usually moonshell or a derivitive), the fact that it came out before sdhc became more or less standard (and even if its possible to add in via firmware, which I'm unsure of, it ain't happening due to the 'support' datel provides), the spring on the bloody thing breaks rapidly, and for those of us that are lazy no auto patching.

Oh and I bought my 1gig microsd card in january, its already starting to fail (i can't copy stuff back over to the pc side).

With all that said though, it does show that you CAN have a homebrew-only cart, and with it being homebrew only you can sell it in brick n morter outlets.

[masterchief929]

The Datel GnM IS a crummy card, the only reason is that it's popular is the fact that you can buy it locally rather than online.

wow... come copy what someone else already sed so that u can individually be proved wrong. almost every DLDI compatible game runs on the GnM. it is very durable, i have dropped it on hard surfaces. (tile, blacktop, gravel) the interface is very clean and easy to navigate. it has a built in mp3 player that is unique to the GnM. it runs on bigger sd cards. it has a built in file browser. it is anti-piracy!!!!!! and last, but certainly not least, it has a durable spring loader.

the GnM does what it is supposed to do and more.

[kurosakinaruto-]

Well, most of the ppl who pirate games(including me) don't have enough money to buy games, and the only reason why most of us bought a Nds was to get a flash cart, and nintendo doesn't really LOSE any money, because the money wasn't there's to lose in the first place. So if anything, they're GAINING money from the Nds console sales.

[Jeric]

Flawed Logic is flawed.

Just because they turn a small profit with hardware sales you are NOT able to justify piracy due to the sheer ammount of money lost due to games, which (despite what some may think) are nintendo's bread n butter.

Lets see.

buying 1x ds:
total cost: $120

buying mario kart, zelda, metroid, any number of pokemon games, castlevania, etc etc:

$27 - $40 per game:

Ergo 10x games: $270 - $400.


I can understand the justification of demoing, but nintendo can cover you there too, if they'd embrace flash carts that is and offer downloadable demos as opposed to only from specific keosks.

Edit: Oh and as for the 'they're not losing because it wasn't there to begin with' argument? Pfft. Nintendo ships x number of units to stores. If those units don't sell nintendo has to write up the costs of unsold units at a loss and possibly even have to buy the materials back pending what their agreement is wit hthat store chain (obviously i don't know, just taking a potshot here). Now all those people pirating, say, contra, rather than buy it for whatever reason now leave contra on the shelves. You may be poor, but hey, so'm I. ITS CALLED SAVING MONEY! Granted I can't buy dozens and dozens of games (i have...four games. Days of Ruin, Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Puzzlequest, and new super mario brothers) but I DO buy games. I just make sure the games i buy are the ones I want.

[spinal_cord]

I think kurosakinaruto-'s argument was -

(although the 'being poor' part should be irrelevent)

Most (if not all) of the people who pirate games would NOT buy them even if there was no piracy.

So, picture this...
If there is piracy, kurosakinaruto would have bought a DS, but no games. If there was no piracy kurosakinaruto would not have bought a DS and also no games.
Conclusion kurosakinaruto would never buy games and Nintendo will not loose money over it, Either way kurosakinaruto does NOT BUY GAMES, weather he(?) has a DS or not. Nintendo can not claim any lost proffit from someone buying a DS but no games.

Having a DS and not buying games is not loosing Nintendo any more money than not having a DS and not buying games (for the DS you don't have). In fact they are gaining hardware sales. So by people pirating games, Nintendo are making more money than people not pirating, as they are UP on DS sales but NOT down on software sales.



Either way though, if you like playing a game, you should buy it.

[Jeric]

You've got a point, but still...'wouldn't buy anyway' isn't an excuse to pirate.

[masterchief929]

i agree w/ jeric on this one. although some ppl may be telling the truth about it, most ppl just say they would never buy as a worthless excuse.

[sepro]

i agree w/ jeric on this one. although some ppl may be telling the truth about it, most ppl just say they would never buy as a worthless excuse.

I think it's more an example to show why nintendo (as well as the movie and music industry) is overestimating the money lost due to piracy. As an excuse it's a pretty lousy one, I agree.

