Best/cheapest flashcard in 2021: Acekard 2i clone or others?

azakhan

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Is this the cheapest any of the sellers is selling this Acekard 2i clone? I'm from the UK, need it for a DS lite, I've seen some flashcards for cheaper on the same site and I just want basic functions to run DS games, what's my cheapest option?
Here is a link to the Acekard 2i which has been confirmed (on reddit) to be working like the original:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003407272703.html
 

azakhan

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The AK2i does work. I wouldn't say that would be the best cart to get at the moment.

You'd be better off with the Ace3DS+ based clones: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002110432035.html
Could you explain why that would be the best value (I don't need it for 3ds only DS lite)? How does it compare to cheaper ones like this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003628662118.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.41632e0e9HDpLp
And this one is the cheapest I found on ebay (more expensive): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284558822700

The 'R4 King' flashcard I bought many years ago suddenly stopped working one day randomly, changing the micro SD didn't help.
 

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Could you explain why that would be the best value (I don't need it for 3ds only DS lite)? How does it compare to cheaper ones like this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003628662118.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.41632e0e9HDpLp
And this one is the cheapest I found on ebay (more expensive): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284558822700

The 'R4 King' flashcard I bought many years ago suddenly stopped working one day randomly, changing the micro SD didn't help.
The aliexpress link is a clone of the original R4 which only supports up to 2GB. The Ace3DS+ I linked does not have this limit.
The eBay link is a clone of the DSONE SDHC which is known to have a high DOA rate. It's fixable by reflowing the PSRAM chip but at that point go get something that doesn't have a high DOA rate.

I'd personally just figure out what exactly is wrong with the R4 King. What happens when you try to boot it, exactly?
 
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azakhan

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The aliexpress link is a clone of the original R4 which only supports up to 2GB. The Ace3DS+ I linked does not have this limit.
The eBay link is a clone of the DSONE SDHC which is known to have a high DOA rate. It's fixable by reflowing the PSRAM chip but at that point go get something that doesn't have a high DOA rate.

I'd personally just figure out what exactly is wrong with the R4 King. What happens when you try to boot it, exactly?
2gb would be enough, so it would be a good cheap option if I end up choosing to buy a new one? (Esp since it's for a 7 yr old) but if I could possibly get the old one to work that'd be great. It would load up the menu fine, then when I'd select a game it'd start loading and then the progress bar would hang (so it'd stay on the game selection screen). It was strange since we hadn't used it in a long time and so hadn't changed anything.

With my other R4 I had, the problem was it started to stop recognising that it had a cart in at all. I tried inserting paper in the back/ blowing into the cart slot etc but it reached a point where it wouldn't recognise it at all. I figured it was a contact problem with the teeth of the cart or maybe the ds cart slot itself?
 

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2gb would be enough, so it would be a good cheap option if I end up choosing to buy a new one? (Esp since it's for a 7 yr old) but if I could possibly get the old one to work that'd be great. It would load up the menu fine, then when I'd select a game it'd start loading and then the progress bar would hang (so it'd stay on the game selection screen). It was strange since we hadn't used it in a long time and so hadn't changed anything.

With my other R4 I had, the problem was it started to stop recognising that it had a cart in at all. I tried inserting paper in the back/ blowing into the cart slot etc but it reached a point where it wouldn't recognise it at all. I figured it was a contact problem with the teeth of the cart or maybe the ds cart slot itself?
It wouldn't be a cheap option because 2GB SDs are very not cheap at all. And no good places to get a trusted one either, whereas with anything larger you can literally go down to your local electronics store and pick up some 16GB SD with actual return guarantees.

The R4 King uses YSMenu: https://gbatemp.net/threads/retrogamefan-updates-releases.267243/

As for the other one, I can't tell because I have no idea which cart you're talking about. I don't think it's dead per se but one cart at a time.
 
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azakhan

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It wouldn't be a cheap option because 2GB SDs are very not cheap at all. And no good places to get a trusted one either, whereas with anything larger you can literally go down to your local electronics store and pick up some 16GB SD with actual return guarantees.

