DS #XXXX: Acekard 2 (v2.1) (China)

[Chanser]

^^ndsrelease-4470^^

 

[Another World]

a new dump of what? what did they dump the controller level script? i hope they didn't simple "dump" the firmware. i wonder if this is the bootloader which has not changed. i hope this gets nuked. also adding to the .nfo the new blue pcb has less on board memory for save files. acekard put on the smallest amount possible to help cut costs. you will never notice a problem but it makes features like real time saves impossible to implement.

-another world

 

[cory1492]

Good thing you aren't making these cards or their software Another World, because both EZ5 and M3Real do RTS, quite quickly I might add, without ever touching "onboard memory"

Oh, and as far as I know AK2 has never used "onboard memory" for backups (er, savers), it writes directly to the microSD - in fact since R4 most cards try to do away with dedicated save chips, and even those like EZ5 that were initially designed to use them now bypass them and write directly to SD.

This is a dump of the software the DS sees when you turn it on, usually amounting to a loader which loads the system menu from microSD, which is what the onboard PROM is used to stow.

 

[Normmatt]

Good thing you aren't making these cards or their software Another World, because both EZ5 and M3Real do RTS, quite quickly I might add, without ever touching "onboard memory"

Oh, and as far as I know AK2 has never used "onboard memory" for backups (er, savers), it writes directly to the microSD - in fact since R4 most cards try to do away with dedicated save chips, and even those like EZ5 that were initially designed to use them now bypass them and write directly to SD.

This is a dump of the software the DS sees when you turn it on, usually amounting to a loader which loads the system menu from microSD, which is what the onboard PROM is used to stow.

Its a good thing your not making these cards either, because all flashcarts use some type of onboard memory to store the sector maps for the rom and save file so that they can be bead and written to from within the game. the old AK2 for instance had 2MB of onboard memory (eeprom iirc) while the 2.1 and ak2i have 1MB (just enough to store the sector map of the nds and save).

 

[jjgp08]

I'm confused, what exactly is this and what is it meant to do?

It can't be another firmware update surely!!

 

[Another World]

Good thing you aren't making these cards or their software Another World, because both EZ5 and M3Real do RTS, quite quickly I might add, without ever touching "onboard memory"

Oh, and as far as I know AK2 has never used "onboard memory" for backups (er, savers), it writes directly to the microSD - in fact since R4 most cards try to do away with dedicated save chips, and even those like EZ5 that were initially designed to use them now bypass them and write directly to SD.

This is a dump of the software the DS sees when you turn it on, usually amounting to a loader which loads the system menu from microSD, which is what the onboard PROM is used to stow.

i've never said i was a hardware expert. i've never even attempted to allude to the fact. i also never type anything i’m not sure of without first doing some research on it. if i can not satisfy my own questions i don't post. while your comments are light hearted and silly, i do take offense to being bashed at when i am correct to begin with -- in regards to the mem.

what i was told about the ak2 and rts is that they would require the onboard mem at some point, and because of the scaled down size on the new blue pcb 2.1 this would be a feature impossible to implement. i can admit when i am incorrect and will gladly edit my first post upon being corrected.

-another world

 

[cory1492]

Well, looks like I need to explain myself then since we did not meet in the middle of understanding...

Its a good thing your not making these cards either, because all flashcarts use some type of onboard memory to store the sector maps for the rom and save file so that they can be bead and written to from within the game. the old AK2 for instance had 2MB of onboard memory (eeprom iirc) while the 2.1 and ak2i have 1MB (just enough to store the sector map of the nds and save).So basically if I backup the FAT table of my FAT32 (linux win) swap drive I should never ever have to backup the files...? Nope, the two are not interchangeable (sector addresses to save files and the save files themselves.) It may be a good thing I'm not making these cards, but mainly because time constraints and lack of training would produce pitiable results - at least I haven't walked in on such a thing saying (before I started) that it was, absolutely, unequivocally and utterly, impossible.

Creativity is fun, accepting limitations is not. Assuming you are being on the level about the AK2 internals and what they are being used for...
-caching/swapping (ie, a RTS file's sector table would not be required to be present until it's actually used and table swaps could be temp'd to static files at load time with their own sector tables in the first sector of the temp file, created only if RTS is enabled - you do have enough mem somewhere, even header mem, for a couple start sectors, right?)
-relatives to reduce index item bit sizes(index to an index)
-rle
-requiring larger default sector sizes to reduce max index count
-requiring physical consecutives to avoid indexing nearly entirely.
The lack of 'onboard memory' even entirely would be up to the "energetic, I can do it" coders to cleverly code around rather than come up with reasons why it can't be done (though I'd hate to see the compatibility reports of any loader without the aid of an address translation matrix.) This is, per se, is why we have RTS on any cards at all - leaders and followers alike.

