Acekard+ In House at GBAtemp

shaunj66

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Acekard+ In House at GBAtemp

Free upgrade to Acekard owners








We've recently had our Acekard+ samples dropped off at our door, so here's a little sneak peak for you all. The Acekard+ was advertised last week as a free upgrade to all previous Acekard owners, as long as you don't mind shipping off your old Acekard to either your supplier or the AK team in China.


What's the difference with the Acekard+? The team advertised that the new version now supports FAT file systems, so you're no longer tied down to using the horrible AKFS (Acekard file system), DLDI support, increased homebrew compatibility, new GUI enhancements, and continued 100% NDS compatibility.

Perhaps, you thought that the free replacement scheme sounds too good to be true? Well, on closer inspection of the Acekard+, we can see that it is exactly the same card/hardware as the original Acekard, just with a new front and back sticker. So, does this mean you can simply use the new Acekard+ firmware on the original Acekard? Unfortunately not; we've already tried it. It seems that the internal firmware of the Acekard+ (note we said firmware not boot loader) is different to that of the original Acekard. Unless the team decide to release a tool to manually upgrade the firmware on your old Acekard, you will still have to send off for a free replacement (where we expect they just flash the card with new firmware, slap 2 new labels on and mail it back).

.... To continue reading, and to see some photos of and to discuss the Acekard+ follow the link below.

icon11.gif
More photos and Discussion


 

shaunj66

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Initial impressions are good. The Acekard+ appears to support both FAT16 and FAT32 file systems, the new GUI is very nice looking and compatibility still seems to be as good as the original Acekard even when now using FAT.

Unfortunately, as the hardware is still the same, the Acekard still proves a tight fit in the DS slot 1. It's not so much of a pain to insert, but is a pain to remove.

With the new FAT support, this means you don't have to use the dreaded Acekard client software anymore. This cart now works via drag and drop.

We make a short re-review of the Acekard+ to cover the differences in more detail. So look out for that soon.

Please feel free to leave your questions in this thread.









Check our review of the original Acekard to compare hardware photos.
 

ralff

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Unfortunately, as the hardware is still the same, the Acekard still proves a tight fit in the DS slot 1. It's not so much of a pain to insert, but is a pain to remove.

I had never problems to remove my acekard - my card spring out like any original ( not like other backup devices ).
Is the client usage for the new acekard+ (allready ordered) optional possible ?
What's about the necessary files ... is there a folder which has to copied to the micro sd ?

Ralf
 

zatelli

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Too bad it still fits tight in the slot-1, it was a good opportunity to brush up on the hardware part.
Now I wonder whether if it's any better than the normal AK in term of performance .. but I won't hold my breath. Looking forward to find out where this flashkit stands.
smile.gif
 

shaunj66

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shaunj66

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So, the "update" is just flashing firmware on their side? Hah!
Yeah but in all fairness the new firmware that brings all the + changes may not be flashable by the end user. There is a JTAG on the PCB that I expect they have to use to update the firmware...
 

adgloride

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The Acekard was always the slot 1 solution I fancied. The silly file system put me straight off it, glad they've put that right. Glad I waited and got an R4.
 

DavePS

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Never had a problem with my Acekard being a tight fit either, when it ejects it ejects about 10mm rather than the 14-15mm of an original. I can see how that would cause people lots of hassle.

As to comments about the Manager software, the silly file system etc. I don;t find it an issue. All I give 2 hoots about is does it run all games at full tilt, and as far as my testing and gameplay goes (I have tested ALL games up til now, but admittedly only for about 10 minutes each) it does. Mind you the R4 is cheaper by a small margin that Acekard so maybe I should have waited and gone that route
smile.gif


Anyhow, i'm not turning my card in for a free replacement, the thing works, if it ever stops working, i'll buy a new Acekard+ or R4 or something else.

Looking forward to a objective re-review which will hopefully not be full of stuff about silly filesystems or hideous packaging or dodgy management software
wacko.gif
 
Z

Zagorex

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So, the "update" is just flashing firmware on their side? Hah!

Yeah but in all fairness the new firmware that brings all the + changes may not be flashable by the end user. There is a JTAG on the PCB that I expect they have to use to update the firmware...

I hope in a hardware dump like M3 and in a good programmer for an home alone update firmware.
Ak team say that the AK and AK+ have differt hardware and it's false, why?
I believe that the true reason is AK team not want release new firmware.

Free upgrade is good only for chinese user, not for european one (I, from Italy, would have to pay only to send thr old card 40 euro!!
cry.gif
)
 

cory1492

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Ak team say that the AK and AK+ have differt hardware and it's false, why?
You obviously don't understand what a Max II/programmable ASIC is... you change the code in it and it indeed "becomes" entirely different hardware. Unlike the DS-X, most "teams" don't leave the ASIC open to end user reprogramming after it ships (as seen with the DS-X it can cause some problems, or fix them when there is manufacturing issues, as the case may be).

shaunj66: JTAG on these is usually very different from a JTAG on CPLD's and many other devices. The ASIC packages are normally mass programmed before being placed on the PCB, with JTAG used for final QA/boundary scanning wrather than ISP (in system programming). Leaving an ASIC open to in system programming also can leave a hole to dump hardware code (ASIC firmware); in a group with expert cloners... making it too easy would be bad.
 

DavePS

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Hi deathspawn, no I wasn't joking, for me the software and AKFS is a non issue, although if you run Linux or MacOS then it certainly is a problem.
Don't get me wrong, I think its good it now supports FAT but for me personally, its not an issue. If its game play is compromised because of FAT then THAT would be an issue IMO
 

putamierda

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Never had a problem with my Acekard being a tight fit either, when it ejects it ejects about 10mm rather than the 14-15mm of an original. I can see how that would cause people lots of hassle.

As to comments about the Manager software, the silly file system etc. I don;t find it an issue. All I give 2 hoots about is does it run all games at full tilt, and as far as my testing and gameplay goes (I have tested ALL games up til now, but admittedly only for about 10 minutes each) it does. Mind you the R4 is cheaper by a small margin that Acekard so maybe I should have waited and gone that route
smile.gif


Anyhow, i'm not turning my card in for a free replacement, the thing works, if it ever stops working, i'll buy a new Acekard+ or R4 or something else.

Looking forward to a objective re-review which will hopefully not be full of stuff about silly filesystems or hideous packaging or dodgy management softwareÂ
wacko.gif

I totally agree with you, I've also tried all the games, and they all work flawlessly, the save list is allways updated and the client software works like a charm, I can't understand how it's called dreadful, or something like that
blink.gif

Acekard is a great choice, of course now there are more options, but for my personal needs (I don't care about homebrew or gba) acekard delivers, so acekard ftw!!
And even if the upgrade is a simple firmware upgrade, it's very nice to see that they care and they do it for free
wub.gif
 

vozman

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could you please help me.....
this's the screenshots from my ndsl...
10.jpg

is that mean mine is AK+?

if that so please...i beg you
explain to me how to put any r0m or homebrew application into my acekard?
thanks lot....

i'm so newbie bout this...
do i have just drag and drop the file?
 

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