Hacking Fake Acekard 2i ?

injection18

Well-Known Member
OP
Newcomer
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
58
Trophies
0
XP
528
Country
France
Hello,

I ordered two Acekards 2i from priceangels.com. I received them today, and when I checked the anticlone code on acekard.com, it said this code has been used 2032 times ... which doesn't sound good. Moreover, the code is the same for the two Acekards ... So I figured out they are clones ...

As they were not up to date, I tried to upgrade the firmware to the latest version, and it worked flawlessly. It showed HW:8181 so it is like a real acekard 2i ...

I can use them on my 3DS which is updated to 4.1.0-8 E.

So are these acekards clones ? If they are clones is it possible that they are perfect clones and work exactly as the real ones ?
 

Finnuh

Member
Newcomer
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
9
Trophies
0
XP
2
Country
United States
I received what I'm sure is a clone (from a different site) that also functions (and updates!) flawlessly. The anti-counterfeit code on mine doesn't work at all.

Question, does your fake AK2i have what looks like a very slight raised bubble in the middle on the front of the card, underneath the label? Not very dramatic, but noticeable if you look at it in the light. Also, the anti-counterfeit code numbers on mine had backwards digits for some reason.

I think these are a new breed of AK clones that apparently replicate the real AK's hardware much better than the old fakes used to. I'm in the process of trying to get a refund so I can repurchase from a verified vendor, but the seller isn't cooperating very well.
 

injection18

Well-Known Member
OP
Newcomer
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
58
Trophies
0
XP
528
Country
France
Question, does your fake AK2i have what looks like a very slight raised bubble in the middle on the front of the card, underneath the label? Not very dramatic, but noticeable if you look at it in the light. Also, the anti-counterfeit code numbers on mine had backwards digits for some reason.

No the front of the card is flat, it really looks like a real acekard, the only weird thing is the anticlone code that works but has already been used a lot of times ...
 

Finnuh

Member
Newcomer
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
9
Trophies
0
XP
2
Country
United States
You should probably ask for a refund, and cite that all AKs have uniquely generated codes that will never have been checked prior to purchase, because you most definitely have fakes. If you want to make sure you get a real card, purchase from someone on the Acekard verified list. There's a person named ZhuZhuChina who sells AKs for cheap and is on the list. Once I get a refund I'm probably going to buy from him.
 

Themanhunt

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
432
Trophies
0
Age
27
Website
Visit site
XP
171
Country
I got my 2i from a legit seller (Lightake), and it comes up as my code being wrong.

I have had it for almost a year, however, and seen no problems at all. Still runs smooth.
 

Finnuh

Member
Newcomer
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
9
Trophies
0
XP
2
Country
United States
I got my 2i from a legit seller (Lightake), and it comes up as my code being wrong.

I have had it for almost a year, however, and seen no problems at all. Still runs smooth.

Does your card have any oddities with it? For instance, I notice that with some of the AK cards, the anti-counterfeit number is printed on the back of the card under the sticker, but mine has it printed on the back of the sticker -- not on the cartridge itself. I've been wondering if that sort of thing is a sign of a fake, or if it's just the AK people changing their designs, or whatever. Here's a picture of my sticker, crazy backwards numbers and all. This thing won't verify no matter what I do. I even suspected one of the 6's was a rubbed off 8, but even then it doesn't work. Blah. http://i48.tinypic.com/or4121.jpg

It makes me wonder, because if you bought from a legit seller and your code doesn't work, perhaps there is a chance that mine is actually not fake after all. Either that, or some of the legitimate sellers have been slipping fakes through, which is...worrisome. Even though these supposedly fake cards apparently operate basically as well as a legitimate one.

Maybe I'll stop worrying about it and just use the fake, but I'd heard horror stories about them breaking within a month or a week and/or freezing up constantly, losing saves, having updating/firmware problems and generally not being as good quality as the original. I guess time will tell. So far, it's better than the fake, glitchy R4i I had, legitimate or AK not.
 

