Homebrew [RELEASE] iTouchDS complete kernel replacement

[lifehackerhansol]

This package allows to completely replace the M3 DS Real, iTouchDS R4(i)RTS from r4rts.com kernel with something else.

Download: https://gbatemp.net/download/37368/

How to use:

1. Download bootstrap zip file
2. Extract zip file to root of SD
3. Place any homebrew app on root of SD, and rename it to `boot.nds`
4. Voila

How to use with YSMenu:

1. Download YSMenu from https://gbatemp.net/download/35737/
2. Extract all files inside `M3Real_M3iZero YSMenu` to root of SD
3. Download the YSMenu version of the bootstrap zip file
4. Extract the YSMenu version of this package to root of SD
5. Voila

R4i.sys file is GPL2. For YSMenu version, R4i.sys's bootstrap target is SRESET.DAT rather than BOOT.NDS, but there are no changes otherwise.
Source: https://github.com/lifehackerhansol/flashcard-bootstrap

If you don't like the root folder being a mess, some tips:

• The `_system_` folder and its contents must be there at all times. Do not delete it.
• M3 DS Real / non-Z003 M3i Zero users: uses the `SYSTEM` folder. You can delete others.
• R4(i)RTS (r4rts.com) users: uses the `loader.eng` file. You can delete others.
• R4 SDHC RTS black users: uses the `_ds_menu.sys` file. You can delete others.
• iTouchDS / iTouch2 users: uses `boot.eng`, `boot.gb` or `boot.jp`. You can delete others.
  • No easy way to determine which of those 3 is your cart (usually `boot.eng`.) You can delete them one by one and test.

Credits:

• devkitPro: devkitARM, libnds, nds-hb-menu source that I lazily hacked together
• NDS Laboratory: pointed out that R4RTS kernel can be adapted for iTouchDS
  • http://ndslaboratory.blog42.fc2.com/blog-category-8.html
• mimic from NDS Laboratory (again) for R4rtsToM3R
  • https://blog-imgs-34-origin.fc2.com/n/d/s/ndslaboratory/mimic_s_Labo.html
• Taiju Yamada (née @Xenon++) for xenobox and all the documentation he has done for M3 and related flashcarts
• @jurassicplayer for the XenonNDS tools post here
  • https://gbatemp.net/threads/291306/
• @retrogamefan and Taiju Yamada (née @Xenon++) for YSMenu on the M3 DS Real

 

[bbking67]

I just tried this updated kernel with Twilight Plus and it works perfectly fine. The I just copied boot.nds and the _nds folder from the Twilight Flashcard package with the bootstrap file and it works well.

Is there any reason to have Ys Menu over Twilight? I love the whole twilight thing, but if there is an advantage to Ys I'd consider moving to move of a dual boot (with Ys as the default and twilight as an app).

Fantastic work, thank you so much for doing this. My two old iTouch devices thank you.

 

[lifehackerhansol]

I just tried this updated kernel with Twilight Plus and it works perfectly fine. The I just copied boot.nds and the _nds folder from the Twilight Flashcard package with the bootstrap file and it works well.

Is there any reason to have Ys Menu over Twilight? I love the whole twilight thing, but if there is an advantage to Ys I'd consider moving to move of a dual boot (with Ys as the default and twilight as an app).

Fantastic work, thank you so much for doing this. My two old iTouch devices thank you.

YSMenu is simply far more compatible with NDS games than TWILight on its own is. YSMenu is dated for sure, but at the very least it boasts full compatibility with all clean dumps as of 2017.

It's actually possible to use TWiLight Menu++ as the menu and YSMenu as the loader, but that's in beta as this was literally just merged into TWILight Menu++ last night. Further details to come at some point.

 

[bbking67]

Thank you lifehackerhansol, i tried it and it works well. Ys is noticeably faster to boot as well. Fantastic work. I wasnt sure is Twilight (flashcard edition" or Ys was better... with this knowledge and based on my testing, I don't think i need a dual-boot.

This is awesome... thank you so much. It's breathing life into these old flash cards.

 

[Flame]

what sorcery is this?

witchcraft!!!!!

 

[lifehackerhansol]

what sorcery is this?

witchcraft!!!!!

You ever do something, realize it works, and wonder "how come no one else did this yet"?

That's how I felt making this.

 

[The Catboy]

Based, I knew you could make this work!

 

[lifehackerhansol]

The scope of this project has slightly expanded, due to a new discovery I've made...

M3R_iTDS_R4RTS bootstrap v0.1.2

https://gbatemp.net/download/m3-ds-real-itouchds-complete-kernel-replacement.37368/

What's new?

• M3 DS Real support.
  • We've come full circle. Now every known branch of M3 DS Real clones including itself is supported.

The R4RTS base loader is regressed from 2.8a to 2.0. Based on initial testing, everything is still working. This was required for M3 DS Real support so I will keep it that way.

Credits:

• mimic from NDS Laboratory (again) for R4rtsToM3R: https://blog-imgs-34-origin.fc2.com/n/d/s/ndslaboratory/mimic_s_Labo.html

also if any mod is seeing this, I request the title be changed to "[RELEASE] M3 DS Real / iTouchDS complete kernel replacement", I never expected to have M3 support but now there is lol

 

[bbking67]

The scope of this project has slightly expanded, due to a new discovery I've made...

M3R_iTDS_R4RTS bootstrap v0.1.2

https://gbatemp.net/download/m3-ds-real-itouchds-complete-kernel-replacement.37368/

What's new?

• M3 DS Real support.
  • We've come full circle. Now every known branch of M3 DS Real clones including itself is supported.

