Information is all over the place and bits & pieces.

Some guru should definitely piece all info together for higher recognition and understanding.

Maybe you could start the ball rolling by suggesting a possible "solution" rather than just stating the problem?

I'm not a guru, I'm only newbie. If you are or at least have years of experience, do it lah.



Anyway, found an interesting article on Nintendo DS.....


First of all, I am going to explain the basics of homebrew. Homebrew is basically an unofficial application which runs on a particular system. Most consoles have a protection scheme built in which wont allow you to run unofficial software or games. To run backups, imports, or homebrew, one would need to circumvent the protection. On most consoles such as the PS2 or XBOX, people turned to modchips which would let you bypass the protection scheme and run unsigned code (unofficial software). The DS is similar: we need a method to bypass the built in protection. After we break the protection we can use a storage device to load the games.



BYPASSING THE PROTECTION

Bypassing the protection on the DS is accomplished in 2 ways:

PASSME DEVICE - A passme device is a basically like a modchip for your DS. It goes in the DS-GAME slot and breaks the protection scheme; Even here there are two types of passme's. There is the type which tells your DS to look for software in the GBA slot (Superkey, Passcard3) and there is the type that stores software directly in the passme device (Acekard).
FLASHME - Flashme is the name of software which directly patches the hardware code (firmware) on the DS and basically brainwashes the DS into ignoring the protection scheme. The is a "permanent" solution.



Both methods have their pros and cons. A passme device is temporary: you just stick it in and your DS is modded, if you ever buy a new DS, you just swap out the passme device. Most passme devices allow "sleepmode" to function correctly (sleepmode is when you close the DS and it shuts off the screen and speakers). Some older and cheaper passme's like the 'Datel Max Media' don't support sleepmode. The only real cons to a passme device is that you have to buy em for $20-30 and they kill battery life to some degree (est 5%). Flashme on the other hand is a free download and it's pretty much permanent. The cons to Flashme is that you have to go through some trouble to install it and you need a Passme device in the first place to even install Flashme (usually a group of people will buy a single Passme and use it to install Flashme on all their DSes, instead of everyone shelling out $20 for a Passme). Additionally, Flashme does not support "sleepmode" unless you have a Genuine DS Game Cart inserted. If you have the money, I reccomend buying a Passme Device (stick with either the Passcard3 or a Superkey) for the convenience. If you want to pinch pennies, find someone who can install Flashme for you or get together with a bunch of friends to share a Passme.



THE STORAGE FLASHCART

Okay, now assuming you have chosen a method to break the protection. We now need a way to actually store the software. This is where a Flashcart comes in handy. The Flashcart is basically the storage device which holds your games (Roms), media (mp3s, DPG video), and homebrew software (.nds). Currently there are 4 different types of Flashcarts:

Internal Memory Slot-1 (eg. DSXtreme)

External Memory Slot-1 (eg. Acekard)

Internal Memory Slot-2 (eg. G6)

External Memory Slot-2 (eg. M3, Supercard, EZ4)
Internal Memory means that the flashcart has a memory chip built in. Internal Memory Flashcarts usually have better performance but cost more and have a fixed/limited storage space. External Memory means that the flashcart uses external Flash memory (SD, Flash, miniSD, microSD, TransFlash, etc) which you buy seperately. External memory devices are usually cheaper and have higher storage capacities at the cost of performance. Slot-1 means that the device goes into the top DS-GAME slot and Slot-2 means that the device goes into the bottom GBA-GAME slot. Currently (as of October 2006) Slot-1 devices are still in pre-production phase, so I will concentrate on Slot-2 devices and update this guide when the time comes.








So that leaves us with the G6 as the only current Internal Memory based Slot-2 Flashcart. There are several External Memory based Slot-2 cards on the market however (M3, Supercard, EZ4, Ewin, etc). Something to watch out for is that each of these devices has a version for the original "phat DS" and a version for the "lite DS": so make sure you get a "lite" version if you have a DS Lite and a non "lite" version if you have a regular DS. Below is a quick overview of each popular Slot-2 based flashcart based on my observations:


G6 : High quality and quick loading but expensive and limited to 4gbits (512mbytes) of storage space. (most DS games are from 16-128mbytes)
M3 : High quality excellent overall features/performance/compatibility but very expensive.
Supercard : Good quality and excellent homebrew support. Lackluster GBA support, average price.
EZ4 series : Mediocre quality but best value for the money. Good performance/compatibility/features all around.
There are others but those are by far the most popular. Once you've obtained a "Rom" of a game (ie. Pokemon_Emerald.nds) then you use the client software to patch the Rom and send it to your flashcart. Each flash cart has its own client software that you can download from the manufacturer's website (click on the name of the Flashcart above). Use the directions that come with the client to "install" the roms onto your flashcart. Then all you need to do is stick it in your DS and start getting your thumb s0re! For homebrew such as the "Moonshell Media Player " or the "OKiwi Web Browser" you will have to follow their specific instructions on how to install the software.

In conclusion you need a Passme/Flashme to bypass the protection and a Flashcart to store the software/roms. Below is a list of sites that sell both Passme's and Flashcarts (don't forget to also get a seperate Flash memory card if you are going with an External Memory based Flashcart). Gameh0lic personally uses a Superkey/EZ4-Lite/1GB microSD solution.

www.winsunx.com (worldwide/asia)
www.realhotstuff.com (USA)
www.modchipman.com (worldwide/europe)
www.kicktrading.ca (canada)

As for PSP, I think this site has quite good coverage in video format ....

http://www.psphacking101.com/video


http://www.hackaday.com/2005/09/28/how-to-...1-50-downgrade/

This post has been edited by crazyconsumer: Nov 19 2006, 10:08 AM