Homebrew How-to: R4 Installation for the Nintendo DS
We have noticed a lot of you are interested in entering the homebrew area of DS applications, but some of you aren’t quite sure of how to get started. We put together this step-by-step guide on how to install and run basic homebrew software using the R4 Revolution for DS Slot-1 card. For those unfamiliar with the R4, it is a card that goes on the slot for DS games that allows you to run homebrew applications without altering your DS or DS Lite in any way. All you need is your system, the R4, and a MicroSD card of any size. We did our best to make this as clear as possible; follow instructions correctly and you should be fine. Continue reading for detailed instructions on how you can get the most out of your R4 hardware on the DS.
Important: The first thing you should be aware of is that since 2008, most new linker cards sold with the R4 name are actually R4 clone cards. Installing a clone card is different from the process needed to install the original R4, so if you think you may have a clone, be sure to read our R4 SDHC clone install guide instead.
Continue reading for detailed information about how to install the original R4 linker card for the Nintendo DS.
The R4 comes with the actual card, a MicroSD USB adapter to transfer files and data from your computer to the MicroSD card, and a user’s guide mini CD-ROM. First of all, connect your MicroSD card to your computer. Now we’re going to send some files to the MicroSD card; follow these instructions carefully.
Run the CD-ROM and you’ll see a folder named /system v1.06. Open it and transfer the following to your MicroSD card:
The /moonshl folder.
The _DS_MENU file.
The _DS_MSHL file.
Your card is ready to go, but it has no software to run. Before we look at some popular applications to download, let’s talk about DLDI (Dynamically Linked Device Interface). DLDI is like a universal coding language. Developers can use it to make sure that their homebrew software works with any homebrew-running device such as the R4. Sometimes for you to be able to run some software, you will need to patch it with DLDI so that the R4 can read the code and, therefore, run the application. We need DLDI to patch some applications we are going to download, so let’s get it to work.
Patching with DLDI
First, download the R4 DLDI patch here. Now, you need a patching device that’s different depending on your operating system; look for it here under the Patching Software (dlditool) table and download the one you need.
¡ñ Run the patching software (your second download). At some point, you will be asked to choose which DLDI drive you want to use. In our case, we want the R4: Revolution for DS driver.
We will come to DLDI later; now it’s time to find some cool software to download!
DSOrganize: DSOrganize is a PDA-like application that features a calendar, your to-do lists, an address book, and more; it even works as an image viewer and MP3 player!
HOW TO INSTALL: Download the Zip file and extract everything to your MicroSD card. Go take a look at the files on your MicroSD card and you should see a file titled DSOrganize.nds, or simply DSOrganize with the DS logo as the icon. Right-click this file and you should see this option: ‘DLDI R4(DS) Revolution for DS Patch’. Click it and follow the instructions (simply press any key twice), and you should see the “patched successfully” message. This is how you DLDI-patch, and you will be doing this every time some homebrew application doesn’t work with the R4 right out of the box. Now, there are some files on our MicroSD card that we don’t need and that could confuse you, so let’s erase them. Find the following files and delete them:
Now DSOrganize should work.
If you want to see images or listen to MP3s, just send them to your MicroSD card and you can then access them through the Browser feature of DSOrganize.
Tetattds: This is a homebrew version of the popular Tetris Attack puzzle game for the SNES (you might know it as Pokemon Puzzle League / Challenge or Puzzle League). If you’re not familiar with the game, check our profile of the DS version here. It features single player Endless Mode, VS-Self Mode (in which your chains and combos create garbage that lands on your screen to keep you on your toes), and even Wi-Fi Play for worldwide matches against four other players. The game features touch-screen controls for block-swapping, and the standard button-based approach as well.
HOW TO INSTALL: Download the Zip file and extract everything to your MicroSD card. That’s it; you don’t need to DLDI-patch this software.
Phidias: A homebrew drawing program for your DS. You can draw and save images as bitmaps, with an easy-to-use interface and some neat features such as blurs and smudges… (you can also check out our review of Phidias here).
HOW TO INSTALL: Follow the link provided here, sign up to the forums, and download the .rar file. In order to open the file, you will need 7-Zip; you can get it here. Once you install 7-Zip, right-click the ‘index.php’ file you downloaded, then click the 7-Zip option and choose ‘Open archive’. A window should open and you should see some files. Select the ‘phidias.nds’ file, right-click it, and choose ‘Copy to…’. Copy the file to your desktop. Once the NDS file is sitting on your desktop, patch it with DLDI (Again, right-click, choose the DLDI option, and press a key twice and you should see the ‘patched successfully’ message). Now just move the patched file to your MicroSD card and it¡¯s good to go.
