Hacking Which R4 Should I Buy?

[Another World]

Every R4 manufactured today is a clone (copy, using just the name, etc). That is the most important thing you should know. The so-called 1:1 R4 is a copy of the original, speculated to be manufactured off the original designs, yet make no mistake it is a copy/clone. When buying a Flash Kit you may fail to do your research and opt for the most widely discussed brandname, the R4. This may not be a bad thing if you end up buying one of the 3 GBAtemp recommended R4 Flash Kits.

1. R4i Gold (http://www.r4ids.cn) -- supports DSi v1.4.5 / 3DS v7.1.0-14

There are many clones of the R4i Gold. The card itself started out as a side project for those involved with a previous R4 company. Luckily, the team members that split off have proven themselves to be rather talented. They had a Flash Kit working on the 3DS before any other team, and subsequently released updates before anyone else as well. This card is one of 4 that officially supports the Wood kernel (R4iDSN, AK RPG, original R4 -- being the other 3). When buying an R4i Gold it is important to understand that the card has gone through some hardware revisions. To make sure you are getting the latest version, which will dictate DSi/3DS compatibility, buy from a reputable reseller. One important note for this card is the kernel may be hard to find. A recent DMCA letter sent to GBAtemp had us remove anything with R4i Gold in the title, this included translations, patches, and legitimate releases of the kernel that did not pack in the Gateway 3DS exploit. The last official version before the Gateway 3DS clones were released was Wood for R4i Gold v1.62.

Important: If the sticker doesn't say "http://www.r4ids.cn" it is a clone and can not be recommended.

2. R4iDSN (http://www.r4idsn.com/) -- supports DSi v1.4.5 / 3DS v7.1.0-14

The R4iDSN is manufactured and supported by the same team as the R4i Gold (http://www.r4ids.cn). It supports the Wood kernel directly, where the R4i Gold requires an official recompile by the team members. What this means is that the R4iDSN receives updated kernel support 1-2 days ahead of the R4i Gold. Both cards are similar quality and builds, yet due to the hype surrounding the R4i Gold, the R4iDSN has remained a lesser-known card. As a result it can be found online for under $10 USD.

3. R4 (1:1 Clone) -- supports the DS Phat/Lite

The original R4 design is still manufactured. The original team is long since gone, but the card continues to perform exceptionally well on the DS Phat/Lite. The design of this card is Generation-1 and can not be updated to work on the DSi/3DS. For those seeking to play DS games and Homebrew on the DS Phat/Lite, this card comes highly recommended. The card supports the Wood kernel directly, just like the R4iDSN. However, the R4 1:1 Clone is limited to 2 GB microSD cards. This card has been offered for sale as low as $1 USD and remains one of the cheaper, yet fully supported, Flash Kit options.

Important: The original R4 was cloned and copied more than a few times. The 1:1 clone is an old design, it would not make much sense for a company to copy/clone it for resale. Yet, clones could still exist and be offered for sale by lesser known resellers.

For more information on Flash Kits, which are recommended, etc, please view the following links.

Which Flash Cart Should I Get by Rydian
Flash Carts And DSi/3DS Updates by Rydian
DS/DSi/3DS "hacking" F.A.Q. by Rydian
Retrogamefan Unofficial R4 Kernel Updates by Retrogamefan
Wood R4 BUGS and Compatibility

Wood R4i Gold Everything with "R4i Gold" in the title was removed thanks to a DMCA letter that assumed every file was related to their Gateway 3DS clone.
Wood R4iDSN
Wood R4

Please note that supported firmware revision numbers, packaging photos, and download links are subject to change without warning. Use the information in this post as a guide only.

 

[Another World]

I constantly see incorrect R4i Gold recommendations. I never see R4iDSN recommendations. It seems the R4 1:1 clone, which is amazingly cheap on some sites, has been forgotten. I've spent a great deal of time correcting bad posts so that future researchers don't stumble across bad information. It just made sense to compile the information into one stickie and leave it in the R4 section.

