chishm / nitrohax

NitroHax cheat tool for Nintendo DS

Nitro Hax

By Chishm

Nitro Hax is a cheat tool for the Nintendo DS. It works with original games only.

The newest release is available to download from the Nitro Hax web page.

Usage

1. Patch NitroHax.nds with a DLDI file if you need to.
2. Copy the NitroHax.nds file to your media device.
3. Place an Action Replay XML file on your media device.
4. Start NitroHax.nds from your media device
   1. One of the following will be loaded automatically if it is found (in order of preference):
      • "cheats.xml" in the current directory
      • "/NitroHax/cheats.xml"
      • "/data/NitroHax/cheats.xml"
      • "/cheats.xml"
   2. If no file is found, browse for and select a file to open.
5. Remove your media device if you want to.
6. Remove any card that is in Slot-1
7. Insert the DS game into Slot-1
8. Choose the cheats you want to enable.
   1. Some cheats are enabled by default and others may be always on. This is specified in the XML file.
   2. The keys are:
      • A: Open a folder or toggle a cheat enabled
      • B: Go up a folder or exit the cheat menu if at the top level
      • X: Enable all cheats in current folder
      • Y: Disable all cheats in current folder
      • L: Move up half a screen
      • R: Move down half a screen
      • Up: Move up one line
      • Down: Move down one line
      • Start: Start the game
9. When you are done, exit the cheat menu.
10. The game will then start with cheats running.

Copyright

Copyright (C) 2008 Michael "Chishm" Chisholm

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to (in no particular order):

• Pink-Lightning - Original skin (v0.5-0.82)
• bLAStY - Memory dumps
• cReDiAr - Last crucial step for running DS Cards
• Parasyte - Tips for hooking the game automatically
• kenobi - Action Replay code document
• Darkain - Memory and cache clearing code
• Martin Korth - GBAtek
• Deathwind / WinterMute - File menu code (v0.2 - v0.4)
• WinterMute - dslink source, reset code
• Everyone else who helped me along the way

Big thanks to Datel (CodeJunkies) for creating the original Action Replay and its cheats.

Custom Code Types

In addition to the standard Action Replay DS code types described on EnHacklopedia's Action Replay DS page, Nitro Hax supports the following custom codes.

CF000000 00000000: Code list end

Code used internally to specify the end of the cheat code list. It does not need to be specified manually.

CF000001 xxxxxxxx: Relocate cheat engine

Relocate the cheat engine to address xxxxxxxx. The cheat engine and all data are moved to the given address, which should be accessible from the ARM7.

CF000002 xxxxxxxx: Hook address

Change the hook address to xxxxxxxx. The hook should be a function pointer that is called regularly. By default the ARM7's VBlank interrupt handler is hooked. This code overrides the default.

C100000x yyyyyyyy: Call function with arguments

Call a function with between 0 and 4 arguments. The argument list follows this code, which has the parameters:

• x: Number of arguments (0 - 4)
• yyyyyyyy: Address of function

For example, to call a function at 0x02049A48 with the three arguments r0 = 0x00000010, r1 = 0x134CBA9C, and r2 = 0x12345678, you would use:

C1000003 02049A48
00000010 134CBA9C
12345678 00000000

C200000x yyyyyyyy: Run ARM/THUMB code

Run ARM or THUMB code stored in the cheat list.

• x: 0 = ARM mode, 1 = THUMB mode
• yyyyyyyy: length of function in bytes

For example:

C2000000 00000010
AAAAAAAA BBBBBBBB
CCCCCCCC E12FFF1E

This will run the code AAAAAAAA BBBBBBBB CCCCCCCC in ARM mode. The E12FFF1E (bx lr) is needed at the end to return to the cheat engine.

The above instructions are based on those written by kenobi.

C4000000 xxxxxxxx: Scratch space

Provide 4 bytes of scratch space to safely store data. Sets the offset register to point to the first word of this code. Storing data at [offset+4] will save over the top of xxxxxxxx.

This is based on a Trainer Toolkit code.

C5000000 xxxxyyyy: Counter

Each time the cheat engine is executed, the counter is incremented by 1. If (counter & yyyy) == xxxx then execution status is set to true, else it is set to false.

This is based on a Trainer Toolkit code.

C6000000 xxxxxxxx: Store offset

Stores the offset register to the address xxxxxxxx.

This is based on a Trainer Toolkit code.

D400000x yyyyyyyy: Dx Data operation

Performs the operation Data = Data ? yyyyyyyy where ? is determined by x as follows:

• 0: add
• 1: or
• 2: and
• 3: xor
• 4: logical shift left
• 5: logical shift right
• 6: rotate right
• 7: arithmetic shift right
• 8: multiply

If-type codes

For codes begining with 3-9 or A (if-type codes), the offset register can be used for address calculations. If the lowest bit of the code's address is set then the offset is added to the address. If the address is 0x00000000 then the offset is used instead.

