How To: SuperCard DS for Newbies

[lind0834]

I've read a lot of questions from a lot of different people on this forum, so in an effort to possibly stop here is my How To for Super Card DS Newbies like myself.

Step 1:
Get a DS. It doesn't matter what kind. I have a Teal Nintendogs DS.

Step 2:
Buy a SuperCard MiniSD and SuperKey bundle from RealHotStuff.com (http://www.realhotstuff.com/supercard-minisd-superkey-bundle-p-78.html). If you are in the US you can't find a better deal. They even guarantee a lowest price when shipped.

Step 3:
Buy a MiniSD Card (http://www.buy.com/prod/q/loc/101/202152401.html) and a USB Reader (http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202355537&loc=101&sp=1). I like Buy.com for this kind of stuff.. but you can use whatever you like.

Step 4:
Wait for the Stuff to show up in the Mail.

Step 5:
Download the most recent Software for your SuperCard from the SuperCard website (http://eng.supercard.cn/download.htm). RealHotStuff sends you a CD with everything, but just in case. Download Kernel v1.62 and SuperCard Software v2.541 (0501 correction).

Step 6:
Update your SuperCard Kernel. Decompress the Kernel (stored in a .rar). Copy the file "sd_162.bin" over to your MiniSD card. Put the SuperKey in your DS slot and your SuperCard in the GBA slot. Put the MiniSD in your SuperCard and start it up. You should be presented with a menu with only the "sd_162.bin" file, so hit (A). Hit (A) a few more times as you read the dialog boxes and you'll have the newest Kernel.

Step 7:
Find the ROMs for the DS carts you already own. I won't tell you how, it is beyond the scope of this How To (and the rules of the forum). It's not illegal in some countries to have backup ROMs of carts you already own. I was able to find "0396 - Brain Age - Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (U).zip"

Step 8:
You now need to patch your ROMs. So Decompress the SuperCard Software (also stored in a .rar) and run the installer. I just let it go as default all the way. Open your SuperCard Program and hit "Add". Now find your ROM (you don't have to decompress the .zip) Hit the "Options" Tab in the SuperCard software and check all 5 boxes on the right. Go back to the "Game List" Tab and hit the "Out" button. After a few seconds your ROM will be patched.

Step 9:
Copy your patched ROM files to the MiniSD cart. Since I used the default settings, C:\Program Files\SC\out\,my files were sitting there. I copied the new files "0396 - Brain Age - Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (U).nds.dsq" and "0396 - Brain Age - Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (U).nds.sav" to my MiniSD cartridge.

Step 10:
Start up your DS and you should see "0396 - Brain Age - Train Y" on your screen so select that and hit (A). Your ROM will start just as if you had started the cart the first time.

Additional Optional Steps:
You might want to grab your saved game files off of your original cartridge. Since you are only using ROMs you already have a copy of, you might want to use your same save game files. I wouldn't want my Wife to forget how much lower my Brain Age is!

Step 11:
Get the Homebrew app Rein (or Rain). Peppers attached a version for SuperCards to the original Rein forum posting (http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=20050) so grab that version. It's the easiest to use. Decompress the .zip file and copy the "REIN.SC.nds" file to your MiniSD card.

Step 12:
Start your DS with the SuperCard and SuperKey in place. When you get to the normal SuperCard menu eject your SuperKey and put your DS cartridge in. Now go back to the SuperCard menu and run the app "REIN.SC.nds". Hit (A) a few times as you read the dialog boxes and eventually a little progress bar will scroll across the screen and it will tell you it was successful.

Step 13:
Take your MiniSD card out of your SuperCard, and load it up on your computer again. Along with the files that you have put on your MiniSD card you will also have the Save Game file that Rein dumped for you. It will be named something odd like "AB-QL-000873422-B.sav" or something like that anyway. Delete the .sav file you previously had for the game "0396 - Brain Age - Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (U).nds.sav" and rename the new dumped file to "0396 - Brain Age - Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (U).nds.sav". Copy the new .sav file to your MiniSD card to replace your old one. Stick it back in your SuperCard and restart your DS.



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Hopefully this answers a lot of questions. I had a few before I started this, but it was pretty easy. I had thought about making a pictorial How To but I don't have the time to do that now. Maybe later.

[kneedeepindead]

thanks for the instructions. it will definitely come in handy when my supercard gets here

[lenap]

nice guide man(sticky plz)funny thing is i order from realhotstuff on tuesday and im still waiting to get my stuff(hopefully today), so this guide will come in very handy.

[samar7]

9 times outa 10 it says sd card not found, what the hell is the problem im so confused

[lind0834]

9 times outa 10 it says sd card not found

If it says SD Card not found it means exactly that. Maybe the card isn't seated right. Maybe it's pins aren't making contact. Maybe the SD card is cheap and doesn't have properly pins. I would try a different SD card and see if you get the same results.

This is the error you get if you have no SD card in at all.. if you were wondering.

[bball1515]

for some reason my roms do not show up on the sd card menu, although the save files do? has anyone else had this problem? I did patch them through the supercard program and transfered both files onto the sd card?

