Hacking R4 PRO!WTF

[TrolleyDave]

Hmm...

It looks like the Acekard 2, but the firmware looks like Ysmenu. But if you consider that the Acekard 2 can use Ysmenu to it's full potential it could be a hardware clone of the Acekard 2 with Ysmenu as the firmware.

I never even thought about that. Going through the file with a hex editor shows it to have built in 3-in-1 GBA/Rumble support which means it's definitely not from the original R4 firmware. I'm gonna have to borrow my sisters R4 when I see her next to test it out on. It's definitely shady. The only thing that puzzles me about it is it has full theme support, but YSMenu only allows for 1 skin don't it?

 

[Edragon]

they got
"No need to flash. Build-in lanuch slot-2(gba) function. "

isnt it not possible for any slot-1 card to play gba emulator by itself?

 

[RT-9]

no a slot-1 flashcard can't play gba games you need a slot-2 flashcard if you wish to play gba games

 

[abc2390986]

Someone(not me) found a "custom" in flashkards:
DS One, Acekard 2, M3, R4, EZ5, G6, E7.......

Is that making sences?!

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It's pretty hard to get the real R4 right now... Fortunately mine is the geniune one.
But it is still pissing me off unless the R4 team start to make the new kernels.

Alas, it is impossible.

 

[chuckstudios]

It won't boot on a real R4. Hex editor tells me it might be an AK2 clone.

 

[AeroHex]

i ran www.r4teams.com's firmware though a hex edit it had ak2 dstt and r4 pretty werid

 

[chuckstudios]

i ran www.r4teams.com's firmware though a hex edit it had ak2 dstt and r4 pretty werid

Because it's YSMenu and it supports all three? FUCKIN WEIRD MAN IM TRIPPIN OUT

 

[TrolleyDave]

It won't boot on a real R4. Hex editor tells me it might be an AK2 clone.

I'll try running it on my AK2 later. Wouldn't surprise me if a cloner did an AK2 but called it R4 just cos of the popularity. It would definitely sell more carts to the general public.

 

[Vincent T]

There's alot of clones out there.

 

[AeroHex]

There's alot of clones out there.

yes thats why im posting this but some people dont want to know about it when im shutting people up that are asking like "whats the best r4 clone"

 

[indask8]

Just got a R4Pro for fun....

Guess what?

It's an acekard 2.1 clone...

PCB is the same (exactly)...

But firmware looks like an R4 one with some differences:

-Cheat system (interface) is from the acekard.
-R4 theme does not works on it (tried to download some... i got glitchy graphics on menu).
-cheats.dat file looks like usrcheat.dat but i tried to update it, impossible... (no cheat found for every games). EDIT: Partially works (got cheat for new super mario/Castlevania POR, not for OOE and others).

For now all game i tried (castlevania ooe/trackmania) works without patching...

 

[TrolleyDave]

Just got a R4Pro for fun....

Guess what?

It's an acekard 2.1 clone...

PCB is the same (exactly)...

But firmware looks like an R4 one with some differences:

-Cheat system (interface) is from the acekard.
-R4 theme does not works on it (tried to download some... i got glitchy graphics on menu).
-cheats.dat file looks like usrcheat.dat but i tried to update it, impossible... (no cheat found for every games). EDIT: Partially works (got cheat for new super mario/Castlevania POR, not for OOE and others).

For now all game i tried (castlevania ooe/trackmania) works without patching...

Any chance you could snap some pics or us to see? Have you tried running the AK2 firmware on it?

 

[Votkrath]

There are R4 Deluxe and R4 Ultimate as well.

 

[Andytoxic]

I have put the Files on my Acekard 2.0 and It worked! So this new R4 PRO is really a clone of the Acekard 2. I will try to patch the DS_MENU.DAT with DLDI and will see if it works on my other cards (M3 simply).




edit: I tested it and it can't start any other nds applications or games

 

[indask8]

Any chance you could snap some pics or us to see? Have you tried running the AK2 firmware on it?

I tried AKAIO 1.2 (renaming akmenu4.nds to _DS_MENU).

It works perfectly! (acekard kernel 4.11).

Pictures (56K warning!):

Spoiler

Actual packaging:


Looking inside: (sorry my apn flash makes look the pcb crappy):
Font: The microSD slot, the SST Chip, 3 capacitor (resistor?), and a quartz.



Back: The epoxy glob chip and all the test points:




Testing: With AKAIO 1.2 (nickname erased for privacy reason ^^).



With the original kernel:



Conclusion: Acekard Copycat!

Actually there's a difference: Acekard 2 does not autoboot, this one does.

I'm beginning to think Acekard2.1 and this R4 come from the same manufacturer... the build quality is EXACTLY the same... (maybe it's acekard selling his flashcard under another name who knows

).

 

[Andytoxic]

Does the akaio firmware boot .nds files on your r4ds pro?

Because the r4ds pro firmware doesn't boot nds files on the acekard 2

 

[D-Trogh]

Yeah, I looked through the R4 PRO firmware earlier today and saw some text strings containing 'ak2'

Tried to run it on my R4.. I get the 'Loading...' screen, but then just a black one..Some parts of the R4 and R4 PRO firmware are the same..
But most of the firmware is different.. and thus AK2-like

 

[indask8]

Does the akaio firmware boot .nds files on your r4ds pro?

Because the r4ds pro firmware doesn't boot nds files on the acekard 2

Yes i tried castlevania OOE, works perfectly. (i've just used the microSD from my acekard 2.1, i just needed to rename akmenu4.nds to _DS_MENU.dat ).

Maybe i'll stay to the AKAIO on this R4/acekard clone as long as acekard doesn't make a fake killer.
EDIT: Now i only use akaio on my R4 Pro...

Just one bug found with akaio: if you change the skin and say yes to reboot to apply the changes: it freeze on the blue "loading", you just need to shut down and power up and the changes are applied!

Maybe adding the actual akmenu4.nds (as i think when rebooting, the akaio kernel just re-run akmenu4.nds which is impossible because it has been renamed to _DS_MENU.dat) file will correct this bug, i'll try later.

In game soft reset works.

 

[TrolleyDave]

Very interesting! Thanks for the pics as well. I hadn't seen any AK2 clones before, they're a bit harder to spot though if they're called R4 Pro! lol I wonder if it's a clone of the 2.0 version and if it will suffer from the same problems.

Because the r4ds pro firmware doesn't boot nds files on the acekard 2

But the rest of the menu works fine?

 

[indask8]

I have put the Files on my Acekard 2.0 and It worked! So this new R4 PRO is really a clone of the Acekard 2. I will try to patch the DS_MENU.DAT with DLDI and will see if it works on my other cards (M3 simply).




edit: I tested it and it can't start any other nds applications or games

Try adding _DS_MENU.DAT on your micro sd card (because for making it work on acekard you renamed it akmenu4.nds so maybe your acekard is searching for _DS_MENU.DAT...).