DLDI stands for ‘Dynamically Linked Device Interface’. It is an interface for libfat that homebrew developers attached to their projects.
I’ll break it down to more understandable terms. Let’s say a homebrew developer makes a DS game where you can draw a picture and save the image to your flash cart. To save this image on the flash cart the developer would have to know the specific piece of code that allows you to write things to the cart. And if you wanted to read the image so you can edit it again you’d need access to the read capabilities of the flash cart. This forms the read/write commands which are essentially what libfat is.
Sep 07, 2008 Note: If you have an R4, M3 or other Slot 1 cards, the executable you want to run is.nds. If you have a Supercard, you run.sc.nds. If you have other Slot-2 cards, you usually run nds.gba. Slot 2 Flash Carts are GBA cartridges that have Removable Storage inputs, such as micro or miniSD (Image 3). How to get Wood R4 1.04 on M3 Ds Simply tomMillerMedia. Unsubscribe from tomMillerMedia? M3 DS Real REVIEW Perfect Bundle - Duration: 10:20. SMAAAASHTV 23,383 views. M3 Ds Simply R4 Patch 4,4/5 4898 reviews. Com worked on a more improved version of r. 8b kernel while other teams are busy hacking the 3. Isin't the M3 DS Simply just about the same as a R4? #1 May 12, 2010. Lilith Valentine GBATemp's Cubi™:P. GBAtemp Patron Level 27. Joined: Sep 13, 2009. Download the DLDI patch file for R4 and M3; To run the DLDI tool, you need to specify the name of the DLDI patch file and the name of the ROM. There are lots of homebrew games and tools available for the Nintendo DS. Here are some links to my favorites Warcraft: Tower Defense; AmplituDS; DS Dictionary.
There is a big problem however. Every flash cart uses different read/write commands. That would mean to get your game working on four different flashcarts you’d need to code it with all four different read/write methods. This is a big hassle for developers and flash cart owners a like. Under the old system homebrew projects that used read/write commands (FAT access) only worked on the flashcarts they were specifically coded for. As there are so many flash carts on the market many were left out because to keep your homebrew project working on 15 + different kits would be a nightmare!
Along came DLDI. This interface developed by Chishm unifies everything. It is a single interface that homebrew developers attach to their projects. The developers don’t have to worry about making their project compatible with a whole range of different carts. Instead each flashcart has a specific DLDI patch made for it which houses all the read/write commands. You would then simply patch the homebrew game or application with your cart’s DLDI patch and it will work on your cart. So if you have an R4 DS you apply the R4 DS DLDI patch to the homebrew .nds file. The beauty is that once a DLDI patch has been made for your cart it’ll be compatible with every piece of homebrew that has DLDI support.
What carts are supported?
DLDI support is defined as, at a minimum, the ability to patch a .nds file for a specific cartridge. Virtually all cartridges support DLDI either officially or via third-party intervention. Most cart developers have advanced beyond manual DLDI patching in various ways, such as automatic DLDI patching. Some carts that are compatible with the interface include the following:
You can download DLDI patches from the official site.
What Homebrew games/apps do I need to patch?
Any homebrew game or application that uses FAT access and supports DLDI. Homebrew games/apps that do not read or write to your card do not need to be patched.
How do I patch my homebrew games/apps?
DLDI is either automatically patched by the cartridge software or manual patching is necessary.
Manual DLDI Patching, an Example:
Download a DLDI patcher from the homepage such as a GUI version
Download the appropriate DLDI patch file matching the name of the flash cart
Select the DLDI file
Select .nds homebrew files in the ‘binaries’ section.
Click ‘Patch’
Note: EZ-Flash V users will need to use a separate DLDI patcher to make DLDI work. If you have an EZ-Flash V please use this DLDI patcher. No other files are needed, simply drag and drop the homebrew onto the exe file.
External Links
What’s a FlashCart?
The essential ingredient for transforming your NDS into an Ultimate piece of technology is a Flashcart. A Flashcart fits into the Slot 1 of your DS and bypasses the DS operating system, which essentially opens up all sorts of possibilities for you and your DS. You will be able to load your backup roms and homebrew applications that will transform your Nintendo DS into a full blown multimedia center!
The FlashCart that started it all was the R4/M3 DS Simply. This Flashcart will do the job nicely and there is a lot of support for it, but it is now considered outdated and you should explore other options.
Me and my DS
You must do a bit of reading to find out what you want out of your DS and your FlashCart. To help yourself focus on what you really need you should first ask yourself what class of user you are: Airco cv250 manual.
Power User/Hacker: I want to play games, listen to music, watch movies, browse the internet, install snes, commodore64 and other emulators. I even heard a rumor that I can turn my NDS into a telephone and I’m definitely gonna try it.
Multimedia Junkie: I want to play games and run homebrew applications that allow me to browse through images, listen to music and play videos. I want to watch Naruto and Scrubs in the train on the way to work.
Compulsive Gamer: I just want to play (my) game backup roms. All this other stuff you mention here will just take time away from me paying games. I like to play games!
Make sure you google “flashcart review” and do some reading of your own, after you have read through my guide. I will however offer you all of the core information needed to make your decision. In my humble opinion, you should not need to look further as I am again describing the decisions I have made for myself and my own system.
