Print

[throwingks]

I pre-ordered a DS-X from realhotstuff.com (9.77/10 on resellerratings) and it is supposed to be shipped on Dec. 6th. They say they have some left if anyone is looking for one.

The DS-X is a NDS backup device (512mb) for the DS slot. Most devices are for the GBA slot requiring you to also use a passthru device or re-flash the DS firmware. With the DS-X you don't have to void any warranties or buy an extra device to make it work.

It can play music, movies, homebrew, emus, DS backups, and the OS is fully skinable. It features a built in USB port that supports drag and drop so no software to download. Plus some LEDs to make it pretty.

I will let you all know how everything goes when I finally get mine.

http://www.ds-x.com/

[Dano2k0]

Thanks for posting this mate, i'm really impressed with this.

I don't know when it'll be out in the UK? but there is a re-seller for this product over here so i might contact them and see when they'll have it in stock.

Now from what i understand which seems pretty simple you can just plug the device into your USB port and copy games and homebrew apps aswell as MP3's just loose into the main directory? or is there specific folders?

But just from the quick read i just did, you don't need to modify the firmware or use anything else to get this device to boot and play the backups etc?

I'm quite amazed, even the price is pretty good!

Only downside is 512MB? would be nice to see a 1GB or two.

Cheers

[throwingks]

I'm not 100% sure about directories, I will know know when I finally get it. MicroNinja and Acekard are both flush slot-1 devices that use explandable memory. They are not being sold yet I dont think.

I like the internal memory becuse you know its tranfer speeds are fast enough. I think 512mb will work for me. Especially since it is drag and drop. Once I have my all my DS stuff backed up to a CD/DVD I will just bring the disc with me wherever I go. If I need something not on my chip I can transfer from any computer with USB and a CD/DVD-ROM.

The only downside to slot-1 cards is no gba support. But, the DS-Xtreme acts as a passthru, so if you have a gba-slot device you can use both at the same time.

You can find authorized dealers worldwide from the http://www.ds-x.com/ website.

[throwingks]

I still haven't got my DS yet. Should be next week.
The DS-X team had a nice update today though.

http://news.ds-x.com/

QUOTE

To wrap up the FPGA talk, picture this, the FPGA device sitting inside your DS Xtreme has enough “room” to fit a complete ARM9 core and can be clocked at over 300Mhz !

I guess the DS-X is more powerful than the DS itself. That's pretty amazing. The rest of the long read goes into detail of some future plans.

QUOTE(epsilon72)

I've seen pictures of a Ninja Pass something-or-other that has a higher capacity than the DS-X becuase it can use microSD, and its also a Slot-1 only solution. I don't know who sells it though, its fairly new.

I was thinking about getting the AceKard, but the DS-X seemed better for me. It has better Download Play compatibility and better homebrew compatibility.

[throwingks]

I got it today!!! I am excited about this. I will try out some stuff and let ya'll know what I think.

[thepissedoffman]

QUOTE(throwingks @ Dec 9 2006, 05:00 PM)

I got it today!!! I am excited about this. I will try out some stuff and let ya'll know what I think.

Please let us know man. I am on the fence right now and would like to now a real user's experience.

[Dano2k0]

Yeah i'd also still like to know how the DS-X is going, ive heard plenty of good stuff about it but i know it still has minor downsides i belive such as GBA support?

I'm really happy with the M3 though, its abit expensive to get all the pieces together, but at least with this you can have many Micro SD cards, or you can even get just one really big Micro SD card and store plenty of stuff.

The M3 dash is excellent, i'm just having minor problems as of now with the PDA part of it, but the rest of the unit is great i don't think i could be more happy with it. Ive got the superkey passme card, and the M3 cart, along with a 1GB SD Micro card, its a great combination.

Still i'd deffinalty be interested in finding out about the DS-X, but i'll warn anyone in the UK whos interested, be warned the UK and europe i belive are in real trouble getting hold of these, they have been delayed for months and have pre-orders for more batches, but be warned you might not get one over here till like 03/07 or maybe even later...

Cheers

[throwingks]

The DS-Xtreme (DS-X) works exactly as described.

Drag & Drop ROM support, means no patching or editing. The DS-X is treated as a USB drive, so just plug it in (with the included standard mini-USB cable) and copy the ROMS over. I have been using 'DS-X Manager' which is homebrew ROM management software with trimming built in. Without the trim I could fit about 10 games on the DS-X. With the trim I added about 3 more. It holds a total of 512MB but a little bit is used up for the OS.

The OS is simple. It allows skinning but the skinning tools are not out yet. Basically, it has 4 options. Apps, Music, Settings, and About.

