Cart-Flasher

Back up and restore Slot-1 flashcart firmware on DS and DSi.

Getting started

Download the latest cart_flasher.nds and place it on your flashcart's SD card.

1. Open your flashcart menu and launch Cart-Flasher.
2. Select your cart, then choose Back up flash to save it in cart-backups.
3. Copy your first backup off the SD card before using Write flash.
4. To restore a flashrom, choose Write flash, select its .bin backup, and enter the displayed key combo.

Tip

Each cart has one backup filename. A new backup replaces it, so keep a copy off the SD card.

Note

Back up DS banner and Write DS banner appear only for a recognized safe layout. Banner backups go in cart-backups/banners and are not replaced. Create or edit a banner with DS Banner Maker. Cart-Flasher changes and verifies only the banner area.

Supported carts

Ace3DS+, Acekard 2i, DSTT, R4i Gold 3DS, R4iSDHC family, R4 SDHC Dual-Core (DSi mode only), and Datel carts (Games N' Music, Max Media Player, Action Replay DS).

Note

Ace3DS+ banner options appear only for recognized firmware layouts. The 2 MiB TH25Q16/ADLE layout is supported; an unrecognized layout safely shows only flash operations.

Try alternate detection is only for known 2 MiB R4iSDHC.hk Dual Core 2021 profiles: Deep Labyrinth/ADLE or SpongeBob/AL3E. Start with Back up flash, and restore only a verified image.

See Sanras's flashcart guide and banner tutorial.

Caution

Breaks stock DSi/3DS compatibility

Changing a flashcart's icon or banner text prevents stock DSi and 3DS firmware from launching it. Use custom firmware (CFW) on those consoles; DS and DS Lite are unaffected. This applies only to changed banners, not your untouched backup.

Warning

Not every cart has been tested. If Back up flash fails, has an unexpected size, or cannot be read, STOP. Do not use Write flash. Open an issue with your cart and launch details.

Test on real DS-family hardware. Flashcart detection in an emulator is not valid. Flashing carries a risk, including a bricked cart.

Reporting a problem

Press Y on the cart list until the log reads DEBUG, reproduce the problem once, then open an issue with cart-backups/cart_flasher.log, your cart model, and how you launched Cart-Flasher.

Note

If SD card init failed! appears, take a photo of the screen instead. There is no log.

Building

git clone https://github.com/tasken/cart-flasher.git
cd cart-flasher/
sudo ./build.sh

This builds cart_flasher-dev.nds with Docker and BlocksDS. build.sh initializes the pinned submodules and refreshes the builder. Run sudo ./build.sh clean to remove build outputs without refreshing it. With a local BlocksDS install, run git submodule update --init --recursive once, then use make.

Local Debug builds include a deterministic simulated cart for flash and banner flows. It never sends Slot-1 commands; nightly and release builds exclude it.

Credits

• Developed by Tasken (Nimbo on Discord)
• Upstream base: repurposed as a general-purpose flashcart dump/write tool, built on top of:
  • ntrboot_flasher_nds by jason0597 (original project)
  • ntrboot_flasher_nds by DS-Homebrew (enhanced fork)
• Drivers & core:
  • flashcart_core by ntrteam, for the per-flashcart device drivers
  • libncgc by angelsl, for the NTR/CTR card protocol layer
  • datelTool by ApacheThunder, for Datel cart support; AUXSPI protocol logic by edo9300

Special thanks to Sanras for feedback and pre-release testing, and ApacheThunder for Datel hardware testing. Make sure to check out Sanras's flashcart guide.

The key combo confirmation before writing to a cart is styled after d0k3's GodMode9 unlock sequence prompt.

License

GPL-3.0 - see LICENSE.

Copyright © the original ntrboot_flasher_nds authors and later contributors (see Credits above, and the git history for per-change authorship). The vendored flashcart_core and libncgc are also GPL-3.0, under their own licenses.