Picking a FlashCart made Easy
When I started looking into FlashCarts I made sure I read as many respectable reviews I could until I found infomation repeating. The dust took some time to settle but I emerged with some enlightening realizations that I’d like to share with you:
Tip #1: FlashCart manufacturing is at such a sophisticated level that most support 100% of game roms and homebrew applications. The difference between them only come into play when you consider secondary uses such as GBA rom support, the speed of the FlashCart interface, CheatCode support and other silly things such as SaveStates, SlowDown and SoftReset.
Tip #2: FlashCarts are cheap so don’t stress over this too much. The price range for a Slot-1 FlashCart is $25-$60 max. In terms of usefulness these things are a steal. So rest assured that you’re absolutely definately going to be getting your money’s worth.
Tip #3: FlashCarts need a microSD memory card to work. This is where you will be storing the firmware that runs the cart, your games, homebrew apps, videos, music and whatever else – so you definitely need one. Picking one can be tricky so again, this is what I found:
Tip #3.1: microSD cards have a maximum capacity of 2GB. There are new microSDHC cards that are now becoming available at 4GB and 8GB. Soon even larger versions will be released. You definitely want to get a FlashCart that explicitly supports microSDHC cards.
Tip #3.2: Many FlashCart and ModChip retailers and the likes will try to bundle a microSD card with your FlashCart. This will seem like a good idea, since you’ll be thinking that you want maximum compatibility, but thats exactly what they are thinking too. Do not buy your microHD memory card from them. Go to Newegg and buy the best price/size card you can find, with the most golden eggs you can see. You will save yourself $20-25 easy.
Tip #3.3: If you did as I suggested earlier and went out to read all you can about FlashCards and microSD memories you would have undoubtedly come across accounts that suggest you use Japanese made 1GB chips because they are “faster” or “better”. This is all complete rubbish. Maybe back in the day when the DS hacking scene was new and they had to use 128MB first generation microSD cards to load homebrew there were some issues with the speed of these devices. These days the industry has matured, all microSDs are very fast and the prices are dropping very quickly. I myself bought the cheapest 4GB microSDHC card I could find at Newegg at the time and have no problems.
Tip #3.4: You will also see much critisism on the microSD ejection mechanism on various FlashCarts. Some will offer spring loaded ejection and others will offer none at all. In my experience if you are careful inserting and ejecting your memory card then you will have absolutely no problems with the ejection choice. Dont let that sway your decision.
Tip #4: Rumble packs are offered with various FlashCarts or are at least mentioned quite a bit. They are Slot-2 devices that contain a tiny circuit and motor that reads collision data from some games and adds a feedback effect. I haven’t tried one myself but i already find the NDS Lite’s form factor small-ish for my hands and certainly dont want it to rumble around on me. That said, they cost only $5-$8 bucks so it could be fun to have around for the games that do have support and if you’re into them. I opted out, myself.
Tip #5: DLDI is a development package that was required to let ROMS run on various FlashCart firmware cross-platform, or should I say cross-cart. Back in the day, you had to patch a game with the appropriate DLDI for your FlashCart before you could play it. However, as of like… June 2007 the latest firmware revisions of all leading FlashCarts have automatic DLDI (which means that as soon as you turn on the DS the card patches all of the roms on the memory stick) so you don’t have to worry about this every again! Just for sanity’s sake make sure that automatic DLDI is explicitly supported by the one you pick!
Tip #6: If you are interested in the DS Opera browser then you will need a Ram pack. This is a Slot-2 device with some extra memory that the browser uses to cache stuff. You can buy it separately from any FlashCart you decide on, as they are largely compatible with eachother, or go for a combo package. In the next section I will be suggesting what I think are the best NDS FlashCarts with optional compatible Ram packs.
The Final Stretch
M3 Ds Simply Firmware Update
Here are the best FlashCarts on the market today. They all have 100% game compatibility, automatic DLDI, download play, support for microSDHC and media applications:
M3 Ds Simply R4 Patch 2
CycloDS Evolution: A very feature rich cart with perhapse the most active and responsive development team in the scene: TeamCyclops.
M3 DS Real + Rumble Ram pack bundle: Full featured successor to the M3 DS Simply, that is bundled with a Slot-2 Ram Pack for use with a browser.*** my choice ***
Supercard DS One: The new generation of the legendary GBA cart.
DS TT: A simple, cheap but full featured gaming cart. A very good selection for someone not interested in homebrew or browsers.
DS Xtreme: A revolutionary Flashcart with a built-in memory and microUSB socket for direct connectivity to your computer! No need for a microSDHC stick.
EZ Flash V: Reliable and full featured flashcart.
EDGE: EDGE is a top-quality, easy to use cart with good support and frequent updates.
Acekard 2: Very user friendly and streamlined interface with several very nice features.
R4 Ds Card
The EZ3in1 Rumble Ram can be used with any of these if you want the additional RAM to use the Opera Browser, especially with the CycloDS Cart.
M3 Ds Simply R4 Patches
I will be adding images of the carts and their OS and more information on the individual carts (price, manufacturing quality, responsiveness, firmware update frequency and unique characteristics) to make the decision easier for you. A lot of this has to do with finding one that you like personally. Like I mentioned earlier, they all have 99.9% rom compatibility, you just have to find one that has some particular feature that you like. If you don’t know what to do, then go for the cheapest, and chances are… you will not be disappointed!