How to make your R4 boot any .nds file from the second icon on the menu!

This will show you how to make your R4's second icon on the menu boot any .nds you want.

Step 1 Renaming

This is really simple to do. Delete the " _DS_MSHL.nds " file.

Copy and paste the .nds file you want to be booted, and rename to "_DS_MSHL.nds".

Simple eh?

For mine, I used Licks Media Player (iPod clone).

Comments

[why3ds]

May i ask which R4i card do you have, i have this wood r4i gold card from r4ids.cn , can i use  your method.

[redbuu31]

I've got a question. I've bought and used the older R4DS' without any issues. My nephew wanted me to get him set up so I bought 4 new ones for him and his friends. Everything loads onto the memory card fine, but when I put it in the R4 it only comes up with: ? Menu The same thing happens to each of them. Is there an updated menu version that I need to load? Does anyone know how I can correct this?

[Noodle93]

I would format the microSD's first, then download the new kernel at http://r4ds.cn/

Write back if you're still having troubles. Is it an R4DS or an R4i?

[redbuu31]

It still reads the same. The only thing I can think of is that my _DS_Menu.Dat file is outdated. I tried finding sa newer download but I can't track one down. The R4 is the R4-SDHC Upgrade.

[philip111130]

The R4 SDHC "upgrade" Mean's It's a fake sorry.

[steed1172]

will this work with original Nintendo DS? where can I get at good price and(yes i ask alotta questions) i heard about a "fake" r4 card, can any one tell me about it and or tell me how to avoid it please, and thank you!

[Noodle93]

Yes will work with original DS. Depends on where you live for a good price. Fake R4's. Yes. I really do recommend DSTT these days. They've got better support and more people using them. You're much safer with them too. If you still really want an R4, just read around and see reviews and find out who's real. GBAtemp.net forums might have info about this, I"m not sure. A safe bet is BambooGaming.cn. Ship internationally, and have bought 4 products on two different occasions and are a safe bet.

[JellyWoo]

is a micro sd card included with the r4?

[Noodle93]

Depends where you buy it from. Usually not, they're cheap anyway.

[JellyWoo]

how much memory do you suggest buying(1,2,4,8gb)? how much memory is one game? thanks

[baneat]

The 2GB ones are the highest that work because they aren't high density, it should work fine and they are really cheap, like £5 added on the the cost of the card. games are generally around 30mb for a simple one and 120 for a more complex game. As fot this instructable it's good and really simple :)

[Noodle93]

SDHC > 4GB SDHC is not compatible with R4DS. DSTT and such now support it. Yeah, really high quality are only 120GB, you can still fit quite a bit on a 2GB.

[Noodle93]

Do you have an R4? If so you can't use a a 4 or 8gb. It is a SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity), and isn't compatible with the R4. I use two. And quite frankly it's heaps. Size? Really depends on the game. The 2d games are small < 30mb. 3d games, and big games like Pokemon, Zelda and the new Final Fantasy are usually pretty big (60mb, however Final Fantasy is 110 mb :O) There's this thing called a rom trimmer and it cuts down the size, because when they dump the roms off a cartridge, the nds file is the size of the entire cartridge. So 16, 32, 64, 128mb cartridges. A ROM trimmer cuts it down to it's real size. Which usually cuts a couple mb's off. I have a 2gb, quite frankly, it's heaps.

[Brother_D]

With the R4DS III you can use up to 32gb

[Noodle93]

R4DS v3 is not real. It is a fake. It has not been announced at all by the R4 team,

[Brother_D]

I just found the official announcement. R4DS Support Forum

[Noodle93]

Not an official announcement.

[Brother_D]

I'll make sure to check mine when I get it in the mail. If it's fishy I'll send it back and confirm its fakeness.

[JellyWoo]

what's the difference between r4, r4 ds, and r4 revolution? which is better?

[Noodle93]

They're all the same product, R4DS V. iii is a fake though.

[Brother_D]

Sorry to keep bugging you, but I just got it in the mail and I was wondering if you'd check it out. Here are some pics:

[baneat]

To be honest, I think that's just the standard version with a different sticker..

[Brother_D]

Thats what I was thinking. I'm trying to keep my capacity under 2gb just in case.

[Noodle93]

It's supposedly a different cart, but considering it's manufacturing origins, nothing would surprise me.

[Noodle93]

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=93601

Beware of changin to new firmware on September 15.

[JellyWoo]

so is the r4ds v real?

[Noodle93]

What the hell is a V?

[JellyWoo]

sorry, typo, R4DS III is what i meant.

[JellyWoo]

okay.

[JellyWoo]

do you have to download this rom trimmer? so the highest that you can use is 2gb, right?

[Noodle93]

You don't have to, but it may mean that you can fit 1-2 more games on there. You can download it from the R4 website. Yes 2GB max.

[JellyWoo]

okay, thanks so much!

[broly11]

i dont get it what are you talking about i tried theese things like _DS_MSHL thingy majiggy AND it DOESNT work besides what do you mean by copy and paste the nds file what nds file do i make one? please answer.

[Noodle93]

Alright. What do you want to be booted from the second icon? Find the .nds of it ok? You got that? Yep? Ok. Then delete the file '_DS_MSHL.nds' from the root of your card. You follow? Then copy the file you want to boot in the root of your card called '_DS_MSHL.nds'. Any help just ask ;)

[GorillazMiko]

Nice and detailed Instructable, but what exactly is R4?

[cokebottle tuque]

Its a slot 1 micro sd based flash cart for the Nintendo DS that allows you to run third party roms in the .nds format, either commercial or homebrew. See Noodles other instructable How to run Homebrew on your Nintendo DS. for a good over view of the basics.

[Noodle93]

My other instructable explains what Slot 1 is, and R4 is one of the images attached too ;), good explanation Cokebottle.