v2.2.2

Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.12.2

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

Bug fixes

• Attempted to fix occasional crashing in Gen 5 Pokemon games running in DSi mode on DSi consoles.
  • Achieved by shrinking the heap by 2.5MB instead of 512KB, which increases LRU cache space as a result.
• Fixed Rockman EXE: Operate Shooting Star crashing on 3DS consoles when opening Star Colosseum.
• Iron Man 2 now boots again on DSi/3DS SD Card by fixing an overlooked bug which has occurred since v1.6.0.
• Fixed an overlooked bug which caused card read DMA to not work (and as a result, possible crashing) for pre-loadable DSi-Exclusive ROMs on 3DS consoles.

v2.2.1

Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.12.1

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

What's new?

• Sound data is now pre-loaded for Gen 4 mainline Pokemon games!
• @lifehackerhansol: Removed unused code.

Bug fixes

• @edo9300 & @Gericom: B4DS mode: Patch mpu configurations when running off SLOT-2 (#1748)
  • Change the mpu settings when a SLOT-2 device is being used, fixes issues with games like gen5 pokemon, that block the whole address space beyond 0x08000000 when not in use
• B4DS mode: Selecting Reset Game or Quit Game will no longer cause the console to power off (on DS/DS Lite) or reboot (on DSi/3DS)!
  • Does not apply to DSiWare.
• Fixed pre-loaded ROM data not being loaded or read correctly.
  • Applies to games which have nds-bootstrap pre-load the data after boot.
  • Fixes music not playing in SaGa 3, the Dragon Quest games, Style Savvy, and other games which have sdat files pre-loaded.
  • Also fixes T-posed characters in Phantasy Star 0 on 3DS, and crashing after starting Final Fantasy III.

v2.2.0

Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.12.0

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

What's new?

• AP-fixes are now included instead of having to rely on an external AP-fix from TWLMenu++!
  • User-provided AP-fixes are now read from sd:/_nds/nds-bootstrap/apFix/.
• 32KB DLDI drivers (such as for N-Card) are now useable outside of B4DS mode!
  • DSi-Enhanced/Exclusive/Ware games do not work in DSi mode (yet) (same applies to 16KB drivers). To play some DSiWare games, you'll need to activate B4DS mode.
• B4DS mode: To avoid having to shrink the heap for Sonic Classic Collection (as well as heap shrink causing issues for that game), the DLDI driver has been moved to ITCM.
  • This applies for <= 16KB DLDI drivers.

Bug fixes

• Fixed Puppy Palace not booting without resetting the game!
• Fixed a bug which caused pre-loading 28MB DSi-Enhanced ROMs (ex. Bejeweled Twist) into RAM on 3DS consoles in DS mode causing a crash.
• B4DS mode: Fixed Koukou Eitango: Kiho 400 Go Master not booting.
• B4DS mode: Data/instruction cache is now flushed after each card read for Pokemon HGSS.
  • Since it's been tried before (iirc), it may or may not fix the random crashes in those games.

v2.1.0: Halloween Release

Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.11.0

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

What's new?

• B4DS mode: Re-added support for 16KB DLDI drivers, and for the first time ever, 32KB DLDI drivers are now supported!
  • This basically means that old flashcards such as the N-Card will now work with nds-bootstrap! (Thanks to @ApacheThunder for testing!)
  • libnds32 (by @lifehackerhansol) is used along with shrinking the game's heap (starting with SDK 2.1) in order to achieve this. (See "Known bug".)
• Some games will now have ROM data pre-loaded after boot instead of before boot, speeding up boot times for such games.
• B4DS mode: Two ROMs will now have some data pre-loaded into the Memory Expansion Pak before boot (Base 10 & Sonic Rush Adventure) in order to reduce screen flickering and slightly improve speed!
• B4DS mode: In an attempt to reduce crashing in the following DSiWare titles, the DLDI driver has been moved to ITCM to make as much of the console's 4MB of RAM available as possible.
  • AiRace: Tunnel (limited up to 16KB DLDI drivers)
  • Need for Speed: Nitro-X (limited up to 16KB DLDI drivers)
  • Orion's Odyssey
  • Phantasy Star 0 Mini
  • Picture Perfect: Pocket Stylist
  • Tales to Enjoy!: Little Red Riding Hood
  • Tales to Enjoy!: Puss in Boots
  • Tales to Enjoy!: The Three Little Pigs
  • Tales to Enjoy!: The Ugly Duckling

