Confirmed G6 Homebrew Compatability List

[BombBomb]

Hey guys. I have been experimenting with different Homebrew on the G6, and since it's kind of hit or miss, I thought it would be good to have a ready-made list of working/non-working Homebrew. List is now in Alpha order. Woo!

If a piece of homebrew is under "non-working" and you have gotten it to run, please post a brief explaination of how to get it working, and I will update as needed.

Working:
Arcomage - Arcomage.nds works with "add header" and .gba works. Both have brief pause at white screens.
Balance - Works.
Beup - Works on default settings. (thanks CrEsPo)
Dados (D&D dice roller) - Works.
Didgit Solver - .gba works.
DoomDS - Works but only with pre-compiled shareware version of doom.wad (flashcard version at: http://davr.org/ds2/doomfc.zip) (thanks outphase.)
Drummers v. 2.0 - Works.
DSChess - Works.
DSLair - Works.
DS Sampling Keyboard- .ds.gba works no problem and the .ds works when you "add header". (Thanks galaxykidgamma)
DS Touch Touch Revolution - works
DsAim 0.02E - I loaded the .nds file through the U-disk manager and it works well.
DsHeretic - Works.
DSLinux - Works. (thanks dtrmp4)
Explosive Gas - works.
Gioioso - Works with "add header" function.
Glider - works with .gba version.
Hawiian Islands - .gba works.
HexenDS - Works. (Thanks kallek)
Mario Bros. (Game and watch clone) - .gba works.
MegaETK - Works with .sc.nds version.
Moonshell - Works.
NDSMail - works, but due to lack of Fat drive support, have to re-key information every time. (Thanks junfeng85.)
NesDS - Works, albiet poorly. (Thanks for pretty extensive testing of this, gumbojmg) (Also, See Templedog's post further down for descriptions of glitches.)
-"On a g6 lite v4.2B only the original nesDS works when you pre-build the nesDS.nds file with a small amount of ROMS (say, 4) and transfer with the default doFat option." - gumbojmg
No Place to Hide - Works with "add header" function.
PaddleBattle - .ds.gba works.
Picodrive - Works! You have to append the rom to the .nds file. See olax's post on page two for instructions! (Thanks olax!)
PocketNes - I know G6 has a built in NES emulator, but it is pretty sloppy {one game per Pocketnes file takes up a tun of space. All roms named to the same filename. Not useful, so I still build my own!}
Prohibition - .gba works.
ScummVMDS - Works Well, I've only experienced some minor problems:
-I can't get the sound to work. Ripped and re-encoded in the exact method described on the scummvmDS webpage, still no luck. Anyone else get sound to work?
-On the "full-screen" screen, the text of the very bottom set of commands runs off the bottom of the screen, cutting them in half. Can still read them and use them, so not really a big issue.
Slide and Run - works with "add header" function.
SlyphIRC - Works using "add header" function. (thanks again, dtrmp4)
Smash Bros. Tactics - .gba works.
Tales of Dagur - Works.
Touch me (I'm famous) - .nds works with "add Header" function.
Twin Isles - Works.
Wave - Works.
WifiChat - Works.
Win2DS - Works with .gba. (thanks Burgi)
Zelda Homebrew Demo - works with the .sc.nds version. (thanks galaxykidgamma, frozenipaq and TheMarioKarters)

Non-Working:
A Touch of War - .ds Boot with "add header" function, and .gba works, but menu is scrambled. Some may consider this still playable, but it's ugly.
DSOrganize
DS Drum Machine (tr909)
dStar sequencer - Does not work. (Thanks again galaxykidgamma.)
Duckhunt homebrew - Does not work. See MeTaLsToRmDS's post for more info.
FlashbackDS - Does not work.
HelloDS - Voice Over IP (VoIP) for Nintendo DS WiFi - Could not get it to work.
Nethack DS - Not Working. (thanks Olax.)
Nitrotracker - Does not work. (Thanks galaxykidgamma)
WeatherDS - Loads, but does not function without libfat support.



