The original R4 had a great run as arguably one of the best first generation Slot-1 Flash Kits ever developed. Bringing together a well constructed design, PassME, a recognizable brand name, and high compatibility, its no wonder that only unforeseen developments limited its life span. These developments were the release of SDHC microSD cards and the addition of a new official Anti-Piracy method (something other Flash Kit hardware can circumvent on-the-fly).
Until the very end, the R4 team released frequent updates which offered ROM loader fixes for a minimalistic G.U.I. that was easy to use and simple to navigate. No matter how you view the history of this hobby one thing is true, the R4 worked and it worked well.
Following a lawsuit from big-N, R4 was forced to close its doors as a company. Rumors circulated that original members of the R4 team had moved on to other projects. While these rumors were never substantiated the “other projects” became a very real problem. The R4 brand, package, logo, and even the look and feel of the software, were “cloned”, copied, and “faked.” While being copied can be said to be a form of flattery, in the case of the R4 is has resulted in a generic collection of cheap unsupported knock-offs designed to cash in on the “R4” popularity.
Where the other teams and cloners got it wrong the R4i Gold team has done everything right. Starting with a split from undesirable team members, those who wish to better the scene have moved on to the <a href="http://www.r4ids.cn" target="_blank">.CN Web site</a>. The remaining members and new members have released an “R4” branded card that has little if nothing else than a name in common with the original.
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<b>R4i Gold Official Features List</b> (reorganized and fixed-up):<ul><li>2nd generation storage device boots from Slot-1</li><li>Flush fitting and well constructed</li><li>Compatible with all DS systems</li><li>Support for SDHC up to 32GB</li><li>Support for Fat16 and Fat32</li><li>Support for any microSD card speed, no in-game lag</li><li>Supports clean ROM drag/drop (works with any O/S)</li><li>Built in NoPass/PassME</li><li>Automatically detects save type (no save database required)</li><li>Save directly to microSD card (no on-board chips required)</li><li>Supports Moonshell and other Homebrew</li><li>User friendly skinnable interface</li><li>Changes to interface background supported</li><li>Skin DIY through font colors, images, main menu, and game menu</li><li>Touch-screen and d-pad/button interface navigation</li><li>Supports WIFI functionality</li><li>Supports DS Rumble packs</li><li>Supports DS Web browser RAM booting</li><li>Supports G.U.I. controlled 4 level brightness adjustment (DS Lite only)</li><li>Soft-reset (commercial ROMs only)</li><li>Action Replay
Cheats</li><li>Moonshell software reset functionality</li><li>DLDI auto-patching</li></ul>The R4i Gold ships in a small wax coated cardboard box. The Flash Kit comes packed in a protective plastic case, exactly like the original R4. Additionally, a similar microSD reader and light blue wrist strap are included. The Flash Kit's case and microSD reader “snap” into the plastic insert making this choice of packaging materials perfect for world wide shipments.
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The R4i Gold is a 2nd generation Flash Kit, which is what most of the current user base is familiar with. These kits boot from Slot-1 and do not require any hacks or extra hardware. The kit is well constructed in a shell which is nearly identical to the original R4. The case is held shut by 8 plastic tabs that press into holes on the opposite side. The kit feels sturdy and very solid; there is no movement between the shell and the PCB when pressure is applied. The shell has two guide teeth just like the original R4, enough to control insertion and aid connectivity.
The R4i Gold supports SDHC and non-SDHC microSD cards. The microSD slot is non-spring loaded, something we like to see, which further adds to the original R4 feel. Due to a successful merging of hardware and software, ROMs should not suffer from any slow-down. Unlike the original R4, the R4i Gold does indeed support the DSi (XL) and is fully flashable [updatable] in the event of DSi firmware update.
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The R4i Gold team supports their Flash Kit with a very simple G.U.I. that offers a rather high ROM and Homebrew compatibility. The R4i Gold's kernel is based off of Moonshell v2.02 and adds commercial ROM support.
