--- lang: en-US layout: faq section: nds-bootstrap title: FAQ & Troubleshooting long_title: nds-bootstrap FAQ & Troubleshooting description: FAQ & Troubleshooting for nds-bootstrap --- #### Why do I get a white screen when trying to load a game from SD card? - First, check the [the nds-bootstrap compatibility list](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LRTkXOUXraTMjg1eedz_f7b5jiuyMv2x6e_jY_nyHSc/htmlview#gid=0) and make sure your game is compatible - Try with all cheats disabled for that game as some cheats are not compatible with nds-bootstrap at the moment, you can use L to disable all cheats for a game - If it worked before, delete the `fatTable` and `patchOffsetCache` folders in `sd:/_nds/nds-bootstrap/` #### nds-bootstrap troubleshooting If you get issues with using the latest version of nds-bootstrap, here's how you could troubleshoot it. 1. Run the game with different settings, including changing the ARM9 CPU Speed, DS/DSi Mode, sound quality, Card Read DMA, etc 2. Delete the `fatTable` and `patchOffsetCache` folders in `sd:/_nds/nds-bootstrap/` 3. It's probably not that big of an issue; ask in the [Discord server](https://discord.gg/yD3spjv) If the server says it's an nds-bootstrap issue, check if the game hasn't been reported already on GitHub. Check the closed issues too in case we had one issue closed in preference a different one. If it doesn't have any GitHub issue attached to it, go ahead and make a new one. Also, make sure you add it to the [compatibility list](https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/nds-bootstrap/testing) on Google Sheets. #### Why doesn't multiplayer work? This is a [known issue](https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/nds-bootstrap/issues/553) with cloneboot. Please wait for a fix. #### Why are there issues with ROM loading, even though they're run natively? nds-bootstrap patches the ROM functions to run from an SD card, as the ROMs are hardcoded to read from Slot-1. There are also timing issues and AP measures (which most are already removed), both of which would cause the ROMs to not work properly. To improve performance, nds-bootstrap also shrinks the game's heap in memory, which breaks some games, though both the forwarders and TWiLight Menu++ have a heap shrink blacklist to fix the non-working games broken by heap shrink. #### Why use nds-bootstrap over a regular flashcard? - Certain compatible ROMs are loaded into RAM, allowing for load times to be faster than even normal cartridges - You can expand the VRAM memory bus to 32-bit - Utilize the DSi's additional CPU speed, allowing for better performance in some games - Enhance your audio with 48 kHz - Use DSi mode, allowing for DSi features - Using certain cartridges, you are able to use IR in your application - nds-bootstrap is open source, meaning developers can always update it to fix bugs and other things, even if the project gets discontinued - The DS Memory Expansion Pak is emulated, meaning games that require that accessory will work - Swap top and bottom screens in compatible games for more comfortable gameplay, or on systems with a broken or removed screen #### Donor ROMs Most SDK5 games can be selected as a Donor ROM (which can be done via TWiLight Menu++). The Donor ROM's ARM7 binary is copied by nds-bootstrap and replaces the ARM7 binary for the game that it is trying to run. This allows certain and SDK5 games to boot and save. #### What is a nightly and where do I get it? A nightly build is build for the latest commit. Nightly builds may be unstable, but has the most recent bugfixes added. You can get nightly builds for nds-bootstrap [here](https://github.com/TWLBot/Builds/raw/master/nds-bootstrap.7z). #### Why do my cheats not work? The way E cheat types are implemented in nds-bootstrap is broken, meaning they'd only work half of the time. Your cheat probably uses that type. It is not a fault of the cheat database, but rather a fault of nds-bootstrap. Please do not request these cheats to get deleted from the DB. For more info on cheats, look [here](https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/ds-index/retail-roms#action-replay-cheats).