BlocksDS

BlocksDS
General
Author	AntonioND
Type	Development Tools
Version	1.1.0
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2024/05/09
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Website
Source

BlocksDS SDK is an SDK for Nintendo DS. It's built on the hard work of many talented individuals. Here are its goals:

• Create a user-friendly NDS software development kit based on GCC, with minimal dependencies.
• Encourage developers to tinker and enhance the SDK by providing them with its complete source code. It also demonstrates how straightforward it is to build the entire codebase. The only exception is the tolchain, which can be tricky to build. To simplify things, we use Wonderful Toolchains instead of asking users to build it themselves.
• Strive to maintain compatibility with existing C projects. Ideally, replacing the makefile with one from BlocksDS should be sufficient to build any project that utilizes libnds.

This project is currently in beta stage, and most features are working. Please, check the libc port documentation for more information about the supported libc functions.

If you want to port a project built with devkitPro, follow this guide for instructions.

For detailed information about the design of BlocksDS, check this other document.

For licensing information, check this.

Changelog

v1.1.0

• libnds:
  • Add keyboardExit() function to deinitialize keyboard structures.
  • Add realpath() implementation.
  • Adjust keyboardInit() to only link the default keyboard if no custom keyboard is being used.
  • Fix getcwd() result when called in the root NitroFS directory.
  • Fix Slot-1 card reads not being aligned to 512 bytes.
  • Minor allocation/string handling bugfixes.
  • Fix some memory allocation issues found by GCC 14.
• SDK:
  • Add examples (paletted textures, rotation backgrounds, 16-bit backgrounds, sprites in sub screen, FAT file attributes, GL2D usage).
  • Add tests for realpath().
  • Fix warnings found by GCC 14 in examples.

v1.0.0

• libnds:
  • Fix C++ builds (there was a missing cast from enum to int, and the Makefile
  • was using the wrong program to link binaries).
  • Optimize some videoGL functions (compile them as ARM instead of Thumb to
  • take advantage of the faster multiplication instructions).
  • Fix bug in readdir().
  • Implement __retarget_lock_*() family of functions to allow libc functions
  • to work in a multithreaded environment.
  • Make glCallList() take a void pointer instead of u32.
  • Add checks to NWRAM functions to see if MBK1-MBK5 are writable.
  • Don't remap NWRAM-A when starting the DSP (only B and C are needed).
  • Fix swiUnpackBits().
  • Fix some casts to respect "const".
  • Fix some warnings.
  • Improve some documentation comments.
  • Deprecate typedef fp (the name is too short!) and PUnpackStruct.
  • Add missing files to the Doxygen documentation.
• SDK:
  • Add examples (3D object picking, 3D toon shading, building 3D display lists,
  • 3D volumetric shadows, compressed textures, orthogonal projections, using
  • console windows with the default console API).
  • Improve C++ test to prevent regressions like during the last few versions.
  • Document memory map of the DS.
  • Add note about the Makefiles of BlocksDS not supporting paths outside of the
  • root folder of the project (thanks, @lifehackerhansol).
  • Fix linking C++ projects in default makefiles.
• maxmod:
  • Fix return type of mmEffectCancel() in ARM9 code.