Now let’s run these applications!
1. Insert your MicroSD card into the R4 card as shown. Note how the front side of the MicroSD card matches the back side of the R4:
2. Boot up your DS / DS Lite and the R4 menu should start on its own. You will see three options:
GAME: (Pac-Man icon). Used to run homebrew applications.
MEDIA: (Music notes icon). This is an application called Moonshell. You can use it to listen to MP3s and view image files. We will discuss Moonshell in more detail, as well as its movie-playback capabilities, at a later time.
BOOT SLOT-2: (Happy-looking face icon). Use this to boot your GBA games inserted on slot 2 of your DS / DS Lite.
Let’s look at the Game section. Tap it or press A. You should see a bunch of file and folder names on the top screen.
TO RUN DSORGANIZE: Select the DSOrganize.nds file and press A. You will be asked to create a save file for the application; simply press A and you’re good to go. This will occur every time you run homebrew software for the first time. You might see an error message telling you that you won’t be able to launch other homebrew programs within DSOrganize. There’s currently no way around this, but it’s nothing critical. You can start using DSOrganize and see what features it includes. If you have images or MP3s to play, go to the Browser section and run them.
TO RUN TETATTDS: Open the tetattds folder and run the tetattds.nds file. The game should start and you can begin to play!
TO RUN PHIDIAS: Execute the Phidias.nds file and the application should start. You can start drawing right away!
Hopefully this guide has helped you get started with homebrew applications on your R4. If you have any problems, make sure you’re following all the instructions. If you’re still having trouble, leave us a comment and we’ll do our best to help you. Also check out our guide on how to use your DS to make phone calls, and a handy ‘how-to’ list for video playback using the R4.
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:00 pm
for dsorganize, i followed the directions to the t and when i right-click the .nds file, i dont see the patch anywhere.
i downloaded the 2.61 version of dsorganize, if that helps any. thanks so much.
April 22nd, 2007 at 9:36 pm
@ evan:
If you also followed the instructions for DLDI patching, then yes, the problem is with the 2.61 version. Version 2.45 is confirmed to work, and a DLDI-patched 2.61 is in the works according to the official DSOrganize website. I suggest you try version 2.45 while the 2.61 version with DLDI patch is completed. Thanks for your comment!
April 26th, 2007 at 1:04 am
Thanks for the advice it was helpful.. I tested this with one of software and it worked at first try.
May 13th, 2007 at 6:40 am
Sweet, thanks.
Worked for me and got dsorganize 2.7 to work
May 26th, 2007 at 11:46 am
How do you language patch games? such as Jap games,
May 28th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
There is no known way to language patch comercial games.
June 4th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Yes There is!………………..NOT
June 10th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Hi,
When I try to drag and drop the files from the CD to the MicroSD it says “Please insert a disk into Drive E”. Any ideas what’s going on?
Thanks.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:21 am
Thanks a bunch for the great instructions… just one thing, I dl’ed the newest version of DSOrganize (2.7 Final). Does it need to be patched as well? I tried it with the DLDI patch & patcher and it doesn’t seem to do much.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
@ Anonymous: I believe your PC isn’t detecting your MicroSD Card. Make sure you insert the card before you insert the USB adapter. Let us know if you have any other problems.
@ dink: Yeah, you do need to patch DSOrganize 2.7 final; otherwise it wouldn’t work, at least on the R4.
June 27th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Hi there. I am newbie to the homebrew community. anyone the reason why my ds dims a little when i run homebrew with R4. thanks
June 29th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
i dont get any of this!! is there an easier way of explaining how to get the R4 started! thnx.
June 30th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Woops!This is actually different i made some mistakes.i dont have an R4 yet but i want to do this before my R4 gets here and wut do i need in the _system_ folder well theres actually 2 _systems_ folders u click on one and theres another _system_ folder in that one and wut do i need in both _systems_ folders and where do i put the 1.10 version do i put it in the _system_ folder ? and how do i get the homebrew folder? do i download it off a website or its on the cd that ill half to download.
June 30th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
u need to put more information on where to put things and how u get them.
July 1st, 2007 at 1:50 pm
do u no where the ebook folder is well wut all do i put next to that folder ? please reply
July 2nd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
How do you know witch DLDI tool to download? I have a Windows 2000
Please Help.
