ole has taken my KVM port to Nintendo DS and added some updates. I haven’t played with it much, but he lists the changes as follows.

R3: New features added by Ole:

• fixed the CLDC implementation (timer, memory size, system properties)
• added support for reading of the PNG images (code taken from the PhoneMe project)
• implemented native functions for rendering the basic graphics primitives on the screen
  (lines, rectangles, triangles, images)
• added support for accepting the JAD files in the application browser
• added the core part of the Pstros MIDP library
• added VideoTest example to show how to draw on the screen
• added ‘_rebuild.bat’ to show how to build and preverify the class files.
  Note WTK installation is required.

This is quite interesting if it is able to run some MIDP-compliant games, but we’ll need to do some testing to see how the speed compares to your average mobile phone.

UPDATE: He’s made a few more updates since I originally made this post. Be sure to check out ole’s site for the latest info and download links.

Just a tiny update to my homebrew mandelbrot browser for Nintendo DS. This version merely adds DLDI-support, meaning you should be able to save screenshots as .PNG from pretty much any flashcart. Check the previous post for screenshots, more info, etc. To the right is an actual image saved from the program.

Download r06 .nds

Someone was having trouble compiling it, so I threw this together real quick.
See FreeType’s official site for more info on it, but basically it’s a library for rendering nice ttf fonts, and it’s been compiled so that it can run on Nintendo DS. It wont do anything on its own, this is really only useful for homebrew developers who want to include some sort of nice font rendering.

freetype-2.3.5-nds-dka-r21.zip (1.2MB)

It’s been compiled with devKitARM r21, no guarantees it will work with any later/earlier version. In fact, no guarantees it will work at all, I haven’t actually tested it…but it compiles without any errors. I had to disable two checks in in the configure script, because it kept getting confused when I told it to compile for arm-eabi.

If anyone uses this, would be nice to know, drop me a line in the comment section.

I’ve uploaded a new batch of DS demos that are free to download. I’ve put them on a new page, separate from the old one, so it’s easy to see the new ones. There are a bunch of fun looking ones, be sure to check them out!

New Demos Page
Previous Demo Collection

I know what you’re thinking…”That’s a horrible idea and you’re a horrible person for suggesting it!”

The main problems with Java on DS:
1. Interpreted languages are slower, the overhead is bad on a slower embedded platform
2. No direct memory access. Almost all of the DS hardware is interfaced by reading and writing directly to specific memory locations
3. No primitive unsigned 8-bit types. What were they thinking?

But…I went ahead and did it anyway, just for fun. I didn’t start from scratch, I took Torlus’s KVM port to GBA and used that as a base for getting it to work on DS. Right now, when it starts, you pick a .class file, and it will run it! In addition, using KNI, I’ve written a basic wrapper around parts of libnds, enough to read input from the touchscreen/buttons, and to move sprites around.

Download here: java4nds_r2.zip — includes the compiled KVM.nds, some examples along with source code, and instructions on making your own .java files.

To use this demo, place kvm.nds, all the *.class files, and all the *.bin files on the root of your flashcart.
Run kvm.nds, then select a .class file to run. There are a few examples testing various stuff.
Don’t forget to DLDI-patch the kvm.nds