Hacking Buying An Acekard 2i

[EJames2100]

Hey guys, basically seeing HG/SS in action these past few days has made me see just how seriously outdate my old R4 is and I think it's time to upgrade.

1st I want to make sure I buy a real copy and not a fake, this is what I will be purchasing(Assuming it's real)
http://www.r4i.co.uk/shop/ak2i/acekard-2i-...2iplus8gb/12952

Now some questions.

Is the support for Acekard good ?
Do you get regular updates ?
Does your questions get answered when asked ?
Is the unoffoficial firmware betet than the real firmware ?
Will it be compatible with my Slot 2 EzFlash V 3 in 1(GBA, RAM, RUMBLE)
Can it also run Lameboy ? (A GB Emulator)
Does it do anything exceptionally nifty(Besideds run games for free lol)
I tend to read books via .txt files on my ds, I've seen it says it supports, just how good is the support ? Is it as good as Moonshells(2.05) support ? I.E. Can I save it at a specific line and load it up at the exact same place again or not ?
Does it support Moonshell ?
How is the cheat function on it compared to the R4/YSMenu combo ? As easy to use ?
Can I still use the usrcheat.dat file as my cheat file ?

Also before I buy I want to ask about the memory card.
I've seen some people say that class 6 is better than, well naturally it is since Class 4 transfers at 4 MB's per sec and Class 6 transfers at 6 MB's per sec.
Is a Class 6 card definitly needed or can I use Class 4 ?
Is there any real advantage that Class 6 has over Class 4?
I have an old pc so I doubt I'll reach 4MB's per sec anyways so if I get Class 6 will it run faster on the Acekard or not ?
I'm assuming this info is correct, please correct me if wrong though.

I hope someone can help me as last time I didn't really research R4 and pretty much got lumbered with a card that had little/no support(Although I don't really regret it).

Thanks for any and all help

 

[tk_saturn]

What would you want to buy that for?

7DayShop have Genuine Acekard's 2i for £11.99 LINK They also have a Toshiba Class 4 MicroSD for £11.49 LINK

Total cost: £23.48 delivered.


The SD Card is a Toshiba made C08G, which will normally outperform a class 6 card. I have 4 C08G cards and all 4 get read speeds of 20MB/s and Write speeds of 8MB/s (class = minimum write speed MB/s). For example the Japan made Kingston cards that people go on about are rebanded oem Toshiba C01G, C02G, C04G and C08G cards.

If you read these two speed tests
LINK1 LINK2
you will see that class 4 C04G and C08G do indeed outperfrom many class 6 cards.

Remember it's Read speed which is more important when using a SD Card with a flash cart. The only time they write to the card is when saving your game, and that's normally only a 512KB file where as they have to read the ROMS from the SD Card which can be anything upto 256MB.

 

[RupeeClock]

>Is the support for Acekard good ?
Pretty good, you don't want to use the official firmware, use the AKAIO firmware.

>Do you get regular updates ?
Pretty regular updates for the "loaders"

>Does your questions get answered when asked ?
Well, GBAtemp members sort of make AKAIO, and GBAtemp members like to bite.

>Is the unoffoficial firmware betet than the real firmware ?
Infinitely superior.

>Will it be compatible with my Slot 2 EzFlash V 3 in 1(GBA, RAM, RUMBLE)
Yes, infact it has native support for them, you can load GBA roms straight from the AKAIO menu.

>Can it also run Lameboy ? (A GB Emulator)
Yup.

>Does it do anything exceptionally nifty(Besideds run games for free lol)
You can update your cheats and loaders over Wifi, and the AKAIO firmware supports many file commands like cut, copy, paste, delete.
Settings can be configured on a per-game basis.

>I tend to read books via .txt files on my ds, I've seen it says it supports, just how good is the support ?
I wouldn't vouch for the local .txt file support, use Moonshell or DSreader instead.

>Is it as good as Moonshells(2.05) support ? I.E. Can I save it at a specific line and load it up at the exact same place again or not ?
Again, use moonshell.

>Does it support Moonshell ?
Fully, the only thing you might need to do is copy a firmware file to a folder and rename it RPGS.nds, to enable soft reset.

>How is the cheat function on it compared to the R4/YSMenu combo ? As easy to use ?
Very easy, cheats can be updated over wifi, and a personal cheat file can be made with a certain Windows tool (can't remember what it is right now)

>Can I still use the usrcheat.dat file as my cheat file ?
Not sure...I don't usually cheat.

