Best cartridge thingie for running homebrew in the DS?

[Barfo]

I just got a DS and a few games, I'd never owned a portable console so it's been fun, I've heard you can use some memory card adapters to run homebrew, mp3s and videos in them, google and wikipedia have turned out some info but there seem to be many clones around, so far the most popular seems to be the R4, is this the best one or are there better clones?

 

[Piuc2020]

The R4 is the most popular but not the best (but it should work perfectly if your only interest is running homebrew and you don't need SDHC MicroSD cards), try Acekard or CycloDS for top-end carts, Edge DS if you only want to run homebrew and don't need any fancy features.

 

[JoPh]

acekard2 works amazing. i have three of them

 

[erwos]

I'm a Supercard fan. *shrugs*

I've had good experiences with EZFlash on the GBA side, too.

 

[DivideBYZero]

R4DS fan here.

 

[Barfo]

Hmmm, lots of cards to choose from, I guess I'll go with R4 or M3 and get another one if they don't work well, it's not like they're too expensive, thanks.

 

[pontifex]

I have a cycloDS and it works great. i have an 8gb micro sd card in it now, plus i have a 4 GB and a few 2GB ones at home.

 

[Pheran]

CycloDS Evolution + EZ Flash V 3in1 is an excellent combo. You can skip the 3in1 if you don't care about GBA games or RAM expansion.

http://www.realhotstuff.com/-c-61_90.html

http://www.realhotstuff.com/expansion-pack-p-194.html

Be sure to get Lemmings DS after you get your flash card, great free port of a classic game.

 

[I4AT]

I've got a DSTT and my sisters use Supercard DS Ones, they both seem to work equally well, but the Supercard has more features.

 

[Barfo]

Originally posted by: Pheran
CycloDS Evolution + EZ Flash V 3in1 is an excellent combo. You can skip the 3in1 if you don't care about GBA games or RAM expansion.

http://www.realhotstuff.com/-c-61_90.html

http://www.realhotstuff.com/expansion-pack-p-194.html

Be sure to get Lemmings DS after you get your flash card, great free port of a classic game.

Awesome, I'm a huge lemmings fan, I'm going to love this.

What's the RAM; expansion pack for?

 

[Baked]

Personally, I would get the Edge DS, 'cause it supports SDHC (meaning you can put 2GB+ memory card in there), MP3, and is updated often. DE dropped the price down to $17 and change now. Been using the Edge DS for months now. I got a 8GB MicroSD card in there, and everything's running great. Love the frequent OS updates to keep it compatible with newer games.

You're gonna need to buy a MicroSD card to store the ROMs and for some DS cards like the Edge DS, the OS. If you're gonna play home brew and maybe listen to a few MP3s, you don't need to drop $50 on a CycloDS, that's just ridiculous.

I read R4 sometimes have compatibility problems with newer games.

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Is Deal Extreme an okay place to order things from? I was looking at the DSTT or the AceKard2 but I'll also check the Edge DS.

 

[Baked]

Deal Extreme is pretty reliable for me and I've haven't read any complains from any of AT members who shops there. They're located in Hong Kong, takes about a week for your item to get here.

Ps. I love their costumer service. Respond time is really face and their rep's really accommodating to my request. I ordered an iTouch, then decided I wanted to get the Edge DS instead. Put in a ticket requesting item change and offered to just pay the difference, got an email reply within 24 hours with a paypal link to pay the difference. Fast and efficient. :thumbsup:

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: Baked
Personally, I would get the Edge DS, 'cause it supports SDHC (meaning you can put 2GB+ memory card in there), MP3, and is updated often. DE dropped the price down to $17 and change now. Been using the Edge DS for months now. I got a 8GB MicroSD card in there, and everything's running great. Love the frequent OS updates to keep it compatible with newer games.

You're gonna need to buy a MicroSD card to store the ROMs and for some DS cards like the Edge DS, the OS. If you're gonna play home brew and maybe listen to a few MP3s, you don't need to drop $50 on a CycloDS, that's just ridiculous.

