Can Someone Direct Me?

[RiddleN]

Hey,

I'm a complete noob to DS emulation and the such. I want to make my DS a media/MP3 player, and I've been doing some searching on the topic. Well, I've came up with more questions than answers. There are so many different combinations of cards and carts to use. I need a little guidance.

First off, is this combo a good one?: http://www.gamersection.ca/product_info.php?products_id=229

Other than this, I'm pretty sure I will need a flash card and reader, correct? Will any brand/type of flash card work? What size is recommended? And as far as the card reader....my laptop has a slot for an SD card; is this ok?

Sorry for all the questions. If no one wants to answer me, can someone at LEAST direct me to a step-by-step tutorial or some helpful links?
Thanks in advance.
:)

[DanTheManMS]

You will need a miniSD card to go with that package. I personally use a 2 GB one, as I got it really cheap, but you can get any size really. Many miniSD cards come with a miniSD-to-SD adapter you can use to fit it into your laptop's card reader.

However, what exactly do you want to use your DS for, aside from media? Does GBA homebrew interest you? DS homebrew?

You could potentially get a much cheaper device if you aren't going to use any of the functions that make the M3 Perfect so expensive.

[RiddleN]

Thanks for the info. I found a Sandisk Mini SD card with adapter for $30.99 (shipped.) Is that a good price?

And yes, I am interested in dealing with DS homebrew and playing ROMs, as well as movies and music.

What is a cheaper package (just in case I didn't want to use it for homebrew?)

[RiddleN]

I didn't see an edit function.

The Mini SD card is a 2GB one.

[DanTheManMS]

If you do not care about GBA support, a Supercard would probably be cheaper than an M3. I would still recommend getting the version with RAM though (not the Rumble series), as some DS homebrew makes use of it (SnezziDS, DSLinux, Moonshell). I can't comment on the ROM compatibility however, as that is not to be discussed here.

2 GB for $30 is a fairly decent price. I got mine for $20, but it was on Black Friday, so whatever.

[RiddleN]

If you do not care about GBA support, a Supercard would probably be cheaper than an M3. I would still recommend getting the version with RAM though (not the Rumble series), as some DS homebrew makes use of it (SnezziDS, DSLinux, Moonshell). I can't comment on the ROM compatibility however, as that is not to be discussed here.

2 GB for $30 is a fairly decent price. I got mine for $20, but it was on Black Friday, so whatever.
Cool. Thanks for the advice. I'll check in to the Supercard and compare it with the M3.

I looked some more, and I found a 2GB flash for $25....so far, it looks like that is the cheapest.

One last question: I planned on downloading Moonshell, but are there any other programs that I definitely should check out?

[DanTheManMS]

Moonshell is good, but I'd also recommend the following:

DSOrganize - like Moonshell but more OS-like. Play music, record from the microphone, view pictures, view and edit text, launch homebrew, listen to Internet radio streams, plan out your calendar, download homebrew from the Homebrew Database

DSFTP - If you just want to transfer a small file to your card an don't want to go to the hassle of ejecting and inserting all the cards, try this. Download an FTP client like SmartFTP and place DSFTP on your miniSD card. Run DSFTP and then connect to it using your FTP client. This will let you read and write to your card wirelessly. It's slow, but useful for small files.

SNES DS, SnezziDS, SNEmulDS - all are SNES emulators for the DS, and a Supercard with RAM should be able to run all three. You may need to use all three, or at least the last two, to expand the library of compatible games

NES DS - nearly perfect NES emulator.

Comic Book DS - you have to convert your image files beforehand, but this is one of the most powerful and useful image viewers on the DS.

DSLinux - mostly useful for its two web browsers, which you can use once you setup your wireless networking config file correctly. Use the RAM builds since it can utilize the extra RAM in the Supercard to prevent crashing. You can also edit text files, unzip files, and do other manipulative things.

DSAIM, IRC DS, Beup - instant messager applications.

There's more, but I've gone on long enough.

[RiddleN]

Moonshell is good, but I'd also recommend the following:

DSOrganize - like Moonshell but more OS-like. Play music, record from the microphone, view pictures, view and edit text, launch homebrew, listen to Internet radio streams, plan out your calendar, download homebrew from the Homebrew Database

DSFTP - If you just want to transfer a small file to your card an don't want to go to the hassle of ejecting and inserting all the cards, try this. Download an FTP client like SmartFTP and place DSFTP on your miniSD card. Run DSFTP and then connect to it using your FTP client. This will let you read and write to your card wirelessly. It's slow, but useful for small files.

SNES DS, SnezziDS, SNEmulDS - all are SNES emulators for the DS, and a Supercard with RAM should be able to run all three. You may need to use all three, or at least the last two, to expand the library of compatible games

NES DS - nearly perfect NES emulator.

Comic Book DS - you have to convert your image files beforehand, but this is one of the most powerful and useful image viewers on the DS.

DSLinux - mostly useful for its two web browsers, which you can use once you setup your wireless networking config file correctly. Use the RAM builds since it can utilize the extra RAM in the Supercard to prevent crashing. You can also edit text files, unzip files, and do other manipulative things.

DSAIM, IRC DS, Beup - instant messager applications.

There's more, but I've gone on long enough.

Wow...looks like I've got a lot of stuff to try out. Thanks a ton man. You've been very helpful. :)