Hacking White R4 Dual Core question

[gridatttack]

Hey there. Since I downgraded my 3DS to 9.2 to install CFW and setup emuNAND, I went to get a DS flashcart.

The one they had available was that 2014 white R4 3DS "upgrade" (http://www.r4isdhc.com/wp-content/themes/nds9/images/DUAL-CORE.jpg)

My question is, what else can be done with it or what are its benefits? My old flashcard was a TTDS, and this seems to be a great update.

What does the Dual core thing do? (plays GBA games or something like that?)

Any other feature the cart might have?

 

[MagicalSloth]

Aside from the post, can i ask you something? How did you downgrade your 3ds to 9.2 without bricking it? Did you take the risk? Which method/tools do you use?I need to know. :/ I have an issue with flashcart compatibility.

 

[Wire]

The only DS flashcard(s) that can play GBA games and run smoothly would be the DSTwo and DSTwo+. Any other flashcard I don't think can play GBA games. If you just want a flashcard that will play DS games, then that card will work fine. I would recommend getting the DSTwo or DSTwo+ otherwise as they can handle DS, GBA, and several other emulators I believe. The DSTwo+ also will let you play 3DS games through Gateway emulation but is known to brick 3ds' because of Gateway. Hope this helps.

 

[gridatttack]

Aside from the post, can i ask you something? How did you downgrade your 3ds to 9.2 without bricking it? Did you take the risk? Which method/tools do you use?I need to know. :/ I have an issue with flashcart compatibility.

I was on 10.3 when I downgraded. I accessed the homebrew launcher via menuhax, installed in type 2.

I made sure I used a new SD card that I bought and formatted just for this occasion.

I then downgraded with SafeSysUpdater, which as its name indicates, its much safer as in it checks the MD5 checksum of the 9.2 cia files and won't let you install other region.

It took 5 mins to downgrade. The exploit which is needed to get kernel access is unstable, so you need to keep trying until it initializes properly. Once it does, you're all set.

The only DS flashcard(s) that can play GBA games and run smoothly would be the DSTwo and DSTwo+. Any other flashcard I don't think can play GBA games. If you just want a flashcard that will play DS games, then that card will work fine. I would recommend getting the DSTwo or DSTwo+ otherwise as they can handle DS, GBA, and several other emulators I believe. The DSTwo+ also will let you play 3DS games through Gateway emulation but is known to brick 3ds' because of Gateway. Hope this helps.

I see. Well the problem is I don't live in the US and they aren't any DSTWO dealers here. But if this works, I'm fine. I play my GBA games on the phone. Other question is, how does flashcards get blocked? IIRC there was something along the lines that if you didn't updated before the new system version, the flashcard would get blocked and not work anymore.

I ask this because I don't want to keep switching cards when I enter emuNAND lol. (My 3DS spring cart is faulty)

Thanks for the answer.

 

[Wire]

I see. Well the problem is I don't live in the US and they aren't any DSTWO dealers here. But if this works, I'm fine. I play my GBA games on the phone. Other question is, how does flashcards get blocked? IIRC there was something along the lines that if you didn't updated before the new system version, the flashcard would get blocked and not work anymore.

I ask this because I don't want to keep switching cards when I enter emuNAND lol. (My 3DS spring cart is faulty)

Thanks for the answer.

The flashcards get blocked because Nintendo adds a whitelist with updates and the only way to get certain flashcards to work again is to downgrade the whitelist. But, yes if you don't plan on playing GBA games with it then it will be perfect for your needs.

 

[gridatttack]

The flashcards get blocked because Nintendo adds a whitelist with updates and the only way to get certain flashcards to work again is to downgrade the whitelist. But, yes if you don't plan on playing GBA games with it then it will be perfect for your needs.

Oh, I knew that. I thought they somehow messed the cart when you used them in newer firmware.

Since I will stay at 9.2 for the foreseeable future, I have no problem then. Thanks for the replies.

I just wonder what this R4 dual core thing does. Like, for what purpose are the "dual cores"?

 

[Wire]

Oh, I knew that. I thought they somehow messed the cart when you used them in newer firmware.

Since I will stay at 9.2 for the foreseeable future, I have no problem then. Thanks for the replies.

I just wonder what this R4 dual core thing does. Like, for what purpose are the "dual cores"?

The "dual cores" is how many cpu cores it has IIRC. It should play all ds games fine but don't quote me on that.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

"dual cores", it is a bullshit term they added to the R4 name so they could be identified from other R4 clones.

