Respect for that OG R4 and the original firmware on it too, braving the sketchy internet sites back in 2008 to pick one of those up was quite an experience
It was a selling feature for the DS Lite though. And with this being embedded into a late model DS they'll have had the DS Lite on the way at that point and wanted people to upgrade. I do like the buried treasure aspect of this discovery though!
There are other videos but they all take different approaches or assume some prior knowledge. I wanted to try and cover everything in this video for people who never knew about it before
@@JoeBleepsso I purchased a DS motherboard on eBay (ended up being a V4 Japanese board) and swapped it out of my V1 Silver system and I was able to Flash V8 to it and get the brightness levels! Hoping I can change the language on it but I’m happy!
Very interesting you know another cool thing I discovered with a R4 is that if you install twilight menu on it you can run a few DSIWare titles that is something that Nintendo definitely did not intend it only works for a few titles but it was still cool seeing what the DS hardware could do if you push it.
Next time I see an OG/Phat DS I'll be checking what version it is for sure cause I love the idea of having the comfortableness of the OG DS combined with the screen brightness of the DS Lite!! thanks for the video.
Excellent video Joe, thank you for making this and greetings from the UK! Surprised not many people know about Flashme and the different versions of the DS motherboard. I did this successfully on my V4 graphite Black DS.
just did this to my daily driver og ds after i found a cpu-20 in a parts/repair lot. The extra brightness makes a huge difference, it almost feels like a ds lite screen
hello, thank you for this incredible video, you shared so much knowledge that is SO HARD to find somewhere else with the CPUs and firmwares etc, thank you very very much (btw it was a new info for me too haha)
Topnotch guide, man. I ended up twisting bit of aluminum foil into a pick shape to carry out the flash. An aside, that aftermarket shell was a bad time. The top clam shell was salvaged, but the bottom face plate's hinge slots were not to spec. It was clear it would crack upon any further force applied and removing material would just cause a crack later down the line. A real shame Dark gray top shell and a launch model silver/black everywhere else
The one I have must be one of the very first ones, had the V2 firmware and the 01 revision board. Tried anyways and no dice. Still very neat to know in case I get an OG model with the newer 20 revision board.
Hello Joe, it doesn't work on my NDS Firmware V4 like the second one you updated. However, I followed your great tutorial exactly as you explain, the update went perfectly well, but nothing could be done. My screen is either on or off. And I don't even have increased brightness. I do not know what to do. Do you have a solution for me please ?
Amazing video! I would be really curious to know if there’s any difference in ghosting. While playing Picross DS I noticed my DS lite shows severe ghosting on the bottom screen compared to my DS fat, though I don’t have any clue what model they are.
for some reason this doesn't work on any newer flash cards... only seems to work on the very old ones. new ones it just freezes when you try to open the software for some reason....
Hello again, I was wondering if there was a gamma correction solution for Nds. This would allow the brightness to be increased a little artificially, in the absence of real light.
Sadly yes. Some shells are better than others but not a patch on the originals. It's possible to paint the insides to make it appear more opaque but I've not tried that myself
@@JoeBleeps phat ds shells are notoriously rare too, haven't got the same market as the ds lite or 3ds or even the sp. So these nasty red shells are the most common. The original phat ds also has the most fragile shell after 20 years... I might commission someone on etsy to paint one if i get one
@@tipsy634 the plastic is so fragile on a lot of the early models. Would be great if someone brought out a better shell but like you say, there isn't the demand like there is for the Lite. Surprisingly few available for DSi too.
@@PhilipMarcYT I haven't, but I did buy a Pokédex one and a clear one. I've done the clear one and it should be in my next video. Nice kit, very soft plastic though!
hello, nice video. in a used video game and console store, i bought a blue nintendo ds phat. turning it on doesn't go to the health and safety page but directly to the home screen. i immediately understood that the preferred owner had modified it with flashme (non stealth version). it doesn't have the 4 brightness levels, so they assume that the motherboard is of an old revision and not compatible right? the battery lasts almost 2 hours, i would like to replace it. is it a problem with flashme to change the battery or can i rest easy? thank you very much.