Thanks
July 12th, 2007 at 9:26 am
i bought a R4DS…and i followed your instructions carefully…but when i opened it..it says “the hardware is not compatible”…how do i fix it?….PLz help…THx
July 14th, 2007 at 5:52 am
thank you very much so easy 2 follow and much helped.:)
July 20th, 2007 at 5:47 am
I am wondering why sometimes by card reader will read my micro SD and other times it says there is nothing in the device? Is this a common problem? Also, I am wondering why I cannot delete games off of my SD card at all? Please please help me!
July 28th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Thanks.
This was quite helpful. It’s too bad there is nothing that we could do about the error message.
July 31st, 2007 at 1:29 pm
yea mine also says hardware not compatible………..need help to fix thanks
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
i copied the _system_ file, the/moonshl folder.
The _DS_MENU file and
The _DS_MSHL file into my SD card, but when i put it in the R4 and into my DS, the R4 menu screen isnt there, it is still the original DS Menu
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
any idea how to fix this?
August 26th, 2007 at 2:09 am
@ darkangel: if you don’t get an error message or a blank screen, then the R4 is not being detected. Try re-inserting the card a few times and cleaning the card terminals; that should do it
August 26th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Ive tried that, but my DS is still not detecting the R4 for some reason.
August 31st, 2007 at 3:23 am
Dear all,
I just bought the r4 for my nintendo DS lite. And face the same problem mention above.
The error message: hardware incompatible occur after save the system file.
Finally, i found that the error is due to the language version of your system file. which mean, you need to download the Version 1.11 (english) to your TF card.
This will solved the problem.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:49 pm
This helped me…THANKS!
September 6th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
God bless you. Thanks.
Can I translate it to portuguese and publish at my blog, please?
September 20th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Haven’t had a chance to try your instructions yet, but I want to send a huge thank-you in advance! I was frustrated for hours last night, trying to get my new R4 and DSOrganize to work. You’ve clearly provided a lot of the missing documentation and given me renewed hope.
September 22nd, 2007 at 4:19 am
i have the hardware is not compatible,
i have r4 with 1.11 and kingston 2gb
when i start ds-lite i have this error…please help me
roby04
September 24th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
i get this error message (i think its error).. not sure cause its in chinese and i cant read chinese =.= it pops up when you turn the ds on.. you dont get to the stage where there’s games, music, and the other option. any idea what it could be? i dont know what’s wrong with the r4ds..
thanks
September 26th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
watz a .rar file and .nds file meanz, coz apparently the .rar file doesnt work on my r4ds
September 26th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
del, a .rar file is a compressed archive that you need to extract on your PC becfore copying over to your DS. Use a program called Winrar to extract the contents.
September 28th, 2007 at 7:05 am
I was pleased to find how to get and load programs with the R4. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get the R4 to work, and I’m on my second unit (returned the first). With both units, I copied the files as instructed to the card, but when I boot the NS Lite, the screen says “Loading…” goes black and stays there.
September 28th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
@ Lane:
I haven’t experienced or heard of this problem, but if I had a guess, and considering that this is your second try, I would say the problem could be in your MicroSD card. Try another one if possible and see if that helps.
September 29th, 2007 at 5:55 am
Thanks for the suggestion, Sergio. I have a Kingston card, and I’ve just ordered a Sandisk.
October 1st, 2007 at 10:18 am
Hi,
I have bought recently my R4ds in China and I can not upgrade to the english languaje. It seems to work only with the chinese upgades. How can I change to english?
October 1st, 2007 at 11:53 am
Sergio, you were right! The replacement card is working! Thanks again.
My system version is 1.11 and came with some stuff, including a system folder not mentioned in the above blog post.
October 16th, 2007 at 1:05 am
i have the same error as jellybean…
—————————-
i get this error message (i think its error).. not sure cause its in chinese and i cant read chinese =.= it pops up when you turn the ds on.. you dont get to the stage where there’s games, music, and the other option. any idea what it could be? i dont know what’s wrong with the r4ds..
—————————–
anyone can help?
October 18th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
For the people with the error message in chinese I have worked out what causes this!!
You have tried to install an english firmware on to a chinese R4 card. Install the Chinese version of 1.11 and it will work fine
Get it here…
http://www.r4ds.com/soft/chinese/SChinese-1.11.rar
You will need winrar to decompress the files if you haven’t already got it.
Hope this helps.
October 20th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
use win-rar to decompress RAR file to get NDS
October 28th, 2007 at 4:29 am
I can’t change theme! I know how, press the select button but nothing happening! Please help me.
