Hacking New to Acekard

Iterable · Feb 21, 2020

Hi all,

So straight into it:
I used to have an M3DS real that I used to run back on my DS Lite in like 2008, 2009 and I looked around on these forums and found that M3 "flash carts" (is that what they're called?) are no longer compatible with newer DS. The original DS Lite broke a long time ago and I kind of stopped playing DS games in like 2010 but I have since always wanted to get back. There's no way I am buying an older DS so I have a 3DS and apparently the new equivalent is the acekard 2i that works with this.

So you're telling me if I get this, I can easily port over .nds files into the chip and get my games and saves back on the 3DS? To be absolutely clear I can play any DS game provided I have a .nds file for it? Does it have all the cool stuff from back in the day like the cheat codes and stuff? God I miss this stuff and I am excited to relive this for a bit but it all seems a bit overwhelming (you'd think that now I'm older I can kind of read stuff properly, so I really do apologise if there's a thread out there that covers all this).

One last question - I hear there is some element of customisability and you can customise things if you can code? That sounds fun as well and I wouldn't mind dabbling in it.

The Catboy · Feb 21, 2020

I personally love the Ak2i and it's one of my favorite carts but I would honestly suggest going with the R4i Gold Plus instead. The R4i Gold Plus runs Wood R4, which is based on the same code as akAIO and has all of the same features. I also suggest this because Ak2i can not run on stock OFW for the 3DS. You can hack your 3DS using the Ak2i with ntrboot in order to make it work but it will not work on stock and requires extra steps to get ntrboot onto the Ak2i. I digress though and just suggest going with the R4i Gold Plus for more options and the ability to hack your 3DS if you want.
As for the games, just delete the folders for the M3 Kernel and copy over the Wood R4 files, your games and saves should work just fine (you might need to play with the settings to make sure you are using the proper sav extension.) The Wood R4 does have an option for cheats, RTS, themes, and basically every other feature found on M3 Real.
I am not sure what you are asking for, but I can say that Wood R4 is closed-source. You can customize the skins and some other stuff though.

Iterable · Feb 21, 2020

Thanks for your swift reply.

Lilith Valentine said:
As for the games, just delete the folders for the M3 Kernel and copy over the Wood R4 files, your games and saves should work just fine (you might need to play with the settings to make sure you are using the proper sav extension.) The Wood R4 does have an option for cheats, RTS, themes, and basically every other feature found on M3 Real.

That sounds great! Might grab the R4i then.

Lilith Valentine said:
but I can say that Wood R4 is closed-source.

Yes open-source was the word I was looking for, and that's fine, was just a thought.

So this begs the question: If I get a fresh 3DS, the latest firmware on the 3DS will still allow the R4i Gold you mentioned to work properly right? In the comments of the link you sent, there's some additional stuff that the seller gives after you buy it so I would think I have to set this up additionally, which is fine. (Also totally unrelated, is there this kind of thing for a DSi XL running on 1.4.5?)

I am probably going to end up grabbing this then! I hope it's okay if I post back here in case I have any questions regarding porting over my old stuff to the new cart.

The Catboy · Feb 21, 2020

If you buy a fresh 3DS and update to the latest OFW, the R4i Gold Plus will work on it. Nintendo stopped updating to block flashcarts somewhere around OFW v7 (IIRC.) The R4i Gold Plus will also work on the latest OFW for the DSi as well.
Of course it's ok! ^-^ We encourage users to do follows ups and ask questions when they come up!

Iterable · Feb 21, 2020

By OFW you mean original firmware right? Sorry just making sure, there's a lot of abbreviations in your post

The Catboy · Feb 21, 2020

Iterable said:
By OFW you mean original firmware right? Sorry just making sure, there's a lot of abbreviations in your post

OFW stands for official firmware. Also for possible future reference, CFW stands for custom firmware.

Iterable · Mar 1, 2020

Lilith Valentine said:
If you buy a fresh 3DS and update to the latest OFW, the R4i Gold Plus will work on it. Nintendo stopped updating to block flashcarts somewhere around OFW v7 (IIRC.) The R4i Gold Plus will also work on the latest OFW for the DSi as well.
Of course it's ok! ^-^ We encourage users to do follows ups and ask questions when they come up!

Hello again, I would like to ask what you mean by OFW v7? At the moment I have not yet ordered it (got swarmed by IRL stuff), and I notice that my DSi (I didn't end up getting a 3DS but I'll just continue using my DSi anyway), cannot update beyond 1.4.5. Is this the latest version? If this is the case, will the R4i Gold Plus you linked in your post also work with this?

Also I notice this is available from China Hong Kong - are they still able to deliver stuff to the UK from there?

Sonic Angel Knight · Mar 2, 2020

Do flashcarts still stop working after some time pass since buying them? I have like lots of flash carts that don't work anymore no matter what system I use it on I don't know if is broke or cheap made.

wormdood · Mar 2, 2020

Iterable said:
I would like to ask what you mean by OFW v7?

That was referring to 3DS firmware if you have a DSi than yes 1.4 something is the highest and yes it will work in the DSi as well

Iterable said:
I notice this is available from China Hong Kong - are they still able to deliver stuff to the UK from there?

I don't see why not unless you think they're afraid of the coronavirus or something

Sonic Angel Knight said:
Do flashcarts still stop working after some time pass since buying them? I have like lots of flash carts that don't work anymore no matter what system I use it on I don't know if is broke or cheap made.

they shouldn't I still have 2 genuine r4 cards and a ak2i that I got the month it came out and all 3 still work ... out of curiosity can I ask what flashcards you are referring to?

Sonic Angel Knight · Mar 2, 2020

wormdood said:
they shouldn't I still have 2 genuine r4 cards and a ak2i that I got the month it came out and all 3 still work ... out of curiosity can I ask what flashcards you are referring to?

Let me see, I had a AceKard 2I, a Ace 3DS, a R4 SDHC 3DS DSI (Dual Core smart update) and a DSTWO

Acekard 2I used to work, but I had to stick a piece of folded paper between the cart slot to make it work properly. Now it doesn't work at all. Anytime I put it in the DS, it supposed to load the warning screen, it always freezes before all the words can load properly.

The Ace 3DS doesn't even get detected at all. No matter what system I use. DS lite, DSI, 3DS.

The DStwo is the same as Ace 3DS. And I like that one a lot because it had save states, slow motion, cheat finder and multiple save slots for games. But is also expensive and I don't want to pay a lot for a new one. :hateit:

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