[Grey Acumen]

Nobody paying attention today? The Datel Games'n'Music card is HOMEBREW ONLY, it has not been hacked and has been around for ages. It is not possible to play commercial games from it. It is the product that you are all saying can't or wont be done, and it is OLD, homebrew coders have been using it for a long time now, google it or something.

I think maybe you're the one missing the point here. I've actually looked it up, and from what I can see, there is basically a problem with the Games n Music card playing games over 4MB in size, which sounds like it would cause problems for homebrew games as well.
If this problem is a physical issue, then it destroys the ability to play a bunch of potentially awesome homebrew games, which defeats the entire point of this discussion. If this problem is merely a firmware issue, then it can be addressed through either hacking the games, hacking the firmware, or both. Just the simple fact that it CAN be hacked, means that it cannot be considered a TRULY homebrew only card.
You seem to be using the issue that just because it hasn't been hacked means it can't be, but that's just not the case. You seem to be forgetting the wide variety of homebrew DS cards that are available and offer a much wider variety of support for homebrew games, slot 2 cards, applications, and of course, roms. If the datel game n watch really hasn't ever been hacked, this is only because there are far more convenient options available.



i agree w/ jeric on this one. although some ppl may be telling the truth about it, most ppl just say they would never buy as a worthless excuse.

I think it's more an example to show why nintendo (as well as the movie and music industry) is overestimating the money lost due to piracy. As an excuse it's a pretty lousy one, I agree.
Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright, Ouendan, Pokemon Diamond, and a couple others. These are all games I had basically resigned myself to skipping, but now that I've had a chance to seriously try them out, I will likely be getting them once I have the funds to support that, even if it takes a couple years for that to happen. In the meantime, I'm also pushing these games to anyone who even mentions that they have a DS.

[Akoi Meexx]

wow... come copy what someone else already sed so that u can individually be proved wrong. almost every DLDI compatible game runs on the GnM. it is very durable, i have dropped it on hard surfaces. (tile, blacktop, gravel) the interface is very clean and easy to navigate. it has a built in mp3 player that is unique to the GnM. it runs on bigger sd cards. it has a built in file browser. it is anti-piracy!!!!!! and last, but certainly not least, it has a durable spring loader.

the GnM does what it is supposed to do and more.

Normally, I don't bother getting involved with these debates since I don't bother with commercial ROMs. I did feel pretty bothered about the hating on other posters though.

Load times have always been spotty for me with a GnM, especially with application software. If they could improve timing that'd be great, but what support has there been anymore? And the durable spring-loaded slot? Craptastic. Everyone I know in this area WITH datel merch has complained of spring failure on their cartridges. It's hardly 'durable'.

How about customization? that would be a nice feature, but you really can't get too much from the GnM. Mayhaps if they designed a new slot-1 to work out the flaws it'd be worth my time and money, but it really doesn't have a good standing point for competition with other carts, save that it is homebrew only.

Masterchief, never mind the fact that Sonny Jim is one of the main contributors to DSLinux, and just MIGHT have an inkling of a clue as to what he's talking about. :p

[spinal_cord]

i do not consider the 4mb limit a problem, as almost al homebrew coders use the fat file system, so the actual .nds is usually quite small and any resorces are stored on the card and loaded as needed. I have a feeling this 4mb thing is something that people have READ, rather than actually encountered themselves.

If anyone DOES use the GnM and has problems with some homebrew not loading, feel free to try DSision (http://spinal.dizidesigns.co.uk/dsision.php), it is a homebrew loader that works on most cards (not R4DS, its R4's fault, not mine) and apparently has better compatability than the default GnM loader. Also it is skinnable and looks good too.

[Jeric]

Hm, interesting.


Pity GnM for whatever reason can't be made to load homebrew via moonshell (as that would be win).

Now then since we've firmly established the GnM already exists (and can be bought for $12 bucks via walmart) I have the following to ask.

What do you want to see in a homebrew-only cart?

Me?

SDHC

skinnable themes

prefferably side loading of the microsd so it can be slotted in then slotted out without having t odeal with a spring that will break plus it can't accidentilly pop out of the unit since its stuck between cart and inner wall of the ds.

Autopatching would be nice.

decent read speeds.

