Hacking Can't find kernel for this r4 card

[cxclarke]

Hey all. first post on here. I reformatted this r4 card since i couldn't get a gba emulator running on it, then after i moved all my backup files onto it - it suddenly didn't work. It was working fine awhile ago
before i reformatted it but it suddenly doesn't work now.

The card:

Also can someone give any advice on running a gba emulator on this? can't seem to get it to work

 

[lifehackerhansol]

Give this kernel a go: https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/flashcard-archive/raw/main/BL2CK/BL2CK_1.30.3.7z

 

[Nikokaro]

Also can someone give any advice on running a gba emulator on this? can't seem to get it to work

As you surely know, the only one available is GBARunner2, but it has several problems with various gba roms.
Did you mean you couldn't get it to work on your flashcart kernel? If your console is a DSi, you can still use it via TwilightMenu++ from the camera slot (so using a simple microSD+adapter without needing a flashcart).

 

[cxclarke]

@lifehackerhansol should i replace everything in my flashcart or just add these new files?

 

[cxclarke]

As you surely know, the only one available is GBARunner2, but it has several problems with various gba roms.
Did you mean you couldn't get it to work on your flashcart kernel? If your console is a DSi, you can still use it via TwilightMenu++ from the camera slot (so using a simple microSD+adapter without needing a flashcart).

yes, i couldn't get it to work on a flashcart. I've heard TwilightMenu++ works for GBA games but i can't seem to wrap my head around installing TwilightMenu on a flashcart since i dont have a microSD in my DSi

 

[KGBEER]

Well maybe it's a long shot, but what I understood it the cards was working fine besides gba games
after you backup the cart content and format and putting back the cart doesnt work anymore
not only gba games.
Check if your sd card is formated as fat32. If it's not format again.

 

[cxclarke]

Well maybe it's a long shot, but what I understood it the cards was working fine besides gba games
after you backup the cart content and format and putting back the cart doesnt work anymore
not only gba games.
Check if your sd card is formated as fat32. If it's not format again.

i just got done formatting it to fat32 and putting the backup in, but it can't be detected by the DSi and it says 'There is nothing inserted in the Game Card slot'. is this a bad thing? did i brick my r4?

 

[Nikokaro]

can't seem to wrap my head around installing TwilightMenu on a flashcart since i dont have a microSD in my DSi

In fact, it is not certain that it will work on your r4. Instead with a simple mini SD/microSD+Adapter in the camera-slot it will surely work. TWL++ Installation is very simple. Don't tell me that buying one is a problem: you can easily find online cheap and quality ones (Sandisk, Kingston etc.).

 

[cxclarke]

In fact, it is not certain that it will work on your r4. Instead with a simple mini SD/microSD+Adapter in the camera-slot it will surely work. TWL++ Installation is very simple. Don't tell me that buying one is a problem: you can easily find online cheap and quality ones (Sandisk, Kingston etc.).

No, it's not that buying is a problem. But i wanted to work with what i already have (and to fix what i had). Buying those things is kind of a last resort

 

[Nikokaro]

I repeat that it is not certain that TWL++ works on your r4 and anyway it is rarely used on a flashcart; it is better to rely on its own software. But GBARunner2 should have worked on it, even without TWL++. In any case let's see if you can find the right kernel again; which is not always easy...

 

[cxclarke]

I repeat that it is not certain that TWL++ works on your r4 and anyway it is rarely used on a flashcart; it is better to rely on its own software. But GBARunner2 should have worked on it, even without TWL++. In any case let's see if you can find the right kernel again; which is not always easy...

yeah, GBARunner2 should have worked on it but it didn't. I don't know why since i followed the steps. Also the main r4 cartridge isn't being detected in the DSi so that's a new problem

 

[Nikokaro]

the main r4 cartridge isn't being detected in the DSi so that's a new problem

But the game icon doesn't even appear in the DSi menu? Are you sure you haven't tried previously the files of another kernel? Sometimes this is enough to brick an r4.

 

[cxclarke]

But the game icon doesn't even appear in the DSi menu? Are you sure you haven't tried previously the files of another kernel? Sometimes this is enough to brick an r4.

i have tried, can a bricked R4 be recovered if thats the case?