The R4 King uses YSMenu: https://gbatemp.net/threads/retrogamefan-updates-releases.267243/

As for the other one, I can't tell because I have no idea which cart you're talking about. I don't think it's dead per se but one cart at a time.
Oh so even though I remembered changing SD cards and it not changing anything, it must have been a mixture of cart contact problems too as I swapped Sd cards and managed to get it to work! So the problem must have been with the SD card which came with the R4 lol, it stopped working. Is there benefit in updating the new YSMenu files on too (I still have the files which the seller had on them originally)? Which are the actual files I need to download from that page? Both the carts have www.r4-king.com printed on them, so do I download RetroGameFan Multi Cart Update v7.06
and then follow instructions for DSTT/i? Thank you :)
 

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Oh so even though I remembered changing SD cards and it not changing anything, it must have been a mixture of cart contact problems too as I swapped Sd cards and managed to get it to work! So the problem must have been with the SD card which came with the R4 lol, it stopped working. Is there benefit in updating the new YSMenu files on too (I still have the files which the seller had on them originally)? Which are the actual files I need to download from that page? Both the carts have www.r4-king.com printed on them, so do I download RetroGameFan Multi Cart Update v7.06
and then follow instructions for DSTT/i? Thank you :)
Yep!

It also has extra instructions for R4 King in particular so make sure you read that too.

YSMenu in general is more updated than the original kernel, so you'll likely see some better compatibility. From what I hear all clean dumps work, ROM hacks may not.
 
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azakhan

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Yep!

It also has extra instructions for R4 King in particular so make sure you read that too.

YSMenu in general is more updated than the original kernel, so you'll likely see some better compatibility. From what I hear all clean dumps work, ROM hacks may not.
The first file in 'DSTT/i' spoiler is a dead link, also It's a bit confusing trying to follow the steps in order as there's so much info on the page. I'm not sure if I should use primary kernal or dual boot. Would it be possible for you to paste/list the steps in order? I couldn't find specific instructions for 'R4 King' only 'R4i King LL'
 

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The first file in 'DSTT/i' spoiler is a dead link, also It's a bit confusing trying to follow the steps in order as there's so much info on the page. I'm not sure if I should use primary kernal or dual boot. Would it be possible for you to paste/list the steps in order? I couldn't find specific instructions for 'R4 King' only 'R4i King LL'
Do primary kernel. R4 King and R4i King LL are effectively identical carts.
The download link isn't in the spoiler, it's further down the first post, pretty hard to miss since it has a huge Download text on it.
 
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azakhan

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Do primary kernel. R4 King and R4i King LL are effectively identical carts.
The download link isn't in the spoiler, it's further down the first post, pretty hard to miss since it has a huge Download text on it.
Thanks for the reply, I downloaded that file but was confused about if I had to download anything else?

So I follow these steps:
1) Format your µSD

2) Extract the latest Multi Cart Update and open the folder for your particular cart and copy the contents to the root of your µSD (which in MY case is 'DSTTi-Clone YSMenu'? As explained here:
YSMenu PRIMARY Kernel :
Extract these files from DSTTi-Clone YSMenu folder and copy to root of your µSD :

Games folder
TTMenu folder
TTMenu.dat


3) R4i King LL - www.r4-king.com : Rename 1 copy of TTMenu.dat to R4KING.

4) And ignore the following? ' you may need to copy the DATs to a folder OTHER than TTMenu depending on your flashcart' and '
TTMenu PRIMARY Kernel : Extract the files from the DSTTi-Clone TTMenu folder and copy to root of your µSD :
Games folder
TTMenu folder
TTMenu.dat'
 

lifehackerhansol

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Thanks for the reply, I downloaded that file but was confused about if I had to download anything else?

So I follow these steps:
1) Format your µSD

2) Extract the latest Multi Cart Update and open the folder for your particular cart and copy the contents to the root of your µSD (which in MY case is 'DSTTi-Clone YSMenu'? As explained here:
YSMenu PRIMARY Kernel :
Extract these files from DSTTi-Clone YSMenu folder and copy to root of your µSD :

Games folder
TTMenu folder
TTMenu.dat


3) R4i King LL - www.r4-king.com : Rename 1 copy of TTMenu.dat to R4KING.

4) And ignore the following? ' you may need to copy the DATs to a folder OTHER than TTMenu depending on your flashcart' and '
TTMenu PRIMARY Kernel : Extract the files from the DSTTi-Clone TTMenu folder and copy to root of your µSD :
Games folder
TTMenu folder
TTMenu.dat'
Yep that sums it up.
 
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azakhan

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Yes, duplicate the file and make the second file R4KING.
Sorry to resurrect this, I don't remember what happened when I completed this but I have a new problem with my R4i King LL. It no longer is recognised in any of my DS lites. I've tried adding several pieces of paper under the contacts, and even on the outside to the point there's not much room left for more paper. It hardly ever is recognised, the rare times I got it to load, it freezes on a white screen after the menu screen (where I select DS games).

I've tried different sd cards, it makes no difference. When I put the same sd card in another R4 king it works. The strange thing is that again, it worked fine with only very occasionally happening, and now it's started happening without any apparent reason. Any ideas?
 

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