Hacking AceKard

[garry35]

hi everybody, i dont know if this is the right place to post this but here goes....

i have just read your review of the acekard, and it leaves a few unanswered questions.. like everybody read about the need for a "new" filesystem because the existing FS cant keep up. now after that its finally arrived it seems that even with the current fastest microsd cards, it STILL cant cut it

. so was the new filsystem just another selling point to make it stand out from the crowd ? time will tell.... the review also said that some games need a little research or experimentation to find out the save size etc. has anybody else come up with a list ?.

 

[trebus]

I think there's a list in the AceKard and only the newest games you need to select a save file for it. Also some Micro SD cards, the faster ones like Sandisk Ultra 2 has a lot of fragmentation and something like Kingston while might be slower in other cards but for AceKard it's top speed due to the way a Kingston is made. So if you get a Kingston or PNY which is cheaper than normal Sandisk you can have full speed in every game.

 

[garry35]

hmmm makes perfect sense

correct me if i am wrong but i thought fragmentation was down to various factors like, filesystem,how many times the card has been written to before a format and loads of other factors. if different cards are fragmeted to different degrees, then how surely a FULL format would fix the fragmentation prob and thereby allow each card to run to its maximum potential......

 

[stop_loading]

imo this is purely software problems

at this point it's risky to get acekard anyway, better wait to make sure that they really update the client

not to mention microninja will arrive in 3 weeks, let's wait how that turned out and then we can compare

 

[OSW]

The "team" has claimed some good features/updates will be added in the future, but we have to wait and see.
What acekard has going for it now is proven future-proof 100% NDS compat. and no slowdowns with the right sd cards.
It's unlikely that homebrew will reach the stage where it becomes very usable, so the ideal usage of this cart is in combination with a slot 2 device (if u wish for gba or better homebrew. Also has a passme feature so can use the nds of slot 2 too)

 

[Destructobot]

like everybody read about the need for a "new" filesystem because the existing FS cant keep up.

I don't think think the point of the AKFS is speed, I think it's compatibility. By using a file system that simulates normal DS cart access and prevents fragmentation, you remove the need for any sort of patching. You just have to translate the memory addresses, and without fragmentation you can apply the exact same translation to every access without having to do additional proccessing.

Same with the save issue. You specify the save type, the card simulates it and just has to translate the addresses. No patching needs to be done either before the game is transferred to the card (like the slot 2 devices) or while the game is running (like the DS-X).

This is all just conjecture of course, but considering that many (most?) microSD cards run games faster on other hardware than they do on the Acekard the AKFS speed claim just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[OSW]

like everybody read about the need for a "new" filesystem because the existing FS cant keep up.

I don't think think the point of the AKFS is speed, I think it's compatibility. By using a file system that simulates normal DS cart access and prevents fragmentation, you remove the need for any sort of patching. You just have to translate the memory addresses, and without fragmentation you can apply the exact same translation to every access without having to do additional proccessing.

Same with the save issue. You specify the save type, the card simulates it and just has to translate the addresses. No patching needs to be done either before the game is transferred to the card (like the slot 2 devices) or while the game is running (like the DS-X).

This is all just conjecture of course, but considering that many (most?) microSD cards run games faster on other hardware than they do on the Acekard the AKFS speed claim just doesn't make sense to me.

well as long as u use the right sd card such as kingston or PNY 1gb (theres a list of card speeds) , i don't think the claim that its slower is right. It apparantly runs all games at full speeds with the right cards. I think that because there is no patching (not just onboard like ds-x) and the fiel system is why this is the way it is.

 

[DavePS]

I have one paired with a 1gb Kingston card. It works brilliantly for me. No slowdown that I can detect. If someone has a video demonstrating slowdown in anything, can they post a link and I will compare to how my acekard runs them.

I cannot mention specific games due to forum rules.

For 26 quid, the card is a steal.