[spinal_cord]

I would want the following -

* The loader to be based on chishm's work, giving it maximum compatability, although it doesn't really matter as long as it offers 100% homebrew compatability.

* Auto DLDI patching.

* The ability to auto-run a file on startup, which would give an easy and safe (no need to risk re-flashing the card) option for homebrew coders to create their own menu's.

* Good read speed for movie playback.

* Perhaps for the manufacturers to keep in contact with the customers.

* Low(ish) sale price.

[pokemon157]

I think maybe you're the one missing the point here. I've actually looked it up, and from what I can see, there is basically a problem with the Games n Music card playing games over 4MB in size, which sounds like it would cause problems for homebrew games as well.
If this problem is a physical issue, then it destroys the ability to play a bunch of potentially awesome homebrew games, which defeats the entire point of this discussion. If this problem is merely a firmware issue, then it can be addressed through either hacking the games, hacking the firmware, or both. Just the simple fact that it CAN be hacked, means that it cannot be considered a TRULY homebrew only card.
You seem to be using the issue that just because it hasn't been hacked means it can't be, but that's just not the case. You seem to be forgetting the wide variety of homebrew DS cards that are available and offer a much wider variety of support for homebrew games, slot 2 cards, applications, and of course, roms. If the datel game n watch really hasn't ever been hacked, this is only because there are far more convenient options available.


Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright, Ouendan, Pokemon Diamond, and a couple others. These are all games I had basically resigned myself to skipping, but now that I've had a chance to seriously try them out, I will likely be getting them once I have the funds to support that, even if it takes a couple years for that to happen. In the meantime, I'm also pushing these games to anyone who even mentions that they have a DS.

I don't think there is no 4MB limit, I can play Smash Brothers Rumble Demo 3 on it, and the file size of that is around 16MB.
Now I can't run Smash Brothers Rumble Demo 4 on my Games N Music but by how it sounds like, the maker rushed demo 4.

[TeenDev]

I have actually made my own homebrew only flashcart from scratch. it runs a custom version of the hacked GBAMP fiirmware.

EDIT: I can build one for someone if they like?

[Grey Acumen]

i do not consider the 4mb limit a problem, as almost al homebrew coders use the fat file system, so the actual .nds is usually quite small and any resorces are stored on the card and loaded as needed. I have a feeling this 4mb thing is something that people have READ, rather than actually encountered themselves.

If anyone DOES use the GnM and has problems with some homebrew not loading, feel free to try DSision (http://spinal.dizidesigns.co.uk/dsision.php), it is a homebrew loader that works on most cards (not R4DS, its R4's fault, not mine) and apparently has better compatability than the default GnM loader. Also it is skinnable and looks good too.
So that just brings it back to my original point if there aren't any problems with files over 4MB. All it requires is a firmware hack to play roms, hence GnM can't truly be considered a homebrew ONLY card.
If this hack hasn't been done, it's only because the presence of other homebrew cards make it pointless to go to the effort of figuring out how to hack it.

[Brifry]

I don't believe this is true. The read speed affects the loading time, but once the game is loaded the speed will be the same for all DS systems regardless of the brand of flash cart used. The only exception is when data is streamed from the card, like during video playback.
Yeah, that is actually exactly how you describe booting stuff up with the GnM. Like Mini vMac DS takes about 30 seconds to boot up, but once it's booted, it works great, full speed, everything. Same with ScummVM DS and a lot of other more complicated homebrew.


would like to see how you run 1945, it's a shoot em up that when played along side my MMD or R4 has obvious slow downs especially during explosions.My FPS seems to be good even during slowdowns...Yes I know that streaming video has lag but the before mentioned 1945 is nearly 86 MB, Doom wads are much more then the 4mb as is Quake.
Ok, well I don't think I'd have any problem with that at all. If it's on the Neo Geo compatibility chart, it'll work. Like I said, everything on that chart works. I have SVC Vs Capcom working and that's about 90 MB when it's converted, it's not the size that's the issue. It's all the sprites, complexity of the game, that kind of thing? But it runs at the same speed labeled.



I think maybe you're the one missing the point here. I've actually looked it up, and from what I can see, there is basically a problem with the Games n Music card playing games over 4MB in size, which sounds like it would cause problems for homebrew games as well.

