# R4i Gold Hands-On Impression



## Rydian (Apr 21, 2011)

*R4i Gold Hands-On Impression*
New 3DS revision of the R4i Gold cart.



The newest revision of the R4i Gold cart has arrived, and is undergoing the review and testing process.  Since this process takes time to conduct properly, I've created a short hands-on impression of this cart.[/p]




Hands-On Impression


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## Rydian (Apr 21, 2011)

R4i Gold Hands-On






The R4i Gold is a recent flash cart, but the team seems intent on delivering a product that defies the standard R4 "clone" label.
With a simple design and official support from Wood, this cart aims to be a mainstay in the community.  How well does it work?


Packaging[/p]
The first thing you experience when you actually receive a flash cart is it's packaging.  A noticeable addition to the R4i Gold unit that I received was a red sticker on the package highlighting it's 3DS compatibility.
Since it was a sticker it was clear that this is the standard R4i Gold unit with the 3DS compatibility bootloader update already applied (opposed to a new hardware version like other flash carts).
*(The previous line was a mistake, while this cart can be updated for new 3DS firmware versions and  older versions of the cart can be updates for new DSi firmware versions, you cannot upgrade an older DSi version of the R4i Gold to have 3DS compatibility like you can with other flash carts.)*

As for the quality of the packaging, the R4i Gold's is done simply, but it protects the flash cart.  The box isn't larger than it needs to be, and the cart itself is contained within a plastic holding container; it doesn't look like the cart could be damaged during normal shipping conditions if properly packaged.  The plastic holding container seems to be used for many flash carts, it can hold two flash or DS game carts at once and is a nice little addition with the purchase.

A standard USB MicroSD card reader is included, though I found it was difficult to remove the MicroSD once it was placed in the reader,  as it fit rather snug.





Hardware[/p]
The R4i Gold is a simply-designed flash cart, two clipped-together halves of a shell, and a PCB.  One of the first things I noticed is that the MicroSD slot is not spring-loaded.  Some people prefer this as it means one less possible point of failure, while others may find the MicroSD hard to remove if you don't have nails.

The cart in general is not thick like some other flash carts, but unfortunately the unit I received has the habit of getting stuck when I tried to eject it, to the point that I can literally pick up the system by holding onto the flash cart.  This is not simply friction caused by a tight fit, it feels like the R4i Gold is getting caught on something and I have to wiggle it to the right to free it.  This problem was exhibited in both a DSi and 3DS, and none of my other carts (game or flash) do this.








 



3DS Compatibility[/p]
The unit I received had the 3DS bootloader update already applied, and as suspected after giving it a MicroSD with the proper Wood menu files, the R4i Gold successfully ran on an updated US Nintendo 3DS system, with no noticeable flaws.  It's important to note that this flash cart (like all current flash carts) currently runs on the 3DS in "DS mode".  This means the cart runs as if it's in a DS.  It will not play DSi games, it will not play 3DS games, and no games or homebrew running from the cart can take advantage of any extra DSi or 3DS features.




Game/Homebrew Compatibility[/p]
The Wood R4 firmware for the R4i Gold boasts high compatibility, and is currently one of the top-suggested firmwares.  Indeed it seemed to have no problem with many common games, and it would run trimmed ROMs and ROM hacks without a problem, even detecting cheats properly.  Save size is detected automatically, and the Wood firmware is compatible with the standard .SAV save type that many flash carts use, so Wood was able to pick up on and use my saves from some other carts without an issue.

A proper test of various problematic ROMs and homebrew will be conducted for the full review.


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## AlanJohn (Apr 21, 2011)

OK why is GBAtemp reviewing a clone?


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## Zorua (Apr 21, 2011)

AlanJohn said:
			
		

> OK why is GBAtemp reviewing a clone?



Because this is one of the quality clones that work on the 3DS and support wood.


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## drewmerc (Apr 21, 2011)

any internal pics or do i have to wait for the review


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## ninditsu (Apr 21, 2011)

is this the one listed in the shop for around $10?


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## Zorua (Apr 21, 2011)

ninditsu said:
			
		

> is this the one listed in the shop for around $10?



I don't see any listing for R4i Gold 3DS on shoptemp yet.