v0.14.0

• libnds:
  • The GRF loading functions have been modified to be actually useful. In some cases it wasn't possible to infer the size of some data chunks of the file (it was impossible to calculate the size of a tileset, for example). The new functions break compatibility with the old ones, but this change was required.
  • Added glTexSizeToEnum() to convert sizes in pixels to GL_TEX_SIZE_ENUM values. Also, the funciton glTexImage2D() now accepts sizes in pixels as well as GL_TEX_SIZE_ENUM values.
  • Added a function to return the default drive (sd: in the case of DSi, fat: in the case of a DS).
  • FatFs has been moved to an external repository (wf-fatfs) which is included in libnds as a submodule. The documentation of FatFs has been removed from this repository.
  • Added some missing 3D polygon attribute definitions.
  • Fixed the return type of swiSHA1Verify().
  • The fatfs.h header has been removed, it is redundant.
• SDK:
  • Refactor documentation.
    • It now uses Hugo, and it is available as a static website.
    • Some old sections have been updated.
    • The documentation of all libraries has been integrated with the documentation of BlocksDS so that everything is linked.
    • Document how to use Slot-2 flashcards with BlocksDS applications.
    • Reword devkitARM porting guide.
    • A doxygen theme has been applied to the documentation of all the libraries used by BlocksDS.
  • Add lots of examples:
    • 3D and 2D graphics.
    • DSWifi.
    • How to use multiple DSP binaries in the same application
    • General NitroFS usage in an application (such as loading music for LibXM7 or graphics to be used as 2D backgrounds or sprites).
    • DSi SHA1 functions.
    • Hardware timers.
    • Video capture (render to texture, dual screen 3D, save screenshot as PNG).
    • More text console examples.
  • Small change to makefiles that modifies the destination folder of build artifacts.
• LibXM7:
  • It now uses timer 0 instead of timer 1, so that Maxmod and LibXM7 use the same timer and it's easier to switch libraries.
  • The documentation has been improved.
• DSWifi:
  • WEP modes have been documented.
  • The prototypes of some functions have been cleaned up.
  • The documentation has been improved.
• Maxmod:
  • The return type of mmEffectCancel() has been fixed.
  • Some definitions have been turned into enums.
  • inline functions in headers have been turned into static inline.

v0.13.0

• libnds:
  • Breaking change: Refactor input handling in the ARM9. In order to fix a race condition where the touch screen state could be updated between calls to scanKeys() and touchRead() it has become mandatory to call scanKeys() before touchRead(), keyboardGetChar(), keyboardUpdate() and the deprecated touchReadXY(). Most programs are already doing this, but this may break a small number of programs that don't do it.
  • Implemented isHwDebugger(), which returns 1 if the console running the code is a hardware debugger, regardless of the DS model and CPU state. This is meant to replace swiIsDebugger(), which only works if the cache is disabled, and only in DS models (not DSi). The documentation of swiIsDebugger() has been updated to mention its limitations.
  • Fix Slot-2 tilt API introduced in version 0.11.0, which hadn't been tested on hardware. The old peripheralSlot2TiltUpdate() has been replaced by peripheralSlot2TiltStart() and peripheralSlot2TiltRead().
  • Implemented utime() and utimes() for changing file modification dates.
  • Implemented scandir(), alphasort() and versionsort(),
  • Fixed statvfs() and fstatvfs() on NitroFS paths and files.
  • Added stubs for getwd() and get_current_dir_name().
  • Added stubs for getuid(), getgid(), etc.
  • Add helpers to load GRF files generated by grit.
  • Reintroduce logic to read Slot-1 cartridges with card commands from the ARM7 to save CPU cycles on the ARM9.
  • The value of the RAM size field in REG_SCFG_EXT in the ARM9 is now set to 16 MB or 32 MB instead of being fixed to 32 MB even in retail DSi units.
  • Some CP15 defines have been fixed.
  • Simplify logic in ARM7 input handler.
  • Generate default font from a PNG at build time instead of doing it from a preconverted BIN file to make it easier to replace it in the future.
• grit:
  • Added the -D argument, specifying the destination folder for non-shared data as a counterpart to -O.
  • Fixed a situation in which the first color in an image's palette would be used as transparent if the user-provided color (with -gT) was not present in the image.
  • Breaking change: Fixed GRF file output to properly follow the RIFF chunk format. It will also export new information in the file header, like using special magic values to specify the formats A3I5, A5I3 and TEX4x4, and specifying the number of colors contained in the palette (for 16-bit
  • textures it's 0). In order for the new information to fit in the header, some fields have been increased in size.
  • Fixed palette size calculation for DS textures.
  • Improvements to error messages.
• libxm7:
  • Make types XM7_XMModuleHeader_Type and XM7_MODModuleHeader_Type private. Developers consider their MOD/XM files as a typeless blob of data, they shouldn't need to cast it to anything, the library should do it itself.
  • The structs that define the MOD and XM formats have been made private, as well as some definitions internal to the player.
  • Some defines have been turned into enums, which will help developers and IDEs identify what to use in which functions.
  • The documentation has been updated.
• Tests:
  • Add test to read DSi SCFG registers to see which DSi features are available with the loader that has been used to launch the application.
  • Add test to display all configured MPU regions.