>Also before I buy I want to ask about the memory card.
I've seen some people say that class 6 is better than, well naturally it is since Class 4 transfers at 4 MB's per sec and Class 6 transfers at 6 MB's per sec.
>Is a Class 6 card definitely needed or can I use Class 4 ?
Class 6 is definitely better, but you can make do with Class 4.

>Is there any real advantage that Class 6 has over Class 4?
Games should play better, as in no noticeable lag in gameplay or loading, and more reliably.

>I have an old pc so I doubt I'll reach 4MB's per sec anyways so if I get Class 6 will it run faster on the Acekard or not ?
Your PC's performance does not affect Acekard in any way.

 

[EyeZ]

N1 Rupee you put your time into answering all them questions....fair play to you

 

[Another World]

you do realize your link goes to an r4 section of that site? the ak2i is a good card. it does have contact issues and msd slot contact issues at times. for as many people who complain about these problems there are easily 5 that don't. so keep in mind that you should not have a problem but if you do all real acekard products have a 1yr warranty. your reseller should replace any damaged card without question. the acekard official firmware has not been updated in a very long time. so when you get your ak2i you will want to use akaio. and to answer more than half of your questions i suggest you read the akaio wiki (http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/index.php?title=AKAIO).

acekard sold the plans to the ak2i about 6 months ago. from this sale came the r4 clones. part of the deal was that they branded their cards with a different name. however, it is obvious that those plans were sold again to a 3rd party because now there is a really good looking ak2i clone. this clone uses an old design and has serious problems for many users. if you are set on an ak2i please read: http://www.acekard.com/news.php

i recommend that you buy from a legit shop that offers a really good refund policy. don't just buy from a shop you are familiar with. ask what shops are selling the real ak2i and do your research. the acekard homepage has a list of official resellers, though this doesn't mean they will have real cards. acekard stopped selling to overseas resellers about a year ago. they have been forced to purchase their product from a 3rd party wholesale outlet, so the chances of clones being sold goes WAY up. clones suck!

Is the support for Acekard good ?
--the team is pretty good tho they have been hard to contact since the ak2i clones showed up. as for the firmware, akaio is updated all the time. normmatt and smiths work on it daily. team cyclo has been stealing game fixes from yellow wood goblin's opensource rpg firmware. my point being that one of the so called *top* teams doesn't even support their linker as often as akaio does.
Do you get regular updates ?
-yes/no. the last release of akaio was cracked to work on the clone r4's and it really pissed off the team. they delayed the release of akaio 1.6 rc1. if/when a crack of the new firmware comes out it may cause akaio to go private. now i've been involved with akaio for a long time. many users will tell you that i know insider information and i give it straight. with that said i think akaio will go on for a while longer with new encryption ideas. but if it continues ot be cracked it will be anyones guess what happens.
Does your questions get answered when asked ?
--pretty sure i'm doing that now. there is also #acekard on the gbatemp irc network where the akaio devs and beta team idle. everyone is welcome to come and chat.
Is the unoffoficial firmware better than the real firmware ?
--yes it is 100% better. there is a blurb about it in the FAQ section of the akaio wiki.
Will it be compatible with my Slot 2 EzFlash V 3 in 1(GBA, RAM, RUMBLE)
--depends on which 3in1 you have. the 3in1+ is not that well supported and this is by fault of the ez flash team for not releasing the proper source code. normmatt has said that he *might* looking into better 3in1 support for the next version of akaio. for now you should be able to do everything you want but you might have use a combination of the native 3in1 flashing, gba exploader, and launching NOR from the NDS firmware main menu.
Can it also run Lameboy ? (A GB Emulator)
--yep, i just beat links awakening DX
Does it do anything exceptionally nifty(Besideds run games for free lol)
--read the akaio wiki. it does a whole lot of fun stuff with the card.
I tend to read books via .txt files on my ds, I've seen it says it supports, just how good is the support ? Is it as good as Moonshells(2.05) support ? I.E. Can I save it at a specific line and load it up at the exact same place again or not ?
--the plugins have been removed from akaio but there still is a .txt reader. its not set up for e-books and you won't really enjoy reading e-books using it. i would recommend using a homebrew which takes this comment out of the scope of akaio.
Does it support Moonshell ?
--yes
How is the cheat function on it compared to the R4/YSMenu combo ? As easy to use ?
--cheats use the official gbatemp cheat database maintained by narin. there is built in wifi cheat database updates. yes its very easy to use. you open the cheat menu, select your cheats, and save your selections. not all cheats work as expected (not akaio's fault), and some cheats might require that other patches are turned off (download play, soft-reset, etc).
Can I still use the usrcheat.dat file as my cheat file ?
--read the akaio wiki.

