I have my DS Lite up and running, and I am flying through New Super Mario Brothers. I am interested in getting more games for it, but am not able to get all the titles I want. Well, I can get some cool gems that will never be released in the US (as I am in Japan right now), but I still want to pick up some of the "Brain series" games that are released in the US. Unfortunately, shipping costs are already killing me, so I want to go the ROM route. That being said, I am interested to know what kinds of setups people are using for their DSs (in particular, DS Lite, or DS Lite-compatible setups). Of course, I am speaking to the crowd who is currently playing ROMs on their DSs. If you are able to play DS ROMs on your system, could you please post your full hardware config (down to size, maker, and other tech. specs) and how well your ROMs are able to be played on your DS? It would be very appreciated. I just want to make sure that I get the right setup, as I would rather only make this purchase (purchase being a DS backup system which can play ROMs) once! Thank you in advance.
Firstly, your implying that you are going to be downloading DS games without owning the original, this is illegal, tut-tut. The devices avaible that let you play DS games are for you to play your own legally backed-up games ;-) So I will now assume that you are using legal backups of your current games I currently have an M3 CF with a 1GB Sandisk Ultra II CF card. I also have a Passkey 2 which is programmed to work with Mario Kart DS, and my Black DS Lite has been flashed with FlashMe v7 with backlight control. I also have a G6 lite in the post which I should have by Monday. To play the ROMs on an M3 check my guide: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/364264
Thank you mr_hanky for your advice. I will definitely read through your M3 guide. I am sure that it will be helpful. Btw, how much did you spend on your "M3 CF with a 1GB Sandisk Ultra II CF card" setup? I am seeing prices of around $35 for the actual CF card.. and I am assuming that the M3 costs around $30? So would that bring the total to around $65-$70?? How many games are you able to load onto the 1GB CF card? How are saves handled. If these questions are answered in your guide, then just please disregard them. I just got back from dance practice for my town's (toyota, japan) festival next week. So... I am a bit tipsy and overly tired. As I said, I will give your guide a good readthrough tomorrow. Thanks again. rdxtreme: Thanks for the great advice! Problem is, I DID spend about 20 minutes reading the forum, and was unable to get the specific information that I wanted. Thus, my post. I'll try your suggestion and read another 20 minutes and maybe this time I will get something out of it! Thanks buddy!
I got my M3 and passkey2 for £75 (your gonna have to work it al out in $ or whatever) I got the CF from a reputable eBay seller for about £23 My guide has some sellers of the M3 mentioned, so use those to find prices. I currently have 10 games on my CF card and they take up 533MB I also have 10 GBA games, which take up 87MB The rest is just filed with homebrew and MP3's (though i use my ipod for music, so the MP3' are never used )
M3 CF's run for about $76 USD right now.. kicktrading.ca and http://www.getyourgameshere.com have them both in stock. GYGH's shipping prices are more reasonable than kicktradings.. since for the passcard3 kicktrading charges ~$8 for priority while GYGH charges around 6.75-7.. plus there are no import fees from GYGH since they are US based you can get the CF card for as cheap as $40 for a 2 gig online.. i think i saw it on eBay Passcard3's run about $30 everywhere
yeh, but dont get no cheap CF card man. read the link to that thread and u'll find the link for the castlevania test, u'll want to compare
yeah.. gotta be careful with the card you get. all you need to know is that is gotta be fast and pass the Castlevania test
There are many other options than the M3 CF, and considering the ds lite is finally getting some good products, you might want to consider buying something less bulky. You'll definitely need some sort of 'passkey' device which goes in the nds slot, and a GBA (or nds specific) flashcart to store the ROMs. For the passkey device, it's no longer necessary to purchase something that sticks way out of the slot, but a key truly the size of an NDS game. At this point in time, your main options are: the MK4-mini (or MK4-key), the EZPASS-3, or the PASSCARD-3. The differences between these are their compatibility with various flashcarts. Each of these cards should only be $20 online. For the flashcart, you probably want something that doesn't stick far out of the ds slot as a gba game would. You're left with the options of the G6 Lite (a flash-based cart that comes in up to 4Gbit sizes AKA 512 megaBYTES), or the EZ4 Lite TF (a microSD based flashcart, which allows up to 1 gigaBYTE cards). The G6 lite doesn't stick out at all, and the EZ4 Lite is supposed to stick out less than a millimeter. Both are supposed to run commercial roms extremely well with the latest firmwares, but the EZ4 isn't as good for homebrew I've heard. NEO flash, who makes the MK4-mini, is supposed to be releasing both a flash based and microSD based cart very soon. G6 Lite 4gbit (512 mbyte): $81 EZ4 lite TF: $47 (plus microSD card cost) If you do choose the G6 lite or the EZ4 lite, you have to purchase the proper passkey. The G6 lite works with the passcard-3, and the EZ4 lite works with the EZPass-3. My prices were based off of winsunx, whose shipping will put you back another $20 if you're shipping to Japan.
