Hacking DSONE clones appear to be available for purchase

[AnotherMuggle]

I bought a R4 clone from r4isdhc.hk. It's basically a ACE3DS+ clone. The website "r4isdhc.hk" is down from a long time, but the kernel from the github archive works, as well as the one available on r4isdhc.com.cn.
It's a great card overall, if you don't mind the very cheap plastic. I didn't test it for a long time though.
Link to the card:
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005002329994489.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.6f536c37rJHfOp
Link to the github kernel archive:
https://github.com/lifehackerhansol/flashcard-archive/tree/main/Ace3DS+_R4iLS
Link to the r4isdhc.com.cn kernel:
http://r4isdhc.com.cn/index.php?m=home&c=View&a=index&aid=306

Haha! It suddenly dawned on me... Obviously the new R4i carts running Wood (The Gold Pro and Dual Core etc) are just more ACE3DS+ clones. Of course lol.

 

[boots_n_cats]

Haha! It suddenly dawned on me... Obviously the new R4i carts running Wood (The Gold Pro and Dual Core etc) are just more ACE3DS+ clones. Of course lol.

They have a different header and require a different binary to boot but it also has a different name so you can just package both of them side by side to make a single firmware package that works for both.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

They have a different header and require a different binary to boot but it also has a different name so you can just package both of them side by side to make a single firmware package that works for both.

Yes that's a good point about the file names. It's cool that you can build up a single SD card that boots on a variety of carts, each with their own software but with your games and saves shared. It means that for games that are problematic on your preferred cart you can just run those on a different cart and still keep all your files in one place.

Edit: I'm guessing you don't get a lot of capability difference between the various ACE3DS+ carts but a good example is an SD shared between ACE3DS+ and the DSONE. For me that ticks off the WarioWare incompatibility mentioned earlier in the thread.

 

[Kwyjor]

El cheapo SD is quite simple, it's just a max 2 epm240t cpld, 5v level shifters, 8MB of flash(4MB available iirc) , and some cart ram (128k) ... You could probably build the El cheapo for about $30-40 usd with a BOM cost of around $15-20 per board

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

If the El Cheapo was really that simple, I would hope to be able to purchase it for a price similar to all these R4 cards. But I suppose that's getting off topic now.

 

[Deleted member 668561]

If the El Cheapo was really that simple, I would hope to be able to purchase it for a price similar to all these R4 cards. But I suppose that's getting off topic now.

You won't build an elcheapo for $5,

Board size, parts needed, and casing, and assembly, maybe $15-30, just to build it, then you have to resell for profit,but you can just buy an everdrive clone for $30, I paid like $80usd for my elcheapo, though before the clone carts started popping up, tho the guy I believe makes em by hand in Australia

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Final update on my refund quest: PayPal allowed the seller to set the rules for the refund; AliExpress decided I would have to ship the thing to Singapore (from the US) and wait until they received the item to be refunded at my cost. Obviously that's silly for a $5.88 refund and would probably actually cost me money to do. I don't get why it's so hard to get through to them.

 

[Deleted member 668561]

Final update on my refund quest: PayPal allowed the seller to set the rules for the refund; AliExpress decided I would have to ship the thing to Singapore (from the US) and wait until they received the item to be refunded at my cost. Obviously that's silly for a $5.88 refund and would probably actually cost me money to do. I don't get why it's so hard to get through to them.

For such purposes that's why I use my bank for such, payments, via debit card

It's 5 bucks chalk it up to the game, when buying from china sellers it's cheap for a reason, that's how it just is, it'll probably get better as they produce newer batches

I'm positive the issues are with the fab making and assembling the boards, they probably have to tweak their fab process, use better solder/flux, better inspection

 

[FAST6191]

It's 5 bucks chalk it up to the game, when buying from china sellers it's cheap for a reason, that's how it just is, it'll probably get better as they produce newer batches

I'm positive the issues are with the fab making and assembling the boards, they probably have to tweak their fab process, use better solder/flux, better inspection

It is not the first time that dead on arrival rates mean someone contemplates dropping an actual bit of cash on something to in turn do a burn in test when it all arrives and amortising the costs of the broken into the good. Going by current rates in this thread it is still likely to be "I pay more for lunch some days".

Earlier in the thread others looked to be heading that direction too.

Better yet if it is something that can be solved by waving a hot air station around that could drop it further.

Can't say I have any desire to play low cost flash cart seller but could be something for someone.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

I would 100% have paid someone from here more for one tested working than to buy a dud, but I'm not that upset because I knew the risk going into it. I also don't really care that I don't get the DSOne features since I have a DSTWO. It's just a bit of a burn that they can sell me a broken product and deny me a refund twice.

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For such purposes that's why I use my bank fobatches, payments, via debit card

It's 5 bucks chalk it up to the game, when buying from china sellers it's cheap for a reason, that's how it just is, it'll probably get better as they produce newer batches

I'm positive the issues are with the fab making and assembling the boards, they probably have to tweak their fab process, use better solder/flux, better inspection

I doubt it's really even a new issue (the high defect rate) since even some legit carts I've bought in the past were unpacked and tested by the sellers before shipping them.

