Hacking Few bugs Noticed...Anyone else or just my RPG

[kineticUk]

Hello fellow Acekard/AKAIO users.

Just been updating to latest loaders and some bugs noticed using my acekard, wondering if anyone else can confirm any of these first then I might be able to report them on the AKAIO forum later on... after I get my flak jacket/full body armour sorted first, joking mean after I make sure these are really bugs. (AKAIO 1.5 22/10/09 loaders RPG Class 2 Kingston/Sandisk 16GB MicroSD)

Anyway here goes...

1. Just got Dragon Quest Monsters Joker (EUR), with trim enabled copying it from my games directory to the root causing my AKAIO to freeze/crash. It was sometimes getting through the copy/trim but would still freeze after writing the file, sometimes not making it through the paste and freezing during the write. Restarting then checking the properties of the file created showed it was corrupt. Going back to PC and chkdsk the microSD, then back to Acekard trying again, eventually managed to trim the file. (Dunno if this was the dragon quest rom/trim/microSD problem) Never had this happen before, checked normal copy function on an already trimmed different Rom and it copied fine without freezing, although I noticed something else...

2. After using the copy/paste (Trim enabled as always on my AKAIO), I cannot get properties by pressing Y. It just stops working, does nothing. I can still get to properties though by going through the system menu. Restarting my DS and Y button properties works again. Bug?

3. I reported the GMT timestamp on files created inside AKAIO was not right before and its since been fixed and the topic is now locked. I still have an incorrect timestamp inside AKAIO (noticed with my .sav files at first, but its easier to see just copying/pasting a file and then checking the created files properties in AKAIO). For me I'm not sure whats going on cause its about 10 hours 5 mins behind time when I check inside AKAIO, but I've just noticed something... If I take the microSD out and mount it on winshite the timestamps spot on. So its AKAIO properties thats incorrect not the timestamp on the files now?

Lastly... if you're still reading (Sorry for the long post)

4. Animal Crossing (EUR), I have read about certain games which can show up problems with read speed and freezes etc.Castlevania games particularly and their intro movies. For me the castlevania games are fine as far the intro movies which I have tested and playback nice. Animal crossing on the other hand seems to punish my MicroSD, the graphics glitch on the top screen, clouds flicker if there are clouds in the sky and if not the screen flickers. It feels like the actual game has some slowdown as well. This is when using my RPG only, same game same microSD card with friends AK2i and it runs nice. Cannot change the DMA mode on my RPG either as far as I have noticed, I wonder if the same DMA mode is used as AK2/i or whether its just a problem that cannot be sorted because RPG has to run DMA and this game doesn't like that (Assuming maybe another mode is activated when its loaded up on AK2/i's.

I'd appreciate anyone who can just confirm if any of the above bugs are happening when they test and your findings re: Animal Crossing performance on the RPG.

Someone help me out please. Cheers.

 

[Another World]

i can't remember the specifics but i recall issues with copy/paste and the rpg. the copy/paste code is buggy to begin with, it might be causing msd corruption for you. you mentioned that por plays fine, because it was fixed for good in akaio 1.5. there is an actual bug in the game which is now patched when the game runs. as for the rpg, most of the code in akaio comes from yellow wood goblin and his woodrpg firmware. from what i was told its like 95% of the code is YWG's code. so if you are having issues it has to do with that code and not the code norm is writing. with that said, it doesn't mean there aren't issues. have you tried to run the game from the NAND instead of off the msd? you should try woodrpg to see if that works out better for you. also try other dumps of the game, the one you have might be corrupt. don't run a trimmed copy and see if that fixes the problem. try turning off all patches as they could cause issues.

cheers for actually reading the rules at the akaio forum.

-another world

 

[Normmatt]

The timestamp problems are AKAIO's fault it will be fixed in 1.5.1 whenever thats released.
Animal Crossing is an ass i loathed fixing it on ak2 and i probably wont fix it on akrpg at all.
Copy/Paste are buggy i dont use them at all.

 

[Leonidas]

you mentioned that por plays fine, because it was fixed for good in akaio 1.5. there is an actual bug in the game which is now patched when the game runs.

