Nintendo DS / Nintendo DSi

This is an old revision of the document!

Dumping DS and DSi carts is reasonably easy if you have a 3DS or DSi, but is more involved if you only have a DS available.

3DS console
DSi console
DS console via Wi-Fi
DS console via slot-2 flashcart

Tools

A Nintendo 3DS (including New 3DS/2DS/New 2DS) with a method to run “bare-metal” ARM9 software. Methods include having a custom firmware installed or using a DS flashcart with ntrboothax.
SD card
GodMode9 (v2.0.0 or later)

Dumping

Turn off the console
Insert the game
Boot your console into GodMode9
Navigate into “GAMECART”
Copy the .nds.enc file and the .txt file to the SD card.

Follow the instructions over at DSi CFW Guide for more details on how to get your handheld ready to handle homebrew, and make sure the latest stable GodMode9i is installed on your SD card.

Dumping

Launch GodMode9i by using TWiLight Menu++.
Navigate to NDS GAMECARD, press A.
You'll see the following menu:

Dump NDS card ROM to
"s:/gm9i/out"?
(<A> yes, <Y> trim, <B> no,
 <X> save only)

Press A to dump the cart to your SD card.
Once it's finished, you can turn off the console and copy the files to your computer from the gm9i/out folder on your SD card.

Using the Wi-Fi version of the wooddumper homebrew, you can dump DS carts over FTP using a DS or DS Lite.

Requirements:

DS or DS Lite console
A way to run homebrew (if you don't have a flashcart, you can run homebrew using Download Play if you have certain hardware)
Wi-Fi connection that can be set to WEP security or unsecured
PC/smartphone/tablet that can connect to said network
FTP client software on said PC/smartphone/tablet (you can often use the built-in browser or file manager by entering the IP address and prefixing it with ftp://).

Wi-Fi Setup

Create a WEP or unsecured hotspot using your router, smartphone/tablet or PC. There's no need to have it connected to the internet.
Make sure you have a device connected to the hotspot. There's no need for this to be connected to the internet via another connection either.
Use a Wi-Fi-enabled DS game (or this free Nintendo Channel demo) to setup the Wi-Fi connection on your DS. It'll say that the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service is discontinued, but this doesn't matter, as we don't need Nintendo's online service or any internet.

Dumping

Run wooddumper.
Follow the on-screen instructions regarding inserting you cart.
Open the on-screen ip address in your FTP client.
Copy the .nds and .txt file to your computer.

Tools

A Nintendo DS or Nintendo DS Lite with a slot-1 flashcart
A slot-2 flashcart compatible with your slot-1 flashcart.
wooddumper

Dumping

Run wooddumper
Follow the on-screen instructions regarding inserting the cart
Insert your slot-2 flashcarts SD card to your PC's SD card reader / connect your slot-2 flashcart to your PC
Copy the .nds and .txt files to your PC.

Below are examples of txt files generated by wooddumper. The second one includes CRC32 as the wooddumper's checksum was used for that session.

A2DPv00.txt

wooddumper r89
rom:
	code:	A2DPv00
	size:	33554432 bytes
	card:	00001fc2
save:
	status:	00000000
	id:	00ffffff

A2DPv00 (1).txt

wooddumper r89
rom:
	code:	A2DPv00
	size:	33554432 bytes
	card:	00001fc2
	crc32:	f443f9bf
save:
	status:	00000000
	id:	00ffffff

todo: add info on “front of cart”/box serials (and non-standard carts if relevant)

TGGRUVMMM

T = Type (A/B/C = Normal, D = DSi-exclusive, DS/DSi-enhanced with infrared hardware, T = Unknown, U = Tool/Utility, V = DSi-enhanced, Y = Unknown)
GG = Game code (e.g. 2D = New Super Mario Bros.)
R = Region (J = Japan, E = USA, P = Europe)
U = Unknown (“N” in all known cases)
V = Version (starts at 0)
M = Something todo with the production date/run

Easy way to remember where the version number is: fourth character from the right - this works for 3DS carts too.

See Gathering and Submitting Dump Info for Nintendo carts