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## shakirmoledina (Apr 21, 2011)

nowadays the clones for r4 seem to be one of the best carts (cost effective if i may rephrase it) due to Wood. If that wasnt there, it would have hid itself like edge these days.
by the way, clones really love the r4 boxart

Msg to wood: have u checked out the 3ds 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 like yasu did for the dsi with his "hello world"


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## Rydian (Apr 21, 2011)

AlanJohn said:
			
		

> OK why is GBAtemp reviewing a clone?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Review
Read.

EDIT: This post is worded in such a way because you're questioning _the very purpose for the existence of a review_.  You yourself see people all the time coming here with no clue which carts are good or not.  The purpose of a review is to tell a user if a product is any good or not.

Get it?


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## Aeter (Apr 21, 2011)

Rydian said:
			
		

> AlanJohn said:
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This and apart from the name, it's actually a very decent cart that actually gets good support and can compete with cards with similar abilities like the Acekard.


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## The Pi (Apr 21, 2011)

It's one of the few "good" clones (I own the non-3ds version) which is slighty too tight in the slot, though that is better than too loose (yay contact issues) overall it's of good build, great with wood and with a nice price to boot.

On par with an AK2i if not better (due to much less common contact issues)


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## Pyrate02 (Apr 21, 2011)

I've ordered a bunch of these for family and friends and they are great - no contact issues like the AceKard.  As a result of having problems with multiple AceKard, I stopped buying them and now buy the R4i Gold exclusively.  

In my opinion, its a great card with great Wood support.


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## Another World (Apr 21, 2011)

this card also has a very supportive team who respond to e-mails. the r4i gold is a great kit which is based off of the r4 ultra (a flash kit acekard designed, produced, and supported, until they sold that design). it receives official support by yellow wood goblin, works on the dsi/3ds, and is cost effective for new users.

as far as 'reviewing clones", if i had it may way gbatemp would review every flash kit ever produced. to be completely honest with you i am forever seeking owners of old gba flash kits who are willing to help with reviews. i think that if it was made and it runs roms on hardware, it should be reviewed. if only we had access to all the old bung flash kits, copy kits, etc, they should all get a review.

great job with the hands-on review, i can't wait to read the final review and see how this card stacks up in your opinion.

-another world


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## Finwen (Apr 21, 2011)

Is there a risk of brick your 3DS or something like that?


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## MaxNuker (Apr 22, 2011)

Another World said:
			
		

> this card also has a very supportive team who respond to e-mails. the r4i gold is a great kit which is based off of the r4 ultra (a flash kit acekard designed, produced, and supported, until they sold that design). it receives official support by yellow wood goblin, works on the dsi/3ds, and is cost effective for new users.
> 
> as far as 'reviewing clones", if i had it may way gbatemp would review every flash kit ever produced. to be completely honest with you i am forever seeking owners of old gba flash kits who are willing to help with reviews. i think that if it was made and it runs roms on hardware, it should be reviewed. if only we had access to all the old bung flash kits, copy kits, etc, they should all get a review.
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if you'd like, maybe i could do a m3i zero review? with unpackaging etc? xD


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## jabato (Apr 22, 2011)

does it have upgradeable bootloader?


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## Another World (Apr 22, 2011)

jabato said:
			
		

> does it have upgradeable bootloader?



yes, thats the reason for the '3ds' release of the r4i gold. the orignal r4i gold by the .cn (idsn) team could not be upgraded. they probably didn't anticipate that popularity of ds-mode flash kits on the 3ds.

-another world


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## Clookster (Apr 22, 2011)

Another World said:
			
		

> jabato said:
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## jabato (Apr 22, 2011)

Theres so many gold clones.. can someone post the website of the reviewed card?


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## Another World (Apr 22, 2011)

Clookster said:
			
		

> That is not true.
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> The 1.4.1 update files are available for the DSi version of this Ultra clone card.
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the card was reprogrammed to allow for the 3ds update. the old cards can not have this with out the coding, from what they told me it means the new card has a new chip with new code. the old card would need this update.

more info for you: http://www.r4ids.cn/r4ids-development-e.html

all of these r4 "clones" are based on the original ak2i, the one with the window shell. if you notice, on the acekard page, they haven't been able to release a 3ds update for that version of the 2i yet. the r4 gold .cn team did this by changing the code on the controller chip. acekard has done the same through chip changes on the various ak2i versions. anyways, this is the reason the hardware needed to be upgraded to work on the 3ds. its really not a money thing, even if it looks like one.

