Recommended Flashcarts - All Systems #

Looking for a flashcart to use ntrboot? Click here. If you are looking for a flashcart to play DS Games and homebrew, see below.

Ace3DS X #

Buying Information — Detailed Information — Setup Guide & Kernel

The Ace3DS X is based upon the Ace3DS+ with a switch to use for 3DS ntrboot (see the ntrboot link above if you require this). This is a good option for 3DS users but the below Ace3DS+ carts are generally a cheaper option if you don’t have a 3DS.

Pros:

• Uses the Ace Wood R4 kernel which has great support for ROM hacks and games with DS-Wii connectivity.
• Works on all DS & 3DS family consoles on all firmware versions.

Cons:

• Poor shell quality, may not fit well in some consoles.
• Ace Wood R4 kernel lacks anti-piracy patches for a few games.

Resolving Anti-Piracy Issues

Ace Wood R4 has anti-piracy issues with some games, namely with Pokémon Black & White 2. To play these games you will have to manually AP patch their ROMs, or use a cheat database and enable the Anti-Piracy bypass cheat before starting the game.

Ace3DS+/R4iLS Clones #

Buying Information — Detailed Information — Setup Guide & Kernel

These carts are clones of the Ace3DS+ and R4iLS that are a cheaper alternative to the Ace3DS X. If you’re simply looking to play DS games and run homebrew, this is the most recommended option. Usually found as r4isdhc.com.cn carts, or r4isdhc.hk carts with a year number of 2020 or newer inside a star shape.

Pros:

• Uses the Ace Wood R4 kernel which has great support for ROM hacks and games with DS-Wii connectivity.
• More affordable than the Ace3DS X and easily available.
• Works on all DS & 3DS consoles on all firmware versions.

Cons:

• Poor shell quality, may not fit well in some consoles.
• Ace Wood R4 kernel lacks anti-piracy patches for a few games.

Resolving Anti-Piracy Issues

Ace Wood R4 has anti-piracy issues with some games, namely with Pokémon Black & White 2. To play these games you will have to manually AP patch their ROMs, or use a cheat database and enable the Anti-Piracy bypass cheat before starting the game.

DSTTi DEMON-HW Clones #

Buying Information — Detailed Information — Setup Guide & Kernel

These are clone of the DSTTi, previously listed here as “DSTTi Timebomb Clones”. These carts are still a decent choice if the Ace3DS X or Ace3DS+ is not available to you. Usually found as r4i-sdhc.com or r4isdhc.com (not .hk) 2014+ carts, branded as Gold Pro, RTS Lite and Dual Core. (There is no difference in hardware between them, only color/label differences)

Pros:

• Higher quality shell then the Ace3DS+ & X and generally fits better in most consoles.
• Works on all DS & 3DS consoles on all firmware versions.
• Easily available.

Cons:

• The supported YSMenu & R4iMenu kernels are not as good as Ace Wood R4, although they are still compatible with most retail games.
• Often sold at a higher price than Ace3DS+/R4iLS clones.

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Detailed Information #

Read this section if you would like to see more information about the above recommended flashcarts.

Ace3DS X #

The Ace3DS X is a version of the Ace3DS+ (seen below) that also supports ntrboot with just a flick of a switch.

Ntrboot is a method that allows you to hack your 3DS easily, or fix a bricked 3DS family console. The Ace3DS X makes ntrboot easily accessible without any modification required, such as flashing the cartridge!

For general usage outside of hacking or unbricking, Ace3DS X clones are a good cheap option, however they have a few downsides. Due to iffy shell quality some report that it doesn’t fit well into their consoles. It also runs an unofficial fork of Wood which lacks anti-piracy patches for a few games, namely Pokémon Black & White 2. To play these games you will have to manually AP patch their ROMs, or use a cheat database and enable the Anti-Piracy bypass cheat before starting the game. Its biggest benefit is that it works on all DS family consoles up to latest 3DS consoles.

Obtaining and Setup #

This is recommended for unhacked DSi and 3DS users to buy, as well as people who are attempting to unbrick their console (or would like the peace of mind). Usually costs $5-10 USD.

Searching “ace3ds” on AliExpress or eBay usually returns this cart.

Links to purchase the Ace3DS X are provided below, but they may not be the cheapest option as they’re one of many listings:

• NDS-Card
• AliExpress [1]
• AliExpress [2]
• AliExpress [3]

Kernels #

• Ace Wood R4 Kernel: Ace3DS+/R4iLS Wood R4 v1.62
• AceOS Kernel (Ace Wood R4 + Built-in Emulators): AceOS

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Ace3DS+/R4iLS Clones #

These carts are clones of the Ace3DS+ or R4iLS flashcarts, compatible with all DS, DSi, and 3DS consoles, even unhacked ones on the latest firmware. These carts do not work with ntrboot - see the Ace3DS X instead if this is a feature that you may need.

