Hacking 2 bad gateways from DWTechz.com in a row

[Amber Lamps]

So when I ordered my gateway, Dwtechz was the only site that claimed to have it in stock. Long story short, the shipping was terrible and took 1 month to get here.

So the first gateway would cycle through some diagnostic colors (it has been a while I forgot which, teal or such) and then it would go to solid blue even if there was no microsd card inserted. Dwtechs let me exchange.

A bunch of time passed by and I got the exchanged card. They sent me a card that appears to be very used and the stickers are damaged from the use. And the connectors on the edge are tarnished as well as a bunch of grubby filth along the sides of it and in the opening of the microsd card slot.

So this one was a little more promising, although there was the above mentioned. I put in a microsd card with Mario Tennis on it and went into gateway mode. Mario Tennis appeared so to my delight, I started the game and oops "The Game Card Was Removed" error appears. I have fiddled with this thing for 3 hours and can't get it to even run a game. I tried Formula 1 2011 also it doesn't work. These games show up on the 3DS menu and the icon has sound and whatnot but the game doesn't work.

This is strange too because when I do diagnostic mode on this card, it goes from red to green right away. It does not even attempt to test the sd card. I tried the diagnostics rom file too, nothing.

So all in all... this card cost a lot, doesn't work. I exchanged once. It doesn't look like I'm getting anywhere with gateway cards. My 3DS is from a non smoking home and has nothing at all wrong with it, besides that it isn't updated beyond 4.5 for obvious reasons.

I'm not asking for help in this thread because I know there is no solution to this. And yes I have tried wedging paper between the SD card and the slot to get better contact. It doesn't help.

Just letting people know.. the first card I received new from this vendor, the second used. Both didn't work. Don't buy from here I guess. The gateway I have is broken and won't ever be fixed. Received as is DOA.

edit: btw I have tried all the methods. I have a stack of how many different sd cards here 10 microsd cards from vendors sandisk, patriot, Kingston, and Samsung. I have sdformatter tool, win32diskimager, and internal SD card reader, USB sd card reader, I have a USB microsd card reader also. But not asking for help, again, since I looked everywhere online. Nobody can fix this.

Btw if you want to buy a flash cart for 3DS at this point I would strongly suggest against buying a gateway 3DS. The R4i Gold Deluxe 3DS looks better to me so far and no I am not advertising for them.

 

[DragonSky]

So I'm not the only one who got problems with the stickers.
I rarely use the blue one but I think it will also will fall off.

About the Gateway it seems it may be the only team for getting us multirom.
I really hope for these feature then any other.

 

[Sicklyboy]

I bought two rca stereos from target once and they both never worked had a slight malfunction after a few hours of continued use (likely overheating) , so yeah, I guess don't buy anything from them again.

Seriously? Get another replacement. You should have asked right off the bat when you got a seemingly used card. It's not uncommon for bad batches of flash carts to come out; that's the fault of the manufacturer not the reseller. Jesus.

 

[Amber Lamps]

Well the stickers weren't a huge problem but it would have been nice if they sent me back one that worked and was in the same condition that I sent back. I don't plan on sending this thing back over and over. By the time I get one that works I'll be out $160 and I'm not even making that up. That is 2x as much as one of these costs.

I had this same thing go on when I was sending RMA for my video card. I had to send it back 4 times before I got one that worked. But there is a difference, I'd buy EVGA again because they make decent products. Gateway is just another shoddy counterfeit company. And it is a wonder that so many people sheep flock to it like it is better than other companies. They're all the same. The only way you get something that is guaranteed is to buy it off of the shelf at the store from Nintendo.

 

[Ryukouki]

Hey Amber,

I don't want to sit here and lecture you, and trust me, that is not the point of my post. I don't want you to feel like I'm just kicking you down even further. Of all my years that I have dealt with flash cart resellers, I have not heard many positive things from DWTechz; in fact, in a very old thread which was discussing Gateway's availability, a lot of users had complaints about DWTechz. It is indeed regrettable that your experience was a sour one, and as a customer you should have every right to be able to request a replacement and request that shipping be paid for in advance due to a defect with the product.

I don't know what price the shop was selling to you at the time, but usually, from what I see (this may not apply to you!) people tend to just listen to their wallets instead of logic and buy from the team that has the cheapest price, which hurts in the long run when the unit goes bad and the customer coverage is absolutely terrible. I don't know how the heck you ended up with two bad units, but I can promise you that if you ever get a working unit, it's a very nice little device.

On another note, some flash cart teams were far far worse than the Gateway team. This team actually has understandable English and doesn't treat their consumers like garbage. There are some manufacturers and resellers that are utter garbage, especially the Chinese ones.

 

[Amber Lamps]

Not at all man, but some of these kiddie teenie boppers on this forum need to be kicked to the curb. After all, one word reply? seriously? I know that is against the forum rules, hence I never do those kinds of replies. Otherwise I would, a lot.

