Hacking R4i Gold 3ds Plus Black screen

[Rakantor]

UPDATE -- SOLVED
I was unlucky, received a defect flashcard.
Got another one from the seller, works perfectly fine.


Hey there.

I've just got my new R4i Gold 3ds Plus (r4idsDOTcn) from 3ds-flashcard and I can't get it to work.
I downloaded kernel v1.64 from r4idsDOTcn and copied the "__rpg" folder, "_DS_MENU.dat" file and some *.nds games to the root of my SD card.
But when I boot my 3DS XL, both screens stay black and nothing happens. My 3DS' version is 11.6.0-39E and I'm using the most recent version of boot9hax and Luma3DS (I followed the guide on 3ds.guide to install CFW and Homebrew on my 3DS).

Here's what I've tried so far:

- I tried 2 different SD cards (a 64GB Samsung Evo+ and a 16GB Kingston whatsoever)
- I formatted both SD cards with macOS' Disk Utility (as Fat32) and SD Memory Card Formatter
- I installed the 5 CIAs from 3ds.guide/troubleshooting
- Other DS carts (for example Animal Crossing Wild World) are working just fine

Maybe someone knows a solution for this issue...

 

[subcon959]

Maybe the cart is set to ntrboot mode?

 

[zoogie]

This is a known issue with larger microSDs, especially newer ones.
Do you have a 4GB around? Might try that.

This could be a serious issue for r4iGold if it becomes widespread.
@tranfeer

 

[Rakantor]

Maybe the cart is set to ntrboot mode?

No it is not, I checked that yesterday, forgot to mention.

This is a known issue with larger microSDs, especially newer ones.
Do you have a 4GB around? Might try that.

This could be a serious issue for r4iGold if it becomes widespread.
@tranfeer

I don't have any other sd cards around, I guess I'll have to get a new 4gb card from the supermarket and try if that works.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Rakantor]

I couldn't find a 4gb sd card in any store, so I got a 8gb one. Found 2 reviews of the R4i Gold 3ds Plus where a 8gb sd card was used for testing
(gbatempDOTnet/threads/review-r4i-gold-3ds-plus.488519/ and pokemontrashDOTcom/club/index.php?topic=64039.0) so it should work, right?

However, I still get black screens when booting.
I formatted the sd card several times, tested both FAT32 and exFat formats, allocation unit sizes of 4096 bytes, 32kb and 64kb... nothing worked.

Any other ideas?

 

[Sleet]

R4ids.cn screwed up. There was such huge demand for magnethax last month they rushed production and must have skimped on QC for the new blue PCBs used.

Edit: I have personally gotten a 4gb SD to work on mine, have not tested any others.

 

[tranfeer]

This is a known issue with larger microSDs, especially newer ones.
Do you have a 4GB around? Might try that.

This could be a serious issue for r4iGold if it becomes widespread.
@tranfeer

We have tested 1GB, 2GB, 4GB,8GB,16GB with class4, class6 and class10.
All work well.
What's the problem?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I couldn't find a 4gb sd card in any store, so I got a 8gb one. Found 2 reviews of the R4i Gold 3ds Plus where a 8gb sd card was used for testing
(gbatempDOTnet/threads/review-r4i-gold-3ds-plus.488519/ and pokemontrashDOTcom/club/index.php?topic=64039.0) so it should work, right?

However, I still get black screens when booting.
I formatted the sd card several times, tested both FAT32 and exFat formats, allocation unit sizes of 4096 bytes, 32kb and 64kb... nothing worked.

Any other ideas?

How about the speed of the sd card?
Class4, or class6?
The better, the higher.

In the end, it's also possible for you to get a bad one which can not work well.
You can contact the vendor and request a good one.

 

[Deleted User]

We have tested 1GB, 2GB, 4GB,8GB,16GB with class4, class6 and class10.
All work well.
What's the problem?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


How about the speed of the sd card?
Class4, or class6?
The better, the higher.

this is going to be a stupid question. Did you download the kernal onto the micro sd? Also another thing to try is format the sd card as fat32 and raise the allocation size to 32 or higher.

 

[Rakantor]

We have tested 1GB, 2GB, 4GB,8GB,16GB with class4, class6 and class10.
All work well.
What's the problem?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


How about the speed of the sd card?
Class4, or class6?
The better, the higher.

In the end, it's also possible for you to get a bad one which can not work well.
You can contact the vendor and request a good one.

Tried a 64gb class 10 card -> didn't work.
Tried a 16gb class 10 card -> didn't work.
Tried a 8gb class 4 card -> didn't work.

I formatted all cards as FAT32 first and then tried exFat, I also tried different allocation sizes (4096b, 32kb, 64kb) -> didn't work.

When I boot the 3ds with the r4i inserted --> black screens, have to force shut down the 3ds.
When I insert the r4i when the 3ds is running --> the screens freeze and I also have to force shut down the 3ds.

