Hacking Micro SD isn't flush these days...

[Heran Bago]

I was an early CycloDS adopter. Early adopters tend to get shafted, but the thing has had completely reliable support, a stream of new features, and excellent developers since I got it. A lot of homebrew and

have made it irreplaceable. Me and my R4 had a falling out, and the CycloDS Evolution had me on the rebound like a desperate chick who just got dumped. I even got the black color cartridge!

Every once and a while, the CycloDS Evolution does not show up on the main menu. Removing and reinserting the Micro SD card seems to remedy this.

Anyway, it has been developing two problems over its lifespan, which may be related. The first I notices was that the Micro SD card originally fit totally flush in the slot like it used to. It has gradually become less and less flush, seeming to emerge a bit more from the slot as time goes on. It now sticks out 1-2mm. Not much, but a noticeable difference when it was 0 at first. This is true for any microSD card as well.

Having the SD card not flush increases the likelihood I'll brush it with my finger orr tap it when I set it down. Tapping or touching the SD card, even very lightly, will often (but not always) crash a game, or crash it when the game next tries to access some data. (like leaving a room... finishing a puzzle in picross...)

Is the problem just dust in the micro SD card slot? Is it something more similar like metal bending or the chip getting pushed down in the plastic? Can I remedy or cheaply replace it? Should I try contacting RealHotStuff whom I bought it from, the cyclods team, or ..?

Help me GBAtemp, please! These small problems are just getting worse and more common over time, and it would be nice not to have them when I study abroad in a few months.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

Well, contacting Team Cyclops is probably out of the question since they have said that they will not handle replacements, but let the retailers handle it themselves. You'd have better luck contacting RHS, but I very much doubt they will do replacements unless your unit was dead on arrival. Contact them anyway and see if maybe you can convince them that the problem with your Cyclo is due to poor build and not wear and tear and maybe they will offer a replacement.

 

[DeMoN]

Do you take out the MicroSD often?
There could be dust or other foreign material that's built up inside the slot, causing poor connection. The Cyclo is not spring-loaded so I don't think there could be anything else blocking the slot.
Unfortunately, I highly doubt that you can get a refund or a replacement since the Cyclo was fine when you bought it. However, you could try opening it up and possibly cleaning out the slot with a very thin paper clip.

And another thing, you mentioned you have an early version of the Cyclo. Many of those had problems with connecting to the DS (rather than MicroSD). The trick to fixing that was to tape a pice of paper over the CycloDS sticker, making the Cyclo fatter than normal, and therefore providing much better connectivity. So if your problem isn't the MicroSD like you suspect, then try this out.

Best of luck.

 

[Heran Bago]

Do you take out the MicroSD often?
There could be dust or other foreign material that's built up inside the slot, causing poor connection. The Cyclo is not spring-loaded so I don't think there could be anything else blocking the slot.
Unfortunately, I highly doubt that you can get a refund or a replacement since the Cyclo was fine when you bought it. However, you could try opening it up and possibly cleaning out the slot with a very thin paper clip.

And another thing, you mentioned you have an early version of the Cyclo. Many of those had problems with connecting to the DS (rather than MicroSD). The trick to fixing that was to tape a pice of paper over the CycloDS sticker, making the Cyclo fatter than normal, and therefore providing much better connectivity. So if your problem isn't the MicroSD like you suspect, then try this out.

Best of luck.

Thanks, it must be one of these two.

I will try the tape, even if it's a bit superstitious.