Important distinction: past listings of unlabeled Ace3DS+/R4iLS clones exist, but we can no longer advise the purchase of these carts as they have started mixing in older versions of the Ace3DS+ which do not work on the latest firmware. More confusion arises from the fact that there are also timebomb clones that have very similar looking PCBs to the Ace3DS+ unlabeled carts. Please purchase the other labeled variants instead, specifically the two shown below.

Ace3DS+/R4iLS clones are an excellent option, however they have a few downsides. Due to iffy shell quality some report that it doesn’t fit well into their consoles. It also runs an unofficial fork of Wood which lacks anti-piracy patches for a few games, namely Pokémon Black & White 2. To play these games you will have to manually AP patch their ROMs, or use a cheat database and enable the Anti-Piracy bypass cheat before starting the game.

Variants #

Multiple variations of this cart exist, and they’re all clones of the Ace3DS+ or the R4iLS. Here are the most common ones:

These carts are sold under a variety of brandings. The 2020 and later carts labeled as r4isdhc.com.cn and r4isdhc.hk are R4iLS clones. “208-in-1” and unlabeled carts are Ace3DS+ or R4iLS clones. All of these carts will perform the same and use the same kernel, so choose whichever label style you like.

Warning regarding r4isdhc.hk variant: Not all carts labeled with the r4isdhc.hk URL are R4iLS/Ace3DS+ clones. If you choose to buy this variant, look out for the following characteristics to make sure you get the correct cart:

• The year number on the label should have a star shaped outline, and NOT a ribbon style
• The label should be silver colored
• The label should have the text “Smart Update” on it
• The label should NOT have “Gold Pro”, “Real Time Save”, or “RTS LITE” on it
• The PCB should be a red color

Obtaining and Setup #

Searching “r4 wood” on AliExpress or “r4” on eBay usually returns this cart.

Links to AliExpress are provided below, but they may not be the cheapest option as they’re one of many listings:

• r4isdhc.com.cn carts [1]
• r4isdhc.com.cn carts [2]
• r4isdhc.com.cn carts [3]
• r4isdhc.com.cn [NDS-Card]
• r4isdhc.hk cart

Kernels #

• Ace Wood R4 Kernel: Ace3DS+/R4iLS Wood R4 v1.62
• AceOS Kernel (Ace Wood R4 + Built-in Emulators): AceOS

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DSTTi DEMON HW Clones #

These common carts are clones of the DSTTi, and are known as “timebomb” carts because their stock kernels used to contain a date-check mechanism that would throw an error past a certain date. The latest releases of the stock kernel for these carts no longer contain this timebomb, so users who want to use stock kernel-specific features like RTS have the option of using it instead of the recommended YSMenu. These carts are compatible with all DS, DSi, and 3DS consoles - even on the latest firmware - so they make a decent choice for unhacked DSi/3DS users, but the above Ace3DS+/R4iLS clones are recommended instead if possible.

Most of these carts sold today are labeled r4isdhc.com or r4i-sdhc.com, but others do exist. Ace3DS+ clones are recommended instead due to the Wood kernel having higher compatibility with games and romhacks, as well as certain features like Wii connectivity in DS games. One notable advantage of these carts over Ace3DS+ clones is that they support ntrboot for installing CFW on a 3DS, and can also be flashed with DSi ntrboot for unbricking DSi consoles. However, the Ace3DS X above is preferable for 3DS ntrboot use, since it has ntrboot preflashed and uses a better kernel when in DS mode.

There is a lot of misinformation surrounding timebombs and what they do. See our Timebomb Misconceptions page for more details.

Variants #

Obtaining and Setup #

This cart is only recommended if you cannot buy an Ace3DS X or Ace3DS+ clone, or if you need a flashcart for DSi ntrboot. Usually costs $5-10 USD. Searching “r4 gold pro” on AliExpress or eBay usually returns this cart.

Links to AliExpress are provided below, but they may not be the cheapest option as they’re one of many listings:

• r4isdhc.com carts
  • r4isdhc.com carts [1]
  • r4isdhc.com carts [2]
  • r4isdhc.com carts [NDS-Card]
• r4i-sdhc.com carts
  • r4i-sdhc.com carts [1]
  • r4i-sdhc.com carts [NDS-Card]

Kernels #

• Kernel: YSMenu
• Alternate Kernel:
  • r4isdhc.com 4.3b
  • r4i-sdhc.com 1.87b

Other Flashcarts #

These are flashcarts which we don’t necessarily recommend but are available to buy. Information is provided here about these carts for people who may already have one.