Um yeah it isn't that big of a deal I was just letting people know. And I did find those threads after the fact. It is kinda lame. Maybe this is where all the defective products get sent back to and then they gotta figure out what to do with them who knows. The first one I got appeared to be brand new.

Well anyway I am going to try out an R4 and see how that works. It looks like it has all the same hardware just on one side of the PCB and a much better quality PCB and hopefully a better working unit. I see tons and tons of complaints about the gateway card. They probably are rushed manufacturing.

Btw I do find it silly that people bash R4 so much when the fact of the matter is that ZERO of these carts are legit. So to take one company and put it on a pedestal (remember Cyclo? remember M3 team and Acekard?? no difference there) is rather amusing, to say the least.. if not just ignorant. I mean take Supercard for example. They made a really craptastic CF card at first and then later on for some reason made an excellent DSTWO product which boggles the mind. The guy who runs that never gave a shit and kept pumping out those el cheapo CF readers and never put out a NAND version. It's all the same shit over there, just depends on how much effort they want to put into it. China is not well known for taking pride in their work after all. Usually we see the pride and quality of workmanship come about of Westerners or Japanese are involved in the production facilities in QA. We don't exactly have that with black market products.

 

[Ryukouki]

Not at all man, but some of these kiddie teenie boppers on this forum need to be kicked to the curb. After all, one word reply? seriously? I know that is against the forum rules, hence I never do those kinds of replies. Otherwise I would, a lot.

Um yeah it isn't that big of a deal I was just letting people know. And I did find those threads after the fact. It is kinda lame. Maybe this is where all the defective products get sent back to and then they gotta figure out what to do with them who knows. The first one I got appeared to be brand new.

Well anyway I am going to try out an R4 and see how that works. It looks like it has all the same hardware just on one side of the PCB and a much better quality PCB and hopefully a better working unit. I see tons and tons of complaints about the gateway card. They probably are rushed manufacturing.

Btw I do find it silly that people bash R4 so much when the fact of the matter is that ZERO of these carts are legit. So to take one company and put it on a pedestal (remember Cyclo? remember M3 team and Acekard?? no difference there) is rather amusing, to say the least.. if not just ignorant. I mean take Supercard for example. They made a really craptastic CF card at first and then later on for some reason made an excellent DSTWO product which boggles the mind. The guy who runs that never gave a shit and kept pumping out those el cheapo CF readers and never put out a NAND version. It's all the same shit over there, just depends on how much effort they want to put into it. China is not well known for taking pride in their work after all. Usually we see the pride and quality of workmanship come about of Westerners or Japanese are involved in the production facilities in QA. We don't exactly have that with black market products.

Hahaha, that is really strange as I have had *four* Gateway units, God forbid, and all of them were working extremely well. Honestly, if I had a spare (I sold two...) I would happily send you one free of charge, but sadly the units are spoken for. I'd do so to prove to you that the chip is a nice little thing to have. It really is, and when I reviewed it, I loved it for what it did. They were amongst the best quality units I had seen in a flash chip. And that means a LOT, considering I used to own one of each DS flash chip. It's good that you're letting us know your experiences, but I think there's a section where you can grind out some resellers, I believe it's the Shop Temp section. :rollseyes: Sometimes, though, it really is worth it to shell out the extra dollars to buy from a more reliable company. I cannot tell you how many sob stories I have heard of people who bought from the cheapest guy only to get dead goods. :/

Honestly, as of right now, there isn't much to lose in terms of features between all the cartridges. From what I have heard, from very good sources, the R4i is of a lower quality tier than the Gateway. I know that much for sure, and I would grab one myself from my usual supplier, but my 3DS is on 6.3~ At this point, I don't call anyone "winners," I just like to compare them all on an even footing with as little biases as possible. Take my Comparison of 3DS Flash Carts thread, and that is exactly what I do. I take away all of the bull shit and embellishments and give it to you straight out based on what I have. When the new firmwares get released, I'll (or my other thread helper...) be sure to let you guys know which one is a clear winner at this point. I do agree though that the quality of the units, if brought to the hands of the West or Japan, would be far different and of a greater quality. Remember, China = mass distribution for as low as possible, and to maximize the profits. That's kind of what these variants do: they make them for as little as possible (couple cents per unit), charge a fair(-ish) amount, and then make a profit.

Hmm... on that thought... while these products aren't "legitimate," they give people access to something that they may want or need. As long as there is a market for these things, well... things will happen.

 

[TheDreamLord]

I bought from DwTechz and IMO they had great customer service.

Had the exact same issue you had with your second one, right down to the diagnostics.

They were fast replying and when I sent an email they asked for a video. I gave the video and they sent out a new one, we didn't have to send by registered post or wait for them to receive it first.

They were replying within hours.

Also the GW is the most legitimate of the three, as it is the original and most supported.

And IIRC they're French, mot Chinese. They're produced in China though.

I take back all good I said of DW. OP got my defective returned GW.

 

[Amber Lamps]

Well that helps, if you had one and you don't have any spare lol.

