Installing Unlaunch

If you need help, ask the NDS(i)Brew Scene or the Nintendo Homebrew Discord servers.

Before starting, Windows users should enable the option to show file extensions using File Extensions (Windows)!

Before starting, you may want to check your SD card for errors using H2testw (Windows), F3 (Linux), or F3X (Mac)!

Before proceeding, if your system region is USA, make sure your console language is set to English.

Unlaunch is currently in a beta state. Please proceed with caution.

Unlaunch is a DSi bootcode exploit which will allow you to install HiyaCFW, a DSi Custom Firmware, to your console. Due to a bug in the v0.9 installer, we will install Unlaunch v0.8, and use it to upgrade to the latest release.

Downloads

  • v0.8 of Unlaunch
    • We need this in order to install the latest release of Unlaunch
  • The latest release of Unlaunch
  • The latest release of HBMenu
  • The latest release of ugopwn
  • The latest release of fwTool

Preparing your SD card

  1. Insert your system’s SD card into your PC
  2. Copy the contents of the ugopwn .zip file to the root of your SD card
  3. Copy the fwTool .nds file to the root of your SD card
  4. Copy BOOT.NDS from the hbmenu folder in the HBMenu .tar.bz2 file to the root of your SD card
  5. Eject your SD card, and insert it back into your DSi

Creating a NAND backup

  1. Open the Flipnote Studio application
    • Ensure that the booting to Calendar mode is disabled in Flipnote Studio’s settings
    • If you already have another DSiWare exploit installed, open that and skip to Step 14
    • Note that Sudokuhax cannot adequately make a backup with the required footer!
  2. Select View Flipnote > SD Card > Select Folder > User > ugopwn
  3. Click on the note with the red bottom half
  4. Select “Edit”
  5. Click on the Flipnote frog icon in the bottom left
  6. Click on the film roll icon
  7. Select Copy > Back > Quit
  8. Click the second note, and select “Edit”
  9. Click on the Flipnote frog icon in the bottom left
  10. Click on the film roll icon.
  11. USA/EUR/AUS: Click on the single right arrow (the next to last arrow icon) two times
    • You will see a new frame be created
  12. Based on your region, do the following:
    • USA: Click on the paste button exactly 122 times.
    • EUR/AUS: Click on the paste button exactly 2 times.
    • JPN: Click on the paste button.
  13. USA/EUR/AUS: Select “Erase” and then “Paste”
    • This will launch HBMenu
  14. Navigate to fwtool.nds, and press (A)
    • fwTool will appear
  15. Navigate to Backup DSi NAND, and press (A)
    • This will take a few minutes
    • Store this NAND backup in a safe location, it is a critical backup and we will need it later to install HiyaCFW
    • When saved nand.bin.sha1. appears, the backup is finished
  16. Navigate to Exit, press (A), and power off your system

Installation

  1. Insert your system’s SD card into your computer
  2. Copy UNLAUNCH.DSI from the Unlaunch v0.8 .zip file to the root of your SD card
  3. Rename UNLAUNCH.DSI to unlaunch.nds
  4. Copy UNLAUNCH.DSI from the Unlaunch latest release .zip file to the root of your SD card
  5. Rename UNLAUNCH.DSI to bootcode.dsi
  6. Unplug your SD card, and insert it in your DSi
  7. Power on your DSi, and repeat steps 1 through 13 in Creating a NAND backup
    • HBMenu will appear
  8. Navigate to unlaunch.nds, and press (A)
    • Unlaunch’s installer will appear
  9. Navigate to INSTALL NOW and press (A)
    • If Unlaunch freezes at ERROR: MISMATCH IN FAT COPIES, please read our FAQ
  10. When done, navigate to POWER DOWN and press (A)
    • Your system will power off
  11. Power on your system again
    • Unlaunch’s installer will appear again- this is the latest release
  12. Repeat steps 9 and 10 of this section
  13. Hold (A) while powering on your system, to verify Unlaunch installed properly
    • You should briefly see the Unlaunch screen, and boot into a version of the DSi Menu with no sound
    • If you are on a firmware greater than 1.4, it is highly likely you will freeze on the Unlaunch menu, due to a bug in Unlaunch 0.9
    • You may downgrade back to 0.8 by running the 0.8 installer as your bootcode.dsi, but you will lose the ability to launch DSiWare with DSiMenu++

With Unlaunch installed, your system now has primitive brick protection, unless the launcher’s TMD file is destroyed. Unlaunch has protections that should prevent this from happening, and HiyaCFW uses your SD card as the DSi’s NAND, adding a very resilient layer of brick protection.

You may now delete the bootcode.dsi present on your SD card. This will make it so that you don’t need to hold A while powering on.

Continue to Installing HiyaCFW