October 31st, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Hello!
I have the very same problem as many before me, the hardware is not compatible error message. and Ive been told to put the chinese firmware onto the card instead of the english. well guess what, it doesnt help me anything… the same error message keeps me pulling my hair. so, does anyone have an good alternative? thx for your help.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:12 am
I AM TRYING TO PATCH MY R4 AND WHEN I TRY TO OPEN THE DLDI EXEC FILE IT DOESN’T OPEN… I HAVE WINDOWS VISTA. WILL XP WORK BETTER WITH OPENING THE DLDI EXEC? I RIGHT CLICK ON THE DSORGANISE AND THERE IS NO PATCH BUTTON TO CLICK
November 1st, 2007 at 8:37 am
To Volcom!: Are you using a 2GB micro SD? I think R4 is still having minor problems changing themes with a 2GB micro SD. Not sure why themes can’t be changed with a 2GB micro SD but seems to work perfectly with a 1GB micro SD. With the 2GB micro SD, everything works fine, except the theme thingy. I tried several brands of micro SDs and the same thing happened. Even tried with a different DS and got the same results. Emailed R4 about this problem but they haven’t replied for quite some time now. Check back to R4 website for updates.
November 15th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
my screen keeps saying liading i tried kingston AND sandisk but it still wont work i have the newest r4 so plz help
November 15th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 16th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
@ kl:
I suggest you check your initiation files. Try two configurations; the ones included in your installation CD and the latest downloadable R4 kernel from their official website. Follow the instructions correctly and you should be good to go.
November 19th, 2007 at 5:14 am
I cant get to the menu section at all….I turn on the ds and select the slot 1 cartridge and i get a blank screen, it says something in the upper left hand corner for a split second and then disapears and i have a white screen. any help???
i have read on the web as much as possible tried fixing it myself before asking anyone.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:02 am
hi, i bought the latest english R4 and put the:
_system_
moonshl
DS_MENU
DS_MSHL
folders all on my 32 MB SanDisk TransFlash card but when i turn on my DS, i get an error saying:
SD/TF card error
plz someone help me…
November 19th, 2007 at 10:38 am
nevermind… i found out the problem… i put DS_MENU and DS_MENU DAT not DS_MSHL
November 19th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
@ William:
This is quite unusual. You shouldn’t be able to select a slot; if everything works properly the R4 boots up on its own after you power up the system. And I’ve never heard of a white screen.
Make sure the correct files are on your MicroSD and, if possible, try another card. Hopefully this helps you.
November 20th, 2007 at 5:09 am
@ sergioalb64
i made a little bit of progress….my R4 is different from the one pictured, and any of the ones i can find on the internet, mine has a gba style cartridge that is put in slot 2 with a usb port, this is for reading/writing to the memory on my slot 1 card (internal memory on ds-like card no sd card) anyway if i run it with out the usb adapter thing in it gives me an error message. says “Error: Open xmenu.dat error!” so even though its an error message, its still a break and still a step in the right direction
November 20th, 2007 at 5:34 am
Ok I got it working…. I am not sure what the deal is but i searched that error message and seemed to be getting alot of results from people having problems with a different flash cart for the ds, figured if their errors were the same as mine maybe the software for that cart would work….sure enough i got my menu up and running now. now to put some homebrew on it
November 21st, 2007 at 8:35 am
hi i hav a problm with r4ds, a error says hardwar not compatible pls help
November 24th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
I can not switch my themes. When I press the select button nothing happens. It stays to the original theme. I have a 1gb memory. HELP ME!!!
November 27th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Hi everyone. I am a REAL NOVICE with DS and R4DS cards so need someone to help me with very basic step by step instructions if poss!!! I have 2 R4DS cards - one is fine but the other comes up with ‘Hardware not compatible’ malarky …. yes I know others have replied on how to stop this but I just don’t understand what to do! Both cards did work and if I swap micro cards over they work - its just the one R4DS card.
I am computer illiterate - and proud of that - but my 8 year old twins need my help and as I can’t help them wondered if anyone here can? Please!!!!
Thanks
Zannah
December 1st, 2007 at 10:39 pm
NEED HELP KEEP GETTING HARDWARE NOT COMPATIBLE…..IS MYR4 DOOMED…. PLEASE HELP
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I loaded my R4 and it worked just great for a couple hours. I shut down and when I came back it I go the “Hardware not compatible” message. I found a couple of sites that talked about it and suggested you wipe and start over or download the latest version from the r4ds website. I’ve tried both but it still doesn’t work.