Note: These flashcarts will only work on the DS, DS Lite, and hacked 3DS/DSi systems. They will not work on unhacked 3DS/DSi systems.

DSTT #

The original DSTT is still being sold by NDS-Card. Since this flashcart does not work on unhacked 3DS/DSi systems, we have not added it to our list of recommended flashcarts.

This cart may be useful for ntrboot. NDS-Card appear to have sent out genuine DSTTs which can be used for that purpose. Though if you need a flashcart for ntrboot, an Ace3DS X will still be a better choice over this cart.

Obtaining and Setup #

You can find a link to NDS-Card’s listing below. If NDS-Card does not ship to your country, you may be able to find it on second-hand marketplaces for cheap.

• NDS-Card: https://www.nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=157

You should avoid the original TTMenu kernel just in case you are sent a DSTT clone, you will risk bricking your flashcart if you attempt to use it. We would recommend using YSMenu or RetroGameFan’s repacked version of TTMenu instead.

• Kernel: DSTTi Clone YSMenu/TTMenu

These are carts that you may encounter but are generally NOT recommended.

EZ Flash Parallel #

The EZ Flash Parallel is a new flashcart on the market with a fairly stylish shell design. It will work on the DS/DS Lite as well as unhacked DSi/3DS consoles. It comes pre-flashed with 3DS ntrboot meaning that you can use it to unbrick your console or to install custom firmware. Unfortunately, that’s where the positives mostly end for this flashcart.

There are several issues that result in this flashcart not being recommended:

• Very slow SD card speeds. This causes slowdown in some games, especially those with video cutscenes.
• Multiple reports of fitment issues with the cart, with the shell being too thick for some DS consoles, therefore not fitting properly.
• Reports of users also needing to use the paper trick to use the cart with the PCB pins not making good contact. Both these issues demonstrate the inconsistent build quality of this flashcart.
• Sleep mode is non-functional, causing a strobing effect when it is used (GBATemp Post). It is not clear if this issue will be fixed any time soon.

FPGA Misconceptions

One common misconception about the EZ Flash Parallel is that the FPGA on the cart is currently being left unused. This isn’t true. The FPGA is the brains of the flashcart, it is being used to handle cart commands and SD I/O, much like how other flashcarts with an FPGA use them. The actual reason why the FPGA was listed as a selling point on EZ Flash’s website is because it is being made entirely within China, though the meaning behind this seems to have been lost in translation.

GPL Non-compliance

Other issues which some community members feel are worth mentioning about this cart is EZ Flash’s attitude to open source. EZ Flash stated they were planning to release the source code to their DLDI - which they aren’t required to do. However, this has not happened many months later. Similarly, they are refusing to give out the source code to the cart’s kernel. The EZDS kernel is based on WoodRPG, which is licensed under GPLv3. Since the license requires them to provide the source code to the kernel, they are violating the license terms. They are also violating the GPLv2 license of Homebrew Menu as functions from it have been found in the EZP’s firmware. In the past, EZ Flash have respected the licenses of any open source software that they used in their products, which is why it’s strange for them to not do so now.

Due to this flashcart’s unusually high price - which often sells for around 25 USD, whereas most other carts sell between 5-10 USD - and the issues listed above, we cannot recommend this cart to people looking to buy one. If you own an EZ Flash Parallel, please update to the latest kernel (1.06) as soon as possible as it fixes a bug where the game Casper's Scare School: Spooky Sports Day can brick the flashcart due to a missing save patch.

R4DS Pro #

While on the surface this may look like an original R4 clone, and is often described as an original R4, this cart is not related to it at all. It is based on the R4 Ultra, which is itself a derivative of the Acekard 2. However, it doesn’t pass AKAIO’s clone checks, therefore making BL2CK OS the best kernel choice like most other Acekard 2 based carts. Do note however that due to a quirk mentioned below, it uses it’s own version of BL2CK: BL2CK 1.31.0 (r4dspro.com)

BL2CK tends to avoid the AP-patching issues that Ace3DS+ clones have, however it has some problems specific to this cart:

• Attempting to access the Minigames section in New Super Mario bros crashes on a black screen.
• Attempting to change WFC settings in some games will cause the console to freeze.
• DS Download Play does not work in most games.
• Slow SD card speeds, especially when using homebrew due to it only supporting a single-block DLDI.
• Sleep mode does not work on some R4DS Pro units, causing a strobing effect (Reddit Post).

Do not attempt to run YSMenu on this flashcart, doing so will cause it to brick!

We do not recommend this flashcart due to an increase in reports of them being dead on arrival. If the cart isn’t DOA, it’s likely that it will die after a short period of time. Some people have reported that it took less than a week for their R4DS Pro to become a paperweight. The Ace3DS+/R4iLS clones on the market are generally just as cheap and do not have the issues listed above. We would suggest that you buy one of them instead.