If you would like to make any changes, updates, additions, or whatever, please make your suggestions here and I'll add any relevant information to the 1st post.

-Another World

 

[goldr4iguy]

R4i Gold is the best

 

[Acidflare]

is there a difference between these 2 r4i cards? http://www.realhotstuff.com/R4i-SDHC-3DS_p_96.html or http://www.modchipsdirect.com/r4i-3ds-r4ds-wood.html

 

[Sheldan]

Hi guys,

Recently started playing my 3DS again after it being on the shelf for around a year.

The current firmware on the 3DS is 4.5 (My cousin foolishly updated it last year), and so I'll be needing a new flash cart (My old flashcart was an Acekard 2i).

The flashcart I'm probably going to buy (unless anybody suggests otherwise) is this: http://www.r4ds-dsi.co.uk/r4i-gold-...45_p695.html?zenid=fsobdhs9unn536e8r9rct49s27

Just checking to see if that is the correct R4i Gold? I was slightly confused as it is listed as the R4i Gold 3DS RTS, and I was unsure what the RTS represented.

I can buy it from that site for £12.95, which I thought was very reasonable.

If I can, I'll be hoping to update the firmware to 7.1, as I believe the R4i Gold supports 7.1?

If I do buy it, is it as straightforward as I'd expect it to be? Upgrade the R4i first, upgrade the 3DS, put the R4i in the 3DS, it works? I'm unsure if things have gotten any harder since I last used a flash cart.

Thanks for any responses guys, apologises if this question is answered anywhere else on the forum, I had a look around and couldn't see any clear answer so just thought I'd ask to make sure I get the correct guidance.

Hope you all have a happy new year.

 

[Acidflare]

RTS is short for Real-Time Save , in other words save states.

I don't know about 3ds systems though I only have a ds light I am purchasing the R4i gold that supposedly has 7.1 firmware support I ordered 2 of them one for a buddy who has a 6.2e 3ds and one for my self on thursday so I guess we'll see how things go

 

[Sheldan]

Well like I said, my 3ds is currently only 4.5, so I don't really have to update the firmware if I don't need to, so if your friend's 6.2 3ds works fine with the R4i Gold, let me know

 

[Acidflare]

they say it can take up to a month to arrive

The r4i gold from r4ids.cn is the flash cart we are discussing

manhattan you seem to know about the r4i gold can you give me a quick run down on how to operate it ?

do you know what games aren't playable on it?

 

[janejane3157]

i am using r4i gold 3ds rts card.

 

[Alan P]

I recently purchased a New Snoopy R4 card 2014 SDHC Real Time Save (Red card with snoopy in top left, done all the checks and it looks genuine).

This was following the old R4i card I had becoming blocked.

I have a few questions, I am techie so don't get that confused with IT and jargon, but am a little new to all this ROMS, KERNELS, etc.

I have downloaded the latest kernel software from a website for my card and loaded all the required folders on the 2GB Micro SanDisk card (This was not bought with the R4 card, I already had this from an old card, it has been formatted prior to the new card, using the Panasonic formatter software I downloaded after reading recommendations about not using a windows formatter to clear the card down).

My questions are as follows..

1. Some of the ROMS I am trying to load seem to freeze after the create save file menu appears. In fact it seems to be 50% of the ROMS I have just crash as I load them? Is this something I am doing wrong? I have just loaded the .NDS files onto the Micro SD card.

2. Do the ROMS have to be a certain size (I am assuming not as some that do and don't work are the same size, so I could not see any consistency on this?).

3. Is there a particular site I should get the ROMs from as I have downloaded from several sites and cant tell if I have some bad ROMS and some good ones as cant remember which ROM was from which site?

4. Was I right in reading somewhere that the Snoopy card should be able to play 3DS games at some stage in the future?

5. How do I ensure this Snoopy card does not get blocked? Is there a failsafe I have to make sure this does not happen again?

6. Is a 2GB SanDisk Micro SD card big enough, is this the problem? (although I have taken of 80% of the games to leave lots of space on the card and still had crashing problems, so this idea did not work).

