Hacking About to purchase an Acekard, but..

[chanky]

Okay, I'm a 100% complete noob and I have never "modded" anything in my life lol
I'm going to purchase a 3DS tomorrow and from what I've been reading, people are saying that you shouldn't update the 3DS's firmware until you update the flashcart first..

http://www.modchipcentral.com/store/acekar...arge-cable.html

1) If I buy that, is that one of the pre flashed cards? Will that mean I can just bring home the 3DS, update it to 2.1 or whatever it's currently on, put in the Acekard, install and play away?

2) For subsequent official Nintendo firmware updates, that means that the Acekard will eventually have to be updated again right? Do I just download the files from the website, extract them, and transfer it into the Acekard via PC (using that USB reader thing lol)? I'm confused because of how everyone is saying you need an old DS to update the card...can't you just update the files manually?

Ugh I hope you guys don't get pissed because of this long post..
Thank you!

 

[budzek]

I'm not sure even with an 8gb micro sd that seems really expensive, I ordered mine from realhotstuff and they say it is pre updated for dsi 1.4.2 and 3ds 2.0, I don't have a 3ds so I can't vouch for it working but I don't doubt it will work one bit, and its significantly cheaper here.

http://realhotstuff.com/acekard-2i-p-319.html

 

[molh394]

1) If I buy that, is that one of the pre flashed cards? Will that mean I can just bring home the 3DS, update it to 2.1 or whatever it's currently on, put in the Acekard, install and play away?
Yes, it is pre-flashed. All you have to do is to download and put the AKAIO v1.8.7 kernel (it's an OS, like Windows for the Acekard) into the microSD, put the microSD into the Acekard, put the Acekard into the updated 3DS, and it will work. More on installing AKAIO: http://gbatemp.net/t218103-updated-n00b-gu...up-your-acekard

2) For subsequent official Nintendo firmware updates, that means that the Acekard will eventually have to be updated again right? Do I just download the files from the website, extract them, and transfer it into the Acekard via PC (using that USB reader thing lol)? I'm confused because of how everyone is saying you need an old DS to update the card...can't you just update the files manually?
If you update the Acekard before updating the 3DS you do not need an old DS. However if you update the 3DS first and if that particular update blocks flashcarts, then you need an old DS just to load your Acekard, because a 3DS that is blocking your Acekard already will not allow it to update itself. In contrast old DS phats/lites will never block that Acekard...because they can't be updated.

Here is an FAQ I wrote on this, for further info: http://gbatemp.net/t297140-3ds-updates-and-flashcarts-a-faq

QUOTE(chanky @ Jun 23 2011, 03:29 PM)

Ugh I hope you guys don't get pissed because of this long post..
Thank you!

No worries! We're here to help, and that was not particularly long anyways.

 

[chanky]

molh394: Ahhh thank you so much! I should have read the sticky; I just noticed it now haha

budzek: Yeah I know. I've seen it sold for a lot cheaper than the site I'm going to order it from, but the reason I'm buying it from there is because that store is located in Canada. I remember a long time ago I ordered one of those plastic cover "cases", where you apply water to it and it sticks to your ipod nano, and when it came to my door, the UPS driver charged me $50 lol.

 

[molh394]

Most of the China-based sites offer free or very very cheap shipping for their products. They have to, I suppose, I don't think they will get much business if all their US customers get slapped with a $50 bill.

(To be fair, free/non-express shipping from Hong Kong, where they ship from, *does* take quite long, up to 2 weeks in some cases)

Here is a link if you're interested: http://www.zhuzhuchina.com/store/product_d...item_id=2312813 (yes, it is pre-updated for 3DS v2)

Registered airmail (shipping fee) costs only $2 more, allows you to track your shipment online, and provides insurance against your package being lost/damaged in the mail. Plus you have the usual 1 year warranty. With all that the total cost only goes up to US$13.50!

 

[chanky]

Okay, so i got the card, installed it to the microSD and AKAIO 1.8.7 loads fine on the 3ds. I downloaded 2 games (Pokemon Black, and Zelda: PH) and moved the .nds files into the _aio folder. For some reason though the games don't show up when I put the microSD into the cart?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Rydian]

That's because the _aio folder is the AKAIO system folder and is hidden.

Put your games somewhere else, either in the root or in some folders you make.

 

[chanky]

Wow, I'm an idiot. Thanks for the quick reply.. I spent an hour and half deleting and reinstalling the games and loader XD
Thanks again!

 

[Rydian]

Yeah, AKAIO lets you browse the MicroSD so feel free to organize your crap into folders.