Since it worked at first I don’t think this is a software conflict error.
Any other suggestions?
December 3rd, 2007 at 6:16 pm
omg, this is so fusterating. My DS keeps saying “THE HARDWARE IS NOT COMPATIBLE” If i cannot get it to work, then R4DS was a waste of money
Anyone mind helping me on this situation?
Thanks,
ProtomanX
December 6th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
I have the same problem as lane…the card says Loading then a black screen….anyone any idea?…iv checked the card and doesn’t seem to be anything wrong.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:29 am
“I am computer illiterate - and proud of that” then stay with your damaged card
December 8th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Hello..
If I updated the R4 card to a korean firmware / kernal…would it still be able to play english games..? If not, what will I have to do / need? Thanks and awaiting your replies…^^
December 9th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
When you get hardware error you need to go to the Chinese R4 website and dl the chinese version of the 1.13 firmware.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
hmm yeh I kinda deleted all the files from the sd card and I lost the cd with the files to run the system. is there anyway I can download the files from this cd somehow?
December 18th, 2007 at 6:02 am
Idiots like ‘asdfghjkl’ who can’t treat this site with respect shouldn’t be on here! Obviously got out of the wrong side of bed!
Anyways - solution to ‘hardware not compatible’ was to download 1.13 kernel (Korean in my case) and load onto SD card. My card had worked in the past and then didn’t but this has now worked.
Hurray! 2 very happy little children and one (getter better on the internet) mother!!!
(Hope Father Christmas buys ‘asdfghjkl’ some new toys as obviously thrown his out of pram!!!!)
December 18th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
I put the moonshl and _system_ folders, and _DS_MENU and _DS_MSHL.nds files on my 2 gb micro sd.
When i tried the r4 on my ds lite, it says “SD/TF Card Error”
what should i do?
December 18th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
nevermind … i formatted my sd and it works now lol
December 19th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
ok so i got rid of the hardware incompatible part but the thing is it only works with chiense… is there a way to have it work in english?
December 20th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
thank you so much for the help. i can actually use my r4 now!
December 20th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
@ dj:
Are you using the latest English R4 kernel from their official website? If you do and you still have problems, it’s likely that this is because you have the Chinese version of the card, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to work around this.
December 25th, 2007 at 1:31 am
I know its the same as every one else!!!! “hardware not compatible” but i have 4 r4 cards they all worked!!! then my daughter put her’s in her ds (which is an old ds not a lite) and the error came up so i swapped her’s for mine now mine also comes up with the error the other 2 work so not going to even try to mess with those. i have tried formating the sd card and putting the up to date 1.13 and 1.14 in korean and english but still no joy is there anyway to rest the r4 pack so its like it was when i got it as ive tried everything now!!!! frustrated
mike please help its xmas day!!! lol
December 25th, 2007 at 6:56 am
Hi.. and Happy Christmas!
I get the message SD/TF card error on my R4 so decided to format my card, but it wont let me for some reason, says ‘windows was unable to complete the format’
any ideas would be a great help thanks!
December 27th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
For anyone having trouble with their R4 / SD card, we have something that might help. Try using an older model SD card. The R$ might not be fully compatible with newer, high-capacity MicroSDs. One or two GBs of data should be good enough. If possible, try another, lower-level SD card and see if that fixes the problem.
Thanks to Shane R. Monroe from Dual Screen Radio for the tip!
December 30th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
i can’t get into the theme select menu.
i press select in the startup menu but NOTHING happens…
guess i’m stuck with the ugly preset theme
tried about every kernel available already and all folders are in place too….
WTF!!!
December 30th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
I got my r4 in Taiwan and it didn’t come with a cd-rom what do i do?
December 31st, 2007 at 5:23 am
download the latest kernel from the r4ds website.
December 31st, 2007 at 1:22 pm
please help im on windows vista and i ont know where i should go to drag the games i have on a disc to the r4 card i have tried using awindows media
January 4th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Like mogwai, i dowloaded the latest kernel 1.14 and now my themes dont change when I press select! I tried to add some new ones but nothing shows up…
I read somewhere that it can only hold 12 themes, so I deleted the new files and replaced back with the original 2 files, but still NOTHING happens.
What am I doing wrong?
cheers
January 5th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Well, I recently updated to the 1.14 kernel. I had never tried the themes change until now, and it worked just fine for me.
I suggest that you try this. Move all your current R4 contents into a safe folder on your computer. Then send a fresh new kernel to your R4 and see if that helps at all.
