Homebrew [NDS] Yet Another nds-bootstrap Forwarder: more than 40 forwarders are now possible

[admin]

YANBF (Yet Another nds-bootstrap Forwarder) is a forwarder structure for nds-bootstrap.

Features:

• "forwarders" are referred to placeholder icons that will shortcut to a particular application (in this case, [nds-bootstrap](https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/nds-bootstrap))
  • Skip the [second menu](https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/TWiLightMenu) and just directly launch
• Launches from 3DS-mode.
  • The other implementation by @RocketRobz and @Olmectron, https://gameparadise.org/threads/nds-forwarder-cias-for-your-home-menu.2089/, is DSiWare, which means you are limited to only 40 titles. This works great on the DSi, it does not work great on the 3DS.
  • This means you can now install as many icons as you want until you max out the HOME menu icon space!

How it works:

• A pre-existing forwarder template exists: https://gameparadise.org/threads/nds-forwarder-cias-for-your-home-menu.2089/
  • This uses a DSiWare template, copies the icon and title and the ROM path, and then installed as a CIA. The CIA, when launched, will boot `sdcard.nds` which will do all the nds-bootstrap setup.
  • I instead opted to create an `sdcard.nds` bootloader, and then a 3DS-mode app that launches said bootloader
    • you can't launch `.nds` files from 3DS-mode. So a bootloader is required.
    • the bootloader does the same thing as the DSiWare template, in actuality.

How to use:

1. Go to https://github.com/YANBForwarder/YANBF/releases, and download the appropriate zip file for your PC OS
2. Go to https://github.com/RocketRobz/NTR_Forwarder/releases, and download the zip file that is not the source code
3. Extract the zip files
4. From the DS Game Forwarder Pack, copy everything in the for SD card root folder to your SD card root
5. From YANBF, copy bootstrap.cia to the `sd:/cias` folder
   • If this folder doesn't exist, make one
6. Download the latest TWiLight Menu++ version [here](https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/TWiLightMenu/releases). Only get the `3DS.7z` file
7. In the 7z file, go to `_nds`, `TWiLightMenu`, and `extras`
8. Drag the `apfix.pck` and `widescreen.pck` file to `sd:/_nds/ntr-forwarder/`

• Using the command-line program
  1. Open a terminal or command prompt and cd inside the generator folder
  2. Run `generator <path to ROM on your SD card>`
     • Make sure to replace `<path to ROM on your SD card>` with the full path to your ROM
     • If you do not have your SD card inserted in your computer, you must provide a custom ROM path using -p <ROM path on SD>
       • This ROM path must follow POSIX standards
         • i.e. if your ROM on SD card is at "sd:/ROMs/ROM.nds", pass -p "/ROMs/ROM.nds"
  3. The resulting CIA will be generated in this same folder. Copy this to the sd:/cias folder
  4. Boot your 3DS and install both CIAs using FBI
• Using the graphical user interface
  1. Open the `generator` folder, then:
     • Windows: Open YANBF-GUI.exe
     • macOS:
       1. Open YANBF-GUI.dmg
       2. Install YANBFGenerator app
     • Linux: Open YANBF-GUI.AppImage
  2. Set the generator directory to the path of your `generator` folder. A file browser icon next to the input can help with this
  3. Drag and drop as many ROMs as you need on your SD card to the app.
     • If you do not have your SD card inserted in your computer, you must provide a custom ROM path in the drop-down options
       • This ROM path must follow POSIX standards
         • i.e. if your ROM on SD card is at "sd:/ROMs/ROM.nds", write "/ROMs/ROM.nds"
  4. Click the Download button to start the generation process
  5. The resulting CIA will be generated in this same folder. Copy this to the sd:/cias folder
  6. Boot your 3DS and install all CIAs using FBI

Updating files:

• Using Universal-Updater
  1. Open Universal-Updater on your 3DS
     • You can download it here: https://github.com/Universal-Team/Universal-Updater/releases
  2. Navigate to `YANBF`, then install the YANBF Forwarder Pack
• Manually
  1. Re-follow steps 1-8 in the "How to use" section

Creating your own banners:

• For a quick tutorial, refer to @Yrouel's post here: https://gameparadise.org/threads/si...ng-lunapic-com-free-online-image-editor.2087/
• Technical definitions (for those who know their stuff):
  • Image must be in PNG format. It must be 256x128. You can center your image accordingly, but the resulting file must be that size or it will fail to generate.
  • Sound must be in WAV format, 16-bit, and shorter than 3 seconds. Otherwise, the 3DS will fail to render the banner entirely.
• Want to share? See https://github.com/YANBForwarder/assets#contribution-guidelines
  • Images are mandatory. Sound is optional.

Credits:

• devkitPro for their toolchain
• @RocketRobz for the TWLNAND bootstrap code
• @Pk11 for bannergif.py and testing
• @Olmectron for the initial GUI wrapper
• @spitzeqc for continued support on the GUI wrapper

Have an issue? Please post in this thread, or open an issue on https://github.com/YANBForwarder/YANBF/issues