@@JoeBleeps thank you so much for the reply, yes I will check. it is definitely not the 20, otherwise I would have had the possibility to adjust the brightness. are there good batteries for the ds phat on Amazon? my original one lasts less than 2 hours now, thank you so much
I had a similar case, you'd have to swap out the motherboard which isn't actually too difficult. Getting hold of a motherboard is trickier but they aren't as scarce as I expected
That's a very interesting question. I think I may have done it already with a replacement screen, I assume it should work but I can't say for certain. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
Sadly yes. They are out there waiting to be found though! I picked up a pink DS at a car boot sale last weekend and was pleasantly surprised to find it was a 20 board when I got home.
then you should have a "20" board. The flashcard allows to play "backup" roms with the higher brightness but if you want to play original cardridges with that feature you'll need to flash the board.
Con una flashcard tambien se puede sin hacer nada, yo tengo una m3 ds real y te deja poner mas brillo pero ni de lejos se acerca a una ds lite en brillo y sobretodo en color y angulos de vision
@@PhilipMarcYT sin aunque no es permanente y solo funciona cuando usas la flashcard, si la quitas y vas al menú o a un juego original no tienes los brillos
Respect for that OG R4 and the original firmware on it too, braving the sketchy internet sites back in 2008 to pick one of those up was quite an experience
Indeed it was! I ended up picking up quite a few of them in the end with console bundles and on car boot sales
New info to me. And very interesting. Strange that Nintendo would build this into the hardware and then hide it from the users.
It was a selling feature for the DS Lite though. And with this being embedded into a late model DS they'll have had the DS Lite on the way at that point and wanted people to upgrade. I do like the buried treasure aspect of this discovery though!
Can’t believe there were no videos on this mod. This is very helpful. Thanks!
There are other videos but they all take different approaches or assume some prior knowledge. I wanted to try and cover everything in this video for people who never knew about it before
@@JoeBleepsI appreciate it. This is the best tutorial on it so far..others don’t explain much
@@dino988 thanks so much! I was worried it was maybe a bit too long
@@JoeBleepsso I purchased a DS motherboard on eBay (ended up being a V4 Japanese board) and swapped it out of my V1 Silver system and I was able to Flash V8 to it and get the brightness levels! Hoping I can change the language on it but I’m happy!
@@dino988 that's brilliant! You should be able to change the language in the settings
Very interesting you know another cool thing I discovered with a R4 is that if you install twilight menu on it you can run a few DSIWare titles that is something that Nintendo definitely did not intend it only works for a few titles but it was still cool seeing what the DS hardware could do if you push it.
Oh that is definitely interesting!
Next time I see an OG/Phat DS I'll be checking what version it is for sure cause I love the idea of having the comfortableness of the OG DS combined with the screen brightness of the DS Lite!! thanks for the video.
It really does make a difference
Excellent video Joe, thank you for making this and greetings from the UK! Surprised not many people know about Flashme and the different versions of the DS motherboard. I did this successfully on my V4 graphite Black DS.
Looking in that little gap for the motherboard number feels like looking for Wonka's golden ticket haha
That's all new to me! It's I still had my OG DS, that's definitely something I'd look into!
I'm glad to hear it's something that's still new to other people!
Thanks for this tutorial, I had no idea this was possible.
This is new and helpful to me. I have two OG DS consoles and I will definitely check whether they are compatible or not.
Good to know! Fingers crossed at least one of them is the CPU-20
This is super helpful, thanks!
you're welcome!
IT'S ABOUT TIME!!! But I have a 3ds. Still something to consider.
🤣 about time indeed. Sorry I never shared this video decades ago
just did this to my daily driver og ds after i found a cpu-20 in a parts/repair lot. The extra brightness makes a huge difference, it almost feels like a ds lite screen
I am glad you think that! I wasn't sure if I was fooling myself haha
Very good info! I’m looking into buying a new ds console since my DS Macro isnt usable anymore. Might end up getting a original DS in a ML shell.
The ML is definitely a fun curiosity, but I think I prefer the original DS shell
hello, thank you for this incredible video, you shared so much knowledge that is SO HARD to find somewhere else with the CPUs and firmwares etc, thank you very very much
(btw it was a new info for me too haha)
Thank you so much, this is really great feedback! I'm excited to be able to bring people new knowledge 😊
Just found my 1st OG ds in box my parents dropped off time to mod this thanks for the video!
Excellent! Good luck and I hope it's the right version
My DS only has on/off, but tbh I'm very happy with the level of brightness as it is. If only the GBA SP AGS 001 was as good as NTR 001 backlit screen.