I read R4 sometimes have compatibility problems with newer games.

I wouldn't mind looking into getting one of these Edge DS cards, but I know nothing about it. I just bought my DS last week. So will one of these things modify any internal firmware on the DS, or is it completely non-destructive? I just plug in this cart, boot up the DS, and I'm presented with new options, right?

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: blurredvision
I wouldn't mind looking into getting one of these Edge DS cards, but I know nothing about it. I just bought my DS last week. So will one of these things modify any internal firmware on the DS, or is it completely non-destructive? I just plug in this cart, boot up the DS, and I'm presented with new options, right?

Completely fool proof. For Edge DS, download the latest firmware/OS from their website, unzip the entire thing into the MicroSD card, plug the MicroSD card into the Edge DS cart, insert into your DS, turn on system. For ROMs, just drop it into the MicroSD card, you don't need to make a separate directory, the OS will auto sort that. Edge DS can play MP3 if you use a program called Moonshell from their website.

 

[Pheran]

I had never heard of this Edge DS product before so I did a bit of research. There's some controversy over this card because it appears that a Chinese company may have simply stolen the CycloDS design and is now selling it as their own. :frown:

http://www.teamcyclops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10056

You can decide for yourself, but I'm really happy with the support and updates that the CycloDS gets. Also, I don't know why you would want to order from Hong Kong when there are vendors in the US such as Real Hot Stuff.

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: barfo

Originally posted by: Pheran
CycloDS Evolution + EZ Flash V 3in1 is an excellent combo. You can skip the 3in1 if you don't care about GBA games or RAM expansion.

http://www.realhotstuff.com/-c-61_90.html

http://www.realhotstuff.com/expansion-pack-p-194.html

Be sure to get Lemmings DS after you get your flash card, great free port of a classic game.

Awesome, I'm a huge lemmings fan, I'm going to love this.

What's the RAM; expansion pack for?

The 3in1 is mainly useful if you want to run GBA (GameBoy Advance) games, since they cannot be run from a slot 1 card. However, the extra RAM can also be used with some homebrew software (e.g. DSLinux) and the Opera browser for DS. It also has a rumble feature but I've never used it.

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: Pheran
Something about Edge DS copying CycloDS and some US vendor.

1) I care. No wait, I don't care.
2) Edge DS + 2GB MicroSD = $20 shipped @ dealextreme. CycloDS + 2GB = $50 + tax + s/h @ some US site that looks like it's from the 90's. If like you said, the Edge DS is a clone of CycloDS, why the hell would I wanna spend $30+ more for the same thing?

 

[tw1164]

Originally posted by: Baked

I read R4 sometimes have compatibility problems with newer games.

I heard using YSMenu firmware helps. I haven't tried it yet though.

 

[MrUniq]

M3 Real is great and it has high capacity support. The R4 to me..is the best, stability wise, but you may run out of space with only 2Gb. People really seem to love CycloDS..i'd probably recommend that even though I don't have it.

 

[randomlinh]

wow, realhotstuff has the r4ds for $22 now? is that how much they've fallen? The m3 ds simply is still near $50... I'm looking to get another one, any issues other than space (which isn't an issue for who I'm getting it for)?

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
wow, realhotstuff has the r4ds for $22 now? is that how much they've fallen? The m3 ds simply is still near $50... I'm looking to get another one, any issues other than space (which isn't an issue for who I'm getting it for)?

I thought all the new R4's were fakes/knock-offs. Do they work as well as the originals?

 

[badbilly27]

I'm also looking to buy a card for my DS and have gravitated towards TTDS cards for ~$8. Played on one before and instructions read drag and drop.

Anyone have a good tip for where to buy cheap Sandisk SDHC 4gb cards? I'm assuming I'll need a USB SDHC read/writer as well as SDHC doesn't work with older SD readers.

Thanks

 

[LOUISSSSS]

whats the recommended size of microSD cards for these carts to play .nds roms? i seem to be able to fit everything + about 6-8 games on a 512mb card... (planning to use AceKard 2)