Solving Ultra N-Card 8G and 16G Problem and Upgrading

A bit of sharing about how to solve known NDS Ultra FireLink N-Card issue on NDS Standard and NDS Lite (I suffered from this incident too and it took me a month to solve this without profesional assistance, so I felt oblige to share my steps to let those who need support understand better);

1. Corrupted "Save" problem that causes a ROM to have multiple save files
- when you check your Flash Cartridge folder, you'll see a number of copies of a save file with same
name. This can happen with faulty ROMS such as those named in numbers to replace ABC names
or those said to end with certain letters before the ".nds" such as "Z" or "X". e.g. ART becomes
4r7 or Puzzles become Puzzlez. Such ROMS should be avoided from use.
2. Corrupted "Save" problem that requires re-formatting
3. Wanting to Update or Upgrade from older firmware to newer firmware

PS: My Flash Cartridge is a UNC Ultra N-card 8Gbit. Its also known as an DS Fire Link a clone of the
N-card. But both method are the same. How to know? If yours is like mine then your original
version would be 1.23 if yours is the N-card then it should be 1.33.

The N-Card/Fire Link cartridge is a slot-1 version accompanied by a slot-2 data exchage cartridge
and a mini USB cord.

Make sure your NDS console is fully charged before starting! And use the appropriate version that match with your flash cartridge version. Remember mine is 1.23 version suffering from corrupted save data issues and wanting to upgrade to newer version!

Solving your problem for "Corrupted Save Data":
1. Download the appropriate firmware copy (in my case was the DS FIRE LINK 1.23V.ZIP) from
linfoxdomain.com/nintendo/ds ; unpack using WinRar or WinZip or 7zip
2. Download the DLDI file name dldi_ncard.dldi from the same site
3. Download the DS FIRE LINK file name DS_FIRE_LINK_KERNEL_v1.23 from the same site also if
yours is a 1.23 version
3. Insert your Flash Cartridge to slot 1. Press L+R+Up while switching on your NDS console.
It should prompt you to FORMAT your Flash Cartridge. Choose FULL FORMAT, wait until 100%
and then switch off your console. Now insert the slot 2 devices and go to PC transfer mode.
You should see that the flash cartridge folder is now empty.
4. Copy the entire firmware folders that you downloaded in step 1 and copy the DLDI file into your
DSSYSTEM folder.
5. Copy the content of the step 3 to your flash cartridge folder if you want but not mandatory. If you
decide to do this then you must remove your slot 2 device, switch on your console and run this file
to get the update and then remove the file afterward.
5. Your problem should now be solved.

Upgrading your Flash Cartridge (in my case 1.23v upgrade to 1.45v):
1. Download the upgrade firmware file from the site I mentioned above. In my case was the 1.45v
of the DS FIRE LINK
2. In my case the upgrade firmware when extracted contain the files; FIRE_LINK_1_45.nds , READ ME
in kanji, and XMENU.DAT
3. Boot your Flash Cartridge to your PC, open your Flash Cartridge folder and copy the
FIRE_LINK_1_45.NDS file. Switch off and remove the slot 2 devices. (Make sure you have made a
copy of all the content of your original flash cartridge folder before starting!)
4. Now switch on your console and run the .NDS file. It should auto prompt you to FORMAT your
Flash Cartridge. Choose QUICK FORMAT and press A. Follow the on-board instructions. If you do
correctly then the next screen would inform you to install the XMENU.DAT.
5. Without switching off your NDS console, insert the slot 2 devices and now copy the .DAT file and
the FIRE_LINK_1_45.NDS into the blank flash cartridge folder.
6. Remove the slot 2 device and switch on your NDS console again. This time your NDS will auto
prompt itself to make a new DSSYSTEM folder. Your upgrading should be done with this step
completed. You can now re-install your games and save data to the flash cartridge folder.

Non-related:
Other known DEBUGGING button combinations with a flash cartridge in slot 1(try at your risk! Find out about it from other sites or try it yourself if you wish to experiment) not guarantee to work instantly:
1. START+SELECT while switching on your console
2. L+R+Down while switching on your console
3. L+R+Up+A+B while switching on your console

Don't ask me about what those combinations are for. I saw it in some other sites about going into debug mode to "mess" with your flash cartridge. Mostly formating related. If you need some homebrew ROM such as moonshell or others, you'll need to seek it yourself. I found those combinations of no use to solve my problems.

Q: Can I still use the SELECT button feature to change my save data options like the 1.23v?
A: Yes that feature is still available on the 1.45v

Q: How to update the XMENU.DAT from a 2.52v to a 2.55v?
A: You just need to remove the older version from your flash cartridge folder and replace with the
newer version and the XMENU.DAT will update itself.

Q: What's different between the 1.23v and the 1.45v?
A: I'm no expert on this, but visually the main menu is different. The .nds files will now be shown as
block lists and not as individual block icons. For further info, please find out about it yourself.

Q: Can I remove the FIRE_LINK_1_45.NDS file from my flash cartridge after the XMENU.DAT created a
new DSSYSTEM folder?
A: By all means. It could be wise to do so to avoid accidental reformatting in the future. But you might
need that file if you decide to upgrade the XMENU.DAT.

This is as far as I go. If you need to discuss this please by all means among forum members. I might or might not join in. Please refrain from trying to reach me. Thx.



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