 

[gridatttack]

"dual cores", it is a bullshit term they added to the R4 name so they could be identified from other R4 clones.

Oh well, not surprised lol. I had a feeling this was the case.

Also, I wonder, the seller told me that I needed to put the date on the 3DS in the year 2009 to make the firmware work on the 3DS.
How true is that? (I did anyway because it's sysNAND, and I don't use that anymore due to emuNAND)

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Date changing was a way to trick the 3DS into giving you more coins before a certain 3DS update.

I don't have that particular flashcart to know about changing the date on the 3DS to run. From my experience though, if you have to change the date for a flashcart to run, it would mean they have a date timebomb coded to stop working after a certain date. If that is the case, I wouldn't recommend buying such a flashcart.

 

[gridatttack]

Date changing was a way to trick the 3DS into giving you more coins before a certain 3DS update.

I don't have that particular flashcart to know about changing the date on the 3DS to run. From my experience though, if you have to change the date for a flashcart to run, it would mean they have a date timebomb coded to stop working after a certain date. If that is the case, I wouldn't recommend buying such a flashcart.

Interesting. Well, the cart is a legitimate one from the R4 site. I checked and its not a clone. Whats weird though, is that they said 2009, and the cart has the label of being the 2014 edition. I wonder, what happens when said timebomb reaches the limit? Does the cartridge stops working at all, or would if work if I set it back before the date the timebomb occurs?

Is this timebomb embedded in the cart itself, or is in on part of the firmware it uses?

EDIT: after searching, it seems that it mentions that the firmware has 'expired'. How do they do this? Are there any other (custom) firmwares for R4 cards that could be used to prevent this scenario?

EDITT 2: Well apparently the teams who make these new R4 cards have started doing the firmware expired on purpose, as in, to buy the new one so they get more money.

I'm not bothered too much, as its sysNAND, which is basically useless once you have emuNAND running and the DS games seems to work (Any new DS game to test if it supports the latest games?).

I had an original purple R4 which was blocked on 6.x, so I tried to install the DS whitelist when it was supported, but this seemed too complicated.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

If it is hard coded into the flashcart, means it becomes a piece of junk after date.
If it is coded into the system files, means you might have a chance at hexing the timebomb code out.

 

[mediabob]

I would suggest staying away from the time bomb type cards, I had one I bought without knowing, every 2 months or so I would go go boot it and it wouldn't boot and force me to update the firmware, which at the time was just an inconvenience more than anything and it did add compatability, until the team stopped supporting it, and no more firmware, then the thing expired and was unusable trash. I was never able to find a firmware substitute like wood or Yemenu that worked.

 

[gridatttack]

If it is hard coded into the flashcart, means it becomes a piece of junk after date.
If it is coded into the system files, means you might have a chance at hexing the timebomb code out.

Yeah...wouldn't want to risk that. I searched an the version of the menu is from 2013...ugh I hope I can play the games I want atleast. It also seems it was used before, hence how I was able to get a large discount from it. Well, if its used and it hasn't locked up, then I suppose I'm fine, as long as the cart doesn't have an internal clock or play limit then I suppose I'm okay.

I would suggest staying away from the time bomb type cards, I had one I bought without knowing, every 2 months or so I would go go boot it and it wouldn't boot and force me to update the firmware, which at the time was just an inconvenience more than anything and it did add compatability, until the team stopped supporting it, and no more firmware, then the thing expired and was unusable trash. I was never able to find a firmware substitute like wood or Yemenu that worked.

I have to wonder, what cart it was? Like, what clone, or R4, color, etc.

 

[mediabob]

Yeah...wouldn't want to risk that. I searched an the version of the menu is from 2013...ugh I hope I can play the games I want atleast.

I have to wonder, what cart it was? Like, what clone, or R4, color, etc.

It was used on my DS, so it's been a couple years since the ceased support so I threw it away, but I do remember it said R4 Upgrade for nsd/ndsl/ndsi on the label with the silver swirl dots they tend to have, a Starburst that said v1.4 on it, and a game engine logo that was supposed to be a built in method for downloading ds Roms, however I found after it was no longer supported that even though it said R4 it was really running a modified DSTT firmware. So I guess it was an R4/DSTT hybrid.

I tried wood, ysmenu, and just about every r4 and DSTT firmware I could find and nothing would work on it.