January 10th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
can someone tell me how to determine whether my r4 card is faulty or not? what would i expect to see on the ds if it dosen’t work properly
January 10th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
@ stuart:
Well, if it boots up and you can access your MicroSD card, then you’re good. Most problems prevent complete use of the card; sometimes using a different SD card can help.
January 11th, 2008 at 6:33 am
has anyone had the r4 screen up and then it freezes with some lines on the screens and won’t do anything?
January 11th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Can you just use a normal micro sd card with a sd adapter you buy at the store and put the R4 software on it? Will it still work, i think it’d be cheaper. Please email me if you know?
thanks in advance
January 12th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Have tried that way and it made no differnce. I’ve tried the software that came on the disk and i’ve tried downloading the latest kernnel from r4ds.com but i’ve had no sucsess. i have tried the card on someone elses ds and got the same result, the R4 page comes up and then it freezes with some short coloured lines protruding from the sides of each screen. I have tried a normal ds game in it and that worked fine so its not the ds, could it be the software or how it’s put on the sd card? i’ve tryed puting everything on the root of the card. can you advise???
January 12th, 2008 at 9:05 am
@ Chris Wiggins:
Well, the R4 only takes MicroSD. If you’re trying to send files to the MicroSD using an SD Card adapter that would work just fine, but the R4 package includes a MicroSD-to-USB adapter that also works well.
@ karaf:
If possible, try a different MicroSD. Seems to me that you’re putting the files correctly, but perhaps your SD card is corrupted.
January 12th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
@sergioalb64:
The r4 card bundle came with a 2gb toshiba micro sd card i’ve also tried a 2gb sandisk sd card both seem to give the same result could it just be a coincidence? what make of sd card is best to try next?
January 13th, 2008 at 3:20 am
^^^
Hmm…My Sandisk works well…
As a possible last resort, try a 1GB card if you can; this might help, although 2GB and even bigger cards should work just fine.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I put the games onto the micro sd card, put that into the the r4 and put it into the ds. I found the games on the ds but when i click on them it says “This types of files currently not allowed to operate”. Any idea’s on how to solve this?
January 14th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
^^^
You probably picked the .sc files; make sure your homebrew games end in .nds.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
i really need help, the DS does not notice that there is a disc in the slot-1. any ideas, i have reformatted my game to all i can but no success. my friend has the same card and SD and his works fine.
Any help would be appreciated
thanks
January 16th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
^^^
That’s weird. Well, have you tried cleaning the actual game card slot? Use a cue-tip and be gentle; perhaps there’s trapped dust or something else in there.
Otherwise try your card on a different system and see if the problem is with your DS.
January 20th, 2008 at 4:57 am
that didnt work. i dont have any friends that have a ds so i think i will have to send it to my buddy in ireland and see if it works on his. no-one online seems to know what the problem is either
January 21st, 2008 at 10:39 pm
R4 DS card comes up “hardware not compatible” how do you fix the problem?
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:02 am
@ stephanie:
We advise to try another MicroSD if possible.
January 30th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Im glad I found this page, I brought an R4 off Trademe, and a month later I finally get it sent to me, no instructions or nothing - and I have no knowledge of the subject -. I finally got it to work via computer and after reading this I realise there should be a disc with the DS menu files on it.
Is there anywhere I can download these from? Im sick of waiting weeks between replies from the trader and I have no CD -.-’. Any help would be appreciated.
January 30th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Check out the official web site and find the latest kernel for your region:
http://www.r4ds.com/index-en.htm
February 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I dno wat tuu doo @ all. Plz help moi!
February 7th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
when i turn on my ds lite i get a message saying SD/TF card error, how do i fix it??????
February 7th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
@ cozeee
Try a different card if you have one, especially if the one you’re using is a high-capacity card or has over 2GB of storage. Otherwise try resetting the contents in the card with the latest R4 kernel data.
February 10th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Hey, i have downloaded all the english kernel downloads on the R4 website, and tried all of them separately. (i just copied and pasted each one into the root micro disk menu, then tried each one in the DS, then deleted it)
However, i’m still getting the same hardware not compatible error message
any ideas on what to do next?
February 10th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
The next step would be to try a bunch of different MicroSDs. Certain R4 card don’t function properly with High Capacity or high storage cards (over 2GB). If possible, try a few other sizes or brands.
