Search

[blueoakleyz]

I got my DS over a year ago, it's a blue original DS.
I never got around to flashing it (kept using the superpass) cuz well, I'm lazy and also wanted to let the warranty wear out.

Anyway how do I do it, is it generally safe?


Aolso some other questions

Did they come out with a new supercard for the DS slot?

Did they ever come out with a supercard for either slot where you don't have a huge CF or SD card sticking out?
Thanks

[felix]

Flashing is generally safe.
The Slot 1 card is SupercardDS ONE
The Slot 2 card is Supercard miniSD.

[PharaohsVizier]

A few quick searches would give you the answer, but I guess I ask stupid questions too sometimes.

To flash your DS, you need to download the Flashme program and run it with your Supercard, while running it, you need to short circuit the SL1 connection.

Generally, with a normal DS, it is really safe.  As long as you do a bit of research, and you aren't too careless, then it should be fine.

Yes they did come out with a new Supercard for the DS slot, it is called the Supercard DS ONE.  I suggest you get an R4 instead if you are looking to get one of the slot 1 carts.  I have reviewed some of them on my site (www.dsdatabase.org).

Yes there are tons of flash carts that do not stick out, such as the Supercard MiniSD, the Supercard Lite, the Supercard DS ONE, the EZ Flash IV, the EZ Flash IV Lite, the EZ Flash IV Lite Compact, the EZ Flash IV Lite Deluxe, the EZ Flash V, the M3 Lite, the G6 Lite, the R4DS, the N-Cards, the DS Link, the Acekard, and so on...

[onekelly]

Here is some good info on how to flash http://www.dspassme.com/FlashMe.shtml with a video also.  There is another tutorial on gbatemp http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=33481, also has the latest flashme files. I think this tutorial is geared towards the dslite though.

[h8uthemost]

I was also thinking of flashing my Lite, just for the hell of it. And I have a couple stupid questions too(not trying to hi-jack your thread blueoakleyz, just don't think another thread for this is necessary):

I've read through a lot of tuts on how to do this, and they all mention to load flashme onto the Supercard. Well...the only slot2 I have right now is the G6. I know this is a dumb question, but it can be loaded onto that too, right? And can flashme also be loaded into a slot 1 cart?

And here's another: All the guides mentioned you needed a pass key. What exactly is that for? And since I have a few slot 1 carts, do I need a pass key?

And here's my last stupid question: Do you think it's necessary to flash your DS these days? I think the main reason of flashing your DS before, was so you didn't have to have a huge passcard sticking out of your DS. So since the passcard3, is flashing really that necessary? Or is the only reason now to flash, is to avoid a brick?

Thank you for any and all info. Like I mentioned, I've read up a lot on this, and also watched a couple videos. But there were just a couple things I needed to clear up.

[jmr]

@h8uthemost
yes you can use a slot 1 card as long as it boots into ds mode
if you use a slot 2 cart you will need to use a passthrough devise to boot into ds mode

when i flashed my phat i just rolled up a bit of foil
but with my lite i insulated the foil with a sleeve of paper
cause its easy to short out a ds lite

[dantheman]

FlashMe can be loaded on any device capable of running DS homebrew, as it's just a simple .nds file.  This means that you can use both slot-1 and slot-2 cards, and you won't need a passthrough device since you can already run DS homebrew without one.  The reason passthrough devices used to be stressed was because you needed to have one to boot DS homebrew in order to install it.  While this makes the passthrough device a one-time-use item, people needed to understand that they had to have it for the initial use.  Since you own a slot-1 card though, you're covered.

And here's my last stupid question: Do you think it's necessary to flash your DS these days? I think the main reason of flashing your DS before, was so you didn't have to have a huge passcard sticking out of your DS. So since the passcard3, is flashing really that necessary? Or is the only reason now to flash, is to avoid a brick?

