Hacking Acekard bricked already!?

[Drewdaltonbrown]

I lost my old acekard ages ago so I recently bought a new one. It arrived at my house today and I was excited. I put all the files on the sd card and put it in my Dsi XL 1.4.3. It worked great and played games great. I used the dsi 1.4.4 and 3ds 4.0 update on it and it completed. When I rebooted my Dsi I came to the home menu, and I clicked on the acekard icon again. I played another game. I then powered off my Dsi XL and put my acekard into my 3DS 4.0. It didn't work, even though I updated it. Confused, I put the acekard back into my 3ds. It no longer shows up on the home menu. I even formatted the SD card with the formatter on the acekard website. Still nothing. Someone please help me fix the acekard that I just got today!

 

[Rydian]

Might be a contact issue.

http://gbatemp.net/topic/231412-solving-acekard-contact-issues/

 

[Another World]

yep, that is a contact issue. the last batch of acekards sent to me for testing all had contact issues. some work when inserted but lose the contact during gaming. some didn't make contact at all. still others make contact on occasion.

the ak2i has always been a crap design.

to test that it isn't your bootloader, insert the ak2i into your dsi. then hold your dsi over your head, as if you were gaming while on your back, so that the screen faces towards the ground. does it make contact now? give it a few little shakes, did that help? if not then hold the dsi so that the back points towards the ground and the screen faces up towards you. does it make contact now? usually you can rotate the dsi in those ways and find a sweet spot, with the aid of gravity, where the card will make contact. this behavior presents itself when there is a sure sign of contact issues resulting from bad manufacturing.

if rotating it did not work then try reseating the ak2i a few times. in/out/in/out/in/out, etc. sometimes you can reseat a contact issue and have the card work until you pull it back out again.

good luck
-another world

 

[Drewdaltonbrown]

That helped a lot, Another. But is there any way to make it not lose contact during game? Paper trick?

 

[Another World]

you would have to do the paper trick.

the problems are the thin shell and the position of the PCB (and/or a warped PCB). the older ak2i that had the thicker chip in it had less contact issues because it was easier to get it just where you wanted it, and the chip helped the card to stay there. the paper trick is the best solution but to do it correct you will need to crack open the case (so you can reposition everything perfectly). the ak2i is glued shut at 4 (or 5?) points where little bits of plastic on one side plug into holes on the other. when you open it you'll have to break these points. drop in a thin slice of magazine paper just to raise up the PCB a tiny bit, make sure its centered, and then replace the shell. a tiny bit of superglue (or another plastic binding blue) on the old insertion points is one way to fix the case, another would be a little around the inside edges. if you don't want to go crazy and you don't care about the look of the card then you can try paper or tape on the outside of the case.

which method you choose just remember not to go too thick. if you apply to much pressure to the pins in slot-1 you may end up bending one and that is a larger issue to fix. so start out thin and go thicker until it works.

-another world

 

[djnforce9]

My Acekard 2i seems to have the exact same problem as the original poster. At first I would get the periodic freeze while in-game and now the 3DS does not recognize when the cartridge is inserted and can actually lock up if I try to switch menu items while the Acekard is still in the slot.

Are there any other workarounds to attempt that does not involve dismantling the cartridge (the other paper trick in that guide did nothing)? I am going to at least try rubbing alcohol in case the contacts are just dirty. Does the PCB simply get bent down from normal usage or something?

 

[Another World]

99.9% of the time it has nothing to do with dirt. the ak2i is a bad design. it has had contact issues since the start. you are probably one of the people with a warped PCB or one that isn't pushed all the way forward. the bit of paper behind the shell will only help if the ak2i loses contact when you move the system. what you are describing is usually a contact issue between the pins and the teeth, and not the case and the slot. you can slide a small bit of paper behind the PCB in an attempt to fix it without opening the shell. try a very thin slice of magazine paper. something like a thick woman's magazine usually works the best, they usually have really thin paper. before you attempt that make sure your PCB is straight and not warped, there is more info on that in the guide.

-another world