For example, if the code 32009001 00001000 is run and the offset register is currently 0x000000AC, then:

1. the address is taken from the first code word as 0x02009000,
2. the offset is added (because the lowest bit of the first codeword is set to 1) to give an address of 0x020090AC,
3. the memory at address 0x020090AC is read, and the value compared to 0x00001000 (the second codeword).
4. Now (since the code starts with 3) if the codeword value is greater than the value read from memory, then the rest of the codes in the list will be executed, otherwise they will be skipped until the next D0000000 00000000 code is reached.

nitrohax's Issues

Does not compile with devkitARM-r56-3

At this time of writing, the latest version of devkitARM is r56-3 according to Ubuntu's dkp-pacman.

This specific line is causing a compiler issue:

/mnt/c/Users/lifehackerhansol/Documents/Git/nitrohax/BootLoader/source/main.arm9.c:72:27: error: '__builtin_memset' offset [0, 98303] is out of the bounds [0, 0] [-Werror=array-bounds]
   72 |                 VRAM_A[i] = 0x0000;

Removing -Werror from makefile returns no other warnings, though it does throw a lot of linker errors specifically with the enums, which is fixable by switching to typedef enum which I had fixed in a PR to NTR Launcher.

I'm not too sure how to handle this myself, so I'm leaving it as an issue here.

NitroHax freezing(?) on launch

I am attempting to run this version of NitroHax via Twilight Menu on my 3DS, but whenever I open it, NitroHax gets stuck on a screen that reads as follows:

Nitro Hax v0.94
Written by Chishm

Loaded codes
You can remove your flash card
Remove DS card

I am not using a flash card, I am running NitroHax locally on my 3DS. I removed my SD card and my inserted DS game, but nothing happened. I have attempted to use NitroHax3DS as well, but I ran into different technical issues with that version. I can close NitroHax with the HOME button, but I can't do anything else. I didn't do any DLDI patching.

Soft Reset Issue with Cheats

Hello, I used NitroHax with my cartridge of Pokémon SoulSilver, I activated a few Cheats with that, but after a Soft Reset, they are deactivated.. My Question is: Would it be possible to keep cheats enabled after a soft reset? :)

freeze when trying to load pkmn White 2

the Nitrohax menu works fine (cheats show up) but once I load the game i get a white screen. Not a cheat file size issue as i only have cheats installed for White 2. any solutions?

[Request] Rework NitroHax to Use The Usrcheat.dat Database

Hello, it has been a long time since I have used NitroHax, however now that TWiLightMenu++ is around, it got me thinking about how it handles cheats. TWiLightMenu++ uses the usrcheat.dat database for cheats, and since there isn't a limitation with it, it would be a superb choice to change to for NitroHax. NitroHax and TWiLightMenu both use the same method to grab cheats really, both require their respective databases to be on the SD card of the 3DS (and now the DSi), however NitroHax is stuck using the cheats.xml format, which is a very limited format to use. The Action Replay DS devices were stuck using them, sadly you couldn't have/hold a bunch of cheats in the devices, NitroHax feels the same way, the hard limit is 2.5MB for it. So I was wondering if you could rework NitroHax to utilize the usrcheat.dat database like TWiLightMenu does, that way people aren't limited to a certain amount of codes, and it would give a better option to people wanting to use real physical game carts.

XML files are not visible when cheats.xml file is not present

It will not display any *.xml files, instead it will display files with any other extension.

I tried to bandaid fix it myself by replacing the ".xml" at

nitrohax/arm9/source/main.cpp

Line 76 in 329a372

filename = ui.fileBrowser (".xml");

with a dummy extension to show the file, but I am not able to get it to successfully build after hours of researching, so any other changes I could do I wouldn't be able to test.

Additional info, I'm running it off a R4i SDHC 3DS RTS with RetroGameFan's YSMenu

Certain folders will freeze after opening

I've narrowed it down to this line

nitrohax/arm9/source/ui.cpp

Line 657 in 3781957

showMessage (TEXT_INFO, "%s", contents[menuLevel.selected]->getName());

Changing "contents[menuLevel.selected]->getName()" to a generic string will fix the issue, however, since I only have one flashcart, I can't say for sure if the problem is just because of my flashcart. It seems to stem from trying to read the item name but it confuses itself on the parent folder.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn unsupported

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn does not launch.
When launching it, a white screen appears and stays until you exit to the home screen.
it's an NTR game: NTR-B05E-USA
It's a fairly old game at this point, about 8 years since launch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Sun:_Dark_Dawn

I am happy to test development builds to add support for this game.

Pokemon Black and White + BW2 not booting

I tried booting into those games on my 3DS and they didn't load, it just gave me a white screen. Any plans to get those games included? It does look these are TWL Games, so I don't know if that would be an issue.

Inazuma Eleven 2 Firestorm unsupported (probably?)

So, after I choose the cheats and start the game, it freezes on a white screen. I tried making the cheats.xml smaller, but it still doesn't work.
I'd be very happy if u add support for this game! Thanks in advance!