IS-NITRO

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IS-NITRO-EMULATOR

Developed by Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd. [1] for Nintendo, the IS-NITRO development kits were offered by Nintendo to develop software for the original Nintendo DS.

The IS-NITRO was available as 3 different development kits:

  • EMULATOR
  • CAPTURE
  • VIDEO

The IS-NITRO-EMULATOR was the standard development kit used to debug and test Nintendo DS software. It contains 8 MB of RAM, twice that of a retail console.

The IS-NITRO-CAPTURE was used by developers, publishers and reviewers to capture screenshots and video of DS games.

The IS-NITRO-VIDEO was used for showcasing game demos at various events.

Versions

Stickers on the bottom of an IS-NITRO-EMULATOR with an original DS controller
Stickers on the bottom of an IS-NITRO-CAPTURE with a DS Lite controller

The IS-NITRO-EMULATOR originally came with two options: VIDEO and WIRELESS. The IS-NITRO-CAPTURE originally only had one option, WIRELESS.

After the introduction of the DS Lite, there was an additional option available, USG.

VIDEO

Units equipped with the VIDEO option could output video via the connectors on the back. This option was only a software restriction, as all IS-NITRO units have the video output hardware built-in. It is possible to unlock the video output functionality with a software patch.[2]

WIRELESS

Units equipped with the WIRELESS option had a big "shark fin" antenna on the top for wireless communication.

USG

Units equipped with the USG option had a DS Lite controller attached to the unit, instead of an original DS "phat" controller.

Older units with an original DS controller could be sent to Nintendo for an upgrade to a DS Lite controller.

I4M (K)

A version of the IS-NITRO-EMULATOR made specifically for the Korean market is known to exist. These have an additional I4M (K) option, but its purpose is unknown.

According to the revision history of the IS-NITRO-DEBUGGER software, these units would have the Korean version of the DS Menu.

Stickers on the bottom[3]
Sticker on the side[4]

IS-NITRO-EMULATOR Packaging

Box[5]

Front of the Unit

Front of the IS-NITRO-EMULATOR[6]

Has a hardwired cable coming out to the dummy controller, along with 3 LED indicators:

  • SYSTEM1
  • SYSTEM2
  • POWER

SYSTEM1 & SYSTEM2

The SYSTEM1 and SYSTEM2 LEDs indicate the status of the unit:

  • Both off: The unit is operating normally.
  • Both on: Initializing the unit, or updating or restoring the firmware.
  • Both flashing: An error has occurred with the unit.
  • SYSTEM1 is on: Using a DS card inserted into the DS card slot.
  • SYSTEM2 is on: Using a Game Boy Advance cartridge inserted into the GBA cartridge slot.

POWER

The power LED lights up when the power switch at the back is turned on, and turns off when the power switch is turned off.


Back of the Unit

Back of the IS-NITRO

POWER

Switch to turn the unit on or off.

DC IN

The unit uses a GameCube power adapter for power.

DIP Switches

There are 8 DIP switches:[7]

  • Switch 1: Should be set to OFF.
    • If ON, turns on the debugging serial port on the V850 board.
  • Switch 2: Should be set to OFF.
    • Setting this to ON makes the PC software complain and refuse to work?
  • Switch 3: Should be set to OFF.
    • Setting this to ON causes the DS to not power on, the SYSTEM1 LED flashes continuously and the PC software complains?
  • Switch 4: Should be set to OFF unless performing a firmware reset.
    • To perform a firmware reset, the user has to turn off the unit, set this to ON, then turn on the unit. All 3 front LEDs should turn on. After about 20 seconds, the SYSTEM1 LED turns off, presumably indicating the firmware restore is done. The user now has to turn off the unit, set this back to OFF, and turn the unit on again. This seems to reset the V850 CPU firmware, leaving the DS firmware settings (name, favorite color, etc.) unaffected.
  • Switch 5: When set to OFF, uses wired connection for wireless communication. When set to ON, uses "actual" wireless.
    • This switch is usable only on units with the WIRELESS option enabled.
  • Switch 6: Used to set the color of the outside of the LCD screen on images output by the AV cable. Set to OFF for black and ON for gray.
  • Switch 7: When set to ON, the DS upper screen and lower screen are output as a single image from AV OUT1. When set to OFF, the upper screen is output from AV OUT1.
  • Switch 8: When set to ON, the DS upper screen and lower screen are output as a single image from AV OUT2. When set to OFF, the lower screen is output from AV OUT2.

AV OUT1 & AV OUT2

Video and audio from both the upper and lower screens can be output from these ports.

The following cables are supported:

  • Mono AV Cable (SHVC-007)
  • Stereo AV Cable (SHVC-008)
  • S-Video Cable (SHVC-009)

USB

Connect via a USB type-B cable to a PC in order to use the IS-NITRO-DEBUGGER software.