Here are some that I tried really quickly or heard about, and would like confirmation that others could also get or not get them to work. If it's not against any rules, I am going to start posting links to the ones that need confimation, for ease of testing.

Need confirmation:
DSSpeech Synthesizer v1.0 - Does not work.
(http://www.telefragged.com/thefatal/index.php?content=inc_si_ds.htm)
NesterDS - ??? (http://www.telefragged.com/thefatal/index.php?content=inc_si_ds.htm)
Stella DS - ???


_______________________________________

Homebrew related Q and A:

******
Q: I have heard that the "add header" feature in the U-disk manager is somehow supposed to assist with running homebrew. Any idea what that is, why it helps, and what homebrew in particular it helps with?

A: "Add Header" function is confirmed to help with the following homebrew:
DS Sampling Keyboard - .ds works when you "add header" (Thanks galaxykidgamma)
SlyphIRC - Works using "add header" function. (thanks again, dtrmp4)
Touch me (I'm fameous) - .nds Works with "add header"
Arcomage - .nds Works with "add header."
No Place to Hide - works with "add header"
Slide and Run - works with "add header" function.
Gioioso - Works with "add header" function.


******
Q: What are FAT Libraries and why are they needed for homebrew? Also, will the G6 get this, and how will it help?

A: by sektor,
A FAT filesystem library is what developers use to read and write to files stored on media devices. Until G6 Lite support is added to the FAT lib, homebrew will only be able to read data that is attached to the .nds file and not files stored seperately. The G6 Lite will be supported eventually but not until the right skilled people get their hands on a G6 Lite and the technical information they need. Once support is added to the library, all current homebrew will need to be updated with this new library or they will remain incompatible.

******
Exciting news! Danny from the G6/M3 team has released FATlibrary drivers. Looks like, if we're patient, we'll be getting the rest of the good homebrew, as soon as everyone gets around to updating. DSOrganize, here I come.

Update: Maybe I got excited too soon. Once Chishm got ahold of what they released, he had this to say:
"Hmm, they distributed it as a precompiled library, based on the old gba_nds_fat. That doesn't make it easy to correct bugs, nor to incorporate it into libfat. I could disassemble the functions from within the .a file, but I don't really see why I should have to. Distributing it in this form also means that another version of each app that uses gba_nds_fat needs to be compiled for G6/M3 support. Is there really so difficult to release the source, even if it is in asm? They are clearly visible inside the .a file anyway (eg G6_SelectSaver)." Bummer! Should we start a petition?

New Update: Dragonminded says "Screw G6." Apparently due to the stress of trying to make DSOrganize compatable with M3 products {of which, G6 is one} he has given up: "First, I will start with an announcement. From here on out, M3 products WILL NOT be officially supported. " He goes on to elaborate that it is the diveloper's fault for not releasing official drivers. Curse you, G6! Oh well, at least we still have top compatability for actual NDS games.

[IAmTheRad]

DOOMDS: Does not work

[CrEsPo]

I've gotten beup working on the G6 Lite, I just put it on with the default options.

[Templedog]

There are mixed reports about NesDS working on the G6 Lite. I know G6 has a built in one, but a lot of people like that NesDS can run games in full-screen. So far no-one has posted a good how-to that works for everyone. I have poured over the NesDS threads and still can't get it to work (well) on my G6... it seems to have trouble recognizing the NES roms on the G6, but it could be the program itself.

Kidsampson on the forums posted this about the G6 Lite:


Unwrapped, it won't recognize roms. Wrapped, as a DS file, it only recognizes the first 5-6 [roms]. If you wrap it as a GBA file and load it from the MyCard menu on the top left without a header, it will play, but save states do not work. It seems to think SRAM works this way, as it says it's saved, but it appears that it isn't. Reboot and try to move the SRAM to the default position and it will fail.