Another World

Emulate the Planet!
Former Staff
Joined
Jan 3, 2008
Messages
10,579
Trophies
2
Age
48
Location
From Where???
Website
wiki.gbatemp.net
XP
5,535
Country
Colombia
if the code as been checked once, then ask the reseller if they checked it. if the code was checked "2032" times then it is 100% a fake sticker, and probably a clone acekard. there is a married couple in china who has cloned the acekard. most of the flash kit community has spoken out against them, tried to give them a bad reputation, but in the end its pirates fighting pirates.

the 1:1 clone is an exact copy. some resellers have told me that its made with cheaper parts, but from what i can tell it is exactly the same. my theory (based on some long conversations i've had with those in the scene) is that they are buying acekards off the line from the factory that produces lots for team acekard. then they are having a fake sticker made somewhere else. they put all of it together and sell them, so its a real acekard with a fake sticker. now... i can't prove that, but from what i've learned it makes the most sense to me.

the card should accept bootloader updates and perform the same as a card with a legit anti-counterfeit sticker on it. the only issues you will have is that the card is not considered to be legit so you will most likely never be able to return it or make use of acekard's 1 yr warranty.

with all that said, i'm sure there are fakes that are cheaply made that are using the fake stickers from the husband and wife team. the risk with getting a fake is that you'll never know if its a quality fake or a crappy fake until it arrives. all acekards can break. i have some brand new legit cards that all have contact issues. shit happens. they cost around $2 to manufacture, they aren't the top most quality electronic device out of china. my advice it to use it, enjoy it, have fun with it. when it dies buy another one for $12 and enjoy that one as well. this hobby should be about the homebrew and gaming, but somewhere along the way acekard sold the design to their actel chipped ak2i design and it quickly become about the clones (both acekard and r4).

-another world
 

Amber Lamps

Banned!
Banned
Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Messages
386
Trophies
0
Location
Oakland, CA
XP
140
Country
United States
I actually have talked to a representative from priceangels on numerous occasions and without buying anything, she told me a couple times that all of the flash cards they sell are clones. I don't believe that she is lying either.

Hello,

I ordered two Acekards 2i from priceangels.com. I received them today, and when I checked the anticlone code on acekard.com, it said this code has been used 2032 times ... which doesn't sound good. Moreover, the code is the same for the two Acekards ... So I figured out they are clones ...

As they were not up to date, I tried to upgrade the firmware to the latest version, and it worked flawlessly. It showed HW:8181 so it is like a real acekard 2i ...

I can use them on my 3DS which is updated to 4.1.0-8 E.

So are these acekards clones ? If they are clones is it possible that they are perfect clones and work exactly as the real ones ?
 

Finnuh

Member
Newcomer
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
9
Trophies
0
XP
2
Country
United States
the card should accept bootloader updates and perform the same as a card with a legit anti-counterfeit sticker on it. the only issues you will have is that the card is not considered to be legit so you will most likely never be able to return it or make use of acekard's 1 yr warranty.
-another world
=

Thanks for the info. That puts to bed some of the concerns and confusion I had, especially considering the one I got seems to work pretty well. I guess I'll just keep my "fake" and see how it pans out. I don't think the site I bought it from is planning on working with me on the issue, anyway.

Anyway, wouldn't opening the card prove it's a de-branded legit Acekard, even if the number doesn't check out? I read that they only use certain kinds of hardware and the fakes were prone to having cheaper hardware with poorer functionality (the ones I read about weren't able to be updated for the 3DS and DSi because of these issues). Then again, if it works with the updater, it must be using slightly better hardware than other fakes, at least, so maybe it's not a big deal.
 

jimmyemunoz

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
1,958
Trophies
0
Location
Louisiana
XP
487
Country
United States
Anyway, wouldn't opening the card prove if it's a legit Acekard, even if the number doesn't check out? I read that they only use certain kinds of hardware, and the fakes were prone to having inferior hardware and functionality. I read some fakes weren't able to be updated, for the 3DS and DSi, due to issues. Then again, if it works with the updater, it must be using slightly better hardware than other fakes, at least, so maybe it's not a big deal.
Which website did you buy from anyway? Help out other users and make it known. To answer your question, yes, opening the card would help. It's kind of a pain to open an Acekard because you need to use a xacto knife, or razor blade, and gently score/cut all around the seam. Another pain, you'll need to super-glue the Acekard shut, after opening it. Is it worth it?
 

Finnuh

Member
Newcomer
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
9
Trophies
0
XP
2
Country
United States
Anyway, wouldn't opening the card prove if it's a legit Acekard, even if the number doesn't check out? I read that they only use certain kinds of hardware, and the fakes were prone to having inferior hardware and functionality. I read some fakes weren't able to be updated, for the 3DS and DSi, due to issues. Then again, if it works with the updater, it must be using slightly better hardware than other fakes, at least, so maybe it's not a big deal.
Which website did you buy from anyway? Help out other users and make it known. To answer your question, yes, opening the card would help. It's kind of a pain to open an Acekard because you need to use a xacto knife, or razor blade, and gently score/cut all around the seam. Another pain, you'll need to super-glue the Acekard shut, after opening it. Is it worth it?

