Hacking Acekard 2 died on me

[dewgong]

Hey everybody, so yesterday I turned on my DS Lite and found that the Acekard 2 has probably died on me. When I got past the safety warning screen, I'm prompt to choose between DS, Pictochat, blah blah, and GBA, but the DS slot had no text or icon, but I can still select it. So I selected it, but it just stayed as 2 blank screens. I tried it on a DS Phat, it didn't work either. I think it's pretty dead.

 

[tk_saturn]

If it's an Acekard 2i, try reflashing it. If it's an Acekard 2.1, there's not much you can do apart from trying the paper trick http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=218103#contacts

 

[dewgong]

It's an Acekard 2.1. I tried the paper trick but it didn't work. I'm looking for a new flash cart, which one do you recommend? $30 and below is okay. I want a flash cart that doesn't feel as flimsy as the Acekard 2.1. It would be nice if it comes with the features in Acekard like it can boot GBA games from the DS interface, not have another program then boot GBA stuff. Thanks~

 

[cowboycoder77]

If you are not likely to need to use it on a DSi then I'd recommend paying slightly more and getting a CycloDS Evolution.

The only drawback of this card is that it isn't compatible with DSi. It has great compatibility and excellent team support with regular firmware updates (betas). Plus the build quality is good and it has a lot of ehanced features like real-time saving.

 

[Hakoda]

It's an Acekard 2.1. I tried the paper trick but it didn't work. I'm looking for a new flash cart, which one do you recommend? $30 and below is okay. I want a flash cart that doesn't feel as flimsy as the Acekard 2.1. It would be nice if it comes with the features in Acekard like it can boot GBA games from the DS interface, not have another program then boot GBA stuff. Thanks~

Well if you just want a sturdier Acekard then just get the Acekard 2i. The build is glued together instead of clips like the AK2.1. If you have a Slot-2 flashcard like the EZ Flash 3in1 then you should be able to play GBA games from AKAIO just fine. If you don't have one and you want to be able to play GBA games without a Slot-2 flashcard then I suggest waiting until about mid-end May for the SuperCard DSTwo. It can play movies and GBA games from the Slot-1 as well as use the internal CPU of the DSTwo to emulate DS games perfectly which means Nintendo's AP will not affect the card in anyway. Ergo, firmware updates would be a thing of the past for this card.

 

[twiztidsinz]

as well as use the internal CPU of the DSTwo to emulate DS games perfectly which means Nintendo's AP will not affect the card in anyway. Ergo, firmware updates would be a thing of the past for this card.

lol.....what?

 

[Hakoda]

as well as use the internal CPU of the DSTwo to emulate DS games perfectly which means Nintendo's AP will not affect the card in anyway. Ergo, firmware updates would be a thing of the past for this card.

lol.....what?

lol The DSTwo will be able to emulate DS games as if its the original cartridge which means the AP on DS games won't kick in because it can't tell its a flashcard.

 

[Porobu]

as well as use the internal CPU of the DSTwo to emulate DS games perfectly which means Nintendo's AP will not affect the card in anyway. Ergo, firmware updates would be a thing of the past for this card.

lol.....what?

lol The DSTwo will be able to emulate DS games as if its the original cartridge which means the AP on DS games won't kick in because it can't tell its a flashcard.

EMULATE DS GAMES?! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dewgong]

Wow, that sounds really good. I guess I can wait. Thanks for the suggestions~

 

[twiztidsinz]

as well as use the internal CPU of the DSTwo to emulate DS games perfectly which means Nintendo's AP will not affect the card in anyway. Ergo, firmware updates would be a thing of the past for this card.

lol.....what?

lol The DSTwo will be able to emulate DS games as if its the original cartridge which means the AP on DS games won't kick in because it can't tell its a flashcard.

1). Doubtful.
2). Highly doubtful.
3). I don't think it works that way since AP can block emulators.


Edit: It might have a way to "emulate" the cartridge (i.e. redirecting the lower memory addresses) which another cart, I think CycloDS, already does.
But it's not emulating the game itself.

 

[spark1223]

I'd be interested to know the whole internal process to how flash carts function.

 

[flamingo24]

as well as use the internal CPU of the DSTwo to emulate DS games perfectly which means Nintendo's AP will not affect the card in anyway. Ergo, firmware updates would be a thing of the past for this card.

lol.....what?

lol The DSTwo will be able to emulate DS games as if its the original cartridge which means the AP on DS games won't kick in because it can't tell its a flashcard.

EMULATE DS GAMES?! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a claim made by the Supercard team and posted on the GBATemp homepage as "Scene News", you can also find it here. I assume the emulation will be limited to the internal design protocols of the DS carts themselves and not the individual games.

 

[dewgong]

So I was wondering where I can buy these real cards safely? Do you guys know?

 

[coattails]

If you're in the US and want quick/cheap shipping, I would recommend leetmod.com

If you're really ghetto and want the cheapest cart money can buy with free shipping (HongKong Post, takes years) then go to ndscardsale.com

You could also buy from shoptemp... but it's more expensive than ndscardsale and they probably take the same amount of time to ship since they are both in HongKong. I've also heard that their current batch of AK2i's have some really bad contact problems.

 

[iamthemilkman]

So I was wondering where I can buy these real cards safely? Do you guys know?

SimplyMods is affordable and have quick shipping (3-4 days).

$16.50 for an Acekard 2i. They're in the US, too.

 

[twiztidsinz]

This is a claim made by the Supercard team and posted on the GBATemp homepage as "Scene News", you can also find it here. I assume the emulation will be limited to the internal design protocols of the DS carts themselves and not the individual games.

Here's the quote directly from the link:QUOTE(shaunj66 @ May 6 2010, 07:53 PM) They tell me that the DSTWO CPU can emulate the original cartridge without patches, whilst others flash cart need a patch.

And the way that it sounds... "emulate" isn't the proper word, but simulate is.
Of course, saying "emulate NDS" is MUCH more sensational than "simulate the functions of a retail cart" and far more likely to get people talking and clamoring about the cart.


From what I'm to understand, and mentioned earlier, there's a fairly simple way to check for legit cards by trying to access memory in a certain low address.
On retail carts this will come back properly, but on flashcarts it either doesn't work or returns bad/incorrect info.
One of the flashcarts already does this, if I'm not mistaken CycloDS will 'intercept' the request and direct it to where the address is on the flashcart thus returning the correct information to the game and bypassing the AP check.

I could be wrong or oversimplifying things because to be honest, I don't know much more than the few bits and pieces of information that I've read. But the sources of those bits and pieces are very reliable people.