• Apps - Lists the ROMs and homebrew
• Music - Lists your Music files, and can be played with the built in Music Player
• Settings - A few options, such as 'Instant Boot' On/Off. You can instantly boot last loaded ROM or DS-X OS. I prefer the DS-X OS so I leave it off. You can also enable Dancing LEDs. Basicall, when you are listening to music you can have the 2 LEDs on the DS-Xtreme dance to the beat. Kinda neat but I have it disabled, my son likes things that flash. The 2 LEDs are tri-colored so you can also adjust the brightness of all 6 lights individually.
• About - Lets you know which firmware you are using. Currently only 2 firmwares released. 1.0.1 or 1.0.2. I updated my 1.0.1 to 1.0.2 with an easy update. After the update you have to format the DS-X in FAT16. Can be done from 'My Computer' and then copy a new skin folder over. Easy enough.

Saving is awesome. Every NDS game uses eeprom for saving, so the DS-X on every re-boot backs up the eeprom to a *.sav file. * = name of the ROM it came from. Everytime I plug the DS-X into my PC I backup all of my *.sav to a folder on my PC. You can revert to any by simply replacing the file on the DS-X.

If you want to watch movies on your DS, you need to use a program called Moonshell. It plays *.dpg files which are GBA movie file. They run at about half the framerate of normal movies so NTSC is 15fps and PAL is 12fps. With the right compression you can get a movie to be ~250MB leaving about half of the free space of the DS-X left for whatever you want.

A minor drawback is lack of GBA support. This is NOT the fault of the DS-X itself. A Nintendo DS has a slot for DS games (Slot-1) and a slot for GBA games (Slot-2). The Slot-1 transfers data slower than Slot-2. So you can put GBA games on the DS-X and access the GBA CPU but information would be asked for faster than the Slot-1 will allow. Causing every game to crash. The only way to play GBA games, as of right now, is with a Slot-2 device. The DS-X does, however, act as a passthru, telling the DS to look in Slot-2. So you will not have to flash your DS firmware or buy another passthru device.

With the DS-X you do NOT have to void any warranties by flashing the firmware. It works right out of the box. Truly Plug & Play.

You can read more at:
Home Page - http://www.ds-x.com/
News - http://news.ds-x.com/
Forums - http://www.ds-xtreme.com/

Any questions, I will be glad to answer. Post them here and I will make an effort to try stuff out for you.

QUOTE(Dano2ko)

Now from what i understand which seems pretty simple you can just plug the device into your USB port and copy games and homebrew apps aswell as MP3's just loose into the main directory? or is there specific folders?

The DS-X searches the whole device on boot. You do not need folders but it makes organization much nicer. DS-X Mangager needs an 'apps' folder or it crashes, but that is a homebrew program not publicly endorsed by DS-X.

To answer another question of yours, the OS does not have PDA software.

.

[throwingks]

The DS-X hold 4Gigabits or as most people know it as 512Megabytes. That is ample space unless you want to carry with you every game and every bit of homebrew ever made. I prefer the internal memory of the DS-X cause I never experience any slowdowns or any other common problems you can get with external chips. Internal memory is fast and you dont have to worry about compatibility.

1 of the nice features about the DS-X is the drag & drop from any PC. So if you want to swap out a ROM ofr another 1, you just plug it into your computer and treat it like a USB drive. Then unplug it and plug it into your DS. Pretty easy stuff. There is even a homebrew DS-X Mangaer software program that does it for you and has a trimming feature giving you more space.

Some of the new DS-Xs have had a data corruption error out of the box. It is easily fixed with an update from the official DS-X website.

[1337 pig]

QUOTE(Tob3z @ Jan 12 2007, 09:27 AM)

The DS-X is waaaay to much money for me. £70 is nearly as much as a DS.

There are others on the market like the M3 Simply or the  M3 Adapter SD version. Would you recommend any of these as a cheaper alternative?

I'll be getting my m3 simply today(according to ups tracking) and ill tell you what its like. Im soo excited!

[throwingks]

With the M3 Simply make sure you get the right memory for it. Get a SanDisk SD from Japan if you can. I read that it is the best at running without slowdowns.

[1337 pig]

YAY! It came and it was pretty easy to use. All i had to do is format the micro sd to the FAT file system and then transfer the os and w/e else I want. I'm lovin it right now but i cant find out how to get wi fi and browse the internet on my ds.

[manu_xl]

i hope new versions with more than 512mb space will be released soon. it's too small for me.

[throwingks]

QUOTE(Tob3z @ Jan 14 2007, 10:01 AM)

I think this is what I am going to go for as its the best way to run DS games as throwingks said.

No, no. The DS-X is best for running games and homebrew. The Sandisk from Japan is the best memory to buy for the M3.

You can't go wrong with either M3, R4 (essentially the same thing) or the DS-X. The DS-X is a bit better though, just limited memory. So if 512MB isnt enough (about 12 games) go with the M3/R4 and SD from Japan.

[dvsone]

I got a DS-Xtreme for my 7 year old nephew's DS-Lite. He love's it, nice and easy for him to use.

Thanks for the heads up about the DS-X Manager, I'll give it a try. Sounds awesome.