It's not necessary, no.  It's a good deal more convenient, since I no longer have to carry around my Superkey along with me everywhere I go (and the absense of the health and warning screen is nice too), but you don't have to install it.  Many people actually do choose to use their NoPass devices all the time since they don't stick out at all and don't pose a risk to their DS's firmware.  

Note that if you flash your firmware and have both the R4 and G6 inserted into your DS, it will boot your G6 by default.  While this is a feature of FlashMe, some people view it as an inconvenience when using slot-1 cards.  You can hold Select when turning on the DS to make it boot to slot-1 though.

[mikesinclair]

actually you can patch flashme to goto slot 1 instead of slot 2.  I think it was Lick a member at this forum who may have had something to do with that.

[h8uthemost]

Cool, that answered all my questions. Thank you very much for the info jmr and dan. I appreciate it.

And yeah, I think there was a thread around here, about how flashme was bypassing their slot 1 cart, and going straight to their slot 2 instead. And somebody posted a flashme patch that fixed it. I think it was posted here.

Anyways, thank you again.

[Mikeypr]

Was there not an issue with playing DOWNLOAD & PLAY games with another person (Single Card Games) if you did not use flashme?

At least I know I can't get bricked if I DON'T Flash the system.

I think I'll leave as is for now.


Mike

[dantheman]

You can get your DS bricked if it turns off during FlashMe, but you can also get it bricked if you run a bricker program without FlashMe installed.  It's a double-edged sword.

[Mikeypr]

Hi Danthaman,

Now I'm a little confused.

I may have missread your last post,  but it said "Many people actually do choose to use their NoPass devices all the time since they don't stick out at all and don't pose a risk to their DS's firmware"  Making me think it's safet to NOT flash the DS

But in your most recent post you said it's sefer to have a flashed DS just in case of bricking software.

Please set me straight. Ho is it possible to overwrite an unflashed firmware WITHOUT shorting the SL1

I'm sorry if I seem thick, just want to do whats best.

All THe Best

Mike

[dantheman]

There's always the chance that the DS will turn off in the middle of the flashing process, especially on DS Lites.  If this happens, you can use the emergency recovery mode, but you have to have a slot-2 card that FlashMe would normally be able to boot to.  If FlashMe cannot normally boot it, you can't use it to recover the firmware, so users of the MMD and all slot-1 cards don't gain too much by flashing.  Some people don't think it's worth the risk and so they stick with the NoPass cards.

However, it is indeed possible to brick any DS by using some simple code, which DarkFader demonstrated when he released two bricking programs into the wild a year or two ago.  Since only part of the firmware is protected through SL-1, anything outside of that portion can be destroyed without having to short the contact at all.  FlashMe writes its recovery code into that protected section so that you can recover your DS in the event of a brick.  I think newer DSs and DS Lites have much more of the firmware protected by SL-1 though.

To be honest, I've never seen a program that had the DSBricker code in it, and the chance of finding one with it is fairly slim since it didn't get distributed too far.  I'd say the chances of bricking through FlashMe installation are greater than the chances of finding a bricker program.

[Mikeypr]

Thanks for reply Dan.

Just wondered if you could answer one more question.

I heard that the download and play function only works with backups, if the DS has Flashme on it.

As far as you know is this true?  I have played Link games, but not a single card game yet.

Thanks Again for your help.

Mike

[dantheman]

The presence of FlashMe does make a difference, but it's not the only factor.  For instance, slot-1 devices are more likely to succeed with an unflashed DS since the clean roms have not been modified, so the RSA encryption signature has not been broken and the receiving DS will accept it.  Sometimes this doesn't work though, in which case it might work if the receiving DS is flashed, since FlashMe removes the RSA signature check for Download Play.  Then there are reportedly some games that don't work on any slot-1 device regardless of whether the receiving DS is flashed or not.

Basically, this is what I can tell from what I have read:
slot-2 device + unflashed receiving DS = probably won't work
slot-2 device + flashed receiving DS = probably will work
slot-1 device + unflashed receiving DS= probably will work
slot-1 device + flashed receiving DS = will most likely work