Dipstar for Dummies aka Data Collection/Help Thread

I'm confused. So how can I use cheats on DS roms? I have M3 Lite SD. When I patch a game with the GameManager there’s an option where I can turn cheats on and browse cheat.txt
Does this mean I don't need to download dipstart separately or what does this function do?

 

Anyone?

 

??

 

7354ui65kb dfwabhn

 

so follow these intstuctions for M3 sd
1. write your dipstar.ds.gba into the sd card using your m3 manager
2. patch .nds rom with m3dip.exe (drag and drop your rom onto the m3dip.exe - why so that this rom will work with the dipstar)
3. in the m3 manager write the patched rom with the cheat code enabled (make sure you load the right cheat file in that menu don't just leave it blank, to create the cheat file google search dipstar codes and follow those intructions it is quite easy). enable nds gba linkage, even if no rom is found.
4. use the saver manager to write dipstar.ds.gba save
5. now put your card into you m3 and then into your ds
6. do not go into gba mode. scroll down to dipstar.ds.gba and press the a button once
7. now scroll down to the freshly written patched rom and press the a button twice. do not hold the a button at this point. while the game is loading hold the l button and the start button
the screen should eventually go to a whtie upper screen and a gba lower screen. keep waiting. the dipstar cheat menu should come up just wait.
8. when it does select the button for which you are going to cheat from now enter the codes hit start (save and exit) when you are done
9. turn off and the turn on the ds
10. scroll to diptar.ds.gba press the a button once. scoll down to the patched rom press and hold the button which has your cheats until the game loads.

congrats if it works you are now cheating if it doesn't then I don't think you have the right cheats or you didn't hold the right button in step 10

 

This topic should definitely be stickied or added to Mr. Hankey's M3 guide to make this easier on everyone else.

 

Ok, I have been searching and searching for a tutorial on how to run dipstar. This was one of the sites I came upon. I tried following the steps from XbusterZ, but I still cant get it to work. I have a few questions and hopefully people will answer:

1. When you write dipstar.ds.gba with game manager, do you use Write NDS?
2. In step 5: When I load up the m3 lite and select dipstar with A it leads me to another screen which i can press A again. Do I do this or press B? And then proceed to step 6?
3. Lastly, I read on the dualscene site that you are supposed to: "Copy the downloaded dipstar.ds.dat from the cheats exchange to subdirectory "GAMESAVE". However this isnt in XbusterZ's guide which got me confused.
-Where do i even find the dipstar.ds.dat? I know in my dipstar folder is is a dipstar.ds.sav file though?

Also, ticnic's guide seems to be a bit different. It's confusing which to follow.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

I use an M3 MiniSD Perfect + Passcard 3 with a 2GB PQI MiniSD Card.

Okay I was able to make it work. Here is what I did:

1. Write dipstar.ds.gba to the GBA folder using Write GBA in the M3 game manager. I didn't touch any settings.
2. Right click on the dipstar.ds.gba (after you write it) in the M3 game manager and open the saver manager.
3. Click write (bottom left) and select dipstar.ds.sav to write it.
4. Write Izuna (4x DMA, GBA Linkage or your games settings + GBA Linkage) to the NDS folder using Write NDS in the M3 Game Manager. (I assume the GBA Linkage allows dipstar to work).
5. Close the M3 Game Manager.
6. Locate the NDS folder on your SD or CF card. Drag the Izuna rom onto the m3dip.exe (that should of came with dipstar) and hit enter when prompted by the dos window to patch it. (Supposedly the game will not work now unless dipstar is activated after this step).
7. Safely remove your SD or CF card and stick it back into your M3 and then put your adapter into your DS.
8. Power the DS on.
9. DON'T GO TO GBA MODE, go to GBA and press A once on dipstar.ds.gba, the screen should quickly blink.
10. Go back to your DS games and select Izuna. When you press A the second time hold L immediately afterwards. This should bring up the dipstar menu.
11. Choose a slot (button on the DS) to put the codes into (starting with the master code first).
12. When you are done entering codes, press start to save and exit.
13. Power off the DS.
14. Power on the DS.
15. Repeat 9-10 except instead of holding L, hold the button (or slot) you put the codes under.

The game should load unless the cheats are wrong.

Download Dipstar Here:
http://www.funtopia.nl/library/dipstar.html

Get Dipstar Codes Here:
http://www.funtopia.nl/cgi-bin/forumscript.pl

Get DS AR Codes Here (thanks Kitty66):
http://www.bsfree.org/?s=40&d=6

Get Code Converters and other Tools Here:
http://doc.kodewerx.net/tools.html#kodegarage

I again request this thread to be stickied (Creaky) for others or at least ask Mr. Hankey to incorporate this information into his Slot-2 M3 guide.

 

Can you use Dipstar with more than 1 game at a time?

I am trying to get it to work with another game and the dipstar menu never loads. Izuna still works fine though.

EDIT
Nevermind, got it working.

EDIT2
Why is it that games with 2 line master codes never work for me on dipstar 061224 such as Final Fantasy 3?
http://www.funtopia.nl/cgi-bin/forumscript.pl?onderwerp=Final Fantasy 3 _USA_&todo=BekijkOnderwerp

Nevermind, it works when I only use the first line of the master code. So those are probably 2 options you have for the right master code.

EDIT3
Seemingly, some games will not boot if they are patched by m3dip.exe.

Also, some games codes don't work 100% (New Super Mario Bros) and some games the codes don't take any affect (Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time).