Nintendo DS

First boot

Finish the setup first. Do not attempt a first boot until the microSD is formatted, the correct kernel sits at the card's root, and the card is fully seated. Skipping a step is the usual reason the menu fails to appear.

First boot

This is the moment everything comes together. Follow the phases below the first time you power on your modded DS.

Seat the card

Insert the microSD into the flashcard until it clicks, then slide the flashcard into slot-1 label-side up until flush. NoPass means nothing else is needed.
Power on

Turn on the DS. On the system menu, the flashcard should appear as a cartridge bearing the card's name.
Launch the kernel

Select the cartridge to load the card's menu. The first launch may take a moment as the kernel initializes.
Run a test title

Open your games folder and launch a known-good homebrew app. If it runs and saves correctly, your setup is sound.

If it doesn't boot

Reseat both cards, confirm the kernel is at the root, and verify the microSD is genuine and FAT32-formatted. These three checks resolve the vast majority of first-boot issues. first boot