v0.12.0

• libnds:
  • Dot and dot-dot entries are now properly emitted in readdir(). In line with common software expectations, they mirror standard FAT filesystem behaviour, that is are present for all subdirectories. For NitroFS, these entries are emulated accordingly.
  • The d_ino field in readdir() output is now correctly populated, to match stat() and fstat().
  • Added nitroFSOpenById() and nitroFSFopenById() functions, allowing opening files directly without paying the cost of a directory lookup.
  • Accordingly, NitroFS file systems which contain a FAT table but no FNT table can now be opened.
  • Optimized glMaterialShinyness().
• SDK:
  • The default Makefiles have been simplified and now use compiler-provided .specs files. In turn, a few additional features have been added:
    • Support for picolibc's compiler define-based selection of the printf and scanf implementations.
    • The __BLOCKSDS__ define, which can be used to detect a BlocksDS environment during building.
  • Fixed camera initialization with the default ARM7 binary.
• grit:
  • Added the -ftB argument, which outputs files with .img, .map, .meta, .pal extensions, as opposed to .img.bin, .map.bin, .meta.bin and .pal.bin.

v0.11.3

• libnds:
  • Added helpers to control microphone power independently from recording. This can be used for scenarios in which the DSP is tasked from recording microphone input.
  • Added helpers and definitions for the DSi GPIO registers.
  • Added function to detect availability of NWRAM.
  • Fixed atexit() handlers not being called during a normal main() return.
  • Fixed TSC configuration for enabling 47 kHz input/output in DSi mode.
  • Improved error handling in Teak DSP code execution helpers.
  • The Teak DSP is now powered off before loading a DSP binary.
• dswifi:
  • Reduced memory usage, especially while Wi-Fi is not initialized.
• ndstool:
  • Breaking: Instead of providing alternate-language banner text using -bt5 "Text", the form -bt 5 "Text" is now required.
  • Added support for providing mutliple root directories for building NitroFS images. All specified root directories are combined to create the root of the file system.
  • Fixed -w treating other options as file masks.
  • Improved argument handling.
• SDK:
  • Updated compiler flags:
    • The superfluous -mtune=arm7tdmi has been removed from ARM7 Makefiles.
    • -march=armv5te -mtune=arm946e-s has been replaced with -mcpu=arm946e-s+nofp in ARM9 Makefiles.
    • -Wl,--use-blx has been added to ARM9 linker flags. This allows the use of the BLX opcode for linking ARM/Thumb code in place of trampolines, slightly improving final executable size and performance.

v0.11.2

• libnds:
  • Fixed a bug introduced in version 0.11.1 that didn't initialize audio hardware correctly in DSi mode.
  • Some superfluous audio helpers added in version 0.11.1 have been removed.
  • Move libteak to its own repository so that it can be reused by other toolchains.
  • Modify functions to load DSP binaries to return int instead of bool for more flexibility.
• DSP:
  • Move crt0 and linkerscript to libteak repository.
  • Preprocess all assembly files, not just the crt0.