Again, he seems to have had luck with NesDS as a .gba file, but mine didn't work at all this way.

[outphase]

DOOMDS: Does not work

Guess you didn't check the gbadev thread

http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?p=97821&highlight=#97821

[galaxykidgamma]

Sampling keyboard works

the .ds.gba works no problem and the .ds works when you "add header" (maybe it was made in PAlib?)

playing it right now ::burps into mic::


EDIT: No I don't think it was made in PAlib..., didn't see anything about it in the readme

[Kakashi]

snezzids-v024b-sound

anyone have luck with this? it works and all but when i save in super mario world, boot up the DS again and load the game again, the textures load differently, and you can no longer see mario. Your save is essentially missing. but this is only cause because there IS a save there....which is odd. deleting the game and putting it on again fixes it....until you save again.

i don't know how it isi with any other games but i guess this counts as WORKABLE. just don't save :p

[Sektor]

What is a "fat library" and why is it essential to running some homebrew? Is it something G6 will ever get? I have seen a lot of posts of people saying "It does not support fat libraries... YET!" and so on.

A FAT filesystem library is what developers use to read and write to files stored on media devices. Until G6 Lite support is added to the FAT lib, homebrew will only be able to read data that is attached to the .nds file and not files stored seperately. The G6 Lite will be supported eventually but not until the right skilled people get their hands on a G6 Lite and the technical information they need. Once support is added to the library, all current homebrew will need to be updated with this new library or they will remain incompatible.

[gumbojmg]

NesDS on a G6 Lite v4.2B

There are three versions of nesDS. One is the original official version at loopys college website http://www.cs.utah.edu/~tew/nesDS/. The other two are save fixed versions by emu_kidid http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=25181 (NesDS-WIP1 and NesDS-Improved)

So, to start off, I extracted the three zips to separate folders and copied ndstool (from here http://darkfader.net/ds/files/ndstool.exe) into the three folders. Next, using the make_nds.bat in each of the folders, I made a one ROM version of nesDS. The rom I chose was the original super mario brothers. I then renamed the three nesDS.nds files to originalNesDS.nds, wip1NesDS.nds and improvedNesDS.nds. Finally, I open the G6 software transfer program (using the latest version 4.2B btw) and transferred the three version of the nesDS to the flash cart using the default options (i.e. doFat).

So, on to the tests -

TEST 1)

OriginalNESDS - Worked a treat. Great! But I did not test the real time save and mario has no battery save so this was also not tested. The touch screen area where you set options was acting erratic however.

Wip1NesDS - two white screens. I left it for 2-3 minutes and nothing happened.

ImprovedNesDS - two white screens.


TEST 2)

For the second test, I tried reflashing the wip1nesds and improvednesDS with the other transfer options - Normal, Safe, Direct.

Again, two white screen in all cases.

TEST 3)


Since nesDS-wip1 and nesDS-Improved are not working on the G6 Lite, I tried building a new original nesDS.nds file with several ROMS. I built one with 16 roms first and transferred four copies using the four transfer option - dofat (default), normal, safemode and direct copy.

The doFat, normal and safemode versions all booted, but none of the 16 roms worked. Basically, you would see the intro screen flash up for a second then the screen would blank out and the sound would stick on the note it was playing when it crashed out.

TEST 4)

So no luck with 16 roms, I then tried four roms on the original NesDS with just the regular doFat transfer option. The result was four fully working nes games. Again, I did not test the nesDS real time save and none of the games I loaded had battery backup save so this was also not tested.

Also, the touch screen area where you set options was hard to use with the stylus. It would highlight the option you pressed but it would not select it unless you held the stylus on it for a few seconds. I do not know if this is a programming problem or a problem with my touch screen or the g6 lite.


FINAL REPORT

On a g6 lite v4.2B only the original nesDS works when you pre-build the nesDS.nds file with a small amount of ROMS (say 4) and transfer with the default doFat option.

