N5 DS
| N5 DS | |
 | |
| Manufacturer | N5 Team |
| OS | N5 DS, Wood R4, YSMenu, TWiLight Menu++, AKMenu Next |
| Clone | Yes |
| DSi Compatible | no |
| 3DS Compatible | no |
| SD Slot | Yes (microSD) |
| Spring Loaded | Varies |
| Cheat File(s) | cheat.dat, usrcheat.dat |
| Official Website | dsn5.com |
| GBAtemp Award | None |
The N5 DS is a slot-1 flashcart manufactured by the N5 Team. It is a clone of the R4 SDHC based on the R4 DS. It can support microSD cards up to 2GB at max; microSD (HC) cards also work; however, because of the poor implementation for the SD I/O based on the Original R4, which was designed for SD standard-capacity cards (less than 2GB), leads to many stability issues.
Features List
- 2nd generation storage device (no booting tool required).
- Flush fitting slot 1 card. Uses MicroSD card, FAT16 or 32.
- Supports any MicroSD card speed with no lag in game.
- Supports Clean ROM, drag and drop. Works on any OS.
- Built in NoPass.
- Automatically detect save type.
- Save directly to MicroSD card, not to onboard chip.
- Supports Moonshell and other homebrew. Open I/O interface.
- User friendly skinnable interface. Touchscreen or button operation.
- Supports rumble pak and memory pak.
- Supports the WiFi game, DS Rumble Pak, DS Browser.
- Supports changes of the background of Operation Interface.
- Supports 4-scale-lightness adjustment (DS Lite only).
- Supports the Soft Reset.
- Full download play support.
- Support Skin DIY by setting background and font colors on Main Menu and Game Menu manually and automatically.
Clones
- This cart is a clone: Based on the R4 SDHC series that are clones of the Original R4 DS.
- This cart has clones: (R4-PLUS (r4plus.net), R4 Deluxe (r4deluxe.com), R4 Advance (r4ds-a.com))
- E7 DS, ND1, and K7 are products by the same team.
Images
-
N5DS V1 (blue label, red text) -
N5DS V2 (grey label) -
N5DS V2 (Front) -
N5DS V2 (Back)
GBAtemp Review
- Excerpt: "In short, the N5 is an exact clone of the R4. It uses an unencrypted version of the firmware with minimal changes and from what I can tell it is just as good as the R4. The only problems I had were with the MicroSD reader which corrupted my MicroSD card (but I fixed it by formatting the card) and the spring breaking which is all-too-common in R4s. Basically, if you can't find an R4, an N5 will do exactly the same job for pretty much the same price."
Issues
Similar to the R4 DS, the first batch of N5 units use a spring-loaded microSD slot. Which, at most, after multiple uses causes the spring to deteriorate, thus jamming the slot. Worse, because the N5's circuitry is poorly made, it can short out the cartridge slot and, in the worst-case scenario, brick the console. This was revised in later revisions, replacing the spring-loaded slot with a friction slot as well as making minor adjustments to the hardware to mitigate bricks from happening.
The revised models do not have a curve at the top where the microSD slot is located, compared to the earlier ones.
Software
Official Updates
List of official software updates:
Version 1.16 (2008-02-25)
Official changelog:
(N/A)
Real changelog:
- Same checksum for R4DS kernel v1.16.
- Instances of R4DS replaced with N5DS for top-screen text.
- Fixes for the following game/s: 1958.
Version 1.17 (2008-04-21)
Official changelog:
(N/A)
Real changelog:
- Same checksum for R4DS kernel v1.17.
- Instances of R4DS replaced with N5DS for top-screen text.
- Fixed an issue where the screen brightness would randomly change after a soft reset.
- Fixes for the following game/s: 2107, 2110.
Version 1.18 (2008-05-07)
Official changelog:
(N/A)
Real changelog:
- Same checksum for R4DS kernel v1.18.
- Instances of R4DS replaced with N5DS for top-screen text.
- Fixes for the following game/s: 2203, 2219, 2240, 2250.