v0.11

• libc:
  • Fixed an important regression in memcpy() and memset() implementations.
• Improved file I/O performance:
  • Added support for batch reads and writes of contiguous clusters, improving SD card performance for very large sequential reads/writes.
  • Added fatInitLookupCacheFile(). This allows opting a file into having a special in-memory cache which significantly speeds up file seek operations.
  • Provisionally automatically enabled the in-memory cache for NitroFS files. If you're experiencing slowdowns, make sure to defragment your SD card - this requirement will be loosened in future releases (but it's still a good idea).
  • Integrated profi200's dsi_sdmmc driver, improving reliability and performance for reading from and writing to the DSi's SD card.
  • Optimized unaligned buffer I/O performance for the DSi's SD card.
  • Only cluster table/directory-related reads will now be cached by the built-in sector cache. This allows better use of this sector cache; one can use setvbuf() to enable a larger cache for file I/O.
  • Other minor optimizations have been made throughout the code.
• Added a new Slot-2 API (arm9/peripherals/slot2.h).
  • Added support for detecting external RAM cartridges (SuperCard, M3, G6, DS Memory Expansion Pak, EZ-Flash variants, EverDrive).
  • Added support for enabling and disabling the data cache on the Slot-2 memory area. Combined with suitable bus speed detection for these cartridges, this allows efficient usage of such an external RAM area.
  • Added support for detecting and using the Gyro, Solar and Tilt sensors available on various GBA game cartridges.
  • Fixed detection of GBA cartridge rumble (WarioWare, Drill Dozer).
  • Modify rumble example to show how to use the new API.
• DLDI:
  • Moved the built-in sector cache into unused memory occupied by the reserved DLDI driver area. This effectly saves ~20KB of heap RAM for most homebrew.
  • The DLDI driver area size can now be changed by defining the __dldi_size symbol to a value away from the default of 16384, such as 8192 (if your application is highly RAM-constrained - this may break support with some cartridges, however) or 32768 (restores compatibility with MoonShell versions at the cost of an additional 16KB of RAM).
  • The DLDI driver area is now guaranteed to be close to the beginning of the .nds file, which may slightly improve load times.
• DSP:
  • Add BTDMP and ICU helpers.
  • Refactor crt0.s.
  • Add examples of handling interrupts, including timer interrupts.
• libnds:
  • Rename some cache helpers for consistency.
  • Fixed a file handle leak that could occur if nitroFSInit() was pointed to an .nds file which does not contain a NitroFS file system.
  • Fixed a rare case in which nitroFSInit() could try reading from the GBA slot on the DSi, causing an exception.
  • Added readFirmwareJEDEC() function to read the ID of the DS firmware flash chip. (lifehackerhansol)
  • Minor optimizations have been done to readUserSettings().
  • Fixed the NDMA_DST_FIX macro definition.

v0.10.2

• NitroFS: Fix file traversal not working without running a chdir() first.

v0.10.1

• Fix NitroFS directory reads occasionally failing on non-DLDI environments.

v0.10.0

• Build system:
  • The default makefiles no longer rely on the toolchain being in the current
  • PATH. Now, the default Makefiles have the default path to Wonderful
  • Toolchain, which can be overriden by the user if desired.
  • The makefiles used by the tests and examples have been moved to a system
  • location so that they are more easily reused.
  • dldipatch has replaced dlditool as the default to apply DLDI
  • patches, due to bugs in dlditool's patch application process:
  • https://problemkaputt.de/gbatek-ds-cart-dldi-driver-guessed-address-adjustments.htm
  • Update your makefiles to take advantage of the updates.
• Filesystem improvements:
  • Replaced NitroFAT by a new Zlib-licensed implementation of the NitroFS
  • filesystem by @asiekierka. This fixes the performance drawbacks of NitroFAT.
  • In stat() and fstat(), the fields st_dev and st_ino are now
  • properly populated.
  • Fixed stat() not acknowledging / as a directory.
  • Remove NitroFAT support from ndstool.
  • The example makefiles have been modified to stop using mkfatimg.
• DSP:
  • Initial experimental, incomplete support for the Teak DSP of the DSi.
  • This isn't ready to be used, it's still under development and it's going
  • through a lot of changes. Most of the code is derived from @Gericom's
  • prototype code.
  • Support for building DSP binaries won't be present on Windows until it's
  • more stable. However, if you already have pre-built DSP binaries, it's
  • possible to use them on Windows.
  • Introduced teaktool, which converts ELF files into TLF (Teak Loadable
  • Format) files that can be loaded by libnds.
  • Added ARM9 functions to libnds to handle the DSP, load TLF files and
  • communicate with programs running on the DSP.
  • Introduce libteak, a library with helpers to use the AHBM, DMA, APBP,
  • ICU and timer peripherals. It has been documented and added to the Doxygen
  • pages of libnds.
  • Added a few examples of how to use the currently supported DSP features.
  • Update user instructions and Dockerfile to use and mention the LLVM Teak
  • toolchain.
  • Add NWRAM defintions and helpers.
• DLDI improvements:
  • The DLDI template now automatically calculates the "size" and "fix flags"
  • fields of the header.
  • The binary R4 DLDI driver, used for DeSmuMe compatibility, has been replaced
  • by a Zlib-licensed impementation built from source.
• libnds:
  • Microphone samples can now be captured using full 16-bit precision on DSi.
  • Cleaned up and added some missing MMIO/bitfield defines throughout libnds.
  • Implemented inlined BIOS calls based on gba-hpp. This should make code
  • using BIOS calls slightly smaller and faster.
  • Small reorganization of syscalls code.
  • Slightly optimized coroutine threading code.
  • Added documentation about ARM7 audio helpers.
• Submodules:
  • Before this version, repositories owned by third parties were added as
  • submodules to the SDK repository. This can be a problem if the owner isn't
  • responsive, changes name, deletes the repository... In order to avoid
  • issues, forks have been created under the BlocksDS organization.
  • It is expected to contribute to the original repositories and update the
  • fork to stay in sync. Contributing to the forks is a last resort option.
• Tests:
  • Added a new test for SWI functions.

