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[NOT WORKING] Use the PokeShifter/Transfer Machine with your English D/P/Pt/HG/SS!


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Sorry guys but the results are in and this isn't working. I don't know what else to try so consider this project dead until further notice. The following is kept for informational purposes only:

MUST-READ: There are several important pieces of information that you should be aware of here:

  • I recommend that you DO NOT use the method I am going to detail here. This method is potentially risky and much more restricting than simply using a save editor (which I do recommend).
  • This requires your copy of D/P/Pt/HG/SS to be retail; no flashcards.
  • This requires at least one DS "Phat" or DS Lite. The second DS can be any model DS, as long as it will run Black/White from a flashcard.
  • This requires that you flash the firmware of your DS "Phat" or Lite. Flashing carries an inherent risk of bricking your device and/or voiding your warranty. I am not responsible if that happens. That said, I have flashed my DS without a problem and will provide guidance for you. Firmware can be flashed back to its untouched state later.

If after reading the above bulleted items, for whatever reason, you still want to try this method, follow the step-by-step instructions below.

  1. For now the modifications I've made are only available as part of Project Pokemon's English translation patch. Make sure you have applied the latest version from here to your B/W ROM. Just let me know if this doesn't meet your needs.
  2. Now we need to flash your DS "Phat"/Lite. Download FlashMe from here and place it on your flashcards's microSD(HC). Make sure your flashcard is in the Phat/Lite you want to flash.
  3. Boot your flashcard and run FlashMe. As it will tell you, you should plug in the charger before continuing. Once that's done press x+b twice.
  4. Now you'll see a new paragraph followed by a line reading "Progress:" ... If the progress percentage goes right to 100 and you get a new paragraph saying it's safe to turn of the DS, you're done.
  5. Most likely in that last step you didn't make it past 0%. If that's the case, get out a small Phillips screwdriver and a small flathead screwdriver. Use the Phillips to open up the battery compartment of your DS. Depending on if you have a Phat or Lite, you will see something like this:
    SL1_phat.jpgSL1_lite.jpg


  6. The part circled in red might have a bit of paper stuck over it, you will have to remove it. You can either discard it or try to stick it back when you're done.
  7. Now you have exposed the SL1 terminal (circled in red). As FlashMe says, we need to short this. Use your flathead screwdriver to bridge the two sides. Make sure you're applying constant, firm (but not hard) pressure on the screwdriver.
  8. Flip your DS around, still holding the screwdriver in place, and have another look at the percentage. It should be progressing upwards now. If it pauses don't panic, just adjust the screwdriver a bit and it should continue.
  9. Continue holding the screwdriver until you get a message that it is safe to turn off the DS. Turn it off and you're done flashing. You can ditch the screwdriver and put your battery cover back on.
  10. Upon turning on your DS again you'll notice that the health and safety screen is gone, this is normal.
  11. You can now PokeShift/Transfer Machine as you normally would, only with an English game. Just make sure the English game is in your flashed DS and your B/W is patched as mentioned in step one. Enjoy!

Technical Note (You don't need to read this.)

Some folks out there might be wondering why it's necessary to flash the client DS. After all, nobody has needed to flash a DS since practically the beginning of time right? Well, as you probably know B/W uses download play for cross-generation communication. That brought in an ancient problem in respect to editing the regions. The region is of course specified in the download play ROM (which is inside and sent from the B/W ROM); problem is, Nintendo decided in developing the original DS that all download play ROMs must be RSA signed to prevent unauthorized code execution. Lucky for me there was an ancient solution to this ancient problem: flashing, which removes the RSA signature check from the DS's firmware, freeing it to run my slightly modified ROM. =)

I'd like to give a big thanks to to those who worked on FlashMe and its custom firmware; this wouldn't be possible without them.

Edited by Poryhack
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can this break my ds lite??

Potentially. If you follow the directions carefully it probably will be fine though. Compare it to installing the homebrew channel on a wii, if you've done that.

As I said in the first post:

Flashing carries an inherent risk of bricking your device and/or voiding your warranty. I am not responsible if that happens. That said, I have flashed my DS without a problem and will provide guidance for you.
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Wait, how exactly does using FlashMe get rid of the region block?

It doesn't. The modifications I made in the PP patch change the region from J to E (sadly I can't remove the lock altogether). The flashing is required because the client DS won't accept the modified ROM without it. If you want more details read the "technical note" section.

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Yes, download and run NoFlashMe from here. Same basic procedure. Unless you are planning to send it in to Nintendo though I would just leave it; it is pretty much identical to the stock firmware.

So it doesn't put back your original firmware? Or is there a way to dump it and then put it back?

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thanks, I already did that to get rid of the annoying health screen to begin with, but I didn't know it fixed pokeshifter. Thanks a lot!

It doesn't by itself. You still need to patch the ROM in addition to flashing. Flashing just fixes a secondary problem. If you've tried the whole process and gotten it to work, please let me know.

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Ok, there might be some problem that I didn't anticipate. Like I said I wasn't able to test this myself.

Unfortunately I don't have a clue what that problem might be. Only thing I can do at this point is ask you guys to please take pics of the error message on both DSes. I'll get them translated and see if that gives any insights (I'm not too optimistic that it will though).

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Same issue for me. I flashed both DS' (just as a precaution), and did the download play. The DS with Pearl got an error, and the DS with Black booted me out the menu and brought me back to the Pokeshifter place.

Update: Just tried the transfer machine, it too didn't work.

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I haven't flashed my DS yet, but before hand in the error message it would give it said something about a DSi or DSiXL what is that about? i assume it also states something about land locked or something like that. but i was wondering if because it states DSi and DSiXL in the error message does that mean i need a DSi or DSiXL? i was using two DS lite

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I figured someone would find a method like this, including the firmware flashing part. It's too bad there's probably no way to falsify what the downloaded binary sends back with another flashcart.

You could probably write a homebrew app to do it, but IMO that's more work then it's worth.

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I don't know how well it would work with a homebrew app, since it seems like B/W sends over the download play binary then immediately tries to connect to it. Admittedly I haven't looked at it a lot, but I suspect the download would have to be skipped if a homebrew app were to be able to spoof the real binary.

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I don't know how well it would work with a homebrew app, since it seems like B/W sends over the download play binary then immediately tries to connect to it. Admittedly I haven't looked at it a lot, but I suspect the download would have to be skipped if a homebrew app were to be able to spoof the real binary.

Well the homebrew app would have to be stored and run from the client DS's flashcard. If it were listening it should be able to respond in the right timeframe with a similar response to what a normal DS in download play would produce.

This is pure speculation of course, I am not a homebrew developer nor have I researched download play much.

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