Hacking Complete noob, some questions about my R4i-SDHC.

[DeadCell]

I got my R4i-SDHC (red box one, I verified that it was authentic through the r4i-sdhc.com website), and have been using it for about a month or so, but there are some things I still haven't been able to find out through my own experimentation.

1. I use the firmware downloaded through www.r4i-sdhc.com for my card. Is this the best available?
2. What is R4 Wood and YSmenu? Are they relevant to me?
3. My main use of the card is so I don't have to carry around my games. Is there any way to get my saves off of my official carts (I'm using a DSiXL)
4. Some games refuse to load saves (Again and Dementium 2). I've heard that patching them fixes this. How do I do this?

 

[injected11]

1) Yes
2) They are 'alternate firmwares'. Wood only works on original R4s (yours is a DSTT clone), and YSmenu has poorer compatability than the www.r4i-sdhc.com firmware.

 

[Inunah]

Wood only works on original R4s

What about Wood R4 for clones? Did you forget about that?

 

[flamingo24]

What about Wood R4 for clones? Did you forget about that?

atm Wood for clones has been halted & left unfinished; the thread closed.

 

[d3monsting]

1. I use the firmware downloaded through www.r4i-sdhc.com for my card. Is this the best available?
2. What is R4 Wood and YSmenu? Are they relevant to me?
3. My main use of the card is so I don't have to carry around my games. Is there any way to get my saves off of my official carts (I'm using a DSiXL)
4. Some games refuse to load saves (Again and Dementium 2). I've heard that patching[fixed typo] them fixes this. How do I do this?

1&2 refer to injected11's post.
3. You would need a DSLite, as the DSi systems do not support removal of the current cart and doing random stuff like that... (at least that's what I heard) You also need a WIFI connection, and a homebrew program (sorry don't remember name [google])
4.Please evaluate. Patching, while sometimes fixes, does not always. Look on the 'rom hacks' < or something like that section on GBATemp, or conduct a search. If a patch had became necessary for your rom, info would be there.

 

[exangel]

3. My main use of the card is so I don't have to carry around my games. Is there any way to get my saves off of my official carts (I'm using a DSiXL)
4. Some games refuse to load saves (Again and Dementium 2). I've heard that patching them fixes this. How do I do this?


3: There are two Homebrews I know of that can export save files from official carts via WiFi. Do a search or google for SavSender or savsend_rc, there are already tutorials out there. However, I have not actually been able to get the exported sav files working from either homebrew and I'm not sure if it's because the games I've tried it with are newer releases that use some sort of different memory hardware or if I'm screwing up in converting the sav files to the format appropriate for my card.

4: I suggest you read the discussion threads created for each individual dump's scene release that you are having save issues with. What you need to do is find patch information for the specific release that is posing problems. Some releases are re-released (sometimes by another scene group) in a pre-patched version, some releases are bundled with a patcher, and worse-case scenario you have to download the clean, untrimmed ROM somewhere and find the patch yourself.

3. You would need a DSLite, as the DSi systems do not support removal of the current cart and doing random stuff like that... (at least that's what I heard) You also need a WIFI connection, and a homebrew program (sorry don't remember name [google])

I experienced the same problems with DS Lite as DSi in using SavSender and savsend_rc but I no longer have my DS Lite to troubleshoot with :/ I do know that the program did export data on the DSi XL, with the original cart inserted after the homebrew was run, but I never got the sav's to work so.. I can't confirm or deny this is the problem and I already started over on the games I had intended to import so my research on the matter has ceased.


edit: sorry for double posting, oi

edit: additional comment:

DeadCell

got my R4i-SDHC (red box one, I verified that it was authentic through the r4i-sdhc.com website)

though there's no question from me whether or not you have an authentic R4i-SDHC, don't make the mistake of believing you have an authentic R4. i'm not saying that you need to replace your flashcart or that it necessarily sucks for your purposes, but it's likely that the manufacturer of your cart will not make consistent effort to support future games with firmware updates. if your card breaks or otherwise warrants being replaced there are several other DSi XL compatible flashcarts that you can consider that don't rip-off the R4 name and have more reliable support as well as better features.