v0.9.1

• Revert changes in maxmod that duplicated some symbols.

v0.9.0

• SDK:
  • Native windows support added. Wonderful toolchains now distribute native Windows binaries, and the only required change in BlocksDS was to change a library used by Grit. Thanks you, Generic and asie!
  • The stdio implementation of picolibc provided by Wonderful Toolchains has been patched by asie and this has substantially improved direct SD card read and write speeds.
  • The RTC interrupt is no longer used in any test, example or template. Users are now expected to timer interrupt instead because the RTC interrupt isn't supported on 3DS in DS/DSi mode or most emulators. Check the new code to see how to adapt old code. The RTC interrupt functions will still be supported to preserve compatibility with old projects that aren't updated.
  • Document the ARM9 <-> ARM7 boot synchronization routine.
  • In the dockerfile, set a locale to be able to pass UTF-8 characters to ndstool to appear in the title of the NDS ROM.
  • Add a test to ensure that the libnds modules that use the ARM9 <-> ARM7 transfer memory region don't break.
  • New examples:
    • Getting key input state.
    • Using NitroFAT, DLDI and DSi SD in the same program.
    • Send a buffer in main RAM to the ARM7 from the ARM9.
    • Read battery status.
    • Set the real time clock of the NDS.
• libnds:
  • RTC:
    • Add new helpers to get and set the date. They use typedefs to move values between functions instead of byte arrays.
    • The old helpers that use byte arrays have been deprecated.
    • Using the RTC interrupt as a way to update the time every second has been deprecated.
    • Documentation:
    • Document values returned by the battery read function.
    • Document RTC helpers.
    • Add some ARM7 modules to the front page of the Doxygen documentation.
  • Memory:
    • Disable data cache and instruction fetch access to DTCM.
    • Rumble detection functions won't try to detect anything on DSi.
    • Change location of transfer region area on DSi so that it's uncached.
    • Import safe DMA helpers written by Gericom and use them from all DMA helpers.
  • Video:
    • Make glGetInt() wait for the GPU to be idle when getting the polygon and vertices count. It is common for developers to forget to wait.
    • Cleanup some helpers and add some missing VRAM definitions.
    • Document hardware bug of the DMA in GFX FIFO mode.
  • Other:
    • FatFs updated to R0.15p3.
    • Support the debug button (only available in emulators and debug consoles).
    • Switch to using ARM unified syntax (UAL).
• Grit:
  • Switch from libfreeimage to libplum. This allows us to build Grit on Windows easier.

v0.8.1

• libnds:
  • Fix NitroFAT in emulators. It only worked when DLDI was initialized correctly, which isn't the case in emulators like no$gba.
  • Set the right CPU as owner of the Slot-1 bus in NitroFAT handling functions.
• SDK:
  • Update build systems to generate Maxmod soundbanks in the NitroFAT filesystem if the filesystem is used. This isn't supported by ARM9 + ARM7 makefiles for now, only by ARM9 makefiles.
  • Fix segmentation fault in mkfatimg when not enough arguments are provided.
  • Stop relying on make -j in Makefiles. It is passed by make to any sub-make, so it isn't required.
  • Add basic Maxmod and Maxmod + NitroFAT examples.