Bug fixes

• Added ROM pre-load settings for MegaMan Battle Network 5: Double Team DS (Undub) on DSi consoles to reduce slowdown in the opening intro.
• B4DS mode: Fixed a long-standing bug (since v0.73.0) which caused SDK5.5 DSiWare titles containing cloneboot (ex. Box Pusher) to not boot.
• Fixed an overlooked bug which caused KORG DS-10+ Synthesizer to not boot in DSi mode on DSi consoles.
• B4DS mode: Fixed VS mode in Base 10 causing a crash.
• @lifehackerhansol: Minor improvements.

Known bugs

• Some games may not boot with 16KB or 32KB DLDI drivers (used by N-Card or a few other old flashcards). If you are playing a DSiWare title on DS or DS Lite, make sure to set Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals as a donor ROM in order to reduce crashing.
• 32KB DLDI drivers are not supported outside of B4DS mode.

v2.0.2

Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.10.0

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

What's new?

• B4DS mode: Two DSiWare apps, Animal Crossing Calculator & Mario Calculator now boot on DS and DS Lite consoles!
  • Either a Memory Expansion Pak or a DS Debug/Dev console is required.
  • The European/Australian version of Animal Crossing Calculator only works on a DS Debug/Dev console.
• For a tiny speed boost during CPU ROM reads from DSi/3DS SD card, the FAT code has been moved back to ARM9, along with the IPC Sync IRQ on ARM7 doing SD sector reads again.
  • No new wireless communication issues have been found so far. The same issues that have occurred since the release which has improved wireless stability will still occur.
  • DMA ROM reads and NAND save R/W will still have arm7 run the FAT code while on the main loop.
• NitroFS FNT/FAT info will now pre-load into DSi WRAM when available.

Bug fix

• B4DS mode: Fixed a bug which could cause low quality sound output on DSi/3DS consoles.
  • Also fixes mic. test in Pokemon B&W 1&2 (and possibly other games) on DSi.

v2.0.1

Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.9.0

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

What's new?

• Removed the preload flag for old DS homebrew, as there are no (known) frontends which use it.
• Old versions of some DSi system apps now boot.

Bug fixes

• The Singleplayer Nookingtons patch for Animal Crossing: Wild World no longer black screens in B4DS mode!
• Fixed wrong placement of the sound frequency flag causing old DS homebrew (as well as GBARunner2) to not boot.
• For proper changing of the DSi/3DS sound frequency, the codec is now written to.
• Leftover garbage data is now cleared before boot when running from Slot-1 with SCFG access.
• Some minor optimizations.

v2.0.0: 200th Release

Welcome to nds-bootstrap's 200th release!
In this new version, you'll find many new improvements for game compatibility! Also, in B4DS mode, some games which have not booted in a long time, now finally boot!

Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.8.0

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

What's new?