Any help and answers to this would be great as I thought the Snoopy card was going to be great and all I have had is issues with ROMS crashing randomly. Only thing I do know, is that its the same ROMS each time the load and fail accordingly, so does look to be the ROMS (for some reason and more annoyingly, all my favourite Mario games are the crashers, amongst others!)

Thanks again for any help anyone can give me.

 

[Rydian]

I recently purchased a New Snoopy R4 card 2014 SDHC Real Time Save (Red card with snoopy in top left, done all the checks and it looks genuine).

A genuine clone.

1. Some of the ROMS I am trying to load seem to freeze after the create save file menu appears. In fact it seems to be 50% of the ROMS I have just crash as I load them? Is this something I am doing wrong? I have just loaded the .NDS files onto the Micro SD card.

This could be caused by many things.
http://gbatemp.net/threads/having-trouble-getting-a-game-to-run-read-this.277771/

2. Do the ROMS have to be a certain size (I am assuming not as some that do and don't work are the same size, so I could not see any consistency on this?).

Untrimmed/unmodified ROMs are always a power of 2. So you'll have ROMs that are 16MB, 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, and a few are 512MB, depending on the game. If yours are a different size then they've been modified.

3. Is there a particular site I should get the ROMs from as I have downloaded from several sites and cant tell if I have some bad ROMS and some good ones as cant remember which ROM was from which site?

We don't name or link sites here, but the thread I linked has info on how to check if your ROMs are good or not.

4. Was I right in reading somewhere that the Snoopy card should be able to play 3DS games at some stage in the future?

No. As far as I'm aware no DS-mode flash cart has been upgraded to run 3DS ROMs.

A lot of them say they will, but these things come from China, and many of the creators WILL outright lie to make sales. It's part of the reason we limit the suggested carts to so few, because a lot of them are total shit and fueled by lies.

5. How do I ensure this Snoopy card does not get blocked? Is there a failsafe I have to make sure this does not happen again?

Never put your 3DS online, ever, in any way, and never put any new 3DS games into your 3DS.

6. Is a 2GB SanDisk Micro SD card big enough, is this the problem? (although I have taken of 80% of the games to leave lots of space on the card and still had crashing problems, so this idea did not work).

As long as you have ~10% free space left it's not the issue.

I thought the Snoopy card was going to be great

Well I'm going to be more blunt here, but if you did, then you obviously didn't actually read any of the guides or suggestions here.

We write guides and only suggest certain carts to try to stop people from doing what you did. If a different MicroSD and updating the software on it don't work, then just get one of the suggested carts because getting a misbehaving/unsupported (whichever the issue may be if it's not the MicroSD) cart to work is often more trouble than a replacement.

 

[Rocc0]

There are many clones of the R4i Gold. The card itself started out as a side project for those involved with a previous R4 company. Luckily, the team members that split off have proven themselves to be rather talented. They had a Flash Kit working on the 3DS before any other team, and subsequently released updates before anyone else as well. This card is one of 4 that officially supports the Wood kernel (R4iDSN, AK RPG, original R4 -- being the other 3). When buying an R4i Gold it is important to understand that the card has gone through some hardware revisions. To make sure you are getting the latest version, which will dictate DSi/3DS compatibility, buy from a reputable reseller.

I tried asking this somewhere else, but maybe it gets seen better here(and is more relevant here):

How many times has r4ids.cn R4i Gold had to replace the hardware? I read from an another thread that one earlier version of R4i Gold has been blocked on 3DS OS firmware 4.4, but is that the only time? How long has the current r4ids.cn cart been on the market? It's tough trying to find any info on this.

 

[Acidflare]

I tried asking this somewhere else, but maybe it gets seen better here(and is more relevant here):

How many times has r4ids.cn R4i Gold had to replace the hardware? I read from an another thread that one earlier version of R4i Gold has been blocked on 3DS OS firmware 4.4, but is that the only time? How long has the current r4ids.cn cart been on the market? It's tough trying to find any info on this.

as far as I know this is one of the better WoodR4 cards the card has only gone under hardware revisions to gain back the ability to run on 3DS 6.3 which the same exploit is still working on 7.1.0-16, the update patches are for older card anything bought as of November 2013 is the newest revision that works without issues.