-another world


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## Another World (Apr 22, 2011)

jabato said:
			
		

> Theres so many gold clones.. can someone post the website of the reviewed card?



http://www.r4ids.cn/

-another world


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## Clookster (Apr 22, 2011)

And concerning "bought"... Nothing about "we bought something" here:







BTW, an R4 Gold is 10 Euros. An R4 Ultra is 6 Euros. 

4 Euros more for a clone. That's a lot of money...

It's a pitty we've never seen an R4 Ultra review at the front page here...


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## Evo.lve (Apr 22, 2011)

Will the review feature a section on the Moonshell2-based default UI?


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## Another World (Apr 22, 2011)

they are all based on actual specs and development plans that acekard sold to 3rd party flash kit would-be developers. they aren't reverse engineered or hardware hacks. the r4 ultra has no support which is why its not worth as much. users will pay more for a card that is dsi/3ds compatible and has wood firmware support. 

this debate is going way off topic from the review at hand. if you wish to continue it lets post about it in the r4 section.

-another world


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## Another World (Apr 22, 2011)

Evo.lve said:
			
		

> Will the review feature a section on the Moonshell2-based default UI?



rydian might include a section of the teams firmware vs wood, but the review will focus on the wood firmware just as the ak2.1 review focused on akaio, because wood is the better alternative.

hmm i should add that if you think their should be a large section about the default team's firmware, make a case for it. rydian and i are still in the testing and discussion phase of this review. he won't run with it for a bit and there is still time to debate some of the review aspects.

[edit]
the team emailed me and asked me to check out their new firmware. its really nice. it seems to be a heavily modified moonshell. there is a mp3 player, video player, notepad, etc. i have to toy with it more but this might be worth receiving more than just a quick mention. i'm sort of happy that gbatemp had a database crash which caused me to lose all my r4i gold review work, because i was bashing their firmware and this is leaps beyond that first moonshell based firmware.

-another world


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## Rydian (Apr 22, 2011)

Finwen said:
			
		

> Is there a risk of brick your 3DS or something like that?http://gbatemp.net/t284730-3ds-bricking-rumor
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I haven't gotten to that yet, but if it's something special then I'll spend some time on it.  It it's nothing more than a stylized moonshell with bad/no retail ROM compatibility it'll likely just be a small paragraph on it's capabilities.


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## Lynne (Apr 22, 2011)

Finwen said:
			
		

> Is there a risk of brick your 3DS or something like that?


seriously nintendo cant brick your console especially if you buy it preowned and u update it and its had a log of r4 in it or if you use flash cards u cant play any games at all cuz u need to update before some new games will work but wtf, seriously nintendo shouldt care about old ds games no more only 3ds games, just like they stopped selling old consoles wen a new one came out


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## Jannet (Apr 22, 2011)

HEY, I'm looking forward the fair evaluation


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## Evo.lve (Apr 22, 2011)

Rydian said:
			
		

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It's damn sexy, and as AW said it does quite a lot.

It's a heavily modified moonshell, and it does its job well.


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## chyyran (Apr 22, 2011)

Wasn't this cart already reviewed?


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## Evo.lve (Apr 22, 2011)

ron975 said:
			
		

> Wasn't this cart already reviewed?



AW did a quick hands on when the cart was (in its early stages - pronounced: shit) but its getting a lot better and the mag team think its worthy of a full review.


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## Rydian (Apr 22, 2011)

Before it was another up-and-coming cart that promised support and all that stuff all the carts claim to give, but it's actually stuck around so it's getting a new review now.


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## Bunie (Apr 22, 2011)

AlanJohn said:
			
		

> OK why is GBAtemp reviewing a clone?


