DS Flash Carts---A new thread

[rbudrick]

I know there's been plenty of threads about "which DS flash cart is better" in the past, but I figured I'd make a new one, since is seems there is finally some easy to use products out there that have been very simplified and much more compatible. It looks like there's several products out there for DS flash carts that work entirely in the DS slot without needing anything in the GBA slot to boot it.

We've got:
DS-Xtreme ($124.95) Built in USB port, has internal non-removeable 4gb (512MB)

M3 DS Simply ($44.95) Uses MicroSD cards

SuperCard DS-ONE ($50) (takes microSD cards)

R4-($44.95) Takes Micro SD cards)

Ninja DS- bulky because it takes regular SD cards, but is slot 1-only.

Ninja Pass ($54.95)-Takes MicroSD

EZ Flash V ($49.95)- Takes Micro SD

Coming soon?:
AceKard-takes MicroSD cards

MicroNinja -takes MicroSD cards

Did I miss any?


And the magic question is always "OMG! like wich 1's the best?!11!" But seriously...it's hard to choose. Does any have a distinct advantage or disadvantage? Should I wait for something else?

If I'm not mistaken, 512 megabytes (4 gigabits) is the most the DS can recognize, right? Or is it 4 gigabytes (32Gigabits)? Which of the above carts will support the maximum?

And forgive me for what is probably a stupid question, but I noticed that some of these claim "supports clean roms." Wazzat? On top of that, I remember a year ago that most cards only played homebrew and a select few hacked roms. Do the above units play commercial roms (hacked, not hacked, whatever).

Also, I remember back when passme was needed, if you wanted to save your game, you needed to attach a game with the same size save file to the passme or whatever. Is this even an issue any more?

Way too many questions, I know, but like I said, I thought it was about time for a new thread on this.

-Rob

[Jorpho]

There's really only one that supports non-micro SD cards, then?

[norkusa]

Good thread. I've been shopping around for a DS flash cart lately so hopefully I can get some good info here.

I've had my eye on the DS-Xtreme for a while, mainly because of it's ease of use and drag-and-drop installation. Now I see the M3 DS Simply that just came out which basically looks like the same card except that it uses MicroSD cards for storage.

So I guess my question is if there's any difference between the Simply and the DS-Xtreme besides the mini SD cards? Do you just drop your files into the SD card on your desktop and that's it?

[scooby105]

Get an R4 or M3 Simply. DS-Xtreme doesn't seem to update enough.

[rbudrick]

Aww, come on, Scooby, give us more detail than that!

Why? And why? Explain, por favor.

-Rob

[gamegirl79]

Is there a good flash cart that takes regular size SD cards? I noticed above that the Ninja DS uses them, but is it as good as say, the M3? I have a 2 gig SD card just sitting around and I'd like to do something with it.

[Mangar]

I gotta look into this more. The DS is oddly the only system i don't use for "Home-Brew" and i probably use it more then most of my consoles.

I await said explanation post

[agbulls]

This is a great thread--thanks for bringing it back. I would love to get into homebrew and even get some emulation on my DS...but I just don't know if this is even possible. So, is it? I assume it can run NES games but SNES is probably not gonna happen.

Any additional information would be welcomed by all.

[Jorpho]

Wikipedia to the rescue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_homebrew
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintend...torage_devices - probably out of date, since it says the "MicroNinja" hasn't been released yet.

[scooby105]

Here's a bit more info =)

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?dynamic=34

There are lots of threads on gbatemp in the forum, and there are also various reviews that will provide some more info. Lots of people have been complaining about the lack of updates from the DS-Xtreme team.

[WiseSalesman]

Jesus ... I'm interested in this for the ScummVM emulator alone. Finally, a compelling way to play through Full Throttle and The Dig.

EDIT: Just checked prices of Micro SD cards ... I wonder if 1GB would be enough...