WIRELESS

This port allows IS-NITRO units to perform wireless communication via a wired connection, using a crossover ethernet cable.

Two IS-NITRO units can be connected together directly; multiple IS-NITRO units can be connected together using the IS-NITRO-HUB. DIP switch 5 should be set to OFF for this to work.

GROUND CONNECTOR

Used to ground the unit.

Top of the Unit

Top of an IS-NITRO with the WIRELESS option

CARTRIDGE

Insert a Game Boy Advance cartridge into this slot.

The IS-NITRO-EMULATOR can boot GBA cartridges inserted into this slot:[8]

  1. Close and reopen the IS-NITRO-DEBUGGER software, to reset the hardware
  2. Insert a GBA cartridge
  3. From IS-NITRO-DEBUGGER, turn on the power to the GBA slot
  4. Go to Tools > Game Banner
  5. The DS menu will be displayed on the controller, allowing you to launch the GBA game

CARD

Insert a DS card (either a retail or flash cartridge) into this slot.

The IS-NITRO-EMULATOR cannot boot games from cards inserted into this slot; a DS ROM image has to be loaded from the IS-NITRO-DEBUGGER software.

  • Additionally, since the IS-NITRO-EMULATOR does not emulate backup/save memory, when loading a ROM image, a card with the correct save memory chip has to be inserted into this slot to provide save functionality. Either a flash cartridge with a matching save sub-board or a retail game card with a matching save memory chip would work. Most games will show an error message if the save memory is not present.
  • This slot in an IS-NITRO-EMULATOR is solely for flashing to a flash cartridge and to read and write to save data stored on the inserted card.


Dummy Controller

The handheld controller is similar to a retail Nintendo DS (or DS Lite, for units with the USG option). There are a few differences:

  • On the DS Lite controller, the GBA slot cover is glued in place[9]
  • Hardwired cable extending out of the top of the unit

All of the DS "brains" are inside of the actual IS-NITRO box.

DS Controller

NTR EMU CTRL2(B) - front
NTR EMU CTRL2(B) - front
NTR EMU CTRL2(B) - back

DS Lite Controller

Front of the DS Lite controller[10]
Back of the DS Lite controller
DS Lite controller with lid opened
Board front
Board back

Inside of the Unit

Depending on the type of IS-NITRO, different boards would be installed in the unit.

IS-NITRO-EMULATOR IS-NITRO-CAPTURE IS-NITRO-VIDEO*
NTR EMU NITRO CPU
NTR EMU WIRELESS ADP
NTR EMU MONITOR
NTR EMU V850 -
NTR EMU EMULATOR NTR CAP AGB SLOT
NTR EMU CARD ADP NTR CAP CARD SLOT

* unconfirmed, as no teardown pictures exist

Cover removed

The unit consists of multiple boards stacked together with standoffs.

Side view showing the CPU board
Top view showing the board stack
Bottom view showing the board stack
Board stack removed from case

NTR EMU NITRO CPU

This board provides the DS hardware, containing the CPU and RAM.

  • Units that came with the DS Lite controller still have a CPU marked as "CPU NTR" as opposed to "CPU NTR B" seen on retail DS Lites.

CAPTURE units would have a battery holder populated with a CR2032, presumably to hold the RTC.

Units with the WIRELESS option would have the "shark fin" mounted on this board.

There is an add-on board attached, NTR EMU WIRELESS ADP, which provides the baseband chip and flash (to store the DS firmware). Units with the WIRELESS option would come with a wireless module soldered to the add-on board (below the silkscreen marking "NITRO-RFU").

NTR EMU NITRO CPU(C) - front[11]
NTR EMU NITRO CPU(C) - back
NTR EMU NITRO CPU(C) with wireless - front
NTR EMU NITRO CPU(C) with wireless - back
NTR EMU NITRO CPU(C) - front without add-on board, from an EMULATOR unit
NTR EMU WIRELESS ADP(D) - front
NTR EMU WIRELESS ADP(D) - back

NTR EMU MONITOR

This board has the 2 AV connectors and ethernet port for wired wireless communication.

Units that came with the original DS controller use the same audio/video encoder chip as the Nintendo 64, the MAV-NUS.

Units that came with the DS Lite controller use the same audio/video encoder chip as NTSC GameCubes, the AVE N-DOL.

It is possible to modify both the original DS controller variant[12][13] and the DS Lite controller variant[14] to output RGB video.

NTR EMU MONITOR(C) - front
NTR EMU MONITOR(C) - back
NTR EMU MONITOR RoHS(A) - front
NTR EMU MONITOR RoHS(A) - back

NTR EMU V850

This board has the power switch, power jack, DIP switches, USB port for debugging and 3 status LEDs.

