Hacking Cyclops no longer supports the iEvolution

[Another World]

The last official Evolution and iEVO update was May 20th, 2011. It has been almost a year since they updated anything for the card. As of the DSi v1.4.3 firmware, the iEVO does not have DS-Mode support. If you try to put the iEVO into DS-Mode you can not get it back into DSi-Mode without a DS Lite and THIS hack. The compatibility layers were never updated or tweaked and continue to suffer from the same problems, namely DS-Mode software *attempting* to run in DSi-Mode. There will never be WIFI support in DSi-Mode due to the nature of the exploit, there is no fix, hack, or way around it.

As the iEVO is still sold upwards of $50 USD, does it have any good points? Well it is a pretty good DS-Mode Flash Kit, even though it has not received a single ROM fix or loader update for almost a year. It is also an excellent DSi-Mode Homebrew Flash Kit, regardless of the fact that on the DSi v1.4.3 firmware the iEVO must be left in DSi-Mode.

For more of the facts, be sure to read the review and the follow-up.
- Official GBAtemp iEVO review
- Review Follow-up

I personally believed that the iEVO had great potential and that with a few updates it would extend the life of the DSi and DS Homebrew. It is difficult to recommend the purchase of an iEVO at this point and yet I have seen many users continue to consider making such a purchase.

Right now it comes down to this.... Buy an iEVO if you want to mess around with the handful of DSi-Mode Homebrew projects.

Cyclops was once a great team, with great support, and they stuck by their users. Sadly, this is no longer the case. Please do not buy an iEVO with any expectations in mind. Do the research and then settle on the best Flash Kit for your needs.

I felt compelled to write this little thread in response to all the recent e-mails and PMs I have received about the iEVO. Getting all the facts into one stickied thread seemed like a better solution.

Please comment and help our community by building 1 thread with all the iEVO's facts and bits of information.

-Another World

 

[DJPlace]

very well put. i feel kinda bad giving my cousin my old cyclo... it was the first flash cart that got me into this but.. supercard two came along and stole my soul.

 

[stomp_442]

That's just too bad. Have you heard anything from TC? I still prize my Cyclo DS and DSi. Back in 2010, the Cyclo DS had more updates than the AK2i. I kind of expected more from TC, ploping down $45 each for 3 of their products. You never know what the future holds, TT just back from an 18 month break released a new Homebrew Channel.

 

[loco365]

I've been considering getting one for a while now and getting a DSi to use as well, but if they're no longer going to update it, I don't think I'll be getting one. It was a great product for it's short lifespan, and unfortunately, someone else will have to pick up on Cyclops' slack of a working DSi-mode card, seeing as Sudokuhax and such others can no longer be done.

 

[The Catboy]

Ugg, I was about to buy one very soon too!

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Guess that means I can pick one up cheap soon for the collection.

 

[DeMoN]

Shit, it was a great cart while it lasted.

 

[Densetsu]

Thanks for writing this, AW. I'm sure it will save a lot of people from disappointment.

Unfortunately I purchased the iEVO about a year ago, just before Team Cyclops went AWOL. I really had high hopes for its potential to take advantage of DSi mode, but nothing ever came of it.

One thing I noticed immediately about this card when I finally had a chance to try it was that it's just about the flimsiest flashcart I own. Its build quality is really shabby and I feel like the shell could easily break apart, even with a careful person like myself.

It was total waste of a $50 investment. At the time of this writing, the Supercard DStwo, Acekard 2i and even the R4 (any Wood R4-compatible clones) are the only three flashcarts I can recommend.

Spoiler

If this Wood R4 link ever stops working, please PM me so I can update this post with one that does work. Thanks!

(Alternate Link)

 

[Qtis]

I just hoped that they'd have at least open sourced their firmware. The cart could offer quite a bit with DSi mode and a working DSL mode for the rest of the games. :I

@[member='Densetsu']: I think the shell design was never fixed and all units shipped even today have the problem with the flimsy shell. A completely different approach than the original Evo..

 

[KirovAir]

I still hope that somewhere along the way they will release the sources of their firmware.