Real time save and battery based NES game saving was NOT tested.

The touch screen is not working great.

[outphase]

How strange it didn't work for you. I got emukidid's first version working fine with ~10 games.

[galaxykidgamma]

oh the uh new zelda homebrew game works too, i think you might have to do the add header thing though, can't remember

[frozenipaq]

oh the uh new zelda homebrew game works too, i think you might have to do the add header thing though, can't remember

It worked fine for me when I tried it on my G6L - I posted a video on Youtube I believe with it working :p

EDIT - I believe you have to use the .sc.nds version

[dtrmp4]

I can confirm DS Linux works.

SlyphIRC also works using add header.

[dem1980]

ScummVM works
but you need to use the GBA Flashcart method so the file need to be <30mo so you can't add voices but you can have sound and musics
sam & max and dott works great (without voices)

[jpxdude]

*Provisionally stickied*

This will be a good place to pool support with homebrew, and compare workings :)

[BombBomb]

ScummVM works
but you need to use the GBA Flashcart method so the file need to be <30mo so you can't add voices but you can have sound and musics
sam & max and dott works great (without voices)

I know, I got Monkey Island running, but I couldn't get the ripped background music to play. The instuctions on the ScummVMDS webpage are as follows:



ScummVM supports playing CD audio for specific games which came with music stored as standard music CD tracks. To use this music in ScummVM DS, they need to be ripped from the CD and stored in a specific format. This can only be done for the CD versions of certain games, such as Monkey Island 1, Loom, and Gobliiins. All the floppy games and CD games that didn't have CD audio tracks for music don't require any conversion, and will work unmodified on ScummVM DS.

Cdex can do the conversion very well and I recommend using it to convert your audio files, although any CD ripping software can be used, so feel free to use your favourite program. The format you need to use is IMA-ADPCM 4-bit Mono. You may use any sample rate. All other formats will be rejected, including uncompressed WAV files.

...

Format: WAV
Compression: IMA ADPCM
Samplerate: 22050 Hz
Channels: Mono
On the fly encoding: On

Now all you have to do is copy the newly created WAV files into the same directory that your other game data is stored on your CompactFlash card. Next time your run ScummVM DS, it should play with music!
Perhaps you can only get the music on with a CF card. That was the only part of ScummVMDS that seemed incompatable with the G6. I ripped the music as he said, and tried sticking it lots of places on the card, but no dice.

Anyone else have the problem of the menu at the bottom being cut off, just a little?

[BombBomb]

Woo! I've been stickied! I take pride in that.

[muggsy]

the neoflash beup build 0.3 r5 saves login information now.. no more

[kallek]

Hexen works without a problem for me on my english G6 Lite

[BombBomb]

DSSpeech Synthesizer v1.0 - Does not work.

Perhaps? I can get it running, but the weirdest thing happens... the touch keyboard is in the top screen! I can't figure out why this would be. Seems like it runs okay, but can't interact with it. Why would it not be on the touchscreen?

[TheMarioKarters]

It worked fine for me when I tried it on my G6L - I posted a video on Youtube I believe with it working :p

EDIT - I believe you have to use the .sc.nds version
I can confirm that the .sc.nds version works.

[Grimgoil]

What is the "Add Header" option, while burning game with the u-disk i never cameuopn such an option:confused:

[BombBomb]

What is the "Add Header" option, while burning game with the u-disk i never cameuopn such an option:confused:

It is an option when you run it on the card, not an option when you burn. When you go into your card in the menu (I believe by pressing X?) and you select a file to play it will have you pick "run" or "add header."

[galaxykidgamma]

the new dStar sequencer is not working, even when you "add header" you get white screens

EDIT: I can also confirm that nitrotracker does not work

[junfeng85]

NDS mail works but i cannot get the application to read the configuration file or save my settings. Have to rekey my options every time.