It contains a NEC D703103AGJ CPU.

The white connector on the top is a serial port, which outputs debug information when booting with DIP switch 1 set to ON.

NTR EMU V850(B) - front
NTR EMU V850(B) - back
NTR EMU V850(C) - front
NTR EMU V850(C) - back

NTR EMU EMULATOR

This board contains the GBA cartridge slot and performs emulation of the DS game card. The 256 MB of RAM is used to emulate a game card and limits the maximum size of flash cards that can be written to.

There is an add-on board attached, NTR EMU CARD ADP, which provides the DS game card slot.

There is 1 relay for the GBA slot and 2 relays on the add-on board. These relays produce an audible click when the GBA or DS slot power is toggled via the IS-NITRO-DEBUGGER software.

NTR EMU EMULATOR( ) - front
NTR EMU EMULATOR( ) - back
NTR EMU CARD ADP(B) - front
NTR EMU CARD ADP(B) - back

NTR CAP AGB SLOT

Since the IS-NITRO-CAPTURE does not have the NTR EMU EMULATOR board, this board is present to provide the GBA slot. Similarly, there is an add-on board attached, NTR CAP CARD SLOT, which provides the DS game card slot.

There are no relays present.

The IS-NITRO-VIDEO presumably does not have the V850 board (since it lacks a USB connector), and would have the power switch, power jack, DIP switches and front power LED populated on this board.

NTR CAP AGB SLOT(A) - front
NTR CAP AGB SLOT(A) - back
NTR CAP CARD SLOT( ) - front

Early Units

IS-NITRO-EMULATOR units before the launch of the DS came with an E3-style DS controller. These early units were only available to publishers and not developers directly; they had to be returned to Nintendo by the end of 2004.

Early IS-NITRO-EMULATOR unit[15]
Load video
YouTube

More footage of these units is available here.

IS-NITRO-EMULATOR unit version E[16]

The sticker on the bottom of the IS-NITRO-EMULATOR shows its hardware version.

According to the NITRO-SDK revision history,

  • "TS version number" 0: TS breadboard to IS-NITRO-EMULATOR version C
  • "TS version number" 100: IS-NITRO-EMULATOR version D
  • "TS version number" 200: IS-NITRO-EMULATOR version E and later

Of the IS-NITRO-EMULATOR units seen today, the earliest version is E. Presumably, version E is the final hardware.

Units with version E are also seen with a sticker labeled For use with SDK Ver. PR5 or Later, referring to NITRO-SDK 2.0 PR5 (dated August 30, 2004).


IS-NITRO-CAPTURE

Similar to the IS-NITRO-EMULATOR, but without debugging functionality.

The CAPTURE can boot games directly from both cartridge slots, allowing the use of flashcarts[17], unlike the EMULATOR.

IS-NITRO-VIDEO

Similar to the IS-NITRO-CAPTURE, but without USB functionality.

The front panel only has one LED for POWER. Additionally, the GBA cartridge slot is at a different location than the IS-NITRO-EMULATOR and IS-NITRO-CAPTURE.

Units used at events are seen to have a gray "cage" over the top of the unit.

Front
Back
Top
[18]
[19]

References

  1. ↑ https://www.intsys.co.jp/
  2. ↑ https://github.com/GerbilSoft/ortin
  3. ↑ https://jp.mercari.com/item/m38122882217
  4. ↑ https://jp.mercari.com/item/m38122882217
  5. ↑ https://www.ebay.com/itm/257053517421
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn2amiL45no
  7. ↑ https://nsmbhd.net/thread/4438-nintendo-ds-dev-hardware-is-nitro-emulator-and-co/
  8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KHUoMgrfVU&t=1390s
  9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39ovctN6B9Y&t=672s
  10. ↑ https://paypayfleamarket.yahoo.co.jp/item/z450116078
  11. ↑ Evan Amos - https://x.com/VanamoMedia
  12. ↑ https://www.retrorgb.com/first-successful-rgb-mod-of-the-nitrods.html
  13. ↑ https://assemblergames.org/viewtopic.php?t=39483
  14. ↑ https://medium.com/@famicomical/rgb-modding-an-is-nitro-capture-the-easy-way-831677a9af3c
  15. ↑ https://www.ndsemulator.com/nintendo-ds-emulator.htm
  16. ↑ RGD Discord - MrPinball64
  17. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5IX-wewavY&t=783s
  18. ↑ https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/nintendo-at-moto-on-main-during-2006-park-city-moto-on-main-news-photo/112026538
  19. ↑ https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/nintendo-at-moto-on-main-during-2006-park-city-moto-on-main-news-photo/112026536
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