Hacking Be ware of clones!

[Fundepots]

It is Chaos!

Here in China, flashcards market is experiencing a "warring states period". You can find dozens of flashcards brand in the market. R4/M3/TTDS/supercard DSONE/N5/Edge/"R4 II"/ "R4 III"/ Ncard/TTDS clone....

I think it all started from TTDS... like R4, TTDS invading the market with its low price. Forcing other manufacturers to cut their price to defend this new-comer. ppl say it is a R4 clone for it is so similiar to R4, even their website is highly identical to R4's.

and TTDS suceeded, many R4 and M3 fans turned to TTDS, and which also enlightened some guys who are desperated to earn some quick money on R4. Then "R4 II upgrade" is out, it is said to be a crappy "sticker-tricky" clone from ***card. I believe some of you guys here might get cheated by it even though it works if you do not upgrade it from the R4 official kernels.

And it is not the end... "New version R4" released! It is also highly identical to R4's package (let's say "almost same"). and it is a double-IC product which is said to be compatible to official R4 kernels. I think some of you might have kind of experience with that. Finally the technical barrier has been removed by some genius ?! Business ppl here compained that they have to bring a screwdriver to buy R4 in case they bought a clone with R4 price.

Rumours never stop! It is said that a new R4 clone will appear. It said that the PCB framework is the same/ and ever they copied the mark of "card-7A" "card-7B" on the surface of PCB.----which is to say, even if you bring a screwdriver to open the shell,you can not find any difference...

So... Why they hate/like R4 so much?

What if R4 released a new kernel which is not compatible with those clones? And what is the next move of those clones?

What will we have next? M3 clone? TTDS clone? N5 clone?

LOL!

 

[BvanBart]

I found a few in my order to... :s they look different (r4)

The real R4: when you open it you see the Sprongloader case for the Micro SD on the right and on the left a black circle

The Fake R4: When you open it there is also a Springloader case on the right but on the left you see a big chip...

 

[Narin]

So... Why they hate/like R4 so much?
Because its old, dated and reached the end of its life. It was a decent flashcard when it was first made, but due to hardware limitations, its basically reached the end of the road. No more major features can be added and its basically just let with compatibility updates. Also theres cheaper flashcards out there that have all the features the R4DS has and a lot more. So why pay more for an R4DS when you can get something better for far less of a cost?

What if R4 released a new kernel which is not compatible with those clones?

Not possible, the R4DS team is quite limited in what they can add or change in the kernel without releasing a new flashcard with modified hardware. Just about the only thing that can be done now is compatibility updates and thats just about it. No new features can really be added. This is due to the the R4DS having no eternal, writable memory so the firmware is hardcoded onto the MicroDS (Not the Loader, the one thats stored on the MicroSD card). Because of this, they are severely limited n what they can do or add in future updates. The R4DS s a dated flashcard, the only reason people are buying it is because of the brand name and its popular and people simply don't know any better.

QUOTE(Fundepots @ May 21 2008, 03:28 AM)

What will we have next? M3 clone? TTDS clone? N5 clone?

Already been done and I believe the N5 was a clone of another flash cart, though I could be mistaken.

 

[Fundepots]

As far as I know, R4 is not expensive now...

maybe it is now on the same level comparing with other cards.

 

[Fundepots]

any one ever tried to upgrade R4 clones with official R4 kernel?

 

[Raestloz]

@Narin
N5 is a clone of R4, just look at their website, www.dsn5.com, or something like that

@Fundepots
Official R4 kernel cannot be used in R4 clones, they are basically the same thing, but the clones used patched versions, clean kernel of R4 won't work, even in M3Simply

 

[Narin]

As far as I know, R4 is not expensive now...

maybe it is now on the same level comparing with other cards.

The R4 isn't on the same level as other cards, the R4 is fated, it was good in its time, but now the price for them is around 30-60$ for an R4 whenyou get a flashcard with MORE features, SDHC support and so on for less than that.

 

[Raestloz]

...... well, no R4 will cost $3069, trust me, you can buy a R4, alongside a 4gb non-SDHC microSD, a NDSLite, a NDSLite case, an EZFlash 3-in-1, new styluses, a TV(well, non-HD that is), a PS3, a trip to somewhere, a few drinks, a few foods.......

Just kidding, fix your post, it's pretty funny

 

[nickswear]

you mean no real r4 will sell at 30.69 USD?

 

[trijicon]

From what I see,a lot of retailer switeched their main inventory from R4 to DSTT and Cyclo because of price.

And,due to their stupid move they raised their price on April,a lot of R4 supporter like me disappointed with R4 team.
Now you can get DSTT for $15.00 and why do you pay $10 or more to R4???

I am sure a lot of retailer start to buy "good" clone R4 if it is cheap and has full compatibility with original kernel.

 

[pilotwangs]

 

[Raestloz]

Can anybody be agree more with pilotwangs?

 

[DaMummy]

r4 customers are idiots, why wouldnt they fall for an even shittier clone?

 

[Narin]

r4 customers are idiots, why wouldnt they fall for an even shittier clone?

Because its easy to get mised up and order a clone? Many of them look alike, while others look different yet they are still clones. So unless you already knew they are clones, its easy to get fooled into buying one.

 

[Raestloz]

Ummm.. DaMummy? Looks like your sentence have this meaning:

1. R4 customers are idiot
2. And they are idiot because they weren't fooled by a shittier (worse, I thought) clone

.................................................................

So, what did you actually mean?

 

[iritegood]

r4 customers are idiots, why wouldnt they fall for an even shittier clone?

Because R4 customers are NOT idiots. The R4 was the best card on the market. Not decent, it was the cheapest, simple to use, and had perfect compatibility. Maybe you should fix your statement so that it doesn't include R4 customers from before the current wave of new, better flash carts.

 

[pilotwangs]

r4 customers are idiots, why wouldnt they fall for an even shittier clone?

I hate being called an Idiot for buying something that,at the time,was the best option around.

Honestly,its really annoying.

 

[Raestloz]

I can see DaMummy has less fans than before

Well, R4 customers sure aren't dumb, since they know that there is a flashcart called R4 in the first place

 

[Fundepots]

Nice! Really funny!

I am imaging ... If N5 team see this pic, will they LOL like we do here

 

[BiscuitCookie]

I am actually waiting for a clone that's better than the original (I'll probably be dead before that happens)