Hacking Considering buying Acekard 2/2i - A Few Questions

[Notyalc]

Just a few questions about the Acekard 2/2i

- If I got one of those Slot 2 devices to run GBA, will it work with both Acekard 2 & 2i ? Also, which slot 2 device is recomended for an acekard?

- How frequently is the Acekard 2/2i's updated? i.e. to run new games like M&L3, KH:358/2 & M&S:Winter Olympics

- Where's the cheapest & reliable seller/s of Acekards?

- With ROMs that use the DSi camera & stuff - will these features work with an acekard?

- Using the Slot 2 Devices, running GBA games is fairly easy/quick? Rough estimate of how long & how fiddly maybe?

- DSision 2 - I know it works on Acekards, but will it work with an 8gb MicroSD (I've got none smaller ATM)?


Well there's my questions - I look forward to your responses!

 

[rockstar99]

Just a few questions about the Acekard 2/2i

- If I got one of those Slot 2 devices to run GBA, will it work with both Acekard 2 & 2i ? Also, which slot 2 device is recomended for an acekard?
Yes it will i reccomend you the EZ Flash 3in1

- How frequently is the Acekard 2/2i's updated? i.e. to run new games like M&L3, KH:358/2 & M&S:Winter Olympics
It updates faster than any other cart out

- Where's the cheapest & reliable seller/s of Acekards?
dealextreme if you want cheap but slow shipping
gamebygame if you can pay a few more $ and youll get fast shipping

- With ROMs that use the DSi camera & stuff - will these features work with an acekard?
No on flashcart can play dsi mode at the moment

- Using the Slot 2 Devices, running GBA games is fairly easy/quick? Rough estimate of how long & how fiddly maybe?
It takes a while to load because it has to copy the game over to the 3in1 but still not very long

- DSision 2 - I know it works on Acekards, but will it work with an 8gb MicroSD (I've got none smaller ATM)?
I dont think it works with SDHC also it does not play some new games so you should use the akAio firmware
Well there's my questions - I look forward to your responses!

hope i helped

 

[Gariscus]

1. Yes, it should. I have a EZ Flash 3in1, it works almost perfectly.
2. Very frequently.
3. I got mine from here: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18728
4. No, not yet(perhaps never).
5. Very easy, very quickly.
6. I have no idea.

Edit: Sorry, ignore this post rockstar99 answered everything.

 

[Notyalc]

Just a few questions about the Acekard 2/2i

- If I got one of those Slot 2 devices to run GBA, will it work with both Acekard 2 & 2i ? Also, which slot 2 device is recomended for an acekard?
Yes it will i reccomend you the EZ Flash 3in1

- How frequently is the Acekard 2/2i's updated? i.e. to run new games like M&L3, KH:358/2 & M&S:Winter Olympics
It updates faster than any other cart out

- Where's the cheapest & reliable seller/s of Acekards?
dealextreme if you want cheap but slow shipping
gamebygame if you can pay a few more $ and youll get fast shipping

- With ROMs that use the DSi camera & stuff - will these features work with an acekard?
No on flashcart can play dsi mode at the moment

- Using the Slot 2 Devices, running GBA games is fairly easy/quick? Rough estimate of how long & how fiddly maybe?
It takes a while to load because it has to copy the game over to the 3in1 but still not very long

- DSision 2 - I know it works on Acekards, but will it work with an 8gb MicroSD (I've got none smaller ATM)?
I dont think it works with SDHC also it does not play some new games so you should use the akAio firmware
Well there's my questions - I look forward to your responses!

hope i helped

You both helped very much. Thanks to both of you

Great Price on that link BTW!

And being in the UK, $12 is about £7-8 for me.

Which is a great price! I bought my R4i SDHC for about £10 (which I'm intending to replace as it's not gettin' any much needed updates...).

But thanks!

BTW, the diiferent firmwares - what's best?

I've heard of this Akaio firmware, but I've not a clue what makes it better.