[NE146]

Scooby105 pointed to the GBAtemp site, but I thought I'd point out they have a review page for the various flashcards.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showforum=99

Ewin2 Lite Mini-Review
NinjaPass X9 Review
R4 DS Review
Action Replay DS Review
SuperCard Lite Rumble Review
M3 Lite Professional Review
AceKard Review
Neo2 SD Review
DS-Xtreme Review
M3 miniSD Hardware Review
EWin2 Review
DSLink Review
G6 Lite (4Gbit) Review - Final English Version
M3 Lite (micro-SD) Review
Ninja DS Review
PassWe 3 Review
EZ Flash IV Lite Review
SuperKey Review
Neo Team Mk4-Mini Review
EZ Pass 3 Review
G6 Lite 4Gb Review - Gaming Only
DS Lite mini-Review
EZ-Flash IV Review
SuperCard MiniSD Review
...etc

[Jorpho]

Cool... Is the wireless FTP server a common feature?

[shadowkn55]

And forgive me for what is probably a stupid question, but I noticed that some of these claim "supports clean roms." Wazzat? On top of that, I remember a year ago that most cards only played homebrew and a select few hacked roms. Do the above units play commercial roms (hacked, not hacked, whatever).

Also, I remember back when passme was needed, if you wanted to save your game, you needed to attach a game with the same size save file to the passme or whatever. Is this even an issue any more?

Cleans roms would be raw dumps. Back when flash cards were new, the Neo Flash people figured out how to run commercial NDS roms through the gba slot. They encrypted the roms so that they would only run on their flash card. Transferring a clean rom back then wouldn't allow you to run it.

The current Slot-1 solutions have a passme feature built into the device. However, all of these lack gba support. If you still want to play gba games using the flash cart, you will need to get a Slot-2 solution such as the M3 Perfect and a Passme card.

The new passme's don't require any programming or settings that need to be adjusted. It's simply plug and play. They have also reduced the size of it to a standard NDS card so it doesn't stick out anymore.

I recommend getting the M3 Simply or M3 Perfect since they aren't limited by a fixed amount of onboard memory. They also update the firmware fairly frequently.

[dcescott]

Norkusa, my fellow mac user, what is compatable for us? BTW got the Dlink last week 2310, works great right out of the box, I couldn't believe it. My wii, ds and psp are wifi'd.
Anyhoo.
Which one? I know I am short of programs, very few are OSX native or built especially for us. Also do I need to get a card reader? I am assuming I am going to drop some dough to get the right hookups.

[rbudrick]

I recommend getting the M3 Simply or M3 Perfect since they aren't limited by a fixed amount of onboard memory. They also update the firmware fairly frequently.

You are referring to the fact that they use MicroSD cards, right? What's the max they can handle?

Does it matter how much the DS can handle, since the firmware on any given flash cart is independant of the DS?

-Rob

[shadowkn55]

I know that the M3 Slim accepts the 4gb sd cards. Microsd cards in that size don't exist yet but compatiblity should be the same since the only thing that differs is the form factor.

Not sure how the DS addressing compability interacts with the limitations of the flash cart.

[rbudrick]

Isn't the M3 slim a Slot 2 (GBA sized) cart (see link)? This thread is about the slot-1 only carts.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=31165

-Rob

[norkusa]

Norkusa, my fellow mac user, what is compatable for us? BTW got the Dlink last week 2310, works great right out of the box, I couldn't believe it. My wii, ds and psp are wifi'd.
Anyhoo.
Which one? I know I am short of programs, very few are OSX native or built especially for us. Also do I need to get a card reader? I am assuming I am going to drop some dough to get the right hookups.

Looks like the DS-Xtreme would be the easiest to use on Macs. From the reviews I've read, it sounds like you just plug your USB into the card and then a directory shows up on your desktop where you can just drop the roms or whatever into. Here's the review:

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=content&itemid=239

I'm still trying to figure out if the M3 DS Simply is the same thing except for the Micro SD cards. If that's the case, I'd rather just get the Simply since it's dirt cheap and you can upgrade the memory on it yourself to whatever you see fit. Here's a review:

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=content&itemid=243

[dcescott]

Yeah the prices are hit n miss. If you get one post a thread or through this one, I'd like to see the results.