 

[KGBEER]

i just got done formatting it to fat32 and putting the backup in, but it can't be detected by the DSi and it says 'There is nothing inserted in the Game Card slot'. is this a bad thing? did i brick my r4?

unless you havent been messing with the files aka firmwares trying to put different firmwares into your card as twilight menu
it's very unlikely you have bricked.
Formatting as fat32 and putting back everything that it was already there should work as before.
-be sure you are using not a sh** sd card.
-it can be just a problem with conextion. clean the contacts both cart and dsi
and try to put the sd and fc back a few times.

 

[Nikokaro]

unless you havent been messing with the files aka firmwares trying to put different firmwares into your card as twilight menu
it's very unlikely you have bricked

If you read the message above, you would know that is exactly what he did.

 

[cxclarke]

unless you havent been messing with the files aka firmwares trying to put different firmwares into your card as twilight menu
it's very unlikely you have bricked.
Formatting as fat32 and putting back everything that it was already there should work as before.
-be sure you are using not a sh** sd card.
-it can be just a problem with conextion. clean the contacts both cart and dsi
and try to put the sd and fc back a few times.

i have tried....installing twilight menu. so does that mean i accidentally bricked the card?

 

[Nikokaro]

i have tried, can a bricked R4 be recovered if thats the case?

If there is a way, it's not easy, unfortunately. It requires you to re-flash the firmware inside the r4 with a special tool, which is very complicated.

Not all flashcarts are damaged by using other kernels, but some older ones are. Unfortunately other users have bricked your same r4 (of the same website), using for example YSMenu, which is not supported.

Anyway let's hear the opinion of other users on this subject.

 

[KGBEER]

it hard to tell as we don't know what exactly you did.
Remove the sd card and put only the FC into ds system to see if it shows anything.
You can also try to use the hack.
You only need a micro sd card (you already have) + mini sd adapter
or
a mini sd card

 

[lifehackerhansol]

@lifehackerhansol should i replace everything in my flashcart or just add these new files?

Replace everything, ideally.

Few things to note with the behaviour:

• If it is stuck at "Loading..." then for some reason it is not accepting this kernel. I have a different one for that occasion.
• If it's a white screen, and the HOME/DSi/DS Menu does not show any icon, then it is likely you bricked your cart. Usually it's from trying to run YSMenu on a flashcart you shouldn't be running it on, but using the wrong TWiLight Menu++ autoboot can also lead to this. You kind of have to be extra careful with that. (No autoboot for the r4isdhc.hk carts exist at this time.)
  • You need an SPI flasher to fix this, and you somehow need to grab a backup from another cart which isn't publicly available as these carts never supported ntrboot properly and thus there was a lack of interest. As far as understanding why it bricks, it's because when using the DSTT DLDI, which is what YSMenu and some TWiLight Menu++ autoboots are based on, because they are differently designed it triggers the wrong register and it wipes the flash completely. A lot of the quotes on "don't use kernels where it isn't meant to be!" is exactly for this reason.

I'd personally like to hear exactly what you did with TWiLight Menu++. It seems you tried it, but there's no way you got this to boot because TWiLight does not have an autoboot for this cart and you didn't have a kernel. Meaning you 100% used the wrong one.

 

[cxclarke]

it hard to tell as we don't know what exactly you did.
Remove the sd card and put only the FC into ds system to see if it shows anything.
You can also try to use the hack.
You only need a micro sd card (you already have) + mini sd adapter
or
a mini sd card

Before the R4 was currently unusable, it had ran on a kernel i forgot the name of since it was a while ago. But i wanted to play GBA games on it, so at first i tried GBAEmu4DS but the games didn't work. Next i tried GBARunner2 without YSMenu, but i couldn't get it to work too. Next, i tried installing YSMenu. At first, it let me boot into my original flashcart; but it couldn't load into the YSMenu proper. Then i tried installing TwilightMenu++ after a fresh format and that is where we are today.

as for the other thing you mentioned, i had removed the sd card and only inserted the flashcart into the DS but it only gives back the same result as before. Nothing detected by the DS