| Create Digital Noise Forum Index » Retro, Gaming, and Oddities » Testing Nintendo DS + NitroTracker: Anyone? Anyone? |
|
Page 1 of 2 Goto page 1, 2 Next |
|
| Author |
Message |
| PeterKirn |
 Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 6:57 pm |
 |
|
Site Admin
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 822
Location: New York, NY
|
Okay, tracker fans and Nintendo lovers: time to band together! We've gotten a report from a really excellent programmer who's started work on a very advanced tracker system for Nintendo DS. See CDM story:
http://createdigitalmusic.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1230&Itemid=44
(be sure to check out the comments there, too, for more discussion)
Now, Game Boy purists might complain, because, well, a DS ain't a Game Boy. But a touchscreen is a great way to use a tracker; much faster for music making.
Heard a number of people talking about this, but has anyone tried it yet?
I discovered the hard way that Nintendo DS + the otherwise excellent Magic Key do NOT work on their own with NitroTracker. I wonder if I might be able to flash the menu for MagicKey and make it work that way, but I'm not sure . . . I've used LSDj and Nanoloop, but I have ZERO experience with the flash stuff.
Has anyone tried this?
Any other DS users interested? |
|
|
| Back to top |
  
|
| funnelbc |
| Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 3:05 am |
|
|
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 48
Location: Melbourne, Australia
|
As soon as I have taken care of some other things  . I'm dying to try this out.
I have a supercard and superpass 2, but I'm having trouble getting it running homebrew sucessfully. Seems like I'm going to have actually read the manual! |
_________________
Buy Me a Pony! |
|
| Back to top |
|
| thesimplicity |
| Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 3:18 am |
|
|
Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 122
Location: Tucson, AZ
|
The way I understand it is that certain games contain somewhat transparent firmware updates that conflict with some homebrew software. When I got Mario Kart, for example, it completely screwed up my flashed DS. And, honestly, if I had to choose between 150cc kart races and alternative music delivery systems... well, that one's obvious. 
All that aside, I have not been able to get NitroTracker running (and I gave it quite a bit of effort). It looks like a really awesome app, too. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| funnelbc |
| Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 3:47 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 48
Location: Melbourne, Australia
|
Ah. I will do some more research. I have mario kart ds as well.
I just need some time to fiddle with it by the looks of things... |
_________________
Buy Me a Pony! |
|
| Back to top |
|
| Tob |
| Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:30 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 8
|
Hi!
I think I should explain a few things about running homebrew (especially) on the DS, because it seems there's a little confusion about it.
Peter:
I'm sorry but the issues that NitroTracker has with MK2/3 adapters are still not ruled out. I'm cooperating with MK2/3 owners via IRC, but progress is running slow and I can't tell when, or even if, it's going to work. At the moment, I would still recommend getting another card. With the next version, NitroTracker will have read/write capability for the following cards:- GBAMP
- Supercard CF
- Supercard SD
- M3 CF
- M3 SD
I would recommend the GBAMP because it is the cheapest of these and it also has the best support for homebrew (because the hacked firmware you have to flash to it was written by a homebrewer  )
funnelbc:
Supercard and superpass should work fine. Be sure to use the NitroTracker.gba.nds file.
thesimplicity:
About the FlashMe problems: Yes, there has been a problem with DSes running the FlashMe v4 (or lower) firmware in combination with Wifi-games such as Mario Kart. Wifi games write the wifi-settings to a certain position in the firmware flash chip that was previously empty in Nintendo's original firmware. So, the creator(s) of FlashMe just used it for code. Now, when you have a DS with FlashMe v4 or lower and play a Wifi-game, the game overwrites a part of FlashMe (which it assumes to be empty), with the result that the DS does not boot any more. But, this "bricking" is easily reversable by the following procedure:- Download the latest FlashMe from http://ds.gcdev.com/dsfirmware/ and put it on your CF/SD card.
- Put the card into your adapter and the adapter into your DS
- Power on your DS while holding START+SELECT+A+B pressed (FlashMe's failsafe mode)
- Follow the usual FlashMe procedure
The current FlashMe version is not affected any more by this problem, meaning that you can run Wifi-games without bricking your DS again.
About NitroTracker: What kind of hardware do you use and how are you trying to run it?
I'll watch this thread a little and hope I can help some people get started with NitroTracker.
Bye!
Tob |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| PeterKirn |
| Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:42 am |
|
|
|
Site Admin
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 822
Location: New York, NY
|
Really, transparent firmware updates? Do you have any reference to that?
What I've seen in terms of PassMe / FlashMe and so on is that these are dependent on hardware firmware, to specific serials. You might just have to go through the PassMe process again. I mean, it'd make sense that Nintendo might have put in a firmware update with Mario Kart for Wi-Fi compatibility. But it should still work . . . in fact, I know there are a lot of Mario Kart users using this stuff.
I also need more fiddle time, and I think I'm going to want a flash cart, as well, as it seems to be necessary to install the menu for Magic Key.
