Hacking Which flash cart for DS Lite in 2020?

AnotherMuggle · Jan 28, 2020

I owned a DSTT years back and was happy with performance and functionality. I have another DS Lite and I want to buy another BUDGET flash cart. Can someone link me to a specific product on a specific site to buy? I want to be sure to avoid any hassle of fake killer or timebomb firmware. It only needs to work on DS Lite and I my only real requirement is that it can launch roms and perform like a retail cart (performance, save, etc)

NightScript · Jan 29, 2020

https://nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=575
This flashcard is the most modern Nintendo DS Flashcard, uses Wood R4, runs on a Nintendo DS Lite and has no timebomb at a price of $19.99

Mikemk · Jan 29, 2020

While the one maorninja posted is one of the best, it also has among the worst battery lifes. (Also, save money buy buying the older RTS version) I've heard the Acekard 2i has the best battery life, and it can be found for around the same price.

It's not a budget card, but I'd recommend the Supercard DSTWO/DSTWO+. It has an on board CPU to enable high speed emulation of GBA & SNES & other games. Battery life is also better than the r4i Gold series despite the on board CPU (though not as good as the Acekard).

Whichever you get, the EZFLASH 3-in-1 is a nice companion flashcart for slot 2.

AnotherMuggle · Jan 29, 2020

maorninja said:
https://nds-card.com/ProShow.asp?ProID=575
This flashcard is the most modern Nintendo DS Flashcard, uses Wood R4, runs on a Nintendo DS Lite and has no timebomb at a price of $19.99

I've seen the seller and the card recommended elsewhere so seems a decent option. Thanks!

Mikemk said:
While the one maorninja posted is one of the best, it also has among the worst battery lifes. (Also, save money buy buying the older RTS version) I've heard the Acekard 2i has the best battery life, and it can be found for around the same price.

It's not a budget card, but I'd recommend the Supercard DSTWO/DSTWO+. It has an on board CPU to enable high speed emulation of GBA & SNES & other games. Battery life is also better than the r4i Gold series despite the on board CPU (though not as good as the Acekard).

Whichever you get, the EZFLASH 3-in-1 is a nice companion flashcart for slot 2.

You have me wondering about these battery issue... Are you saying the carts have internal batteries or just that they impact the console battery life? I don't remember any issues with battery life being affected by my DSTT and I know for sure it had no internal battery.

Also, I'll likely get the EZFLASH you mentioned for GBA

Mikemk · Jan 30, 2020

The carts draw varying amounts of power from the console, so do official game carts. The r4i Gold series draws a lot of power, the Acekard draws vary little (less even than official carts), The DSTWO (when not using the internal CPU) is better than an official cart but worse than the Acekard.

AnotherMuggle · Jan 30, 2020

Mikemk said:
The carts draw varying amounts of power from the console, so do official game carts. The r4i Gold series draws a lot of power, the Acekard draws vary little (less even than official carts), The DSTWO (when not using the internal CPU) is better than an official cart but worse than the Acekard.

Thanks Mikemk, interesting stuff. Is there anywhere such information is compiled for reference?

Mikemk · Jan 30, 2020

Doubt it

KleinesSinchen · Jan 30, 2020

Mikemk said:
The carts draw varying amounts of power from the console, so do official game carts. The r4i Gold series draws a lot of power, the Acekard draws vary little (less even than official carts),

That is (sadly) not true. Maybe some official carts draw more than others (additional hardware like infrared or Bluetooth) but the AceKard 2i is nowhere as power conserving as a ROM-cart.

Not having a completely (voltage) stable lab power supply I had to use the battery as power source for the measurements and my multimeter cut off the power when power draw exceeded 200mA (spikes). The unfused max 10A measurement is only good for rough estimation.
Measurements based on a 15 year old battery as a power source are in no way accurate as the voltage drops fast and the internal power management has to draw more mA for getting the same power.

This bad test setup looks like this: (Legit Mario 64 DS inserted)

Test setup:

DS-"Phat"
Battery connected through a multimeter
Mario 64DS (front light turned off to avoid spikes above 200mA but sound volume maxed out) from
- legit ROM cart
- AceKard 2i
- R4i Gold 3DS

Result:

Legit ROM cart average about 80mA
AceKard 2i average about 130mA
R4i Gold 3DS average about 140mA

Each time just letting the game idle on title screen.

Accurate and more measurements were not possible because this setup is really bad and loses contact easily (as well as the multimeter cutting off the power frequently when exceeding 200mA). It would be really interesting to test a few games from various flashcarts as well as from legit ROM carts with a stable lab power supply. I don't quite remeber, but I think I've seen something like that before (can't find it).
==============

As far as I know all flashcarts draw more power then legit games even when unused (system closed for standby).

Ryccardo · Jan 30, 2020

If you could still find them (which was true until 2-3 years ago), I would have recommended the original R4 - it's bombproof (due to non-rewritable firmware) unlike most every 3DSi compatible DS flashcard, and was cheap even in its last days (due to people thinking the 2 GB limit of SDSC being inadequate for a reasonable amount of DS titles)

Therefore, I suggest the next one in my ranking - the already mentioned r4ids.cn

Mikemk · Jan 31, 2020

KleinesSinchen said:
...

I got my info from this old thread https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-much-do-flashcards-affect-ds-battery-life.240927/

AnotherMuggle · Feb 4, 2020

Thanks for the information above... interesting stuff and cool to see some real measurements.

I actually made a choice that might be controversial... based purely on price... I managed to get my hands on a used DSTT, listed as "unknown working condition" from eBay for £3.99 including postage. It looks suspiciously fake to me but I installed the latest files provided by RetroGameFan and it's working perfectly - suits me just fine

Mikemk · Feb 4, 2020

If it works, it works.

Hacking Which flash cart for DS Lite in 2020?

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