is there any way to flash the fw without having to buy more hardware? if so can someone give me a link
you will need a passcard with a slot 2 device to store and run the flashme, or a slot 1 device without a passcard , to flash the DS. there is no other way. you only need it once though, you could borrow it. but i dont see the point of flashing the DS when you arent going to run any homebrew/backups