These things are all delicate, that's for sure; nature of the beast. More soon.
Thesimplicity: I think what you really need is a wi-fi multiplayer, 150cc music tracker. With Yoshi. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Jaymis |
| Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:04 am |
|
|
Site Admin
Joined: 04 Feb 2006
Posts: 260
Location: Brisneyland, Australia
|
PeterKirn wrote: Thesimplicity: I think what you really need is a wi-fi multiplayer, 150cc music tracker. With Yoshi.
Hah! For that I would buy a DS.
Any Nintendo creative types on these forums yet? |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| PeterKirn |
| Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:13 am |
|
|
|
Site Admin
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 822
Location: New York, NY
|
Tob wrote: Hi!
I think I should explain a few things about running homebrew (especially) on the DS, because it seems there's a little confusion about it.
Hi Tob,
You simply rock -- thanks for that fantastic response.
I'm really happy to get a few different things and try them out, so the MK2 is absolutely no loss. My whole intention was to try some different things. Phillip Torrone over at Make I think is waiting for me to do the experimentation and come back to him with a report.
This is great, though, because this helps me decide what to try next.
Thanks for this insight!
Peter |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Tob |
| Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:08 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 8
|
PeterKirn wrote: Thesimplicity: I think what you really need is a wi-fi multiplayer, 150cc music tracker. With Yoshi.
It would be just like sub-etha edit (a collaborative text editor for the mac where several people can edit the same text document at the same time via network), but with music, and mobile! It won't happen too soon though since the homebrew Wifi library for the DS is not ready yet, but that would really be a killer feature!
Tob |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| PeterKirn |
| Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:11 pm |
|
|
|
Site Admin
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 822
Location: New York, NY
|
Yes! I love it! Actually, similar suggestions (more wi-fi collaboration) are going on simultaneously in some other threads here on this forum. It's something I'd love to see. In a tracker, it has particular appeal, because there's a limit to how much one person can do rhythmically -- with even two people, it could be another story.
Looking at the homebrew wifi kit, it's surprisingly far advanced. So maybe it won't be too long.
Anyway, I'll let you know how my single-player version goes. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| _object.session |
| Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 1:53 pm |
|
|
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 45
Location: new york city/jersey city
|
anybody here get to try this out?
i was expecting i would by now, but ran into some troubles. i bought the supercard CF and superpass2 (passme2 by supercard) and the (switch on the) superpass broke almost right out of the box! pretty sad since i only need to use it once, and the thing couldn't even stay together for that long. i could open the thing up, but i'm not so good with soldering or anything like that . . anyway, i'd recommend against the superpass, since mine broke, and there are several alternatives.
at least as far as non-ds homebrew goes, the supercard seems to be working okay. although most of what i found, as far as software goes, is, well, not quite as enjoyable as i expect nitrotracker to be. maybe i'm just looking in the wrong places, though.
um, i guess my post doesn't really have much of a point. but does anyone know any other good gba homebrew? and would anyone be willing to flash my ds? i can pay them with a broken superpass2 . . . |
_________________
http://www.itshibrow.com
web-comic partially made by me. updated daily.
it's hi-brow! . . . because we say it is. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| PeterKirn |
| Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:40 pm |
|
|
|
Site Admin
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 822
Location: New York, NY
|
Wait, I'm not sure -- you were disappointed by NitroTracker, as well? At present, this is the most mature DS homebrew music app I've seen.
As for the SuperPass2, yeah, that's pretty bad. This stuff is definitely not for the feint of heart, as far as the reliability of the product. I mean, you could go ahead and make your own -- soldering ain't so rough! (If I can do it, anyone can do it . . . I'm completely butterfingers.)
I'm going to push ahead again, myself, and let you know how it goes, if I can get something going. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| _object.session |
| Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:54 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 45
Location: new york city/jersey city
|
sorry i wasn't clear. i didn't get a chance to try nitrotracker because i can't run ds software, just gba. since my superpass doesn't work.
i wish i decided to go ahead and make my own. but not that i spend the $20 on a prebuilt thingy . . . i suppose i'll make another attempt in a couple weeks. dunno whether building my own, buying another pre-built, or breaking open the superpass is the best option at this point. |
_________________
http://www.itshibrow.com
web-comic partially made by me. updated daily.
it's hi-brow! . . . because we say it is. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| PeterKirn |
| Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:59 pm |
|
|
|
Site Admin
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 822
Location: New York, NY
|
Well, the reason I didn't build my own is the pre-built ones are theoretically more rugged. Certainly the one I got is . . . except, of course, it doesn't actually work. Hrmmm.
I'll keep trying and let you know when I find a good solution! |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| _object.session |
| Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:55 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 45
Location: new york city/jersey city
|
interesting . . . what brand did you get?
think we can count on someone to bring a passme device to an upcoming nyc cdm meetup? |
_________________
http://www.itshibrow.com
web-comic partially made by me. updated daily.
it's hi-brow! . . . because we say it is. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