[olax]

1st post says Picodrive (genesis/megadrive emu)does not work but it works fine. I've been playing sensible soccer for the last hour (still rocks even after all these years). :D

You need to append the rom to the picodrive 1.5 file

(from the instructions.......)
Added support for appended ROMs. This should allow users with carts not supported by gba_nds_fat to use PicoDriveDS. Simply append a ROM to the PicoDriveDS binary, and it will run it (on *nix systems this can be done with “cat romname.ext >> picodriveds.ext”, on Windows with “copy /b picodriveds.ext+romname.ext picodriveds-withrom.ext”, substituting the appropriate filenames of course). You can only append one ROM at a time. In this mode, Genesis SRAM will be saved to GBA SRAM. Some patchers may work correctly with this and save the SRAM to your removable media,

(And Yes saves seem to work for me as well)

Copy the resulting file to the G6 Lite then browse using MyCard and do the Add Header option to launch.

No sound in Picodrive but the games are very playable.

tolax

[Flergle]

Where is this "add header" function? I can only find a "trim ROM" option and the four different writing methods.

[wadsy]

Where is this "add header" function? I can only find a "trim ROM" option and the four different writing methods.

its not in G6 U-DISK Manager, once you've stuck in your g6 into your NDS switch on and goto top right hand corner where it says NDS Games select, my cart in there find your homebrew and tap it should come up with 2 options run and add header

[Flergle]

Cool (just noticed the question was answered above, apologies). But can someone tell me if you're supposed to patch homebrew ROMs with the U-Disk Manager like a normal ROM, or if you just copy those directly across?

[olax]

Certainly with Picodrive it did not matter whether I used the U-Disk manager or just copied it accross. In the end I just copied it as you have to use the MyCard option in order to boot it using the Add Header Option. There seemed little point in having the game 'listed' when I can't boot it that way. I don't think there is a way of permanently specifying the add header option

tolax

[siz]

ScummVMDS - Works Well, I've only experienced some minor problems:
-I can't get the sound to work. Ripped and re-encoded in the exact method described on the scummvmDS webpage, still no luck. Anyone else get sound to work?
-On the "full-screen" screen, the text of the very bottom set of commands runs off the bottom of the screen, cutting them in half. Can still read them and use them, so not really a big issue.


The cropping problem can be fixed by pressing L and d-pad up and down. However, it will then crop off part of the top of the screen (though i believe this part of the screen is less crucial).

[BombBomb]

The cropping problem can be fixed by pressing L and d-pad up and down. However, it will then crop off part of the top of the screen (though i believe this part of the screen is less crucial).

Thanks, Siz.

[Gaharay]

Anyone tried Tales of Dagur?

[killyourself]

i cant get the DS to properly play the sega rom. this is what i do:

copy /b picodrive.nds+eternalchampions.BIN eternalchampions.nds

then i run with add header but the game just shows a messed up menu on the top screen and wont run.

[BombBomb]

i cant get the DS to properly play the sega rom. this is what i do:

copy /b picodrive.nds+eternalchampions.BIN eternalchampions.nds

then i run with add header but the game just shows a messed up menu on the top screen and wont run.

Try ammending the .ds.gba version. That worked for me.

"Copy /b picodrive.ds.gba+shiningforce.bin PicodriveShiningForce.ds.gba"

[killyourself]

hmm still a no go.

im trying to append eternal champions and ive tried to add it to the .nds and .nds.gba versions, but still no good. anyone able to please give a step by step, because im not sure what im doing wrong here.

[Burgi]

Win2DS doesn't seem to work. 2 White screens with standard settings. would love to see this in action! :(

[Burgi]

Ah I'm sorry. Did use the .nds file. When using the nds.gba file with the 'Run' command it works fine!!!

[MeTaLsToRmDS]

Has anyone got the Duckhunt by phantom working on the G6 lite. Ive tried .nds and .ds.gba and sc.nds but it turns white the closest I get is patching it to sc.nds and it gets to the menu but I cant start the game??