And yes, I got the right wood kernel (v1.64) from r4ids.cn and put the 2 folders + any nds games correctly to the root of my sd card.
I also made sure the switch is set to "D". I also tried to set it to "N" which made no difference at all -> black screens when booting.

Well probably the flashcard is defect and I'll have to get another one, which is pretty annoying, but yeah... Going go contact the vendor (3ds-flashcardDOTcom) as a next step.

 

[tranfeer]

Tried a 64gb class 10 card -> didn't work.
Tried a 16gb class 10 card -> didn't work.
Tried a 8gb class 4 card -> didn't work.

I formatted all cards as FAT32 first and then tried exFat, I also tried different allocation sizes (4096b, 32kb, 64kb) -> didn't work.

When I boot the 3ds with the r4i inserted --> black screens, have to force shut down the 3ds.

A:Can you get the game icon?

When I insert the r4i when the 3ds is running --> the screens freeze and I also have to force shut down the 3ds.
A:The screens just freeze with the card inserted and you do nothing at all?Have you pressed key A?


And yes, I got the right wood kernel (v1.64) from r4ids.cn and put the 2 folders + any nds games correctly to the root of my sd card.
I also made sure the switch is set to "D". I also tried to set it to "N" which made no difference at all -> black screens when booting.
A:When you push the switch to "N", the card should not be recognized by the console at all and you can not enter wood. It's very strange according to your description.


Well probably the flashcard is defect and I'll have to get another one, which is pretty annoying, but yeah... Going go contact the vendor (3ds-flashcardDOTcom) as a next step.

A:You may try contacting the vendor.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Do you have other flashcarts?
Can they work well on your 3DS？

In a word, it's very strange according to your description.For example, When you push the switch to "N", the card should not be recognized by the console at all and you can do nothing with it.However,you get two black screens.

 

[Rakantor]

A:You may try contacting the vendor.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Do you have other flashcarts?
Can they work well on your 3DS？

In a word, it's very strange according to your description.For example, When you push the switch to "N", the card should not be recognized by the console at all and you can do nothing with it.However,you get two black screens.

This is the first flashcard I've ever ordered, I don't have any other cards.

I always get two black screens, no matter if the flashcard is in "D" or "N" mode and no matter if there's a sd card inside of it or not.

I have an old Nintendo DS at home. Should I be able to use the R4i flashcard with it or does it only support DSi+?

 

[tranfeer]

This is the first flashcard I've ever ordered, I don't have any other cards.

I always get two black screens, no matter if the flashcard is in "D" or "N" mode and no matter if there's a sd card inside of it or not.

I have an old Nintendo DS at home. Should I be able to use the R4i flashcard with it or does it only support DSi+?

Yes, it can support NDS.
Be sure that you have pushed the switch to "D" when you use it on your old NDS.

 

[Rakantor]

Yes, it can support NDS.
Be sure that you have pushed the switch to "D" when you use it on your old NDS.

So when I use the flashcard (switch is set to "D") with my old NDS, the console boots fine but it won't detect the flashcard at all.

We have tested 1GB, 2GB, 4GB,8GB,16GB with class4, class6 and class10.
All work well.
What's the problem?

What brands were the sd cards you tested? All SanDisk?

 

[tranfeer]

So when I use the flashcard (switch is set to "D") with my old NDS, the console boots fine but it won't detect the flashcard at all.



What brands were the sd cards you tested? All SanDisk?

Yes, sandisk is good.
The problem seems to have nothing to do with sd cards.Fistly, the flashcart should be detected by the console.
Please try it for several times again.
If it always can not be detected , the card is defect.You can contact the vendor and exchange a good one.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Be sure that the switch must be pushed to "D".

 

[Rakantor]

Yes, sandisk is good.
The problem seems to have nothing to do with sd cards.Fistly, the flashcart should be detected by the console.
Please try it for several times again.
If it always can not be detected , the card is defect.You can contact the vendor and exchange a good one.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Be sure that the switch must be pushed to "D".

I did as you suggested but the result is always the same: the old NDS doesn't detect the flashcard.

The vendor told me do use SanDisk sd cards as the new R4i is sensitive to sd cards.
Fortunately one of my family members had a 16GB SanDisk Ultra class 10 at home.
I tried that one but that didn't work either.

So I assume the flashcard is defect, as you said. Going to ask the vendor for an exchange.

 

[Rakantor]

THIS THREAD CAN BE MARKED AS SOLVED.

A new flashcard was delivered today and that one works without any issues, so the other one was just defect.
Thanks to all for your help!

 

[carrieshot]

While it can be checked as resolved, I do have something to ask myself, I have a r4i gold 3ds that has the ntr boot, so after I fixed my 3ds by replacing a file, I tried to use the cart inside my system, and I only get a black screen and if i hold down start or select it will open either of those. Both my 2DS, and New 3DS work perfectly with the r4i card.

 

[DEEP_STEEL]

so what happened to the flash card that was defect, did you return it