Any Pros & Cons on these 2 firmwares?

BTW - I'll forget about DSision if it's only gonna' boot a few games. After all, it's only an aesthetic improvement.

Thanks people!

 

[rockstar99]

akAIO:
Faster updates
Faster Menu

 

[Notyalc]

Sounds good.


And where'd these EZ Flash 3 in 1 be cheapest?

On this DealExtreme - they're more expensive than the Acekard 2i!

BTW - will the Acekard 2i work with the EZ Flash? Or is it just a Acekard 2 feature?

(I've not got a DSi yet - but I may buy one in future)


Alternatively - is there any sort of flash cart for GBA, y'know a normal size GBA cartidge with a MicroSD/SD (If SD'd fit) slot?

I wouldn't mind using my old GBA from time to time! (maybe I'll even buy a GBA Micro for it...It looks cool.)



Any thoughts on any of this?

 

[rockstar99]

dealextre,me is the cheapest for 3in1
it works with the acekard 2i
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15850
thats for gba too

 

[badchilli]

I was in the same boat as you, but I decided on buying from gamebygame since DealExtreme had some recent delays due to the extended holiday season in China. Dealextreme might be all sorted out now so they might be on schedule again. They'll still take a while though.

As for the EZ flash V 3in1, I just got my from gamebygame too since the price different wasn't that much from dealextreme , I think a $5 or $6 difference. The acekard2i price difference is more though, between gamebygame and DealExtreme. I think a $10 difference, so that might matter to you.

Just one note about the EZ Flash V 3in1, it's a great device but there is a definite higher learning curve to using GBA roms, as opposed to NDS roms (which are was easy on the Acekard), so expect to read lots (learning about patching SRAM GBA roms, about flashing to NOR. SRAM, PSRAM memory etc). GBA roms are an entirely different beast from NDS roms and more complicated due to the varying ways the original GBA carts saved info (EEPROM, Flash, etc). And Pokemon roms did even weirder things.

So basically it's really easy to play NDS roms on slot 1 carts, especially the Acekard. When you go into GBA territory, you may have to do more. Great thing about the Acekard is that AKAIO has native support for the 3in1, so it makes things a bit easier.

 

[TheDude879]

I use an M3 perfect lite for my GBA needs. It has a slot for SD cards, though I am not sure if it supports SDHC. And you don't really have to do any of that fancy stuff you have to do with the 3n1. Though I am not sure if it is even made anymore, but it works great. Runs from the acekard menu as well.

 

[Another World]

I use an M3 perfect lite for my GBA needs. It has a slot for SD cards, though I am not sure if it supports SDHC. And you don't really have to do any of that fancy stuff you have to do with the 3n1. Though I am not sure if it is even made anymore, but it works great. Runs from the acekard menu as well.

the m3 lite is not made anymore, tho some shops still stock it. it is also not updated anymore. m3 dropped support for their old slot2 devices over a year ago. most (if not all) gba works on it, including homebrew. alot of nds stuff needs hacks/patches to run via passme. it does not support sdhc, it supports up to 2gb msd for normal use. but it will accept a 4gb (non-sdch) for multimedia only. the acekard software has shitty 3in1 support, akaio has much better 3in1 support. with that said the 3in1+ has issue still. neither norm or smiths has a ds lite or for that matter a 3in1+ to mess around with. if you go the 3in1 route get it from realhotstuff. they are the last site i've seen that is still selling the old 3in1 (as well as the 3in1+).

the m3 lite is worth every penny, by the way. i've got mine in my gb micro right now. i used it for 2 years as my slot2 in my ds lite.

-another world

 

[macnoland]

I have a acekard with AKAIO and 3-in-1 and im very satisfied. It cost me under 35$ and i can play anygame i want.

 

[Notyalc]

Hmmm, will this M3 Lite be able to play newer roms though?

Also - I think that my main concern to get anything to run GBA is that this'll be really fiddly. If there's gonna' be a whole load of different files floating about, well, I'm not gonna' be too keen.