• Remember Foto Showdown? The Pokémon clone where you get new monsters using your DSi or 3DS camera, and use them in battles?
  You can now play it on your DS Phat or DS Lite console, with one difference!
  The camera lens will either be substituted with a video (Place the video file in fat:/_nds/nds-bootstrap/dsiCamera/ and name it default.bin, must be recorded using dsi-camcorder), or it'll just be covered and you'll see nothing.
• If you use a debug/dev model of the DS, you can now also play System Flaw & System Flaw: Recruit!
• The ROM pre-load settings from the nds-bootstrap-extras repo are now part of nds-bootstrap itself, as they'll help reduce some ROM load issues causing some frame flickers and/or slowdown in certain games, regardless of which frontend you use!
• Card Read DMA patching is now implemented in B4DS mode, making more games such as Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune, The Magic School Bus: Oceans, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat now work on DS flashcards!
• Minna no Mahjong DS, Diddy Kong Racing DS, and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn now work in B4DS mode, as their save functions are now directly patched on arm9.
• Mario Hoops 3-on-3 now works in B4DS mode, as a missing patch has been added.
• The Kiosk Demo version of Mario Kart DS now boots on DS and DSi consoles!
• Nintendo DS Guide Server now boots!
• If your DSi console no longer has LEDs powering on (as a result of a bricked BPTWL I2C chip), but can still manage to boot it using ntrboot, patches are now implemented to allow games to work properly!
• Card Read DMA patching has been re-enabled for TWL titles running in DSi mode.
• Improved the ROM pre-loading feature on DSi/3DS, as it now tries to pre-load only the NitroFS data, if the ROM is slightly too big to fit in the console's RAM.
  • In addition, for full ROM pre-loading, 480KB of DSi WRAM are now allocated for a few more ROMs to be pre-loaded.
• The Sound/Mic frequency setting now works in homebrew!

Bug fixes

• On DSi consoles, in Pokémon Black & White 1&2 running in DSi mode, scrolling in the bag menu no longer has slowdown.
  • Hopefully, the random crashes are also gone.
• On DSi consoles, the intro of MegaMan Battle Network 5: Double Team DS no longer has slight slowdowns.
• In B4DS mode, the European version of Super Princess Peach now boots!
• On DSi/3DS consoles, flickering in the title screens of Dragon Quest IV & VI have been reduced.
• On DSi consoles, Nervous Brickdown & Big Bang Mini no longer crash on black screens on startup!
• Fixed bugged music playback in Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends running in DSiWare exploits (such as Memory Pit) and/or in DSi mode.
• In B4DS mode, due to the implementation of Card Read DMA, Tony Hawk's American Sk8land no longer hangs when getting into gameplay.
• In B4DS mode, due to the implementation of Card Read DMA, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 no longer crashes during a cutscene.
• Nintendo DSi Shop & System Settings no longer crash on white screens.
• Optimized touch screen mode switching code to fix where the sound would no longer play on certain DSi/3DS consoles.
• Other minor fixes.

Known bugs

• As both Nintendo DSi Shop & System Settings no longer show white screens, they'll instead show the stock DSi error screen. This is due to them being unable to read the version data from TWLNAND, but the fix for this is unknown.
• Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise now also works in B4DS mode, but does not save.

A special wallpaper featuring 5 games that now work in B4DS mode has been made available here!:
https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/nds-bootstrap/blob/master/images/200th%20Release/Wallpaper.png

v1.6.2 (hotfix #2)

Included in TWiLight Menu++ v27.7.0

Originally released on 8/26/2024, re-released to restore the version number in the in-game menu.

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

What's new?

• For consoles which improperly trigger sleep mode (with opened lid), sleep mode can now be disabled!

Bug fix

• Fixed games which use NAND saves not booting (such as WarioWare: DIY, Jam with the Band, and Face Training).

v1.6.1 Changelog

Bug fix

• Fixed an overlooked bug which caused 512MB ROMs to not load under Memory Pit.

v1.6.0 Changelog

Bug fixes

• Improved stability of wireless communications by moving SD R/W operations from vBlank & IPC Sync IRQs (of arm7) to main loop (of arm7) (once again, achieved by hooking SWI Halt calls)!
  • This means little to no random connection dropouts (may vary, depending on the game).
  • Mario Kart DS will now properly host a single-card multiplayer game.
  • No more slowdowns during ROM reads from the SD card with wireless comms.!
  • Compared to prior versions which implemented SWI Halt hooking, some optimizations have been made to reduce slowdown from said hooking. No slowdown has been found in known games which had those prior, such as CTGP Nitro (v1.0).
• Fixed an overlooked bug (which occurred since v1.1.0) which caused a Data Abort crash when attempting to connect to PBR via Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum.
  • The same disconnection bug will likely persist.
• Cut the Rope no longer shows black screens for Memory Pit users!