AliExpress “DSTWO”s #

There are flashcarts currently being sold on AliExpress which claim to be a SuperCard DSTWO. In reality, they are Ace3DS+ clones with a misleading description and sticker. Due to the misleading information in these listings and their high prices, we do not recommend that you go out and buy one.

These carts typically come with a pre-loaded SD card. The files on the SD card includes a maintained version of AOS (known as Wood Beyond) which has been skinned to look like the DSTWOs EvolutionOS, as well as some pirated scene ROMs. The SD cards are low quality and will fail fairly quickly.

DSTWOs haven’t been in production for a few years now. If you see a listing for one on AliExpress, chances are that it is just an Ace3DS+ clone with a false description.

R4 Gold 3DS RTS #

This is a flashcart by r4i-gold.com which appears to be a clone of the pk3ds.com cart. It has both a micro SD card slot and a proprietary USB port. The USB port appears to be used to provide power to the flashcart so that it can upgrade it’s firmware from the micro SD card. We currently do not have any archive of the firmware upgrades for this flashcart.

This flashcart was also being sold as a “DSTTi Gold from ndstt.com” on AliExpress. This flashcart wasn’t made by the DSTT team, it’s just a relabelled version of this flashcart.

We have decided to move this flashcart to the non-recommended list due to reports of carts being dead on arrival. We cannot guarantee that you will receive a working flashcart if you decide to buy one of these.

R4 DS #

Identical (1:1) clones of the original R4 cart are available on AliExpress, but they are not recommended due to only supporting 2 GB or smaller microSD cards. They also do not work in unhacked DSi and 3DS systems. Even on hacked 3DS and DSi systems, they can only be launched via TWiLight Menu++ or homebrew like NTR_Launcher, due to not showing up in the console’s home menu when inserted.

Despite all these flaws listed above, they do however use a great kernel - Official Wood R4 1.62, which has near-perfect game compatibility.

These clones on AliExpress can be identified by their green PCB with the text “ROHS Card 7a”, inside of a grey, unlabeled shell. It usually costs around $5. Even though they are relatively cheap, your money would likely be better invested in one of the recommended carts above instead.

R4i Gold 3DS Plus #

This cart halted production at the start of 2020. They were formerly highly recommended carts with a highly compatible and feature-rich kernel (Wood R4 1.64), but their last batch was faulty and cannot play NDS ROMs on their stock kernel - thus, they are no longer recommended. Do not follow any old advice saying to buy them.

This refers specifically to the R4i Gold 3DS Plus from r4ids.cn, they should not be confused with carts from any other website.

If you do have one of the faulty carts, you can use BL2CK or TwiLight Menu ++ instead to play NDS ROMs. Though you will miss out on the features that Wood R4 1.64 provides.

Stargate3DS #

Stargate3DS flashcarts are still being made to this day. However, they are not recommended in the context of a DS flashcart for a few reasons. The major reason being that it is only usable on a 3DS, you cannot use it’s DS mode on a DS, DS Lite, or DSi due to the shape of the cartridge. The DS mode of this flashcart becomes inaccessible once you have installed Luma3DS onto your 3DS. There are ways around this however. One option is to install a Stage2 launcher, we have one available in the flashcard-archive (SG_Launcher). The other option is to compile Luma3DS without the patchTwlWhitelistChecks function. Do note however that the latter option may be less desirable if you intend to use other flashcarts that do not pass the console’s whitelist checks. The Stargate3DS does have exFat support built in. However, this can present issues in DS mode as the DLDI driver only works with Fat32 formatted microSD cards. The kernel used in the DS mode also has a broken cheat engine. This of course means that you cannot use cheat codes in games without using an alternative to the kernel, such as TWiLight Menu++. For titles that require anti-piracy patches (ie. Pokemon Black/White 2), you will have to manually patch them as AP-bypass cheats will be unavailable to you. If you are looking for a DS flashcart to use in your 3DS, consider an Ace3DS X instead. It doesn’t require any workarounds to get it to boot in custom firmware and can be used in any DS console.

In the context of the 3DS, it’s not the best option you could choose to play 3DS games. It can’t play ROM hacks, eShop titles, homebrew, and some later titles that use a newer anti-piracy standard. A better option for most people would be installing custom firmware to your 3DS. It is easy to do and it allows you to install 3DS backups directly to your console. You will need custom firmware to dump your 3DS ROMs for use in the flashcart anyways. CFW does lack the ability to hotswap games and save files between consoles however, which this cart is able to do.

The Stargate3DS goes for around $30 on AliExpress. As this is a very niche cart at the end of the day, we feel that it may not be worth it for most people. Hence why we have put it in the non-recommended flashcarts section.

Alternative Options for DSi/3DS Users #