Hacking R4 freezing during Days of Ruin

[Zeezee]

So my R4's freezing, like I've heard so much about. I don't know if it's game-specific or not, since I had a game-freeze during Cooking Mama 2 that killed a 2GB card.

So I tried the paper trick to see if that would stop the freezing/R4 being de-contacted from the DS Lite's contacts.

...It didn't. What's the trick?

 

[Sephi]

I haven't had any problems, try Defragmenting your microSD card. Just back-up the data first

 

[Grimalkin]

Do not defrag your SD card.

 

[killerkyo25]

I defraged it once, it wiped out my old sd card =/ never do that

 

[Kiljaeden]

I'm sure the correct method, instead of defragging (which is a NO NO) is to copy all files across to your PC, format, then copy back onto memory card.

 

[damnet]

copy to the pc all the stuff you want to keep

use SDformatter to format it, I recommend the "full erase on" method, after it's done formating, go to command prompt(start menu>run>cmd) and type the following command:

chkdsk flashdriveletter: /f /r

where, obviously, flashdriveletter: will be the current assigned drive letter to your flash card(E:, F:, G: etc...)

after it's done processing you can copy over all of the content back to the card, also try to leave some free space in the SD, like 5% or more if possible.

 

[ACQ]

Eff! I didn't know defragging a flash card was bad. I should consider myself lucky. Thanks for the info and link, damnet.

 

[SavageWaffle]

Probley the game that is messed up.

 

[Kikike]

Do not defrag your SD card.

What's the problem with defragmenting SD card? Works like a HDD on a PC.

 

[Destructobot]

Do not defrag a flash memory device with a defrag app designed for hard disks. That will result in a great deal of wear on the card due to excessive erase/write cycles.

If you want to defrag a memory card, copy the contents of the card to your hard disk, format the card, and copy the files back to it.

 

[shinji257]

Do not defrag your SD card.


What's the problem with defragmenting SD card? Works like a HDD on a PC.

Because SD cards (like all flash based devices) have a limited number of read/write cycles. If you exceed this (or get close to it) then the device wears out. Defragging it will make the device die real quick not to mention take alot longer than needed.

 

[MrBubbles]

Because SD cards (like all flash based devices) have a limited number of read/write cycles. If you exceed this (or get close to it) then the device wears out. Defragging it will make the device die real quick not to mention take alot longer than needed.

Oh boy, how many does it take to kill a MicroSD? How excessive are we talking about?

 

[Destructobot]

Generally, somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 erase/write cycles. Reading data does not cause wear on flash memory.

 

[shinmai]

Hope this isn't TOO off-topic, but what's the "paper trick"?
I'm about ready start trying just about anything with my R4. No other problems, but if the card wiggles or moves in the slot even a little bit, some of the connectors from the slot get disconnected or shorted with the connectors on the cart.

Unlike my passcard, my R4 doesn't have individual compartments for the connectors, so even a little movement can make it short. Anything I could do about this?

I've been thinking about taking the back off my old passcard and screwing it on the R4, but I'd also have to cut out a hole for the microds and all that, and really feel like there must be a better way

 

[arsehat]

Unlike my passcard, my R4 doesn't have individual compartments for the connectors, so even a little movement can make it short. Anything I could do about this?

Unless your R4 is extremely poorly manufactured, or you've stuffed the connector in the DS, I wouldn't worry about adjacent tracks shorting when the cartridge is wiggled a little. It's more likely that the spring-loaded contacts are losing contact with the fingers in the cartridge, and that's where the paper shims come in.

There are various ways to do this. My personal favourite is to open up the cartridge and cut out a piece of thick paper or thin card to stick between the board and the inside of the label side of the cartridge. I usually do this with the info sheet from inside Kingston memory card packs - I cut around the edge of the board carefully with a craft knife. I don't use a piece that covers the whole back any more - about half a centimetre beyond the hole is enough - the important thing is to make sure the contacts on the PCB are raised a little further towards the spring contacts in the DS.

Others have reported success with a few layers of tape on the back of the board behind the connector traces, but I'm worried about the adhesive bleeding around the edge of the board or through some of the through-board connections or whatever - ever seen what cheap insulation tape is like a year after it's been applied?

For testing purposes, you could wedge a layer or two of paper or thin card down between the label-side of the cartridge and the slot - again, the idea is to press the edge connector further towards the spring-loaded contacts.

You might also have some success with something like some overhead transparency film secured to the back of the cartridge with something like very thin photo-mounting tape - many people know scrapbookers they could get a small quantity of this kind of tape from, and I often find myself raiding Mrs Arsehat's scrapbooking supplies for various reasons. If I ever have this kind of problem with my TTDS, that's the approach I'm going to have to try because those suckers are glued shut.