February 12th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
hi, i just got my r4 working. if you’re having trouble getting the kernel from the r4 website to work, it might be because its an .rar file, which is like a .zip file, and many computers won’t recognize or unzip .rar files unless you have the program WinRAR. Search this and download the trial version. Then unzip the .rar kernel, and copy it into the micro sd file.
February 12th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
im having trouble getting the games into the sd card… i download winrar, zip… but cant seem to unzip and extract the files… nothing seems to work. pls help!!!!
February 13th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Well, try 7-Zip; there’s a link for it above in this article. Once you extract your homebrew games, they should be in ‘.NDS’ format, and once they are there’s no need for further extraction; simply send them to the root of your SD card and they should work just fine.
February 18th, 2008 at 10:42 am
the sd card that came with the r4 broke so i got a new sd card. i copied the same files from the disc to it but it wont work. what do i do?
February 26th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
When I download the roms from site I always see this error it says
“Please reinsert the game card”
what do I do?
How do I fix it?
Please help me
February 28th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I get “An error occured when rendering the file” message everytime I try to view a jpg file using the browser on DSOrganize. Can’t seem to open jpg files. The only way for me to look at pictures is to convert to .ipk the use Imageviewer.
Also, everytime I try to go to Media, I get an error msg (goes pretty fast) then just black screen. Help!!
March 7th, 2008 at 6:43 am
does anybody know how to convert 7z files to nds files so i can play the games on my ds
thanks
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Brought N5 told it was the same as the R4.Done everything the same as I did with the R4 and followed the instructions on the N5 cd. All I am getting is the screen with loading and nothing else happens.Can anybody help as the R4s are becoming scarce.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I tried 2 work using every detail of the manual. but when i turn my ds lite on it says no menue data was found.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:25 am
I’ve bought the r4 cartridge and a 2gb sd card. I have downloaded the latest kernel and when i put the cartridge in the DS all I get is a white screen on the right and a red menu symbol in the centre of the left screen. I have also tried a small 128mg SD card and get the same result - can anyone help
April 19th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
i hAve a question … can u download absolutely ANYTHING with an r4? cAn u download this nintendo ds browser? coz im using it right now and i wanna see if i got ripped off by buying da browser instead of buying the actual r4… so please people come bak 2 me as soon as possible thnx
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 am
I have the problem with the hardware is not compatible. I tried everything but nothing helps. I don’t know what to do. I have different sd cards tried and all the software on the r4ds site. Please can anyone help me
ps sorry for the bad language
December 21st, 2008 at 6:55 am
bought an r4 and 4gb SD. Downloaded the software and when running of my DS, i just get a screen that says loading….
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
what happens if it wont stop saying loading and nothing else happens
December 25th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Hi all,
I bought the R4 (new) and i’ve read that its comes with an installation cd…. mine doesn’t and i’ve bought 2 of them and none of them come with that cd.
We I download the zip files and extract them to the SD card and insert the cartridge in my DS Lite theres a Black screen with white text (Loading…)
It has happened on both my sd cards, i’ve tried different cards, swopt them one with the other, bought a new SD card, tried different games from different site and it keeps on showing Loading…
WHATS WRONGS???…….
by the way..MERRY XMAS TO EVERYONE
December 27th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
i just got the R4. try it before and after diong the above patch. when i turn the dslite on all i get is black screen with the words “LOADING…”
December 28th, 2008 at 7:41 am
the loading problem fix.
like me you have a R4 clone or fake. go to http://gbatemp.net/lofiversion/index.php?t116065.html to find out which clone you have and get the correct firmnware. loading problem is cause by you using the offical fw that is enypted. i found out i have a R4 III upgrade that needed its own enypted 3.08 fw. you need to found the right clone or get a program that deenypts the offical fw.
January 1st, 2009 at 1:35 pm
hi there i have just bought one og these, copied system_, moonshl directories and the ds mensu and ds mshl to my sd card but when i put it in my ds it just brings up the normal screean saying “there is no ds card inserted” what do i do to get it working?:(
January 2nd, 2009 at 9:47 am
my son got the r4 for christmas i put the games on the but it says there is on menu could u plz help
January 2nd, 2009 at 3:13 pm
myidisbb–
I just wanted to thank you for posting that. I had spent two hours trying to get my boyfriend’s new R4 to work (I’m a bit more computer savvy than he is) and just couldn’t figure it out, no matter what updates I tried. But it turns out he did have one of the clones, and I got the right update for it. Again, THANK YOU so much!
January 5th, 2009 at 8:51 am
when i put the R4 into my DS lite it comes up with the loading screen and stays that way, whats happening?
