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wiki.mbirth.de/know-how/hacking/nintendo-ds/_posts/2009-03-23-dump-games.md

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---
title: Dump Games
language: en
layout: default
created: 2009-03-15 14:41:43 +0100
updated: 2009-03-23 01:04:47 +0100
toc: false
tags:
- know-how
- hacking
- hardware
- nintendo
- gaming
---
Dumping game cartridges is done the same way like [dumping savegames]({% post_url 2009-03-15-backup-savegames %}).
EZFlash 3in1 method
===================
The only difference here is that you might have to swap the cartridges more often since the Flash memory of the [EZFlash 3in1]({% post_url 2009-03-15-ezflash-3in1 %})
is only 32 MiB and some games are up to 128 MiB in size.
There's a nice tutorial with pictures at [monroeworld.com](http://www.monroeworld.com/myfaq/index.php?action=artikel&cat=7&id=129&artlang=en).
Here are some estimated times for dumping different sized game cartridges (copied from that page):
| Game size | Number of passes | est. time needed |
|----------:|:-----------------|-----------------:|
| 4 MiB | 1 pass | 2min 30sec |
| 8 MiB | 1 pass | 3min 15sec |
| 16 MiB | 1 pass | 4min 45sec |
| 32 MiB | 1 pass | 9min 30sec |
| 64 MiB | 2 passes | 14min 15sec |
| 128 MiB | 4 passes | 19min 00sec |
| 256 MiB | 8 passes | 38min 00sec |
Wi-Fi method
============
Be warned that the Wi-Fi transfer speed is somewhat "limited". Dumping a 128 MiB game takes almost **2 hours**. So make
sure your NDS is connected to its power adaptor.
ROM Trimming
============
Game cartridges have the typical memory ICs in binary sizes (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 MiB) although the game often
doesn't occupy the whole memory. That means if a game is 35 MiB in size, it is shipped on a 64 MiB cartridge. When
dumping, you'll dump the whole 64 MiB although the last 29 MiB are empty (filled with `0x00`). So you can save a lot of
space if you trim a ROM down to the real size.
<p><div class="notewarning">
Games which use the WiFi feature mostly store their connection info in this empty space so using the wrong program to trim a ROM will break online capability of games.
</div></p>
A good trimmer is [NDSTokyoTrim](http://techsuki.net/nintendo-ds-rom-trimmer/) which can detect WiFi-games and leaves
the space for their settings.