Anyone With Experience With All These R4i Versions?

[MWeston]

I picked up one of these cards when I ordered my Wiz. The website was calling them the R4i SDHC. I get the thing and it doesn't work. It just says "Loading..." no matter what I try to put on the card.

Mine is in a black box linking to www.r4ultra.com but what I thought I was ordering based on the picture on the website was the one linking to www.r4-sdhc.com which gets more positive reviews. The one I wanted is called the R4i SDHC and this one just says R4i. A lot of people on Youtube say this one in the black box is garbage and I tend to agree. It just doesn't work. There are some videos of people getting it to work but all the ones I have found used DSi's. I only have a DS Lite to try but the box says it is supposed to be compatible.

I'd just like to draw upon others' experiences and knowledge if you don't mind sharing. Thanks!

 

[danielliu88888]

the name R4 now is so popular, it's possible you got a fake... i'd recommend the TTDSi or Acekard 2i over it. i know for a fact that those are compatible with the ds lite and the original ds. i don't have much experience with R4s, but you might need some different firmware or something to get it working on the ds lite.

 

[___]

I have had this problem with two so called R4 cards. The thing is, there are several firmwares out there and you need exactly the one for your version. It's almost impossible to find the files just by googling because you can never know which version you actually have. The official R4 firmware doesn't work because it's encrypted. There are apparently ways to decrypt the firmware and use it on fake cards but only if they actually have the same chipset. I never got anything like that to work and had to contact the seller to optain the actual working firmware which he emailed. I would recommend you do the same.

Be warned though, some of the fake R4s have been known to fry your DS by shorting it out, though I am not sure how accurate the information on these incidents is. There are websites which can help you determine if you have a genuine R4 but since yours supports SDHC I would wager that it is fake because AFAIK there never was a genuine R4 that supported SDHC. Good luck.

 

[Mithrildor]

Put the firmware on the MicroSD.

EDIT:

Oh btw a R4i is not a card supported by the R4 team. Acekardi is way better.

 

[Ravnos]

As others have said, all the info I've seen has said that the R4 team has been inactive for some time now and anything called an R4 now is fake. I use a CycloDS with mine and it's been great, bought it locally and everything.

 

[Orkie]

I have an R4i, black box and it works fine - just took ages to find the correct firmware.

 

[Titcher]

Like others have previously mentioned all R4 branded cards now are generic cards released by various companies. The quality of them is questionable, although there can be good ones, I've heard the main problem with some of the generic cards is the brittle plastic, so it may be a good idea to not remove the card very often. Also, on the shorting issue, it's not actually a short causing the issue, it's a fuse blowing due to the fact that flash cards use more power than games, some flash cards use more power than others so will cause it more often.

 

[MWeston]

Thanks for the replies. I think I might just send this back and get one of those AceKard's.

Orkie: Do you remember the link to this firmware? There are different versions of this R4 card that come in a black box. It sounds like a real nightmare to distinguish, but if you have a link to firmware I could try, I wouldn't mind giving it a look.

 

[satanic virus]

BEFORE you send it back - try reformatting your microSD using FAT. I think FAT32 causes those R4 type cards to freeze on 'Loading'.

I can't be bothered to dig out mine right now, so it may be the other way around - i.e. should be FAT32 instead of FAT. I had a similar problem to you originally and managed to get it sorted reformatting with correct format.

 

[Orkie]

Thanks for the replies. I think I might just send this back and get one of those AceKard's.

Orkie: Do you remember the link to this firmware? There are different versions of this R4 card that come in a black box. It sounds like a real nightmare to distinguish, but if you have a link to firmware I could try, I wouldn't mind giving it a look.

I'll see if I can find it for you tomorrow. Either that, or I'll copy it off my SD card .

 

[Fishbong]

Thanks for the replies. I think I might just send this back and get one of those AceKard's.

Orkie: Do you remember the link to this firmware? There are different versions of this R4 card that come in a black box. It sounds like a real nightmare to distinguish, but if you have a link to firmware I could try, I wouldn't mind giving it a look.

Don't send it back just yet. For your R4i SDHC card, this kernel should do the trick.

Regards

fishbong

 

[MWeston]

Orkie: Thank you for providing me with your kernel. Unfortunately, the results were the same: "Loading...." forever

sataniC Virus: I haven't tried this yet. The card is formatted for FAT32 because it is 4GB and Windows won't let me change it to FAT. I will have to fire up one of my Linux OS's and do it manually from the command line. It would be a real shame if a 4GB card needed to be formatted with FAT16.

Fishbong: That's the kernel I used first. It's the web address written right on the card. I first tried just uncompressing to a fresh card, then I tried uncompressing to my hard drive and then copying over and then I tried any kernel with a _system_ directory that I could get my hands on. No luck no matter what.

I do have the RMA number ready to go now and even if it did work once, this doesn't seem too comforting for any necessary firmware updates later. I assume AceKard updates just work every time and they stay on top of things? I have an M3 with the 32MB slot-2 adapter which was nice for things like Quake that needed it, but I don't like the bulk. Things just worked with that one. I'd really like to find a replacement like that.

 

[danielliu88888]

I assume AceKard updates just work every time and they stay on top of things? I have an M3 with the 32MB slot-2 adapter which was nice for things like Quake that needed it, but I don't like the bulk. Things just worked with that one. I'd really like to find a replacement like that.

yeah, the Acekard team stays on top of things, they frequently work on the firmware, hardware issues, and other stuff. i believe they're completely open source too.

 

[Fishbong]

Fishbong: That's the kernel I used first. It's the web address written right on the card. I first tried just uncompressing to a fresh card, then I tried uncompressing to my hard drive and then copying over and then I tried any kernel with a _system_ directory that I could get my hands on. No luck no matter what.

OK, then your card is broken. I have the same one, it works with the kernel i posted.

 

[Mithrildor]

Or you wait till the M3i REAL is coming , best flashcard for Homebrew and one of the best for ROMS (only place ROMs on them if you own the games!)

 

[Ravnos]

Things just worked with that one. I'd really like to find a replacement like that.

If DSi support isn't a big deal, then I'll repeat my previous recommendation. The CycloDS is a pretty good slot-1 card and it's "just worked" for me for a while now.