 

[JaNDeRPeiCH]

I would 100% have paid someone from here more for one tested working than to buy a dud, but I'm not that upset because I knew the risk going into it. I also don't really care that I don't get the DSOne features since I have a DSTWO. It's just a bit of a burn that they can sell me a broken product and deny me a refund twice.

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I doubt it's really even a new issue (the high defect rate) since even some legit carts I've bought in the past were unpacked and tested by the sellers before shipping them.

Agreed with everything you say, trusted retailers like you said its very hard to find and many of them prefer to stay in a low profile because they re afraid to nintendont lawyers. In USA you have a good banhammer thanks to ninty to jailbroken any switch console device using third party tools.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

Lots of peeps getting faulty carts. I'm going to put some hours of gameplay into mine to see if it holds up.

 

[7766243]

Talk bout unlucky, I bought another one from a different seller.. and it came with the same issue as my last one

 

[Jacobh]

Talk bout unlucky, I bought another one from a different seller.. and it came with the same issue as my last one

They are all probably coming from the same stock in the same warehouse.

With these failure rates it seems like the Ace3DS clones are the best option for inexpensive and readily available carts these days.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

So I sat down tonight with GTA Chinatown Wars which I'm working my way though. I thought I'd use the DSONE to see how it held up and within 30mins I'm back to using a ACE3DS+ clone.

GTA is probably a good game to have picked because it pushes the hardware and it quickly shows issues with the DSONE that don't exist with the ACE3DS+. Take a fast car, such as the Infernus, and floor it up the long stretch of the main island and the DSONE just can't load the content fast enough. You get a mixture of hitching and missing textures. The ACE3DS+ has no issues.

I'm sad to say I just couldn't recommend anyone to get the DSONE over a similarly priced ACE3DS+. So far the only advantages I'm aware of with the DSONE is Warioware DIY compatability and real time save which I don't use anyway.

I personally prefer Wood over EOS too. You have more options for listening the games, file management features copy/paste/delete /filter, favorites menu, and various other features.

 

[Plstic]

So I sat down tonight with GTA Chinatown Wars which I'm working my way though. I thought I'd use the DSONE to see how it held up and within 30mins I'm back to using a ACE3DS+ clone.

GTA is probably a good game to have picked because it pushes the hardware and it quickly shows issues with the DSONE that don't exist with the ACE3DS+. Take a fast car, such as the Infernus, and floor it up the long stretch of the main island and the DSONE just can't load the content fast enough. You get a mixture of hitching and missing textures. The ACE3DS+ has no issues.

I'm sad to say I just couldn't recommend anyone to get the DSONE over a similarly priced ACE3DS+. So far the only advantages I'm aware of with the DSONE is Warioware DIY compatability and real time save which I don't use anyway.

I personally prefer Wood over EOS too. You have more options for listening the games, file management features copy/paste/delete /filter, favorites menu, and various other features.

I was playing umihara kawase and there were missing backgrounds.

 

[Hunter]

I just tried to open a dispute regarding my latest purchase for the 2 faulty out of 4, uploaded a video showing all 4 cards using the testing screen with psram failures.

I would still recommend people who wish to purchase these, to order at least 3 to have a great rate of success for the card.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

I was playing umihara kawase and there were missing backgrounds.

Was it an obviously broken appearance or something you might not notice if you didn't know better?

Edit: when I originally read the ACE3DS+ feature list I saw "Use the third generation chip, working faster and lower power consumption." and thought "heh, OK" but maybe it does equate to something lol

 

[Deleted member 668561]

for once aliexpress shipping from china is actually quick, shipped out on the 22nd will arrive tomorrow, will see if it works

 

[boots_n_cats]

I was playing umihara kawase and there were missing backgrounds.

Was there any specific level or part of the game? I literally just played though it and didn't see anything like that. Also could not reproduce any stuttering in GTA? I suspect there ism some SD card sensitivity here. I have observed similar issues in the Ace3DS+ clones that I suspect are related to SD speed and file system fragmentation.

 

[Plstic]

Was it an obviously broken appearance or something you might not notice if you didn't know better?

Edit: when I originally read the ACE3DS+ feature list I saw "Use the third generation chip, working faster and lower power consumption." and thought "heh, OK" but maybe it does equate to something lol

It was in the first level of the ps1 version. the background would be black some times. The game will always freeze after 10 to 15 minutes.

Where? I literally just played though it and didn't see anything like that. Also could not reproduce any stuttering in GTA? I suspect there ism some SD card sensitivity here. I have observed similar issues in the Ace3DS+ clones that I suspect are related to SD speed and file system fragmentation.

I don't think it's SD related because all my cards fail the psram test. Though initially they did not fail the test