Nintendo DS stuff

NDS

Recently I’ve been playing around with my nintendo DS again and it really is a great gadget.  For a child targetted  console it really has a number of cool apps to make it worth a bit of attention.

First up get a multi card adapter – I have a CycloDS evolution but there are lots of online forums which cover this type of device.  Obviously, only backup the games you own to the card but you can carry a lot around as it uses a microSD card for storage.  I find a 2GB card okay but a 4GB or 8GB would be better if you want video as well.  It also supports the Moonshell application which can run multimedia and I’ll focus on using that here.

The latest firmware for cycloDS and Moonshell is available here.    The best thing I’ve done recently, and spent a long time on forums figuring out, is how to play my DVD’s on my DS.   We are planning some driving holidays this year so having some of Becca’s favorites with us might just help us out

The NDS plays back a DPG format which I wasn’t familiar with but read on to find out how to convert movies to it using Freeware tools!

First up get a product which will copy your DVD’s to your computer Hard Drive.  I use DVDFab which is free and seems to do a good job as it allow you to select the audio required and if you only want the main movie.  You can buy a license to do more with it.

The output from DVD fab includes a VIDEO_TS folder with a few VOBs in it depending upon the size of the DVD y0u are reading.

Next you need to stitch them together for conversion to DPG format.  To do this I use DVD Shrink but ensure you set the options/preferences correctly (it’s a bit hidden) as you need a single VOB output for the next step.

Now you should have a single VOB file for your DVD ready for conversion.  Next up is a great product called super which took me ages to find but fronts some very powerful command-line driven video conversion freeware tools.  Install it and follow the instructions to convert your VOB to a DPG file.  It also supports many other conversions which I’ll leave to your exploration.   Simply copy this DPG file to your MicroSD card which is inserted into your CycloDS evolution Card.  Power up your DS  and select Moonshell (or equvalent) to play it back.

Good Luck and I hope this has saved you the few hours I spent figuring this out!   Obviously this is all at your own risk but give me a shout if you have any questions.

Jon

p.s. The NDS will be even better when there is a version of fring which will allow skype calls over WLAN on it.

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