Lol last time i said that i was temp banned.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Where is the justice


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## Another World (Apr 22, 2011)

ron975 said:
			
		

> Wasn't this cart already reviewed?



the review was about 75% written when gbatemp had a database error. everything posted that day was erased and the most recent back up was a week old. at this point i was formatting and setting up the review as i went, i wasn't making back-ups. now when i do a review i save a back-up for each revision! -- learned a lesson there. anyways, xmas came around, i ran out of time and the review got put on the back burner. when the r4idsn team said that they would supply tempmas prizes (something we could not do as this was the time shoptemp closed, and thanks to them tempmas was literally saved), the prize they wanted to give was the r4i gold. i really had come to appreciate the good build quality, dsi support, wood firmware support, and their very friendly development team, so i wrote a quick hands-on so that people would know that the card wasn't junk. my hopes were that they would appreciate it if they won it. 

we were approached and asked if we wanted to review the updated card. the only difference appears to be new code inserted into the old chip which is placed on all new builds. there seems to be no way to get the new code into a previously built kit, it must be done at manufacturing time, so this is indeed a "second revision" of the r4i gold. since we never managed to publish the first review it made sense to just skip that review and to review this revision instead. again, the only difference being 3DS support.

-another world


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## GolenSun550 (Apr 22, 2011)

some china based sites have gotten this for sale .


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## Rydian (Apr 22, 2011)

Bunie said:
			
		

> AlanJohn said:
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If I had mod powers it'd be about 0.02 nanoseconds before the temp would burst into flame.  The screams of the innocent would be heard from space, the bright flares from the explosions in all forums would be visible from the other side of the planet.  The EoF would be the first to go, because it'd be the hardest for me to part with... but that emotional cutoff would only fuel my primal rage.  The other forums would scarcely have time to laugh at the EoF's demise before they as well would be caught up in the whirlwind of death.

Anyways he asked it nicely, and I was snippy in response.


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## Jannet (Apr 23, 2011)

Just read this article in GBA  forum by accident, http://gbatemp.net/t289834-just-a-test-on-3ds-gold-flashcard, i thought it is the same item ,but i have a question,why the pitcure of the sample you reiceived looks different from which he shows in that article. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  These are the same ones ?


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## Jannet (Apr 23, 2011)

waiting your reply, I have just decided to buy this card, but now confused~!


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## Rydian (Apr 23, 2011)

Jannet said:
			
		

> Just read this article in GBA  forum by accident, http://gbatemp.net/t289834-just-a-test-on-3ds-gold-flashcard, i thought it is the same item ,but i have a question,why the pitcure of the sample you reiceived looks different from which he shows in that article.
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The only difference I can tell is that the picture colors of mine are a bit off, because my camera sucks.  It looks to be the same product.


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## Jannet (Apr 25, 2011)

Rydian said:
			
		

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got it , quite agree , and I have ordered it from a french e-shop . Thanks .


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## Xynime (Apr 27, 2011)

hi im new here~  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





  just wandering if this is the same thing as this
http://www.lightake.com/detail.do/sku.Newe...n_for_3DS-36776
bcoz i alrdy order it. i hav the "original" R4DS and it only support 2gb mmry
really hope this can be a good replacement

Sry bad english im from Malaysia :3


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## Rydian (Apr 27, 2011)

Yes, that appears to be the same product.


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## eggsample (May 10, 2011)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> R4i Gold 3DS card is different from R4i Gold V1.4.1 in encrypiton part and package.
> The chips included in this R4i Gold 3DS card is MX23J4GC0-75H(48Pin) and 25L4001(8Pin). The hardware structure of new Gold R4 3DS is almost the same as that of the V1.4.1 version. R4ids.cn technical team has removed the standing out part of 3DS R4i Gold and inserted the core into a NDSi. Well, the DSi console shows no cart inserted! This means 3DS card's encrypiton part is different from that of V1.4.1 version. What is more, r4i gold 3DS package can be easily distinguished from old version.



So DSi can't run r4i gold 3ds. Hahaha in my counry it's called "ale beton"
What about DS lite?
Not updatable.

3 x minus


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## Deleted User (Jul 11, 2011)

Funny though, mine just came and had half a sticker missing, and doesn't get stuck in the system like Rydian said. Upon emailing R4i Gold, I hear that their printing sticker machine-thingy kinda clipped and trimmed the stickers wrong... :/


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## .Chris (Jul 11, 2011)

With my R4i Gold 3DS, it takes a long time to load a game, about 30 seconds max.


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