It was V2watch.com, which I discovered through ShopTemp. Their representative told me that the picture of my non-functional anti-counterfeit code (the one I linked above) wasn't "clear" enough and demanded more pictures of the packaging and the card, which I sent them yesterday but they never responded to. Funny, considering they were pretty snappy with their initial reply. I guess they must not believe that I really bought it from them, despite the fact that I have my order number, receipt and emailed them from the same email address I used to place the order to contact them with my complaint.

Also, why are you nitpicking my grammar? Some of your corrections don't even make sense. :lol: There's no good reason to add an "if" to the first sentence you highlighted, and "cheap" and "inferior" are perfectly serviceable synonyms in casual English. Also, your third correction restructures what I said in more awkward a fashion than I initially said it in. You wouldn't put a comma between "I read some fakes weren't able to be updated" and " for the 3DS and DSi", and "these issues" was referring to the card having "inferior" hardware -- unless you're trying to convey that the reason poorer-crafted fakes can't be updated is something other than the hardware, which goes against literally everything I read on the subject.
 

jimmyemunoz

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
1,958
Trophies
0
Location
Louisiana
XP
487
Country
United States
Whatever! It was written like crap. I tried to shine a turd. :yay: I couldn't care less about your grammar. Write the way you want to, even if your thoughts could be articulated better, and with fewer words. Anyways, where are the pictures of your Acekard hommie? v2watch used to be videogameplaza.com and I know what you're talking about. They are idiots, or they just love to inconvenience people enough that they'll give up. I'll let you decide. I know they carry fakes. They once tried to slide a clone DSTTi on me. I drew it to their attention, and I was told they had an in store return. The guy that made the return was a longtime customer who bought in bulk....blah, blah, blah.....please send us some pictures to confirm, followed by, "sorry, you're right, we'll get a real DSTTi to you right away." Then on the next order, they sent me the old M3i Zero (non GMP-Z003) and I wrote them complaining, which gave them the inclination that they needed to change the product photo on their website. They changed the photo to the old model instead of the one that was there before. They're S.H.A.D.Y.! Do business with eachgame.com and zhuzhuchina and you'll be fine in the future. Hey if you ever take up a collection, for a writing class or anything, hit me up. J/K
 

Finnuh

Member
Newcomer
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
9
Trophies
0
XP
2
Country
United States
This was the exact picture I sent them of my anti-counterfeit sticker code... they immediately sent me an email back saying it "wasn't clear enough" for them to read, then asking for more pictures of the card.

http://i48.tinypic.com/or4121.jpg

Not clear enough my ass. Also, note the backwards numbers. lol :lol:

The card itself is unremarkable (though they asked for pictures of that, too, for...whatever reason. I sent them.) Here's the card.

http://i46.tinypic.com/mb0g42.jpg

One thing I've been curious about is whether AK's are supposed to have the number printed on the back of the card, or if it's supposed to be on the back of the sticker like mine is. I've noticed it both ways with various different people's cards... is it a simple design change that the AK underwent over time, or is it a sign of a fake for it to be one way as opposed to the other?
 

jimmyemunoz

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
1,958
Trophies
0
Location
Louisiana
XP
487
Country
United States
OK, the numbers are backwards because the sticker is 2 layers. You were only supposed to pull the foil layer off. What remains is the gel, and it contains the number code. You made a minor mistake. And 1 major mistake. I just checked your number (14791326652490771853) and this is what it returned:

This Anti-Counterfeit code is correct! You bought a REAL Acekard!
If this code shows had been checked already but it's your first time to check then you maybe bought a fake card. Please contact your vendor for refund.

This was the first time the code was checked! You are supposed to enter the number in 1 string, with no spaces!!
 

Finnuh

Member
Newcomer
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
9
Trophies
0
XP
2
Country
United States
Holy shit. Can you post the number string you used to get it to verify? Weird request, but I tried it a dozen damn times using that image as a reference, double checking over and over again and it wouldn't work for me. I even thought one of the 6s was a damaged 8, and tried it both ways, and it always came up invalid.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
    The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye: it won't make it better or worse