Also before I buy I want to ask about the memory card.
--the acekard uses sdhc so in theory it can support up to a 32gb card. 16gb cards have been tested and are confirmed working. it is recommened that you get a class6 because some roms require the faster cards. there isn't that much of a difference but you might notice it. with prices as cheap as they are just pick up a good class6. the akaio beta testers use everything but i can recommend the a-data and transcend brands. there is more info in the FAQ section of the akaio wiki.

-another world

 

[tk_saturn]

akaio sold the plans to the ak2i about 6 months ago. from this sale came the r4 clones. part of the deal was that they branded their cards with a different name. however, it is obvious that those plans were sold again to a 3rd party because now there is a really good looking ak2i clone. this clone uses an old design and has serious problems for many users. if you are set on an ak2i please read: http://www.acekard.com/news.php

You've got AKAIO on the brain.

 

[108]

i recommend that you buy from a legit shop that offers a really good refund policy. don't just buy from a shop you are familiar with. ask what shops are selling the real ak2i and do your research. the acekard homepage has a list of official resellers, though this doesn't mean they will have real cards. acekard stopped selling to overseas resellers about a year ago. they have been forced to purchase their product from a 3rd party wholesale outlet, so the chances of clones being sold goes WAY up. clones suck!

What North American retailers have been confirmed to be selling legit Acekard 2is?

 

[EJames2100]

Wow thanks for the very fast and detailed replies.

This is why I asked before I bought so I could get a good knowlegde of what I'm getting, so far so good I'm going to look into all those links provided and thank you saturn for those links, I thought I was getting it pretty cheap already lol

 

[Another World]

i recommend that you buy from a legit shop that offers a really good refund policy. don't just buy from a shop you are familiar with. ask what shops are selling the real ak2i and do your research. the acekard homepage has a list of official resellers, though this doesn't mean they will have real cards. acekard stopped selling to overseas resellers about a year ago. they have been forced to purchase their product from a 3rd party wholesale outlet, so the chances of clones being sold goes WAY up. clones suck!

What North American retailers have been confirmed to be selling legit Acekard 2is?

you show your mental-age when you question a post written to make you think and come up with your own conclusions.

-another world

 

[108]

i recommend that you buy from a legit shop that offers a really good refund policy. don't just buy from a shop you are familiar with. ask what shops are selling the real ak2i and do your research. the acekard homepage has a list of official resellers, though this doesn't mean they will have real cards. acekard stopped selling to overseas resellers about a year ago. they have been forced to purchase their product from a 3rd party wholesale outlet, so the chances of clones being sold goes WAY up. clones suck!

What North American retailers have been confirmed to be selling legit Acekard 2is?

you show your mental-age when you question a post written to make you think and come up with your own conclusions.

-another world

I've concluded that you're an asshole. I can't ask what retailers people have had a positive experience with?

 

[Another World]

I've concluded that you're an asshole. I can't ask what retailers people have had a positive experience with?

you can think what you want but you are reading emotion from text. its ok, your a little child, and we expect that with this hobby. since slot1 linkers became pennies every kid pirates roms. i've been doing this for over 10yrs and i've learned enough to do research before asking a stupid question.

-another world

 

[Pliskron]

The Acekard is good but not great. Cyclo is the first to have a HG/SS fix. I'm playing the game today. Team Acekard relies on Akaio and the don't develop their product at all. I have an email from a few years ago where the Acekaed team promised RTS. Well they lied. All in all it's a good card. Pretty fast game fixes. All because of Akaio but the Acekard is feature poor with no real support from the team. There's better stuff out there but not for the money. There's also been big quality control issues with batches of AK2's and Akaio 1.6. Lots of people are high left high and dry and they have real Acekards.