Known bugs

Due to moving SD R/W operations to main loop, the following will occur.

• Compared to previous versions, there may be some minor slowdown in certain games (such as Pokemon B/W 2, during the title screen).
• On DSi consoles, Nervous Brickdown & Big Bang Mini will crash on black screens after the company logos. Both will still run on 3DS consoles, as those games are pre-loaded to RAM.
• If you still encounter random connection dropouts, try turning off the Card read DMA setting in either TWLMenu++ or the forwarder per-game settings menus.

v1.6.1 (hotfix)

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

Bug fix

• Fixed an overlooked bug which caused 512MB ROMs to not load under Memory Pit.

v1.6.0 Changelog

Bug fixes

• Improved stability of wireless communications by moving SD R/W operations from vBlank & IPC Sync IRQs (of arm7) to main loop (of arm7) (once again, achieved by hooking SWI Halt calls)!
  • This means little to no random connection dropouts (may vary, depending on the game).
  • Mario Kart DS will now properly host a single-card multiplayer game.
  • No more slowdowns during ROM reads from the SD card with wireless comms.!
  • Compared to prior versions which implemented SWI Halt hooking, some optimizations have been made to reduce slowdown from said hooking. No slowdown has been found in known games which had those prior, such as CTGP Nitro (v1.0).
• Fixed an overlooked bug (which occurred since v1.1.0) which caused a Data Abort crash when attempting to connect to PBR via Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum.
  • The same disconnection bug will likely persist.
• Cut the Rope no longer shows black screens for Memory Pit users!

Known bugs

Due to moving SD R/W operations to main loop, the following will occur.

• Compared to previous versions, there may be some minor slowdown in certain games (such as Pokemon B/W 2, during the title screen).
• On DSi consoles, Nervous Brickdown & Big Bang Mini will crash on black screens after the company logos. Both will still run on 3DS consoles, as those games are pre-loaded to RAM.
• If you still encounter random connection dropouts, try turning off the Card read DMA setting in either TWLMenu++ or the forwarder per-game settings menus.

v1.6.0

Instructions:

1. Download the .7z or .zip file.
2. Extract the nds-bootstrap .nds and .ver files, to root:/_nds/.

Bug fixes

• Improved stability of wireless communications by moving SD R/W operations from vBlank & IPC Sync IRQs (of arm7) to main loop (of arm7) (once again, achieved by hooking SWI Halt calls)!
  • This means little to no random connection dropouts (may vary, depending on the game).
  • Mario Kart DS will now properly host a single-card multiplayer game.
  • No more slowdowns during ROM reads from the SD card with wireless comms.!
  • Compared to prior versions which implemented SWI Halt hooking, some optimizations have been made to reduce slowdown from said hooking. No slowdown has been found in known games which had those prior, such as CTGP Nitro (v1.0).
• Fixed an overlooked bug (which occurred since v1.1.0) which caused a Data Abort crash when attempting to connect to PBR via Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum.
  • The same disconnection bug will likely persist.
• Cut the Rope no longer shows black screens for Memory Pit users!

Known bugs

Due to moving SD R/W operations to main loop, the following will occur.

• Compared to previous versions, there may be some minor slowdown in certain games (such as Pokemon B/W 2, during the title screen).
• On DSi consoles, Nervous Brickdown & Big Bang Mini will crash on black screens after the company logos. Both will still run on 3DS consoles, as those games are pre-loaded to RAM.
• If you still encounter random connection dropouts, try turning off the Card read DMA setting in either TWLMenu++ or the forwarder per-game settings menus.