I have seen a few updates for the card but all updates are for the older card revisions all new revisions are comaptible with the newest firmware for the 3DS last I checked it was version number 7.1.0-16. my friend and my 2 stepbrothers all have one of these cards each and they all are on 3DS' system version 7.1.0-16 with the card working without flaw.

I do however recommend you use the Panasonic SD Formatter Software with the option full(OverWrite) depending on your mSD card size depicts how long it will take to format but this fixes different problems that arise on different file system sizes.
For example an 8GB file system will give you issues running golden sun dark dawn and pokemon Black/White 2 a 16GB file system won't allow Konami Classic Arcade Collection without turning off RTS for the game.
You can also customize the multimedia 1.51c kernel for moonshell 2.10 and wood 1.64 instead of using moonshell 2.02 and wood 1.51c by doing this you will disable RTS function even if it's turned on.
I can archive and upload a copy of the multimedia kernel that I updated myself to MS 2.10 WoodR4 1.64 you can load music/videos and documents through the R4i menu or through booting moonshell through wood and select game to boot WoodR4 1.64

 

[4coolday]

I tried asking this somewhere else, but maybe it gets seen better here(and is more relevant here):

How many times has r4ids.cn R4i Gold had to replace the hardware? I read from an another thread that one earlier version of R4i Gold has been blocked on 3DS OS firmware 4.4, but is that the only time? How long has the current r4ids.cn cart been on the market? It's tough trying to find any info on this.

Past is past, but we never know what will happy in the future.
Before, R4i gold 3DS has been blocked one time, but till now, it is still one of the best R4i 3DS card.
Someone want to buy a R4i 3DS, we still recommend R4i Gold 3Ds and the R4i SDHC 3DS RTS(red) for you.
They are the top selling r4i 3ds.

For blocking, nobody will know what Nintendo will do, so, no flashcarts team can promise they can pass all the time, including SuperCard Team.
though Supercard DSTwo never been blocked till now, never changed card.

 

[Dribear]

Hello, new here. Have owned a DsLite in the past, currently have one. Want to play GB/GBC roms that I currently have along with NDS games. Is the R4i Gold 3DS (or other) what I need? I have a spare 32GB mSD card that I would like to use with it.

Thank you for your reply. I will look into it. One thing I would like to ask, since you have experience with the dstwo. Does it have SDHC support?

R4i gold 3ds can play Nds games, snes games, homebrew, but no GB/GBC games, if you want to play GBA games, then you should buy dstwo. I have one dstwo from r4depot, working perfect. It can play GB, GBC, GBA, SNES, and DS Roms on my 3ds. Perfect? Isn't it. And seems it can also play on your dslite, it support the latest Nintendo firmware. You can go to check the details about dstwo more clearly, Correct me if I"m wrong. Just trying to help, even if it isn't 100% accurate.

 

[Cocoli]

Every R4 manufactured today is a clone (copy, using just the name, etc). That is the most important thing you should know. The so-called 1:1 R4 is a copy of the original, speculated to be manufactured off the original designs, yet make no mistake it is a copy/clone. When buying a Flash Kit you may fail to do your research and opt for the most widely discussed brandname, the R4. This may not be a bad thing if you end up buying one of the 3 GBAtemp recommended R4 Flash Kits.

