evening everyone i am new to forum, ds and r4 so bear with! i have formatted sd card downloaded v1.18 from various links and downloaded games but still getting couldn't find DS_MENU.DAT message. it is sending me crazy. CHEERS!
Download the 1.18 software. After downloading decompress the new files, there will be one shell folder and two files _DS_MENU.DAT、 _DS_MSHL.NDS.Copy these files to the root directory of TF card
If you don't have an original R4 (1.18 is the firmware for the original) and you have a HC clone, you may need a different piece of firmware. With so many versions and clones it is hard to keep straight.