[kneedeepindead]

can someone post instructions for GBA roms? i am having a lot of difficulties with these. thanks

[Tomlee45]

for some reason my roms do not show up on the sd card menu, although the save files do? has anyone else had this problem? I did patch them through the supercard program and transfered both files onto the sd card?

Im having the exact same problem

[biggy7]

for some reason my roms do not show up on the sd card menu, although the save files do? has anyone else had this problem? I did patch them through the supercard program and transfered both files onto the sd card?

just got my setup now , SuperCard Lite, SuperKey and 1gb Sandisk Micro, using patcher to patch roms and i get the same problem :( cant see any files in the "list" menu, but can see them all the in "Saver" menu

i tried reformatting the micro card and reinstalling the patcher software but stil a no go!

any advice?

EDIT, right i tried pushing the supercard more in to the slot and i think that sorted the problem out! working fine now :

and noy the micro sd card is hard to get out! lol

[Tomlee45]

just got my setup now , SuperCard Lite, SuperKey and 1gb Sandisk Micro, using patcher to patch roms and i get the same problem :( cant see any files in the "list" menu, but can see them all the in "Saver" menu

i tried reformatting the micro card and reinstalling the patcher software but stil a no go!

any advice?

EDIT, right i tried pushing the supercard more in to the slot and i think that sorted the problem out! working fine now :

and noy the micro sd card is hard to get out! lol

well my problem was because all of the roms were already formatted / patched for m3 so I needed the original roms and then they worked.

[greyhound]

this has answered a lot of my questions. Thanks for the post

[Ted Zeppelin]

What exactly does the Supercard patching program do? I ran a few Homebrew games through it and none of them worked on my SCLite, then I just extracted the original rar files onto the MicroSD and they worked fine.

Also, what's the deal with file extentions? Whenever I run a homebrew with a .gba extention I get a GBA startup screen but nothing else. I changed a few to .nds and then they worked, although it doesn't seem to be a hard and fast way to make stuff work.

[MR_COW]

You don't patch homebrew in it. Its for games only. You either

1) Just run the .nds file, it will work
2) Use the homebrew patcher: http://l33t.spod.org/ratx/DS/SC/scmhbp/

[Ted Zeppelin]

Thanks for clearing that one up for me.

[AwesomeDavid]

Hello, I recently bought a SC lite and I'm completely clueless in what I should do.

I went to the supercard.cn website and downloaded the UPGRADE.scu file onto my microsd and ran it on my DS.

What else do I need to set up before I can start playing my ROMs and mp3s :) I heard something about formatting the MicroSD card and downloading some ROM patchers before I could put them onto my microSD.

Please, provide links to anything I need before I can start playing.

[Ted Zeppelin]

What's the purpose of the little round sticker that spans the seam on my SCLite? Is it an anti tamper measure in case the SCL breaks? I know it's insignificant, but it's white and red so it sticks out like a sore thumb on my black supercard and I'd like to get rid of it if It's not there for any good reason.

[m0n3y]

I had the same question (because my sticker was torn along the seal) and after talking to the dealer and posting on SuperCard's official forum, it turns out that it's just a customs tag that gets placed on any electronics that are exported from China. It's definately not a tamper seal or anything like that. So you can just remove it.

[greyhound]

i think it just states which batch the card was in, each number representing a month. I seem to remember there being 12 numbers and "8" was checked when i received mine at the start of this month.

Yeah, well, anyway i torn mine off because it didn't look too nice.

[Ted Zeppelin]

Cool, off it goes then.

[Penpal]

I'm in the same boat as awesomedavid, who I assume is very lame for even suggesting his awesomeness.

I just got my SC Lite, and I formatted my card to FAT. I just downloaded the install from the Supercard website, and it came with these files:

moonshell reset for NDS.nds
upgrade.scu
patchmoomshellforsupercard.exe
scfont.fon
setupmicrosd.exe

What do I do with the upgrade file? Or the moonshell reset fil? Or the patch moonshell file? I'm lost.

[greyhound]

the UPGRADE.scu is used to update the SCL firmware, this needs to be added to your microsd, this was the first thing i did added the .scu to the clean microsd. This is what i did, inserted the SCL with microsd but without a nopass(i think it works with or without the nopass device inserted) to boot to gba. Then i was prompted whether or not i want to upgrade the existing firmware with the new .scu file firmware, then followed instructions.

With your new SCL you shouldn't need to do this as it comes with the latest firmware (V1.63) already installed. But, you should try it out as it will be good to know for when the next upgrade comes out. It should just ask whether you want to replace the V1.63 with V1.63 if current firmware is up-to-date, obviously.

[Desmondo]

Hey people, first post here :D

The other week I installed the SuperCard software for a SuperCardSD. I've now also got a SuperCard Lite. Can I use the same software to patch the ROM's or is the software different for the SD and the Lite?

[Fishes0612]

As far as I know you need to repatch the [clean] files again for the lite, something to do with the lite having different firmware or something like that.

[Quartershine]

Just got my SC today and this guide had me playing NDS in no time! Thanks for the guide :D