Hacking AK2 - bat batch - Still ?

[Minox]

I spoke too soon. Guess what guys. My AK2 now says "FAT Error" on every boot. Tried format tried another microSD not working. If there is no tutorial, I will be returning my AK2 to DX now.

I am so goddamn pissed.

Sounds like it's faulty, you should return it.

 

[Searinox]

Guess what I'm doing right now.

Anyway with DX's sluggish post I should waste about a month of summer holiday just waiting for my replacement... psh what luck I have. =\ I'm quite scared of ordering a new one since this one lasted 3 weeks before dying. What is my warranty that the new one won't die in 3 weeks too?

Yeah I bought within the timeline of that bad batch, I just thought myself as lucky until now. How quick do they reply?

I'm glad I still have my R4, now I won't have to undergo a seziure.

 

[gbaJet]

Searinox- So yours just went bad too now after 3 weeks?
What were you doing when it went bad?
It looks like the problem may be when altering the skins/cheats.
Have you done any of that recently?

Anyone know the time frame on the bad AK2's or seen any
details on what is going on exactly?

Seems like one of the best carts for the money is now best
to avoid. Way, way too many going bad l8tly...
Since you never know when it will just, "go bad". Might be a month,
might be a day. No way to tell if you have one of the bad ones
either 'til it is dead.

For the money, it seems like supercard is the
way to go now. Just wish the menu system was better and
games loaded faster like AK2. Seems like only the official menu
gives you access to the advanced features so which menu
do you run to be most like AK2? How much slower in seconds is the
supercard loading than the AK2 on big things with the official
menu anyhow? I have just heard it is a lot slower.

For example, someone wrote-
The DSTT menu isn't that great. It doesn't sort games, and it doesn't show folders. When running on the SCDS1, it doesn't provide access to any of the additional features. It's also a little bit laggy in the menu when scrolling (but apparently not as much as the SCDS1). But it's fast at loading games. YSMenu is probably better than the DSTT menu, but it's not very pretty.

So, which menu do most people like if you can't have a good AK2 menu?

 

[Searinox]

None of that. I had put music on the memory and I started playing Castlevania PoR. It froze BUT at a place where it NEVER EVER FROZE BEFORE. I ONLY get freezes at teleport points and this was completly new to me. When I turned it off and back on(I don't use soft reset patch, it seems to further slow down the game) I tried going into the game and got two white screens. Rebooted again and got the same result. Yet again and WSOD still. Then On the next power on I got a FAT Error. I tried starting it a few times over and at some point it DID boot. I went into DSorganize to see if it's just the games or ALL ROMs which don't work. It booted, then after a few seconds of browsing DSO's features I turned it off and back on and got a permanent FAT Error. I scanned the microSD with chkdsk no errors, formatted, tried different filesystems tried different cluster size different memories ALL were FAT Error.

I posted the serial number on my AK2, maybe it helps identify the bad batch? Could you open yours up and check the metal cage which houses the microSD and tell me what number is on it? Note, don't have the microSD INSIDE the AK2 when you open it cause it won't come apart. XD

 

[Tanas]

I ordered my Acekard on the 10th from dealextreme and it came today, and it works fine.

It's definitly the best card for the money.

 

[Searinox]

WII CONNECT working with AK2? OMFG AK2 outdoes Cyclo! =O ...I remember Cyclo having had a bad batch epidemic time ago too. I believe there were even tutorials on fixing it, why aren't there for the AK2?

 

[Tanas]

Pokemon Wii connectivity works on both the Cyclods and The Edge.

Edit: Wii connectivity doesn't work

it detects the DS at the Entry Mode screen but disconnects when you select star battle.

 

[Bri]

For the money, it seems like supercard is the
way to go now.

Your chances of getting a bad AK2 are pretty slim at this point, particularly if you order from a store like dealextreme that goes through inventory quickly. The problem has been fixed in later batches. I also suspect that dealextreme would allow exchanges past their normal period given that they are aware of the AK2 problems.

-Bri

 

[Searinox]

Hopefully they won't exchange them with other bad batch carts, as I've heard several cases on their forums. *shrugs*

 

[Tanas]

Wii connectivity doesn't work it detects the DS at the Entry Mode screen but disconnects when you select star battle.

Sorry if I got anyone to excited

 

[Searinox]

Should I be concerned about DX not responding to my defective AK2 request, or is that normal on a weekend?

EDIT: Nevermind, I got my RMA.

 

[Tanas]

I got my Acekard2 3 days ago and its just gone faulty, first of all the menu would load but when I started a ROM, it would say loading and then it would freeze, and now all I'm getting is FAT Error

 

[Bri]

Where'd you buy it from?

-Bri

 

[Tanas]

Dealextreme.

 

[Bri]

I would have thought they'd be through the bad inventory by now. I hope they're not reselling returned carts. That would be bad.

The good news is that I haven't heard of anyone who had problems exchanging theirs for a new one with dealextreme.com, but that's pretty annoying because their shipping is so slow!

-Bri

 

[Tanas]

So I did get one of these after all...

haha

And before you say anything, yes I know its a Racket not a bat.

 

[ravagekd]

thanks for sharing your stories all, but sorry to hear about your troubles... been looking to possibly get an AK2 to replace my R4 (sister just bought a DS so was planning to "trade up" to an AK2 and give her the R4; was just looking for SDHC support so i can fit more on at a time since my homebrew collection eats up quite a bit of space) but its sounding like it's still too early yet for one of these

best of luck getting good units soon guys

 

[Searinox]

Your cart died in the exact same manner as mine did. Apparently the latter "bat" batches of AK2 display FAT Error instead of freezing on "Processing - don't turn the power off...". I'll be mailing mine back to them within about 3 hours.

ravenkd: These are all "late timebombs". They're not carts that break down when they're recieved, but as late as after 3 weeks of use. Consequently, even though the bad batch may have passed they are only now starting to break down.

Tanas how long ago did you order your AK2? No let me rephrase that, on what day did they ship it? I'm trying to build up a map of when faulty AK2s were in stock and determine how much a chance there may be of new orders being bad carts. I told a friend of mine to order theirs and 3 days ago it was shipped, now reading all these reports I'm cursing through my teeth hoping he WON'T get a bad cart and bash me for it.

Reselling defective units would be the disaster of the century. I am going to sniff this one out a few days longer and if I see reports still coming in I will urge Team Acekard to investigate on DealExtreme's stock.

 

[Bri]

ravagekd: Searinox has a good point. If they're just going bad now, that means that they were shipped several weeks ago, so folks ordering now should be OK.

Searinox: I think it's unlikely that dealextreme is reselling bad carts. If they were, recipients of the bad carts would probably see errors the first time they ran the cart, not several days (or weeks) later. Thanks for working on nailing down the dates that the known bad carts were shipped -- that will be useful to people wanting to buy AK2's and also to those who might recommend AK2's to others.

-Bri

 

[ravagekd]

i do understand the "grenade" effect but it's searinox's other concerns about whether or not bad carts continue to be sold or not that has me a little hesitant at the moment. I don't feel DX is likely reselling returned defective units, but if there's still a quantifiable percentage of bad units going out I dont want to play russian roulette and hope i get a good one. At least it sounds like the worst of the issue has passed though