v0.8

• libnds:
  • Document MPU setup code properly.
  • Cleanup exception handling code.
  • Add asynchronous math functions to complement the previous synchronous ones.
  • Support redirecting stdout and stderr to user functions.
  • Fix code that selects the default filesystem (DSi SD or DLDI).
  • Fix leaking file handlers in truncate().
  • Fix memory leaks in image and pcx modules.
  • Support more rumble packs.
• ndstool:
  • Fix warnings.
  • Remove non-homebrew-related functionality.
• SDK:
  • Automatically link with libc and libstdc++ rather than forcing users to do it explicitly.
  • Support *.arm.c and *.arm.cpp filenames for compatibility with devkitARM.
  • Correctly initialize TLS in the ARM7.
  • Improve bin2c.
  • Update libc documentation.
  • Improve and cleanup some examples.

v0.7

• libnds:
  • Unify all coding and documentation style of the codebase.
  • Change license of GL2D to Zlib (with the author's permission).
  • Improve sassert() so that it can exit to the loader instead of locking the application.
  • Keyboard:
    • Fix initialization glitch where it would blink for a frame.
    • Fix backspace handling.
    • Make it use cothread functions so that it never blocks the application.
  • cothread:
    • Fixed stack alignment
    • Fixed stack size of the scheduler thread.
  • libc:
    • Fix no$gba debug messages on the ARM9.
    • Add support of no$gba debug messages to the ARM7.
• mmutil:
  • Fix segfault with samples with implied zero loop.
• SDK:
  • Improve some old examples. Fix memory leaks in all examples that used
  • getcwd().
  • Fix ARM9 linkerscript to place ITCM sections in ITCM correctly.
  • Add new examples: Exception handling, assertions, no$gba debug console.
  • Prevent mkfatimg from generating FAT images that are so small that FatFs
  • can't mount them.
  • Improve installation instructions.

v0.6

• libnds:
  • Document MPU setup steps and CP15 registers.
  • Enable more warnings in the Makefile and fix them.
  • FIFO subsystem:
    • The FIFO subsystem has been cleaned up and documented.
    • Some bugs in the FIFO subsystem have been fixed (the stress test still fails, though).
    • Prevent using cothread_yield() in the ARM7.
  • libc:
    • Alignment of thread local storage sections has been fixed.
    • Support stat() in the root directory of a filesystem.
    • Support statvfs() and fstatvfs().
  • Avoid including the default keyboard data if it isn't used.
  • Allow setting the duration of the lid sleep check, and to disable it completely.
  • Build release versions of the library as well as debug.
• ndstool:
  • Support multiple languages in the banner.
  • Support more file formats for icons (GIF, PNG).
  • Support animated icons (from GIF files).
• SDK:
  • Refactor install targets of the SDK components. Now, all components can
  • be installed on their own, and they copy the licenses of the components to
  • the installation directory.
  • Emulate behaviour of bin2s of devkitPro more closely with bin2c.
  • Use SPDX license identifiers in all libraries and components that end up in
  • the NDS application binary.
  • Some cleanup of code formatting.
  • Added a DLDI driver template.

v0.5

• Define a default location for BlocksDS: /opt/blocksds/
• Use mkfatimg (distributed with FatFs) instead of imgbuild.sh to reduce
• the number of dependencies.
• Fix mmutil target in Makefiles in parallel builds.
• Cleanup of GBA slot peripherals drivers.
• Integrate libxm7 as a core library.
• Fix exit to loader code from the ARM7. It has been simplified a bit.
• Document exit to loader code.

v0.4

• Use Wonderful Toolchains to get full C++ standard library support.
• Remove picolibc and avr-libstdcpp as submodules (all previous history has been condensed to one commit).
• Multithreading:
  • Add cooperative multithreading scheduler.
  • Enable scheduler in the ARM9 by default.
  • Add examples of having multiple threads, mutexes, and asynchronous file
  • loading.
  • Support thread local storage.
• Added mutexes to problematic parts of libnds and FatFs.
• Add initial support and example of DSi camera (thanks, asie!).
• Support malloc() in the ARM7.
• Simplify build system of tests and examples.
• Bugfixes.

Credits

This project wouldn't have been possible without:

• Many thanks to asie for his help and advice, and for Wonderful Toolchains
• devkitPro
• picolibc
• libnds
• dswifi
• maxmod (and mmutil)
• grit
• GCC
• make
• And many others!

External links

• GitHub - https://github.com/blocksds/sdk