DSpico Firmware

This is the repository for the DSpico firmware. The firmware emulates a DS cartridge, with extended features for SD access and USB. PIO is used for an SDIO interface for the SD card and for interfacing the DS cartridge bus.

For an overview of the supported card commands, see commands.md.

Features

• Emulates a retail DS(i) cartridge
• Interfaces with an SD card using SDIO and exposes card commands to access it from the DS side
• Exposes card commands to the DS side to allow interfacing with the USB port of the RP2040
• Can emulate an R4 to support software such as the Wood R4 kernel
• Supports having a separate rom for DS and DSi/3DS systems
• Supports emulating the IS-SPI-USB-ADAPTER for the WRFUxxed exploit
• Easy updating; starting the firmware with an ejected SD card reboots to BOOTSEL
• Optimized for minimal power use when idle

Pinout

Peripheral	Pin name - Peripheral	Pin name - RP2040
DS Slot	D0	GPIO12
	D1	GPIO13
	D2	GPIO14
	D3	GPIO15
	D4	GPIO16
	D5	GPIO17
	D6	GPIO18
	D7	GPIO19
	CLK_DS	GPIO11
	ROM_CS	GPIO10
	SPI_CS	GPIO21
	IRQ	GPIO20
	RST_DS	GPIO09
SDIO	CLK_SD	GPIO03
	DAT0	GPIO05
	DAT1	GPIO06
	DAT2	GPIO07
	DAT3	GPIO08
	CMD	GPIO04

Setup & configuration

We recommend using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), or a Unix-based machine to compile this repository. The steps provided will assume a Linux environment. Alternatively, you can run the setup_environment.sh bash script.

1. Run sudo apt update && sudo apt install cmake gcc-arm-none-eabi build-essential git
2. Clone this repository
3. Run the following commands:

   git submodule update --init
   cd pico-sdk
   git submodule update --init
   cd ..
   

   Note that you shouldn't use --recursive because it draws in a lot of unnecessary submodules inside the pico-sdk.

CMakeList

The CMakeList.txt file contains a couple of options that you can configure.

• ENABLE_R4_MODE - Enables R4 emulation. This allows you to use R4 software, such as the Wood R4 kernel. As R4 emulation can be used together with regular DSpico software, it can usually be kept enabled.
  • Note that to be able to use R4 software, your SD card must be at most 4 GB, or have a single partition in the first 4 GB of the SD card. R4 card commands cannot address SD sectors above 4 GB!
• DSPICO_ENABLE_WRFUXXED - Enables emulation of the IS-SPI-USB-ADAPTER to support the WRFUxxed exploit. This requires uartBufv060.bin to be placed in the data/ folder.
• ENABLE_PREVENT_DSI_AUTOBOOT - Experimental feature that prevents DSi consoles from autobooting when the autoboot flag is set. It was intended to be used with WRFU Tester, which has the autoboot flag set. It is generally not recommended to use this, as it does not work properly with the 3DS and has not been tested much.

Setting up the rom(s)

To compile and properly use the firmware, you will need to place a valid DS rom in the roms/ folder, named default.nds. Additionally, you may include a second rom in the roms/ folder named dsimode.nds, if you wish to have a different rom for DS consoles and DSi/3DS consoles.

Usage	default.nds	dsimode.nds	Notes
Single rom for DS and/or DSi	Your rom	-	The rom must contain NTR blowfish keys. If the rom is hybrid or DSi exclusive, it must additionally contain TWL blowfish keys.
Hybrid bootloader	Bootloader	-	The bootloader rom must be patched with the DSpico DLDI. The bootloader rom must contain NTR and TWL blowfish keys.
DSi ntrboot	GCD rom	-	The rom must contain GCD blowfish keys and must be properly signed. The DSpico must be using USB power, such that the firmware is booted before starting the DSi. Without external power, the firmware currently does not boot fast enough to keep up with DSi ntrboot.
3DS ntrboot	3DS ntrboot rom	-	A 3DS ntrboot rom consists of a header, the blowfish keys and the firm to boot.
Separate rom for DS and DSi	Your DS rom	Your DSi rom	The DS rom must contain NTR blowfish keys. The DSi rom must contain both NTR and TWL blowfish keys.
WRFUxxed	Bootloader	WRFU Tester v0.60	The bootloader rom and uartBufv060.bin must be patched with the DSpico DLDI. uartBufv060.bin must be placed in the /data folder. The bootloader rom must contain NTR blowfish keys. The DSPICO_ENABLE_WRFUXXED define in CMakeLists.txt must be enabled.

Compiling

Simply run ./compile.sh to compile the firmware. Once it is complete, you will be able to find DSpico.uf2 in the build/ folder, which you can use to flash your DSpico board with.

Important

The firmware only works correctly when build with optimization. Recommended is RelWithDebInfo.

License

The firmware for the DSpico project includes code that is licensed under the following:

SPDX-License-Identifier: Zlib

• Miscellaneous source files

SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause

• Pico SDK

SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later

• ZuluSCSI

For details, see the license directory, as well as LICENSE.txt.

Contributors

• @Gericom
• @XLuma
• @Dartz150
• @pedro-javierf