I've been playing nothing but PoR since the 1.5 release , and I can confirm it's extremely playable. No more menu and teleporter bugs, but the game still freezes sometimes when you try to use a subweapon. It's extremely rare though,I've clocked about 25 hours into the game and happened a few times only.I doubt this can be fixed, since it's happening on original carts too.

 

[kineticUk]

Thanks a lot everyone for the info. Thanks especially to another world, normatt and leonidas always willing to help me here and its appreciated...I just want to try and do my bit by testing/reporting (Unfortunately I cannot code myself but do want to try to contribute something...personally I feel priveledged to be using AKAIO... thanks to the developers for the hard work sincerly).
Shame about the RPG, prefer that cart to the rest of the acekards but nevermind thats fine.

Another World (is that u? u r f-in beautiful...) I have checked my animal crossing on the nand, performance is great none of the problems seen running it off SD card...speed is perfect, so are the graphics, there are no glitches or flickering on the top screen and no slow down. I've got no patches enabled normally though, don't generally use cheats or anything like that, just playing the games without patches enabled then testing from there. I had just hoped RPG SD performance was an fixable but its not so fairplay normatt ur doing enough as it is and I/we appreciate all the work, wish I had skills I'd try to help more.

Glad to get confirmation on the timestamp thing thanks normatt. Like I said it did seem to be writing perfectly (when I checked the files on microsd using windows). Actually seemed maybe AKAIO properties has the problem but thats as much as I could figure out myself.

Copy/Paste... would trim option be better maybe, remove the cut option? Does anyone actually use cut? Anyway I'm not 100% sure whether the problem is me or AKAIO here cause I found it to be a very good feature, being able to trim my roms in AKAIO when I first got acekard, I thought it was impressive and I never had any problem before yesterday. Thats why I'm not convinced its AKAIO's problem though like you and others have warned it can corrupt files/micro SD. You're all probably right though, I've not been long using AKAIO.

Leonidas, yeah as I said I haven't problems with POR although I've never tried to properly play through it. Just trying to find a comparison, Animal Crossing happens to be the killer on my RPG SD, but I'd always heard about POR/Castlevania being good tests of performance cause they were difficult to run generally. Had not heard of any specific problems with ACWW but I'll have to workaround that anyway if theres no other way, no biggie. On the same subject seems Dragon Quest HOTHB also flickers on the top/bottom screen similarly during the intro when the dragon is crossing from top/bottom screen.

I will try to use/test YWG firmware more especially if its codes inside AKAIO..whatever I can do to keep the RPG as up to date as poss I'll gladly help with...

Thank you all very much. Have a good weekend everyone. Take care. d.

 

[Another World]

i also have an rpg, the first acekard i owned actually. i love it, it works great, and i still use it all the time. i have moved on to woodrpg, which is updated more often and designed for the rpg. the problem with ywg's firmware is that it isn't as flashy as akaio. it doesn't have all the same features. it does, however, play games very well. i use my rpg for homebrew mostly and woodrpg works perfectly.

as for getting involved, you don't have to know how to code to be involved in this hobby. find something that hasn't been done yet and do it. one project i always wanted to see done is an organized guide to setting up homebrew. sorted alphabetically with images, descriptions, hosted files, etc. consider a project like that. my first big project was a nesDS compatibility list. it took me over 3 months but i accomplished it. i still get messages in regards to it and its a good feeling to know it helped at least one other person.

back to the rpg... the nand is nice because it allows roms to run in a 1:1 setting. since the beginning most problem games that required odd hacks or fixes, worked on the nand. i get where you are coming from, you wanting to keep everything organized on the msd. but if the nand works then think of it as another tool to accomplish the same means. exploit it, make use of it, and enjoy it while it lasts.

i have a 2gb msd set up with ds doom merged iwads that i have made. i copy/paste all the time with the msd. i'm constantly moving dsdoom wad files in and out of directories. i've yet to have a problem with it but i do know how buggy the copy/paste code can be. my best advice to you is to set up your msd the way you want it. trim roms you need trimmed using a dedicated rom trimmer. then just play. don't manipulate files on the acekard using akaio, even if it provides those functions. save that stuff for the few times you really need it and do the rest when the msd is docked with the pc.

-another world