Also remember that one of the good points of the CycloDS and the iEVO is their batterylife. Especially the first CycloDS Evolution still has unmatched batterylife when compared to the Acecard2i, SC DSTWO and every R4 clone out there.

Source: http://gbatemp.net/topic/261246-comparing-ds-lite-and-dsi-xl-and-5-flashcards-power-consuming/

 

[LeoSan]

I wanted one for the DSi stuff, since I can't run DSi mode games on my region locked handheld
but if they left their project like this...

 

[jonthedit]

Oh no!

The EZ Flash team will probably be next to go!


R.I.P iEvolution .

Will Cyclops release the flash codes within the cart?

 

[CollosalPokemon]

It could be that they are waiting for the iEVO to be completely blocked (which just recently happened, and only on DSi consoles so far). It's not like I believe in them a lot though; they really left their cart for dead, but it's a thought.

Personally I've had a great experience with their compatibility layer and DSi mode homebrew (I've had a copy for quite a while).
The real problem with the iEVO was dumping groups didn't redump DSi/DSi-enhanced games, and team cyclops never released a dumper, so that really crippled their cart on top of no wifi. I understand the wifi was extremely unlikely to be fixed (at least not on newer DSi's and 3DS's). It may have been possible for wifi in old DSis using WiFiMe (I think on the (pre-1.4?) DSis it would work) but not on recent firmware/consoles.

Additionally, I'm a little surprised those R4 teams didn't make DSi mode carts tbh

 

[BORTZ]

How unfortunate. I always regarded they Cyclo team as one of the best. Then last year when the DS2 came around i was decieding whether do get that or the iEvo... I went with the DS2.

I kinda always wanted to own a CycloDS cart, cause i know the old ones were boss.

Im sad to see them go.

 

[Valwin]

i was expecting this now for a while so it seem the finally did a hit an run

 

[Another World]

It could be that they are waiting for the iEVO to be completely blocked (which just recently happened, and only on DSi consoles so far). It's not like I believe in them a lot though; they really left their cart for dead, but it's a thought.

last official word i got from the team was that they were lacking a coder experienced enough to make the changes they required. it seems they were hacking their way through updates since the ievo was released. to be honest, i seriously doubt they give a crap about the card a year since the last update.

Personally I've had a great experience with their compatibility layer and DSi mode homebrew (I've had a copy for quite a while).

i've had nothing but problems with the compatibility layer. it either crashed homebrew or caused other files to run to quickly. it did give me some crazy framerate with snemulds, which was fun to toy around with.

keep in mind that if the homebrew was running in dsi-mode then it wasn't using the compatibly layer. the compatibility layer is for ds-mode files running in dsi-mode.

-another world

 

[CollosalPokemon]

I didn't mean "they're definitely coming back omgz"
All I meant was they're cartridge was not completely blocked, so it's possible they could've taken that as a reason (albeit illogical) to not update.
Of course, after close to a year of not updating, it's more probable that they did leave the iEVO for dead.

From the DS mode homebrew I used, I had no problems. Of course, I didn't test extensively or use all DS mode homebrew applications but the ones I used didn't have noticeable problems.
I'm going to say it's safe to assume you used more DS mode homebrew/testing than I did, but from what I ran there didn't seem to be problems.
Maybe I should have worded that sentence better. How's this? :

Personally I've had a great experience with their compatibility layer for the DS mode homebrew I used. I have also enjoyed DSi mode homebrew (I've had a copy for quite a while).

 

[JackSakamoto]

It was kinda obvious. After a year without any update,don't expect they will come back.
I think.

 

[Deleted member 473940]

I NEVER really understood the hype about Team Cyclops. At early stages they needed a lot of updates, but didnt even update as frequently as the M3 team did, yet they were praised more..
Ended up buying one because of the hype. Anyway Both M3 and Cyclops dead.. lol

 

[Frederica Bernkastel]

I've been saying that Team Cyclops are a bunch of clueless thieves since the very beginning. All of their "amazing" features have been lifted from both Team Twiizers and Team Supercard.
Guess who's laughing now