Hacking Faulty Supercard DS (One) - Temp Fix

[donkeyman]

My setup:
- Brand new DS Lite bought 1 week ago.
- Brand new Supercard DS (One) with green PCB.
- 1GB Kingston MicroSD made in Japan.

Putting it all together and booting the DS, I get a very faint image of the Health Warning screen on the bottom and the letter "N" on the top. "N" as in "Nintendo" but it stalled at the first character. See image below that I captured with my WORKING digital camera I got for Christmas.

So take the Supercard DS (One) and put it in the freezer for 1 min. It needs to be cold when you take it out, and 1 min works for me. Quickly put it back into your DS and fire it up. Now it SHOULD work because the ultra thin PCB has shrunk just enough to get all the contacts to reposition. Enjoy gaming for the next 5 mins until you are ready to ship it back for a replacement.

I bought mine from xxxxxxxxxxxxx.ca and I have not heard back from them yet. I have also opted to exchange it for an R4 DS instead of another Supercard DS (One) because I'm sure I will see another faulty card and I don't feel like paying my own shipping & handling twice to send it back.

 

[pasc]

Hmm I had a similar problem with my M3. But Flashlinkershop shipped me a new one fast

. Hope you get your replacement soon too

 

[jocka]

ohh, can we say now: the green pcb is the thinner and often faulty batch of Supercard DS One?

how can you make the pcb thicker?
put some paper on the backside of the card or between the pcb-backside and the cart?
Just test it, maybe this helps getting better contacts!

 

[shaunj66]

This problem is caused by improper contact between the carts contacts and the DS pins. Try the DS-Xtreme method of placing paper in the DS slot on the opposite side of the pins to force the cart towards the pins.

Perhaps some excess plastic is left covering up some of the contacts on the card? Take a stanley knife and cut off any excess plastic you can see.

Good luck.

 

[donkeyman]

The problem is not the contact of the Supercard against the DS. Freezing the card shrinks the PCB just enough for the circuits inside to reset and make it work. As soon as the Supercard warms up, the contact is broken and it stalls.

I might just buy an R4 DS and in the mean time, try to work out something with the store for a replacement. The replacement Supercard DS (One) will be sold away (if working).

 

[donkeyman]

UPDATE!
- Putting it in the freezer for 30-60 seconds always guarantees to work. I can definitely confirm this now.
- When it does work, then quickly pulling it out and putting blow dryer on it for 5 secs will cause it not to work again.
- Using the DS and SCard outside with -10*C keeps it working forever (didn't test how long cuz it's f***ing cold).
- Freezing the bottom half of the SCard near the pins does NOT work.
- Freezing the middle part of the SCard where the chip is DOES work.

So as you can tell, card temperature has a dramatic effect on the SCard and it has nothing to do with the contacts, but with the PCB itself. Anyway, no more tests from me as the SCard has gone back in replacement for a cheaper, more reliable R4 DS.

Remember guys, these things should work right out of the box. If you have to "make" it work, then it should be returned. Good luck with your SC. My vendor explained over the phone that his SC has the highest rate of return.