Um, it wasn't the cheapest that you could get it for but at the time it was the only place that had it in stock and the price was so-so. I don't think it's worth it to keep sending back since it tacks on $7 or more each time to the cost. So at this point I still think that it is a bad product and that the R4 may actually work.

I'm just holding on to a 4.5 fw 3ds for no reason now. Last night I was thinking about updating it because this is just taking up too much time and effort for no result in the end.

 

[Ryukouki]

Well that helps, if you had one and you don't have any spare lol.

Um, it wasn't the cheapest that you could get it for but at the time it was the only place that had it in stock and the price was so-so. I don't think it's worth it to keep sending back since it tacks on $7 or more each time to the cost. So at this point I still think that it is a bad product and that the R4 may actually work.

I'm just holding on to a 4.5 fw 3ds for no reason now. Last night I was thinking about updating it because this is just taking up too much time and effort for no result in the end.

Or, you know, you could pass it off to a friendly neighborhood reporter, who has a genuine use for a 4.5 console...

 

[Amber Lamps]

this console is ambassador at 4.5 which would be awesome if a flash cart even worked on it :/ but I also got it at launch. I'm messing with the gateway again and all I get is solid yellow light but I'm about to try out a different reader that I had with my R4 :| this card sucks so far. I mean even if you must limit the speed of the card, it is pretty gay.

edit: nonworking junk.

btw I see a thread stating that 2.0 fw will come out in 48 hours. aren't I lucky?

 

[Amber Lamps]

So here's what the card looked like when I received it (I already cleaned the grime from the contacts and I cleared out some from the SD slot but left the rest for photos in case anyone didn't believe):

appears to be a used card to me... maybe it is another defective one someone returned? the stickers were in this condition and you can see some of the grime on the sides. Looks like I didn't get a pic of the top but the LED opening has a little dirt on it as well. All of my other cards are not in this condition, I keep my stuff in good shape.

 

[Dust2dust]

I don't think it's worth it to keep sending back since it tacks on $7 or more each time to the cost.

Consider that you already paid close to a hundred dollars for the Gateway. Would you rather lose a $100 or pay up yet another $7 in hope of getting a working unit? Since it would be your third try, I would insist that the seller actually test the card to make sure it works before sending it to you. They should comply. And if you still receive a faulty card, that would mean they're playing games with you. Then you tell them you're gonna complain to the better business bureau, or some other equivalent agencies. If worst comes to worst, chargeback on the CC.

 

[Amber Lamps]

I have no idea why this forum doesn't quote when I hit reply. But anyway..

They told me that they tested it before shipping this one. It looks to me like all they did was take someone else's used device and repack it in an envelope and ship it to me. It is hopeless sending it back because they will probably just send the one back tome that I initially sent to them.

You know back in the day, one would buy direct from a company (Bung or FFE for example) and the manufacture would receive the unit and either repair or replace and send it back to the customer. I didn't see anyone complaining then. Now we only can deal with a third party and hope that they don't send back crap. Which they do, at least in this case. I saw other vendors.. some mod chip site for example.. put all the fault at the purchaser and that really pisses people off when they do that.

I didn't insist that this seller tested the card before they sent to me, but that is what they said they did. I would have preferred them just ship me a new one and then I could check it out. Instead, they apparently sent me a used one and when I first opened it and saw that the label was getting torn up I was like wow is this piece of shit even going to work? I was right, no. It never did.

At any rate, I have since checked the Actel chip for shorts between the legs. No shorts found. I have no clue wtf is wrong with this pile of crap. But at least I know where not to buy from since this site has not followed through properly on a transaction and is inadvertently trying to cost the customer more money than the device even cost to manufacture in shipment costs.

 

[justinkb]

PEBCAK?

 

[Ryukouki]

Dude, your unit looks severely fucked up. That's not right at all. Find a reseller like RealHotStuff, who has a decent track record, next time you decide to purchase. Transit is shorter, at the price of a few dollars, and the service is great.

 

[TheDreamLord]

That's the exact GW I sent back. In the bottom left you can see where I the sticker used to be and I reapplied it. You can also see where I pulled it up. You can see where the sticker used to be on the back too.

What the fuck?

 

[kyogre123]

That's the exact GW I sent back. In the bottom left you can see where I the sticker used to be and I reapplied it. You can also see where I pulled it up. You can see where the sticker used to be on the back too.

What the fuck?

What a twist of events! lol Are you really sure that she received the same cart you sent back? That would be really funny.

 

[Schizoanalysis]

That's the exact GW I sent back. In the bottom left you can see where I the sticker used to be and I reapplied it. You can also see where I pulled it up. You can see where the sticker used to be on the back too.

What the fuck?

Sneaky. Sneaky. Sneaky.

 

[Amber Lamps]

Oh shit really? I just emailed them again and flamed them for that. The admin of this forum should take note of this.

Btw I'm going to start reporting the lamers that posted above with their bullshit. Go do something else with your time like go back to your babysitters or something.