NDS to CIA

Turn your Nintendo DS game dump into a self-contained Nintendo 3DS HOME Menu title. Each CIA includes the game and its launch files. After installation, there is no loose .nds file or shared _nds folder to maintain on the SD card.

Download version 1.0 · Native banner setup · Build from source

• A Windows x64 converter with a graphical interface; Python is not required.
• A separate Bridge.cia, installed once per console.
• One CIA per game, with the original DS icon, name and publisher.
• The native animated DS cartridge presentation after a one-time local resource import.
• Quiet startup and per-game runtime files, settings and saves.

This runs games through nds-bootstrap in DS mode. It is not a DS emulator or a retail Nintendo installation format. Game compatibility follows the included runtime and the limits below.

• Windows 10/11, 64-bit, for the release executable.
• A 3DS/2DS family console with working custom firmware and DS mode.
• FBI or another compatible CIA installer.
• Your own complete .nds dump. See the GodMode9 dumping guide.
• Free SD space for the installed CIA content plus another copy of the game, per-game runtime files, at least 42 MiB of work files, and saves/caches.

1. Download and extract NDS-to-CIA-1.0.0-Windows-x64.zip from the release page.
2. Copy Bridge.cia to the console's SD card.
3. Open FBI, browse to that file, and select Install CIA.
4. After successful installation, remove the installation file if desired.

The bridge is a hidden internal title: no HOME Menu icon appears. Do not launch it manually. It is title 0004800544435332 and installs to TWL NAND. It is shared by all games made with this tool and needs installing only once, unless it is removed or the console's NAND is restored/reset.

1. Open NDS-to-CIA.exe.
2. For the native cartridge banner, click Banner setup… and complete the one-time resource import. Alternatively, choose Simple icon to build immediately without system resources.
3. Select your .nds file and choose a new output .cia filename.
4. Click Create CIA and wait for the completion message.

You can also drop a .nds file onto the EXE to preselect it. Existing output files are not overwritten. A small JSON receipt is saved beside each CIA.

1. Copy the generated CIA onto your SD card and install it with FBI.
2. Return to HOME Menu. The game appears with its original icon and name.
3. Launch the game and allow its initial setup to complete. The screens remain blank while the title extracts its files and enters DS mode; the first launch can take a minute or longer depending on the game and SD card.
4. After installation, the input .nds and installation .cia do not need to remain on the console's SD card. Keep your originals backed up on your PC.

Later launches reuse the extracted files, but still verify their contents. Reinstalling a CIA can trigger setup again. Back up saves before updating, reinstalling or uninstalling a generated title.

The generated title owns its files inside:

Nintendo 3DS/<ID0>/<ID1>/title/00040000/<title-low>/data/00000000/

0000000a/00000000.sav is the normal DS save. Back up the entire managed directory when possible, especially before reinstalling or moving SD contents. These extra files are not standard 3DS save archives; do not assume a normal 3DS save manager or installer preserves them.

The managed ROM is a raw .bin, not encrypted or copy-protected. The CIA and extracted runtime both occupy space. Generated titles require no shared _nds folder, but this tool does not remove files required by custom firmware or other applications. Keep the boot files your console setup needs.

On Windows, imported artwork and the title-ID registry live in %LOCALAPPDATA%\nds-to-cia. Keep that folder when updating the converter so the same dumps retain their assigned title IDs. Your input dumps are read locally; the application does not upload them or collect telemetry.

The native display uses artwork from your own HOME Menu dump and the standard system font. Neither those resources nor Nintendo keys are included in the release. Import them once with the GUI; they are embedded in each generated CIA and are not needed as separate SD files.

See Native banner setup for the dump/import process. Simple icon mode is always available without this import.

The Windows executable is unsigned. Checksums are provided in SHA256SUMS.txt; Windows may display an unknown-publisher prompt.

• Intended for DS cartridge dumps and compatible DS homebrew; not DSiWare.
• Native banners use the English title and the base icon bitmap; animated DSi icon sequences are not reproduced. The cartridge itself remains animated.
• Native title text supports the system font and up to three lines. Text that exceeds the original pane is rejected rather than clipped silently.
• Optional widescreen, external compatibility packs and per-game startup menus are not included.
• On-console testing confirmed the native banner, game startup, saving, reopening and sleep with Super Mario 64 DS. This is not a compatibility claim for every game or every console model.
• The 1.0 desktop build is tested for GUI startup and end-to-end CIA creation; each newly generated game's compatibility still requires console testing.

The repository contains only the converter, launcher, bridge, runtime patch recipe and tests. It does not require another firmware project. The release includes a source archive with the pinned upstream sources used for the build.

Built on YANBF, NTR Forwarder, nds-bootstrap, Project CTR, bannertool, and PyCTR. NDSForwarder provided the reference for the native DS presentation.

See LICENSE.txt and third-party notices. This is an independent homebrew project, not affiliated with Nintendo.