I don't mind if there's different save formats, but if there's gonna' be still gonna' be the one save & one rom, I can handle it.

Perhaps I'll get this Acekard 2/2i for now & see how that goes.



Though this M3, will it boot as a DS or GBA game? Actually, that doesn't really matter - does the M3 something that's easy to use & stuff - from what I've seen it's all 1 screen menus..

TBH, I think what I want is to be able to run my usual .nds & various other retro roms (SNES, GBC, etc) then, my next two priorities feature wise is being able to run gba roms. (Though, DSi compatibilty would be nice incase I get one at some point)

So it seems the easiest setup will be to get an Acekard 2i for the usual stuff + DSi compatibilty.

And the acekard 2i can use the EZ 3in1 easily enough?


On the subject of GBA emulation:
I think I ought to point out that the GBA roms I intend to use will be fairly basic-ish stuff. I want to play things like Wario Land, Mario Advance, Metroid - basically a load of platformers - pretty basic stuff, yes?
I'm wondering - will these be games that're easy to run through an Acekard & EZ 3in1? (I'll be using akaio as it's so recommended BTW)



TBH, I'm beginning to wonder whether it's worth getting an EZ Flash 3 in 1 at all.
Especially given that I think I'll only use the Gba functionality on occasion & I may end up getting a DSi at some point which'd render it useless!

Shame the iPlayer can't do something for .nds roms - even if it was some different firmware or just some .nds file for the ysmeu or something. I know that .dat files work as .nds if you rename them to .nds!



Out of curiosity - to any ipod touch owners out there, does the touch have any form of GBA emulation? (I'm gettting a iPod Touch fot Xmas y'see)
I doubt it's possible without the right buttons, but I'm sure the hardware could handle it in theory.
Though maybe the L & R could be done with the volume buttons...

 

[rithsv]

Out of curiosity - to any ipod touch owners out there, does the touch have any form of GBA emulation? (I'm gettting a iPod Touch fot Xmas y'see)
I doubt it's possible without the right buttons, but I'm sure the hardware could handle it in theory.
Though maybe the L & R could be done with the volume buttons...

Yes, its possible and it exists.
http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=48

 

[Notyalc]

Out of curiosity - to any ipod touch owners out there, does the touch have any form of GBA emulation? (I'm gettting a iPod Touch fot Xmas y'see)
I doubt it's possible without the right buttons, but I'm sure the hardware could handle it in theory.
Though maybe the L & R could be done with the volume buttons...

Yes, its possible and it exists.
http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=48

Yeeeaaas!

Well thanks friend!

I don't need that EZ any more then!

Thanks a lot!


...Wait, is this easy to do? Or more to the point, how would I do it?

I'm hoping it's fairly good this emulator, but then - I'll only be playing so many games, so I'm sure it'll meet my needs fine!

I'll go look it up then, thanks for the link!




Back on topic - other than this DealXtreme, is there anywhere cheaper for an acekard 2i?

 

[rithsv]

Try Zero Shipping Zone with the 7% off coupon.
http://0shippingzone.com/

It'll be $15.30 which I think is as cheap as you're going to get other than DX. I think you'll get faster shipping out of them though.
DX is low on Acekards.

 

[Notyalc]

7% off coupon...Where can I get that?

Thanks BTW, this site sends worldwide so that's pretty useful - deal extreme didn't mention shipping outside the US is all. (As I'm in the UK & all)

So I might well go with this site despite it being slightly more expensive.

 

[rithsv]

DX ships free worldwide - I've ordered from them before and I live in Australia.

7% off coupon code for your entire order. coupon code 'opening'.

I'm not sure if the promotion is still going though.

 

[Notyalc]

DX ships free worldwide - I've ordered from them before and I live in Australia.

7% off coupon code for your entire order. coupon code 'opening'.

I'm not sure if the promotion is still going though.

Well, I'll give it a try later!

Thanks for clearing that up for me!