Ok, that's true, if there's no DLDI. If you can patch it, the size doesn't matter, that's only valid if there's no patching. And last time I checked, most homebrew include that now.



So that just brings it back to my original point if there aren't any problems with files over 4MB. All it requires is a firmware hack to play roms, hence GnM can't truly be considered a homebrew ONLY card.
If this hack hasn't been done, it's only because the presence of other homebrew cards make it pointless to go to the effort of figuring out how to hack it.

And don't you have to stream the NDS roms? I know someone hacked the Max Media Dock so you can use commercial roms, and that's from Datel, which uses basically the exact same firmware. And from what I hear about it, it's just unbearable to play the roms, because it's so slow. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds like that situation would unfold with the Games n Music also?


* The ability to auto-run a file on startup, which would give an easy and safe (no need to risk re-flashing the card) option for homebrew coders to create their own menu's.


Isn't this already implemented? I thought that you just change the name of the file (whatever it is, menu, app, etc.) to bootme.nds and it should startup. Was that it? I know I changed the name on one of my files and it automatically would boot up, I can't remember right now.



* Auto DLDI patching.

I've seen that, and it supposedly works. I haven't tried it myself, I just use DLDIrc before I put something on my card. Here's the link: http://hbnds.awardspace.com/index.php?topic=101.0

Or, here's the download link he posted: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TFVB14BB I guess you just put this and the "Gmtf.dldi" in the root of the card,and rename the it to "patch.dldi"

[crookedmouth]

Ok, well I don't think I'd have any problem with that at all. If it's on the Neo Geo compatibility chart, it'll work. Like I said, everything on that chart works. I have SVC Vs Capcom working and that's about 90 MB when it's converted, it's not the size that's the issue. It's all the sprites, complexity of the game, that kind of thing? But it runs at the same speed labeled.


I'm not knocking the GnM, just stating there are some downsides to it.
I own a MMD, two GnMs and an R4, and I'm telling you that some NeoGeo games run slower on the GnM(like 1945) then on the MMD or R4, even though it shows no drop in FPS at all. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, just report what I found.
The above slowdown happens regardless of microSD used or version of DLDI.

[Brifry]

I'm not knocking the GnM, just stating there are some downsides to it.
I own a MMD, two GnMs and an R4, and I'm telling you that some NeoGeo games run slower on the GnM(like 1945) then on the MMD or R4, even though it shows no drop in FPS at all. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, just report what I found.
The above slowdown happens regardless of microSD used or version of DLDI.

No worries bro. I was just stating that I haven't had any problems with the Neo Geo Roms, everything is normal for me, if you look at the compatibility chart. Oh, and I just checked, bootme.nds does start up any program automatically.

[spinal_cord]

My comments about auto dldi patching and using the bootme.nds were part of the answer to the question about ideal features of a card. I know the GnM has these features, but there are some features that it does not.

[Brifry]

My comments about auto dldi patching and using the bootme.nds were part of the answer to the question about ideal features of a card. I know the GnM has these features, but there are some features that it does not.

Oh, sorry. I thought you were saying that those are features you'd like to see on the GnM.

[crookedmouth]

No worries bro. I was just stating that I haven't had any problems with the Neo Geo Roms, everything is normal for me, if you look at the compatibility chart. Oh, and I just checked, bootme.nds does start up any program automatically.

I'm confused, are you saying that you play games like Prehistoric Isle, 1945 and Blazing Star without slowdown on your GnM?
I'm not talking about compatibility which is of course,the same as any other dldi card.

[Brifry]

I'm confused, are you saying that you play games like Prehistoric Isle, 1945 and Blazing Star without slowdown on your GnM?
I'm not talking about compatibility which is of course,the same as any other dldi card.

No sorry. I actually haven't tried any of those games on it. What I'm trying to say, and I had a bad way of describing it, is that my results are the same as those displayed on that compatibility chart for NeoDS. I can't remember where I downloaded it, but I guess here's a place where it's posted: http://soulmilk.tistory.com/6
What I'm saying is I get exactly what it says it should be i.e. 45-50 fps on Svc Vs Capcom, etc.