UPDATE: Alright I got a little farther if you use U-DIsk program to put the .ds.gba on it skips the menu entirly and starts the game but the touch screen doesnt work and you cant shoot any ducks.

If you cant find the game its right here ds.gba here http://nintendo-ds.dcemu.co.uk/duckhunt.shtml

.nds here http://www.ndshb.com/modules.php?nam...howpage&pid=20
(click yes under .nds colum)

[olax]

You can add NetHack DS as not working (no surprise)

Another one that will be incompatible until they sort out the fatlib

tolax

[bigboy85zz]

Im stil trying to figure the picodrive instruction out. everytime i try the command, i always get the error "the syntax of the command is incorrect" could someone help me with this or point me to the direction of a gui that appends files?

this is exactly what i typed

copy /c picodrive.nds+Sonic the Hedgehog 2.smd Sonic the Hedgehog 2.nds

[olax]

Well you can just look at the G6 forum topic "PicoDriveDS Converter" if you want an app to do it for you.

also it is /b not /c

Finally it would be better to enclose the file names in " marks so dos/cmd knows this is a long file name not a series of commands.....

copy /b picodrive.nds+"Sonic the Hedgehog 2.smd" "Sonic the Hedgehog 2.nds"

On the subject of apps there is another cool one around that then lets you launch the picodrive file via the normal nds game listings. Should be easy to find with a little searching (sorry can't remember the name at the moment)

[peachey777]

Well you can just look at the G6 forum topic "PicoDriveDS Converter" if you want an app to do it for you.
Actually it's called "G6 Mega Drive Converter" now.. you can download it here:

http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?p=247820

[GetTheMonkey]

DSAmp works!

The .nds works with "add header" only and the .nds.gba works with "run". Closing WinAmp is working but trying to open it, brings up a debugger problem on the PC. Toggle fullscreen doesn't work either. Everything else is sweet!

Oh sorry forgot to add that you can either copy the .nds or.nds.gba files to the g6 via Windows Explorer or convert the .nds.gba file with U-Disk Manager. Default settings are alright but havent tried any other patching options.

[DCJoeDog]

DS Comic Book 1.0 works with G6 Lite

do not use patcher, just copy directly to the nds folder, and use the add header option, make sure the nds roms you make are no bigger than 32 megabytes

[Golgothica]

How do you get HEXEN to work? I keep getting an error message. "FATAL ERROR: W_GetNumForName: FONTA_S not found!"

Please help me! :)


Also, I cant get DSDoom to SAVE...can you save your game or am I doing something wrong?:confused:

[Kasimir2006]

ScummVMDS - Works Well, I've only experienced some minor problems:
[SIZE="1"]-I can't get the sound to work. Ripped and re-encoded in the exact method described on the scummvmDS webpage, still no luck. Anyone else get sound to work?
[/COLOR]

Sound Works ! I Try Loom, I has sound in format .MP3 and Don't works ....

.... I have convert .MP3 in .Wav (IMA ADPCM 8000Khz 4 bits this is important! :o ) and works very good ! :)

to Convert with dBPowerAMP Music Converter. :p
I will test of other games to see ........

For Compatibility, you can to put FrodoDS (emulator Commodore 64) who works on G6 with RomFS version :

See here :
http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=30311&page=2

:o

[gamepopper]

DSOrganise works if patched with G6 DLDI Patch provided on website
P.S I don't know how to patch it first

[gamepopper]

I've gotten beup working on the G6 Lite, I just put it on with the default options.

How did you? because I tried uplaoding both the .nds + .ds.gba and it just freezes

[gamepopper]

the new dStar sequencer is not working, even when you "add header" you get white screens

EDIT: I can also confirm that nitrotracker does not work

I got Nitrotracker to work, but you can't save anything, it said on the website and even I tried it

[h8uthemost]

AmplituDS works on the G6 Lite.