How to Rip NDS Cartridges

Creating backups of files is vital to maintaining a sense of security about your daily computing needs. Your Nintendo DS games are as susceptible to everyday accidents as other types of software, so it is important to keep copies of your cartridges handy on your PC. A new DS game can cost anywhere between $20 to $40 and an avid player can have upwards of 20 games. That's a sizable monetary investment, not the mention the many hours of game progress that have expended. Backing up, or "ripping," your DS games ensures that you have a way to continue gaming should your initial DS collection be rendered inoperable.

FTP Server Instructions

Deactivate any firewall software running on your PC as it may interfere with the process. Ensure that your PC and your DS are successfully connected to your Wi-Fi network through your router. Methods of firewall deactivation vary depending on what software you are using. Please refer to any documentation included with this software for help with how to do this, but generally this is accomplished by right-clicking on the firewall icon in the system tray and clicking "Exit," "Deactivate," or a similar option.

Create a folder called "temp" in the root of your "C" drive.

Download, extract, and run the SmallFTP application. It can be downloaded from the Source Forge website (see Resources).

Click on "Settings" in SmallFTP and then "General" and change the FTP port to 8080. Click "OK" and go back to "Settings" and select "Advanced." Check the "Use local IP" box and hit "OK." Go back to "Settings" again and select "Users." Click on "Add" and create a login and password of your choosing. Still in the "Users" dialog box, click on "Add" next to the "Directories" box. Enter "c:/temp" in the "Physical path" entry box and click "OK." Click on "Add" next to the "Permissions" box and type "LRW" in the "Permissions" box that pops up. Click "OK." Under "User Properties," click "OK" to save these settings. Click "OK" once more to return to the main SmallFTP window. Under "Server," click on "Save config" and then press the green "Play" button. If you encounter an error, go back into "General Settings" and change the port number to a number of your choosing.

DS Instructions

Download and extract the NDS Backup Tool. It can be downloaded from the File Trip website (see Resources).

Open the file "NDS_Backup_Tool_Wifi.ini" in Notepad and change the ServerIP to your IP address. Change ServerPort to 8080 (or whatever port you had used in the SmallFTP settings). Change the FTPUser and FTPPassword to the username and password you previously chose. Save these changes to the file.

Copy "NDS_Backup_Tool_Wifi.ini" and "NDS_Backup_Tool_Wifi.nds" to the root directory of your flash cartridge's SD card and then insert the flash cartridge into your DS.

Power up your DS and once in your flash cartridge's menu system, start the "Backup Tool." It should now connect to your FTP server and instruct you to remove your flash cartridge and insert the game you want to backup. Do this and press the "A" button.

Press "B" now and then "A" to confirm after the transfer is complete if you'd like to create a copy of your game's save file. Otherwise, skip this step.

Press the following button combination on the DS to begin the backup process: "R, R, B, A." This can take anywhere from a few minutes to two hours depending on the size of the game being backed up.