Hacking Do 4GB micro SD cards exist for GBA Supercard SD? (Non-HC)

[Pockie]

Okay, so I currently have the GBA Supercard SD (the purple one) and I am aware that there are others far better than this one but for now I am okay with this flash card.
I am also very aware that it takes only 2gb micro SD cards and not SDHC.
I have heard that 4GB non HC exist and it is possible to format them in such a way so that it works on the supercard. Is this true, and if so, how would I go about formatting it.
Does anyone know of if they are still purchasable somewhere online? I have encountered a few but am not a 100% sure they are non-HC.

 

[MrCatFace]

To rare to be worthwhile

 

[Pockie]

Ah, that's a shame. Would have like to get my hands on one.

 

[tvoretz]

No promises, but this is allegedly a 4 GB non-SDHC micro SD card, from a reputable company: https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/69976

Some of the compatible models listed predate announcement of the SDHC standard.

 

[Pockie]

No promises, but this is allegedly a 4 GB non-SDHC micro SD card, from a reputable company: https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/69976

Some of the compatible models listed predate announcement of the SDHC standard.

Hm. I'll look into it. Purchased one from a website but turns out it was SDHC I wrote back to them and they said it was the adapter that was SD. Would that even make sense? Turning a microSDHC to SD with just an adapter? Hm.

 

[Deleted-236924]

As far as I'm aware, SD adapters of the sort are just a plastic shell with metal traces inside to connect the microSD pins to the corresponding pins in the SD slot. It won't convert SDHC to regular SD.

 

[Pockie]

Oh. Thought so, thanks for clarifying.


Messaged the people for the garmin website and they said it was a 'high capacity' memory card so it was HC. Bummer.

 

[Deleted-236924]

My limited research on this tells me that non-HC miniSDs and microSDs don't actually exist (or if they do then they're pretty freaking rare.)

Since you have a regular Supercard SD though, the best would be to look for regular SD cards and skip adapters entirely because non-HC 4GB SD should exist, but they likely aren't really being produced anyone so you may have to buy secondhand or buy obscure brands of SD cards, at your own risk.
Google told me you would have to force format the card to FAT, but this isn't something I can test so YMMV.

If you were looking to fit more than 2GB of roms on your cart it would likely be safer to just buy two 2GB SD cards. Less likely you may get counterfeit or bad cards, and an extra SD card is easy to carry around anyway.

 

[gnmmarechal]

they are non-standard, and therefore quite rare.

 

[Pockie]

That is the name of the Supercard but it actually takes microSD or miniSD cards. Yea I have seen a few of the big 4gb sd cards but it wouldn't fit and its like you said, they could be crap quality. Thanks anyways. appreciate it

Indeed they are very rare but I have heard that they exist. Ah well.

 

[Deleted-236924]

Supercard SD, but with the "miniSD" logo at top-left of the label right?

I guess in that case yeah your best bet would be to get two 2GB cards.

I know EZ-Flash IV has historically had issues with microSD-to-miniSD adapters but I don't know if that ever affected Supercard. Just keep in mind that actual miniSDs are fairly rare nowadays (you're looking at $50 on Amazon for a 2GB, not sure about other sources) so you're likely better off picking up microSDs with miniSD adapter.

An alternative could be to find an actual Supercard SD that takes SD cards, but at that point if you were going to buy a new cart you might as well just buy EZ4 anyway (which even supports SDHC nowadays.)

 

[gnmmarechal]

Supercard SD, but with the "miniSD" logo at top-left of the label right?

I guess in that case yeah your best bet would be to get two 2GB cards.

I know EZ-Flash IV has historically had issues with microSD-to-miniSD adapters but I don't know if that ever affected Supercard. Just keep in mind that actual miniSDs are fairly rare nowadays (you're looking at $50 on Amazon for a 2GB, not sure about other sources) so you're likely better off picking up microSDs with miniSD adapter.

An alternative could be to find an actual Supercard SD that takes SD cards, but at that point if you were going to buy a new cart you might as well just buy EZ4 anyway (which even supports SDHC nowadays.)

The EZ-Flash IV microSD is a neat update to the cart. Getting miniSDs is a pain.

 

[Pockie]

@Ammako
Yes that is the one. I was thinking about it but compared to what I spent on the SuperCard ($15) I think I will stick with it for a little longer before I decide to buy a EZ-Flash IV.
That is crazy the miniSD is that expensive. I could have sworn they were cheaper but I guess you are right. Found a 4gb miniSD for $20, not bad compared to Amazon. Oh well. I was curious more then anything so it is all good. I will eventually get a EZ-Flash. Thanks for the help!

 

[Deleted-236924]

Still, keep in mind nds-card has EZ4 for $39 (and you already bought a compatible 4GB microSDHC earlier, too.)

If you're already shopping online anyway, consider putting the money towards EZ4 rather than two 2GB microSDs.
Even if you can find two 2GB microSDs for the Supercard for less than $39 total, it's really going to feel like a waste once/if games you want to play suffer from poor compatibility, especially if you just end up dropping the money for EZ4 later anyway.

If you wanted to stick to Supercard because of money issues, consider finding a 512MB/1GB microSD card instead. It'll be much cheaper and should get the job done until you can gather more money for an EZ4. Maybe it won't be able to hold every game you want at once, but that's really just a luxury and imo the extra money would be better put towards an eventual upgrade to EZ4. A 512MB/1GB card can still hold quite a few GBA games at once anyway.

 

[Pockie]

I get you, no I won't be buying more microSD's I had an older one lying around from a past phone so I have been using that one for my Supercard. Why struggle when there is a better one out there, so trust I will be buying it eventually.

 

[gnmmarechal]

Also, keep in mind that the latest versions of the EZ-Flash IV'd firmware seem to have issues with some games (they added drag and drop support so no patching with their tool would be needed, but I recommend you use a version prior to them adding that and manually patch the games to avoid any issues).

 

[The Catboy]

Hm. I'll look into it. Purchased one from a website but turns out it was SDHC I wrote back to them and they said it was the adapter that was SD. Would that even make sense? Turning a microSDHC to SD with just an adapter? Hm.

That's a bad excuse, that's what that is. SD adopters for microSD cards are just pinout adapters. So basically it's just pin for pin the same as the microSD card, just in an SD style casing.
I know non-SDHC 4GBs are extremely hard to find and becoming harder to find every single day. So it's just going to pure luck if you can find one.

 

[gnmmarechal]

That's a bad excuse, that's what that is. SD adopters for microSD cards are just pinout adapters. So basically it's just pin to pin the same as the microSD card, just in an SD style casing.
I know non-SDHC 4GBs are extremely hard to find and becoming harder to find every single day. So it's just going to pure luck if you can find one.

Not to mention it'll most likely be a used one and/or prone to failure. That if it is not DoA.

 

[The Catboy]

Not to mention it'll most likely be a used one and/or prone to failure. That if it is not DoA.

Yeah, I am not even sure what the shelf life of a non-SDHC microSD card would be. I know my 4GB microSDHC actually lasted about 11 years before it died, but I am going to go out on a limb here and say the non-SDHC's are going to be older than that.

 

[Pockie]

Also, keep in mind that the latest versions of the EZ-Flash IV'd firmware seem to have issues with some games (they added drag and drop support so no patching with their tool would be needed, but I recommend you use a version prior to them adding that and manually patch the games to avoid any issues).

How do you go about patching games for the EZ-Flash?