The Super Key, MK4 Mini, and Passcard3 all work with the EZIV as well. Also, the MK4 Mini has a switch on it to select between PassMe/GBA modes. It's the only product Neo Flash makes that's worth getting.
Alright, I have decided to pick up a "Kingston 2GB Elite Pro Compact Flash Card" as I am very trusting of the Kingston brand (I love my flash based USB key drive of said brand), and the price was right. I am able to get it shipped to me, in Japan, for about $62. I figure that it is worth it to go for the 2GB, as it isn't all that much more money than the 1GB. Anyways, this means that I must go with a compact flash-based player/adapter or whatever you want to call it. Does anyone use the 2GB Kingston Elite Pro CF card? If so, what is your full setup? I would like to just copy someone elses setup if possible, otherwise I will go with the best choice that you can make for going the CF route... and people have given enough great info for me to make that decision.
Oh.. and here is the setup that I am currently contemplating... Kingston Elite Pro 2GB Compact Flash M3 Perfect CF Passcard 3 This would do the trick right? I would be able to play homebrews, movies, backups of DS games, backups of GBA games, and so on... right? Let me also test my understanding of the process. I insert my CF card (kingston) into the M3 Perfect CF. This combo is then inserted into the DS game slot in the NDS system. I then insert the Passcard 3 into the NDS system's GBA game slot. All that remains now is to fire up the system and play away! (it should be assumed that all relevant files that will be played have already been uploaded onto the Kingston CF card) Did I hit the nail on the head, or did I fumble through that like I just got hit on the head?
Yes that setup will work. You are almost right about how everything goes into the DS, the CF card does go in the M3, but the M3 does not go in the DS slot, it goes in the GBA slot, the Passcard3 then goes in the DS slot, and this tells the DS to look at the GBA slot for DS code.
mr hanky: I also just realized that with my setup, one of the cards will be hanging out a bit. Is there another setup that will help me to avoid this? I mean, with the capabilties I am gaining, a little protrusion is something that I can handle, but IDEALLY... it would be nice to have a clean-fitting setup.
From what I remeber you have a DS Lite, if you do not want nything stikcing out you have 4 options: 1: The G6 Lite, this is what I currently have, but it does not use removable media and is therefore fixed at 512MB 2: The Supercard Lite, uses microSD cards for memory, is of poor buiild quality like all supercard products, and is rubbish at anything GBA related. 3: The EZIV Lite, again, uses microSD only drawback is it's current lack of homebrew support 4: The M3 Lite, this, like the M3s before it will be the superior card, however it is not out yet, it has a release date of 15th August. This also uses microSD. You will still need a Passcard device for these to work, although the Passcard3 should work with all of them I would recommend getting a Superkay for the Supercard, or the EZ Pass for the EZ Flash. hope that helps.
hey mr hanky can post a picture of your ds setup im curious to see how much ur m3 CF sticks out of ur ds lite hahha. did you like ebay for ur black lite? does anyone have a SC lite and like it? =]
mr_hanky lives in europe, so he wouldn't need to buy it off ebay - a walk down to the local electronics store is all he would need
Indeed, I live in the UK so I just traded my old DS in at my local Gamestation. Though I didn't use eBay for my DS Lite, I do get most of my stuff from eBay I have 740 Feedback on it I'll post some pics in a bit, I need to go rescue my M3 from my brother. EDIT: Okay, got two pics, I did have one with my DS Lite open as well but it managed to get corrupted, and i'm too lazy to take another picture. EDIT2ictures were far to big, resized pictures. Also put my G6 Lite and dust protector in the picture for size comparison.
Thanks for the info everyone, especially mrhanky! I think that I will end up going with the setup that I listed. Even though I can see from your pictures that it does hang out quite a bit, I would rather have the quadruple storage size afforded by using a 2GB compact flash card.
