NDS4MiSTer Public Beta — 2026-08-27

Experimental Nintendo DS public beta for MiSTer FPGA.

This release focuses on playable New Super Mario Bros. performance and persistent cartridge-save support.

Highlights

• Hybrid FPGA and ARM Nintendo DS implementation
• FPGA sound
• Four selectable screen layouts
• Screen order and gap controls
• Optional published-frame FPS counter
• Persistent saves in /media/fat/saves/NDS
• EEPROM support from 512 bytes through 128 KiB
• Flash support from 256 KiB through 1 MiB

Installation

1. Extract the ZIP directly into the root of the MiSTer SD card.
2. After each MiSTer reboot, open Scripts and run NDS Kickstart.
3. Open Console and start NDS_20260827B.
4. Open the core menu, select Load NDS, and choose your own .nds file.

No games or commercial ROMs are included.

Known limitations

• Engine B is not enabled; both positions currently display Engine A.
• Heavy 3D scenes can slow down, fall behind, or crash.
• Reset currently hangs; reselect the ROM to restart.
• Touchscreen coordinate input is not implemented.
• Chrono Trigger still has a separate boot failure.
• NAND saves, save states, Wi-Fi, and microphone support are not implemented.

Verification

SHA-256:

f564ecb81c972145b6a19ebebfea7b08bf7665c6ba77d6358cedcbbda54f2699

Credits

This work builds on MiSTer, Nitro_DarkSide, melonDS, and FPGAzumSpass's GBA ARM7 CPU implementation, which was used as the basis for the ARM9 work.

Special thanks to FPGAzumSpass, srg320, ElectronAsh, Corn, skmp, and heni for technical advice, testing, and development guidance.