January 14th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
When i plug in the USB, it says please insert disc into drive G. Someone please help.
January 16th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
hiya everyone
could anyone help me plz I have just brought R4 Revolution when i put the cart into my ds lite it is just saying loading can anyone help me plz by giving me a website to go to
January 18th, 2009 at 11:47 am
*** IMPORTANT ***
All of you people with clone cards that are having trouble, please see our newest article on the Black Loading screen of death.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
i have the ds lite the blue one..
and i have the r4..but when i tried my r4 in my ds it says no card
but when i tried it in my nephews ds lite it works..
what should i do?
February 11th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
if i acccodently deleted the moonshl folder, what can i do about it? is there any way i can download it back into my r4?
February 14th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
i have gotten the SD/TF card error on my ds and i realise i have to format my sd card to fix the problem, but i have a lot of games and save data on that card. i cannot access the sd card because it says it needs to be formatted and i dont know how to recover the data. if anyone could help me with this i would be very grateful
February 17th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
uhhhhhhh…ya when i turn on my ds lite with R4 it says Hardware Not Compatible!!! what should I do?????
February 18th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
OK, having now experimented with over a dozen of these type of carts, there are two key elements that you must get right.
The first is to format the SD card with the panasonic utility, see the link in the R4 SDHC article.
The second is to ensure that you get the right firmware for your cart.
You need to look carefully at what is on the box it came in and the card as the clones look so much like the real thing it is not funny. There are different versions for R4 Revolution, SDHC, Ultra etc etc, so take the ime to find out.
I spent several hours initially, and the fact that some carts will work with the wrong firmware, but fail shortly thereafter (1 week to a month later) can be a real red herring. I ended up buying new cards, and it wasn’t unitl I could sit the two side by side I realised that they were different. Ten minutes later I had six working cards. Attention to the details is the key.
Congrats to the author of the R4 SDHC article, it provided the clues I needed to solve the puzzle.
Cheers
March 21st, 2009 at 8:26 am
I didn’t get a cd with mine which really upsets me… anyway I did everything and I only get a Loading message on mine. Nothing changes just says loading??? Help please
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
my screen just says loading after i insert my card. what do i do?
April 7th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
can anyone help? my card says it has no space for any more games, but when i delete existing games off the card..there is still no more room made on the card. wats that all about??
April 9th, 2009 at 8:19 am
i have R4 for my nds lite… my problem is, some of the game i’ve downloaded cannot play… it has this message (Unable to load data. Turn off the power and re-insert the ‘DS Game Card’). I checked the comment on the game i downloaded, some people can play it and some cannot too… what should i do in order to play those games?
April 18th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
How do i delete games off my R4. Please respond.
April 19th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
how do you put in games in the r4 because people say its in the disk some say you need to buy it or go to a website i am confused because i don’t have an r4 yet because i need to graduate so please reply
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:52 pm
my r4 doesn’t start.
it says it’s loading all the time. any help?
May 11th, 2009 at 7:35 am
I’ve got an R4 card and the memory stick but I haven’t got the cd for transferring file onto the memory stick. Can you download this?? My games are being saved as a zip folder and cannot be opened in a ds format. Can anyone help??
May 19th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Hi there I’m wondering if anyone can help me with change the games from text form to game My daughter is going crazy on not knowing how to get this to work
PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME
June 29th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
I’ve got the “SD/TF Card Error” and I tried fixing it on the computer but after I got that message my computer wont even read the card no more! I’m very confused! E-Mail: kylelees@hotmail.com
July 31st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I have that same problem
my r4 doesn’t start.
it says it’s loading all the time. any help?
August 25th, 2009 at 4:32 am
When I put my R4 to my NDS, i see 2 black screens and on the top is Nintento text… I cant do anything. Can somebody help me? please, thanks
September 16th, 2009 at 1:45 am
ok… so i got some games with “.7z” files and i need them as “.nds” files….
i cant do this at all and its frustrating… im no techy and it’s all a bit baffling to be honest… please email how i can change my files across please
October 27th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
We bought a loaded R4 and it has been working fine but now it says system date error check nds system date.
What can we do.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
HAVE R4 CARD MICROSD(2GB FROM MAPLIN)HAVE LOADED MOONSHELL ETC WEN START DS SAYS NO CARTRIDGE INSERTED IS THIS BECAUSE MY CARD A CLONE
October 29th, 2009 at 5:11 am
can not get anything but menu pop up on DS screen ? What am I missing ? DSI / R4 sdhc revolution.
Thanks