1. R4i Gold (http://www.r4ids.cn) -- supports DSi v1.4.5 / 3DS v7.1.0-14

View attachment 4864 View attachment 4865​

There are many clones of the R4i Gold. The card itself started out as a side project for those involved with a previous R4 company. Luckily, the team members that split off have proven themselves to be rather talented. They had a Flash Kit working on the 3DS before any other team, and subsequently released updates before anyone else as well. This card is one of 4 that officially supports the Wood kernel (R4iDSN, AK RPG, original R4 -- being the other 3). When buying an R4i Gold it is important to understand that the card has gone through some hardware revisions. To make sure you are getting the latest version, which will dictate DSi/3DS compatibility, buy from a reputable reseller. One important note for this card is the kernel may be hard to find. A recent DMCA letter sent to GBAtemp had us remove anything with R4i Gold in the title, this included translations, patches, and legitimate releases of the kernel that did not pack in the Gateway 3DS exploit. The last official version before the Gateway 3DS clones were released was Wood for R4i Gold v1.62.

Important: If the sticker doesn't say "http://www.r4ids.cn" it is a clone and can not be recommended.

2. R4iDSN (http://www.r4idsn.com/) -- supports DSi v1.4.5 / 3DS v7.1.0-14

View attachment 4862 View attachment 4863​

The R4iDSN is manufactured and supported by the same team as the R4i Gold (http://www.r4ids.cn). It supports the Wood kernel directly, where the R4i Gold requires an official recompile by the team members. What this means is that the R4iDSN receives updated kernel support 1-2 days ahead of the R4i Gold. Both cards are similar quality and builds, yet due to the hype surrounding the R4i Gold, the R4iDSN has remained a lesser-known card. As a result it can be found online for under $10 USD.

3. R4 (1:1 Clone) -- supports the DS Phat/Lite

View attachment 4866​

The original R4 design is still manufactured. The original team is long since gone, but the card continues to perform exceptionally well on the DS Phat/Lite. The design of this card is Generation-1 and can not be updated to work on the DSi/3DS. For those seeking to play DS games and Homebrew on the DS Phat/Lite, this card comes highly recommended. The card supports the Wood kernel directly, just like the R4iDSN. However, the R4 1:1 Clone is limited to 2 GB microSD cards. This card has been offered for sale as low as $1 USD and remains one of the cheaper, yet fully supported, Flash Kit options.

Important: The original R4 was cloned and copied more than a few times. The 1:1 clone is an old design, it would not make much sense for a company to copy/clone it for resale. Yet, clones could still exist and be offered for sale by lesser known resellers.

For more information on Flash Kits, which are recommended, etc, please view the following links.

Which Flash Cart Should I Get by Rydian
Flash Carts And DSi/3DS Updates by Rydian
DS/DSi/3DS "hacking" F.A.Q. by Rydian
Retrogamefan Unofficial R4 Kernel Updates by Retrogamefan
Wood R4 BUGS and Compatibility

Wood R4i Gold Everything with "R4i Gold" in the title was removed thanks to a DMCA letter that assumed every file was related to their Gateway 3DS clone.
Wood R4iDSN
Wood R4

Please note that supported firmware revision numbers, packaging photos, and download links are subject to change without warning. Use the information in this post as a guide only.

support for the first one , the r4 from r4ids official website. it goes well with all kinds of NDS consoles

 

[Tommy667]

buy r4i gold 3ds from official distributor best

 

[OncRN]

Got an R4i Gold 3DS from zhuzhuchina last year. It was legit, took about 3 weeks to get here.

Not 3DS, just an R4i Gold w/ RTS. Good pricing, if you can take the wait.

 

[BestR4i3DS.com]

Got an R4i Gold 3DS from zhuzhuchina last year. It was legit, took about 3 weeks to get here.

Not 3DS, just an R4i Gold w/ RTS. Good pricing, if you can take the wait.

USA customers can order from USA directly now, because the price of the card is very cheap,
so, from China or from USA is the no big price different

 

[WithHotCompanyInMiami]

I want to play DS games on 3DS. Which of these cards and shops are the best or do you have other suggestions? I live in Europe and got the latest system version (8.0.0-18E) . Thank you.

http://www.nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=450
http://www.nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=149
http://www.nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=146

http://www.zhuzhuchina.com/store/promo_dsi_r4i_gold_slot-1__www_r4ids_cn__3ds_compatible_wood_rev_d_rts_max_1_piece.html?search_string=3ds rts&search_category_id=17