Yeah the 001 hasn't aged that well. Was still better than the original GBA screen though!
Great vid... never had a DS, this makes me want one even more! :)
It's a great little console!
Topnotch guide, man. I ended up twisting bit of aluminum foil into a pick shape to carry out the flash.
An aside, that aftermarket shell was a bad time. The top clam shell was salvaged, but the bottom face plate's hinge slots were not to spec. It was clear it would crack upon any further force applied and removing material would just cause a crack later down the line. A real shame
Dark gray top shell and a launch model silver/black everywhere else
For ds and ds lite, we really need a decent quality replacement shell
The one I have must be one of the very first ones, had the V2 firmware and the 01 revision board. Tried anyways and no dice. Still very neat to know in case I get an OG model with the newer 20 revision board.
Worth keeping an eye out for those 20 boards and nice that you can check just by removing the battery!
Hello Joe, it doesn't work on my NDS Firmware V4 like the second one you updated. However, I followed your great tutorial exactly as you explain, the update went perfectly well, but nothing could be done. My screen is either on or off. And I don't even have increased brightness.
I do not know what to do. Do you have a solution for me please ?
What motherboard version was it?
I don't really know, I'm not sure I have the ability to completely disassemble my console to find out what model its motherboard is.
@@GoutteDeau you don't have to - just peek in the gap in the battery compartment
I dig up my NDS and peeked in the hole. 10. No luck ;-)
It's like doing a scratch card 🤣
Bought a used og Ds the other day its my first Ds. Didn’t do much research and just pulled the trigger. Unfortunately it’s not the correct model.
Still a great console. But I understand your disappointment!
I dont even own a fat ds but watched it 🤣🤣great vid tho, very easy to understand 👌
Amazing video! I would be really curious to know if there’s any difference in ghosting. While playing Picross DS I noticed my DS lite shows severe ghosting on the bottom screen compared to my DS fat, though I don’t have any clue what model they are.
I'll have to try it! I love Picross
for some reason this doesn't work on any newer flash cards... only seems to work on the very old ones. new ones it just freezes when you try to open the software for some reason....
How strange! I hadn't thought of trying with a new one as I have so many older ones lying around.
Hello again, I was wondering if there was a gamma correction solution for Nds. This would allow the brightness to be increased a little artificially, in the absence of real light.
Not that I'm aware of! But if you find out otherwise, let me know 😊
Hello i did the tutorial and it did not work and now my ds has no intro it it put me directly into thé menu what should i do
@@alex6qc706 I don't know I'm sorry. Maybe go through the steps again and see if it helps. Do you have the right board?
I've been hunting for the compatible original DS just to do this specific mod, but none of mine are the ones that can do it :(
It's like hunting for treasure. It will be all the more satisfying when you finally find one!
I can tell it's reshelled because you can see through the plastic even on the camera
Sadly yes. Some shells are better than others but not a patch on the originals. It's possible to paint the insides to make it appear more opaque but I've not tried that myself
@@JoeBleeps phat ds shells are notoriously rare too, haven't got the same market as the ds lite or 3ds or even the sp. So these nasty red shells are the most common. The original phat ds also has the most fragile shell after 20 years... I might commission someone on etsy to paint one if i get one
@@tipsy634 the plastic is so fragile on a lot of the early models. Would be great if someone brought out a better shell but like you say, there isn't the demand like there is for the Lite. Surprisingly few available for DSi too.
@@JoeBleepshave you seen Extreme Rate's Famicom-style shell for the DS Lite? Looks so adorable!
Hopefully they'll make an SNES shell, too.
@@PhilipMarcYT I haven't, but I did buy a Pokédex one and a clear one. I've done the clear one and it should be in my next video. Nice kit, very soft plastic though!
hello, nice video. in a used video game and console store, i bought a blue nintendo ds phat. turning it on doesn't go to the health and safety page but directly to the home screen. i immediately understood that the preferred owner had modified it with flashme (non stealth version). it doesn't have the 4 brightness levels, so they assume that the motherboard is of an old revision and not compatible right? the battery lasts almost 2 hours, i would like to replace it. is it a problem with flashme to change the battery or can i rest easy? thank you very much.