Another World:
The word that caused me to reply is 'impossible'(link), combine that with your use of the words "less on board memory for save files" and here we are. It was once said to be 'impossible' to have RTS on DS at all - and I didn't believe that statement, either. There is indeed a whole... well, world of difference between 'impossible' and even 'really really really super-duper extremely hard.' So far the only thing I see making it lean toward impossible at all is the simple fact no-one, me included, seems to want to prove it isn't by just doing it.

Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.Let's not forget your response to my supposed bashing (which, I'm truly sorry you see it as, since it is more along the lines of my reply of my misunderstanding of your mis-recommunication of imagined and apparently well owned limitations concurrently misunderstood by you, due to a smiley or something along those lines)

Never say never, for if you live long enough, chances are you will not be able to abide by its restrictions. {...}

So then, as I understand it: under the current loader memory model there is apparently not enough internal memory left over to reliably sector map any further files at runtime thus making the current program model, without modification, incapable of supporting the direct addition of RTS across all AK2 hardware versions with AK2.1 being worse off than previous revisions due to it's decreased internal memory capacity. As well, due to the currently communicating coders with full source access believing it impossible (whilst previously iterating they were never even going to try it unless someone else with access to the AK2 code did the work), it becomes even more highly unlikely to happen. But not... impossible.

Fair and accurate enough? By the bye, sorry for any indirect/unintended insult and for essentially wasting yours and/or my own time even giving a darn about something so... semantic (yet again.)
QUOTE

C'est la vie

 

[Maikel Steneker]

I didn't even know the AK2.1 was different from the AK2, otherwise I would have dumped it earlier

 

[Deleted User]

Well, looks like I need to explain myself then since we did not meet in the middle of understanding...

Its a good thing your not making these cards either, because all flashcarts use some type of onboard memory to store the sector maps for the rom and save file so that they can be bead and written to from within the game. the old AK2 for instance had 2MB of onboard memory (eeprom iirc) while the 2.1 and ak2i have 1MB (just enough to store the sector map of the nds and save).So basically if I backup the FAT table of my FAT32 (linux win) swap drive I should never ever have to backup the files...? Nope, the two are not interchangeable (sector addresses to save files and the save files themselves.) It may be a good thing I'm not making these cards, but mainly because time constraints and lack of training would produce pitiable results - at least I haven't walked in on such a thing saying (before I started) that it was, absolutely, unequivocally and utterly, impossible.

Creativity is fun, accepting limitations is not. Assuming you are being on the level about the AK2 internals and what they are being used for...
-caching/swapping (ie, a RTS file's sector table would not be required to be present until it's actually used and table swaps could be temp'd to static files at load time with their own sector tables in the first sector of the temp file, created only if RTS is enabled - you do have enough mem somewhere, even header mem, for a couple start sectors, right?)
-relatives to reduce index item bit sizes(index to an index)
-rle
-requiring larger default sector sizes to reduce max index count
-requiring physical consecutives to avoid indexing nearly entirely.
The lack of 'onboard memory' even entirely would be up to the "energetic, I can do it" coders to cleverly code around rather than come up with reasons why it can't be done (though I'd hate to see the compatibility reports of any loader without the aid of an address translation matrix.) This is, per se, is why we have RTS on any cards at all - leaders and followers alike.

Another World:
The word that caused me to reply is 'impossible'(link), combine that with your use of the words "less on board memory for save files" and here we are. It was once said to be 'impossible' to have RTS on DS at all - and I didn't believe that statement, either. There is indeed a whole... well, world of difference between 'impossible' and even 'really really really super-duper extremely hard.' So far the only thing I see making it lean toward impossible at all is the simple fact no-one, me included, seems to want to prove it isn't by just doing it.

Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.Let's not forget your response to my supposed bashing (which, I'm truly sorry you see it as, since it is more along the lines of my reply of my misunderstanding of your mis-recommunication of imagined and apparently well owned limitations concurrently misunderstood by you, due to a smiley or something along those lines)

Never say never, for if you live long enough, chances are you will not be able to abide by its restrictions. {...}

So then, as I understand it: under the current loader memory model there is apparently not enough internal memory left over to reliably sector map any further files at runtime thus making the current program model, without modification, incapable of supporting the direct addition of RTS across all AK2 hardware versions with AK2.1 being worse off than previous revisions due to it's decreased internal memory c-apacity. As well, due to the currently communicating coders with full source access believing it impossible (whilst previously iterating they were never even going to try it unless someone else with access to the AK2 code did the work), it becomes even more highly unlikely to happen. But not... impossible.

Fair and accurate enough? By the bye, sorry for any indirect/unintended insult and for essentially wasting yours and/or my own time even giving a darn about something so... semantic (yet again.)
QUOTE

C'est la vie

Epic post is epic.

 

[UltraMagnus]

so, does the less on-board memory mean the blues will give better battery life?