 

[Another World]

The Acekard is good but not great. Cyclo is the first to have a HG/SS fix. I'm playing the game today. Team Acekard relies on Akaio and the don't develop their product at all. I have an email from a few years ago where the Acekaed team promised RTS. Well they lied. All in all it's a good card. Pretty fast game fixes. All because of Akaio but the Acekard is feature poor with no real support from the team. There's better stuff out there but not for the money.

not everyone considers real time save and in-game guide usable (or even desired) features. akaio has a near perfect rom/homebrew compatibility. in the end that is more than important enough for a majority of the users. the next card to really watch is the new supercard, if they don't screw up the firmware. until that card comes out with its extra cpu, every flash linker is really in the same class with different firmware, varied support, and 1 or 2 "features" the other might not have.

now i haven't checked the release dates but cyclo might have released a fix for pokemon first, but norm had it first. it was in the beta build within an hour of the rom release. i don't base who was first on who went public first, i'm a coder so for me its who figured it out first.

-another world

 

[EJames2100]

Ok try not to flame here please.

I see your point with the edit saturn, very interesting.
I can pretty much guess since you posted that Acekard link that that one is an original ? (Best to double-check)

I'm not really interested in RTS and guides on it(Not sure why RTS is needed tbh)

 

[Pliskron]

If the Supercard is all it's supposed to be it'll crush the Cyclo and the M3 but since the Acekard is so inexpensive it'll be just fine.

 

[EJames2100]

If the Supercard is all it's supposed to be it'll crush the Cyclo and the M3 but since the Acekard is so inexpensive it'll be just fine.

I'm pretty interested in the new Supercard also but it doesn't really offer me anything that I'd really need to play DS and GBA Games and it's not out now

Oh and just by judging on the amount of help I've gotten off this thread I assume I'd be pretty well off with an Acekard

 

[Another World]

If the Supercard is all it's supposed to be it'll crush the Cyclo and the M3 but since the Acekard is so inexpensive it'll be just fine.

everytime i talk about the supercard i get sad about the iplayer. the team behind that card should have released the SDK and offered homebrew devs a chance to get a free card for development. that card could have really pushed homebrew development, emulation advancements, etc. so it will be nice to see the new supercard come out which will support homebrew without a custom SDK.

if anyone wants to talk, this is pretty much what we do in #acekard on a daily basis. stop on in and talk linkers, life, boobs, games, food, whatever. its very hard to get banned in there and we welcome all conversations.

@OP: you will get some good conversation and flash linker information.

/server irc2.gbatemp.net :5190
/join #acekard

-another world

 

[tk_saturn]

Ok try not to flame here please.

I see your point with the edit saturn, very interesting.
I can pretty much guess since you posted that Acekard link that that one is an original ? (Best to double-check)

I'm not really interested in RTS and guides on it(Not sure why RTS is needed tbh)

I brought 2 Acekard 2i's from 7dayshop in January and both are genuine. They also explictly state they are genuine Acekard's on the page and are a retailer that's been around for 9 years. Considering they are in the UK, it's a decent price.

Just to add, the maximum read speed for SDHC is 25MB/s even for class 10, Extreme III etc. So a £11.99 for a 20MB/s card is pretty near the maxmium speed. Divide the size of the rom by the MB/s and you will get a rough idea of minimum time it will take to load the game.

Also remember to trim the ROMS with a trimmer like NDSTokyoTrim which will reduce their size, and as a side effect should also decrease the load time.

 

[Jakob95]

The Acekard is good but not great. Cyclo is the first to have a HG/SS fix. I'm playing the game today. Team Acekard relies on Akaio and the don't develop their product at all. I have an email from a few years ago where the Acekaed team promised RTS. Well they lied. All in all it's a good card. Pretty fast game fixes. All because of Akaio but the Acekard is feature poor with no real support from the team. There's better stuff out there but not for the money. There's also been big quality control issues with batches of AK2's and Akaio 1.6. Lots of people are high left high and dry and they have real Acekards.

The CycloDS was the first to have the HG/SS fix, because they needed a fix. The game already worked perfectly on the Acekard without any fixes at all in the first place. The RTS features are garbage because they aren't even stable(Talking from a M3 users point of view). I rather have Wifi updating stuff than RTS.

 

[EJames2100]

Ok try not to flame here please.

I see your point with the edit saturn, very interesting.
I can pretty much guess since you posted that Acekard link that that one is an original ? (Best to double-check)

I'm not really interested in RTS and guides on it(Not sure why RTS is needed tbh)

I brought 2 Acekard 2i's from 7dayshop in January and both are genuine. They also explictly state they are genuine Acekard's on the page and are a retailer that's been around for 9 years. Considering they are in the UK, it's a decent price.

Always good to double check

Think I'll be making a trip to the bank to depo a bit of money and order my new card

Do you remember how long it took to come, I'm thinking 2-4 days standard

May have to get my Chatzilla again for the irc now