@@matt-p9g no problem with changing the battery. When the battery is out, have a look through the little hole to check your motherboard revision
@@JoeBleeps thank you so much for the reply, yes I will check. it is definitely not the 20, otherwise I would have had the possibility to adjust the brightness. are there good batteries for the ds phat on Amazon? my original one lasts less than 2 hours now, thank you so much
@@matt-p9g I've not bought any replacement batteries for this model
what is the battery life like on these when they have this mod?
I haven't noticed much difference, it still lasts pretty well
Do you do customized consoles to upgrade the screen or mod the console? Do you have a website?
I do have a website but there's nothing for sale on there at the moment, it's more a portfolio of work
No way ive always wanted this mod to be a thing! Good thing i have a phat on hand
Me too! Never realised it was possible until now
Dang im real sad now i have a yellow screen and i checked the battery hole it siad 10 😢😔
It's always a disappointment when it's not the 20!
I can´t download the file. Nothing happen when I click on the link. Is there another way to get the file?
@@karlavega4721 which file do you mean?
I have the correct cpu, but my screens are damaged and I need to buy new ones… will it still work or it might cause some troubles?
You can swap the screens with any other original DS and it will be fine
Im picking up a macro version of this crossing my fingers now
Good luck! I found two macros I built years ago but one was a 10 and the other was an 01
I have two blue ones but I don’t want to mod any of them but I will fix the top screen I have on one of them
Does this upgrade affect battery life in any way?
I expect it might a little but nothing immediately noticeable and I haven't done any direct comparisons
My pictochat doesn’t crash after taking the game out. Any alternatives?
That's strange, haven't encountered that so far. I've only done it with Picto Chat, sorry
Mine definitely doesn't have it since my fat DS is a launch model
I had a similar case, you'd have to swap out the motherboard which isn't actually too difficult. Getting hold of a motherboard is trickier but they aren't as scarce as I expected
@@JoeBleeps I'm actually fine keeping it stock since I can brag that it's a day one launch model
@@JoeBleeps it's the original silver with the paint wearing off on the corners LOL
@@ChewyChicken589 wonderful
Alright, i watched this video partly and before i go through all of this, i have a question. Does it work with aftermarket screens? 😂
That's a very interesting question. I think I may have done it already with a replacement screen, I assume it should work but I can't say for certain. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
It works, just did the upgrade. Thanks my man!
@@odrisch excellent! Good job :)
0:00 - 0:30 intro
0:30 - 5:00 dude look u can actually do it
5:00 - video starts
@@knux7 helpful shortcuts, thank you 😅 apologies for rambling
@@JoeBleeps no worries lol this is a good video
@@knux7 😁🙏
so the 20 is the only way to do this?
Sadly yes. They are out there waiting to be found though! I picked up a pink DS at a car boot sale last weekend and was pleasantly surprised to find it was a 20 board when I got home.
I also have a phat DS but my flash card a (M3) allowed me to do this as well.
then you should have a "20" board. The flashcard allows to play "backup" roms with the higher brightness but if you want to play original cardridges with that feature you'll need to flash the board.
@@LobiTotoro interesting.
Con una flashcard tambien se puede sin hacer nada, yo tengo una m3 ds real y te deja poner mas brillo pero ni de lejos se acerca a una ds lite en brillo y sobretodo en color y angulos de vision
Vaya, eso es interesante. Gracias por la información, tío.
@@PhilipMarcYT sin aunque no es permanente y solo funciona cuando usas la flashcard, si la quitas y vas al menú o a un juego original no tienes los brillos
curses mines a v3 firmware, thanks for the video
Keep hunting! 😄
Dammit, I have TWO Phat DS... and both are V4 :/
Might be worth a peep in the battery compartment just in case!
Awesome hack that.
Makes such a difference too!
I had an old DS there that not even R4 has, I'll have to flash flashme and let it be whatever God wants
Tbh the top of the original ds looks like a gba sp with a widebody kit lol
Especially in silver. You can tell it was a follow on from that console
Выпустили бы мод IPS или OLED экраны для DS, для GBA нормальный экран есть а для DS нет, жуткая несправедливость.
your handwriting screams graffiti lol
edit: (in a good way)
Its honestly very legible it looks good 😂
I'll take that as a compliment!
@@anthonyp2312 thank you!
@@JoeBleeps it's a compliment. I do the graffiti artz.
@@ElectroFinesse well then thank you!
Is that a Scottish accent I hear
No haha, just northern England