The R4RTS base loader is regressed from 2.8a to 2.0. Based on initial testing, everything is still working. This was required for M3 DS Real support so I will keep it that way.

Credits:

• mimic from NDS Laboratory (again) for R4rtsToM3R: https://blog-imgs-34-origin.fc2.com/n/d/s/ndslaboratory/mimic_s_Labo.html

also if any mod is seeing this, I request the title be changed to "[RELEASE] M3 DS Real / iTouchDS complete kernel replacement", I never expected to have M3 support but now there is lol

Is the M3i Zero considered an M3 real clone? I have two of the original model (not the z003).

 

[lifehackerhansol]

Is the M3i Zero considered an M3 real clone? I have two of the original model (not the z003).

Any model not Z003 is supported. For what it's worth, the Z003 model can be considered a completely different flashcart entirely (because they are completely different carts both internally and externally.)

 

[Flame]

Any model not Z003 is supported. For what it's worth, the Z003 model can be considered a completely different flashcart entirely (because they are completely different carts both internally and externally.)

oh really. damn. i just brought a z003 thinking its just a new updated m3 zero. thanks for that info

 

[lifehackerhansol]

M3R_iTDS_R4RTS bootstrap v0.1.3

https://gbatemp.net/download/m3-ds-real-itouchds-complete-kernel-replacement.37368/

What's new?

• R4 SDHC RTS black version is now supported.
  • Turns out there are more M3 DS Real clones. Time to get it running something modern!
  • specifically, this guy:

Thanks to theSpaceHero on Discord for testing.

 

[bbking67]

Some of the newer carts supported are already supported by the RetroGameFan release. What is the advantage or difference with using this kernel? Obviously the iTouch wasn't supported, so i get that one, but is this an upgrade for the other flash carts?

 

[lifehackerhansol]

Some of the newer carts supported are already supported by the RetroGameFan release. What is the advantage or difference with using this kernel? Obviously the iTouch wasn't supported, so i get that one, but is this an upgrade for the other flash carts?

Only the M3 DS Real and (not-Z003) M3i Zero is directly supported by RGF. The rest of them are not, or at least not officially, since it wasn't really well known that it was an M3 clone, and no proper way to directly boot to it either.

All of that is solved here.

 

[lifehackerhansol]

This is now merged into TWiLight Menu++ (24.0.0)! You can just follow TWiLight Menu++ instructions without using this package, as it is now directly bundled.

 

[Jayro]

I want TWiLight as the menu, and WOODR4 as the loader.
WOODR4 is much better than Y's, and I don't understand why people cling to Y's Menu when it's vastly inferior to WOODR4.

 

[lifehackerhansol]

I want TWiLight as the menu, and WOODR4 as the loader.
WOODR4 is much better than Y's, and I don't understand why people cling to Y's Menu when it's vastly inferior to WOODR4.

Wood for M3 is really bad compared to YSMenu. WoodM3 was never updated past 1.25 compatibility (since that's when the source was closed), YSMenu has full clean ROM compatibility.

It's not really about clinging to YSmenu, it's the fact that for some flashcarts that is literally the only good option.

 

[helltoast]

Wood for M3 is really bad compared to YSMenu. WoodM3 was never updated past 1.25 compatibility (since that's when the source was closed), YSMenu has full clean ROM compatibility.

It's not really about clinging to YSmenu, it's the fact that for some flashcarts that is literally the only good option.

I get a bit confused when people say YSmenu is bad/Wood is better. isn't the latest Wood an unnoficial hackjob stuck on a specific cart? also doesn't YSmenu boast full compatibility? so what exactly is wrong with it?

 

[lifehackerhansol]

I get a bit confused when people say YSmenu is bad/Wood is better. isn't the latest Wood an unnoficial hackjob stuck on a specific cart? also doesn't YSmenu boast full compatibility? so what exactly is wrong with it?

There are a lot of things YSMenu doesn't do great that isn't particularly something of concern to the average user. For the average user, it works, and it does its job, so what's the matter?

It gets a little trickier for ROM hack players (outright unsupported by YSmenu most of the time), or cheat code developers (where memory addresses are not cleanly handled, and thus cheats can break.)

Wood handles a lot of these internal things better than YSMenu does, which is what gets its praise (also arguably looks better, apparently, but tbh functionality over design). This isn't something I can attest to, since I have limited knowledge in ROM loading, but that's the gist that I've been told by various people. There are 4 official carts supported by Wood, and there are various other carts that are built from the source code, though technically it's an illegal development as we do not have those sources. For these versions of Wood, when updated fully, they run better than YSMenu does for most things, including cheats, memory loading, ROM hacks, etc.

But there are also versions of Wood that are on an ancient version, WoodM3 in this case. It was never updated past 1.25. The latest version of Wood is 1.62. But what's different is that the source code for WoodM3 is open. Just the developer left the scene and no one picked it up.

Because of all that I like to look at it in terms of "what is the best for each specific cart, for the average user?" The M3 has had several different kernels at this point, but the winner is YSMenu. Other carts usually only have one kernel that works, which they should stick to, be it YSMenu, Wood, AKAIO or whatever.

 

[The Catboy]

oh really. damn. i just brought a z003 thinking its just a new updated m3 zero. thanks for that info

The z003 was made to counter the work of people like me. The M3 Team wasn’t a fan of users using alternate/hacked kernels on their carts, so they released the z003 to stop that from happening. Ironically, they ended up screwing up support for Sakura. I don’t know if they ever fixed that. Iirc, they disbanded shortly after releasing the z003