 

[DeadCell]

Thanks for all of the responses. This card is good enough for me now, although I do plan on eventually getting a new one, and giving this one to my sister. She is 8, and is constantly borrowing it from me to play games, because she can't exactly afford to buy many games, and I won't let her near my near-perfect collection of DS games (Now they will be perfect, because I won't even have to open them because of my flash cart, unless they have compatibility issues, like Dementium 2). Out of curiosity, what do you guys consider to be the best cards out currently. Not just in compatibility, but in the GUI, features, and ease of use?

 

[injected11]

Thanks for all of the responses. This card is good enough for me now, although I do plan on eventually getting a new one, and giving this one to my sister. She is 8, and is constantly borrowing it from me to play games, because she can't exactly afford to buy many games, and I won't let her near my near-perfect collection of DS games (Now they will be perfect, because I won't even have to open them because of my flash cart, unless they have compatibility issues, like Dementium 2). Out of curiosity, what do you guys consider to be the best cards out currently. Not just in compatibility, but in the GUI, features, and ease of use?

Best flashcart = Supercard DSTWO
Best awesomenessrice ratio = Acekard 2i

 

[exangel]

Out of curiosity, what do you guys consider to be the best cards out currently. Not just in compatibility, but in the GUI, features, and ease of use?

Assuming we're only considering DSi 1.4 compatible carts, I agree with injected's post above, but I'll give a little more detail.

Best Overall Flashcart: Supercard DSTwo - USD$34-40

- Compatibility - Hardware-based advanced Anti-Piracy bypass feature means you should be able to play any ROM dump without waiting for updated loaders/firmware releases.

- GUI - Skins are just barely trickling onto the scene because there wasn't initially a skin editor available upon release. But the GUI is still nice. Just not particularly customizable yet.

- Other Features - Additional built-in processor and RAM makes GBA emulation possible on the DSi, and Real-time Save is a nice feature too. The cart is also a pretty solid build physically.

- Drawbacks - The kernel for the DSTwo was not developed as quickly as the hardware, and so a couple of the most prominent features aren't even implemented yet; such as hardware video decoding (so you don't have to convert divx, flv, etc videos to DPG and run Moonshell to playback) and, the main selling point for me: SNES emulation.

Best Flashcart per Value: Acekard 2i USD$13-17

- Compatibility - AKAIO 1.7 is now released, including fixes for games you have mentioned (Again, and Dementium 2)

- GUI - Hundreds of different skins for Acekard 2i available on NDSthemes, FileTrip, and the official Acekard forums

- Other Features - slim on the additional features unless you consider the GUI to be a very significant improvement over the R4-style interface itself. You can update the Acekard's cheat database from the temp DB via Wi-Fi in the start menu. I can't really think of anything else of typical user's significance that you can do on AK2i that you can't typically do on R4 clones.

- Drawbacks - They don't seem to have made improvements to the casing/construction of the flashcart, new users and old users alike seem to have an equal chance of running into the dreaded "There is no card inserted" contact issue on the DSi, and particularly on the DSi XL. It is a fixable problem though, and that is why I still consider AK2i the best value.

Eventually when Supercard DSTwo actually supports all the features advertised, I may waver a little in my personal preference for AK2i

 

[DeadCell]

Damn, I really want that DSTwo card now. I just watched some videos of it in action and it looks amazing. I've got some questions though:

1. Is the support for GBA games good? Are there games that won't run, or run poorly?
2. How much extra RAM is built into the card?
3. Is there any ETA for SNES support, or did they just make an empty promise to get sales?
4. Is this site's store reliable (in terms of getting legit products, pricing, shipping speed and cost)?

 

[exangel]

1. Is the support for GBA games good? Are there games that won't run, or run poorly?
They have solved a few of the problems that occured in the iPlayer GBA emulator such as RTC support for Pokemon games. There isn't an official review yet, and I don't have one myself.
Supercard's GBA plugin page - http://eng.supercard.sc/manual/dstwo/plugin/gba.htm
Their official compatibility list thread - http://forum.supercard.sc/thread-6042-1-1.html

2. How much extra RAM is built into the card?
I looked around a little bit but didn't find a specific spec sheet

3. Is there any ETA for SNES support, or did they just make an empty promise to get sales?
"Soon" but there's no reason to believe they are lying about their intentions. I won't personally be buying one until this feature is operational.

4. Is this site's store reliable (in terms of getting legit products, pricing, shipping speed and cost)?
They have an excellent reputation but they are still in China - if shipping speed is important to you and you're a westerner, I've heard SimplyMods is an excellent US-based store.