After booting the Flash Kit, the user is first presented with options to load NDS files, multimedia, or Slot-2 via 3 centered icons. This set-up is similar to the original R4 menu, however, in this case all slot-2 options have been removed by the team due to a lack of testable hardware. The multimedia button will load a modified version of Moonshell v2.02, 2.10 was also tested and confirmed working. Booting into the NDS mode will populate both screens with different information. The top screen is for navigation via an icon/file name sorted list. The bottom screen displays various options available to the user.
Cheats can be enabled or disabled, download play can be enabled or disabled, and soft-reset (L+R+A+B+X+Y) can also be enabled or disabled. At the bottom of the screen are 5 buttons titled “Game Mode Setup.” These buttons increase compatibility by changing methods by which the files are patched or accessed. Pressing “B” will navigate back 1 menu at a time until the top most menu has been loaded.
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Thanks to a deal brokered between Yellow Wood Goblin and the R4iDSN Team (which includes the R4i Gold .CN Team), the R4i Gold Team has permission to release official ports of the Wood R4 Firmware. YWG is working closely with the team to make sure that each update is represented correctly and that only minor changes are made to allow the firmware to boot on the R4i Gold hardware. The R4i Gold firmware performs very well, and it is a wonderful relief to find an “R4” team who supports their product, however, the Wood Firmware offers many options, tweaks, and items that users desire in a modern Flash Kit. Thanks to this deal the R4i Gold has become much more appealing to the average user looking for a budget priced kit with high compatibility, options, and good support.
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The Wood R4 Firmware is already well documented and discussing it would quickly turn this hands-on impression into something a bit lengthy. What users need to understand is that Wood R4 is the firmware R4 users wanted. Wood R4 made the R4 worth owning again for the first time in almost 2 years. Wood R4 made those who purchased clones with little to no support buy Flash Kits like the R4i Gold.
Wood R4 adds features like AK2/2i/RPG skin backwards compatibility, file list view options (.nds, .sav, etc), scroll speed options, multiple file listing options, the ability to display hidden files, ROM trimming, Slot-2 GBA options (universal sleep, backing-up saves, NOR/PSRAM flashing), a favorites system, GBA linking, automatic RAM booting, and Rumble support. With these features comes an active development cycle resulting in an extremely high ROM and Homebrew compatibility.
<b>Conclusion</b>:
The R4i Gold is not a clone, a knock-off, or a reverse engineered Flash Kit. Users would be wise to keep this in mind while making negative comments about this kit and its team. The R4i Gold appears to be based off of the OEM design sold by Acekard over 2 years ago. This is the reason that Wood R4, which is heavily based on the Wood RPG sources, was able to be so easily ported. The R4i Gold has similarities to the original R4, which obviously were intentional to help boost sales. Where other groups have targeted the misinformed, the R4i Team has taken steps to rise to the top of “R4” kits by providing a tested design, securing the services of Yellow Wood Goblin, and offering their solution at an affordable price point.
Before Wood R4 was ported this team had something very positive going for it, and the card could have easily been recommended by comparison to other kits in its price range. Since the official support of Wood R4 I find it very difficult to not recommend this Flash Kit. This kit will appeal to DSi users and fans of the Wood R4 firmware. Users who will most likely not purchase this kit are looking for the next generation of Slot-1 solutions (mainly CPU enhanced in-game menus and emulation functionality).
The only complaint I have about this kit is the lack of R4i Gold firmware skin support. While the package proudly boasts the ability to skin, the firmware uses a .DAT system for which the team has not yet released a skinning tool. However, this is a very minor complaint as most users who purchase this kit will have done so for Wood R4 support. Skinning of the Wood R4 firmware is not only well documented but hundreds (if not thousands) of skins already exist.
You could do far worse when picking a DSi/SDHC compatible Flash Kit. Compatibility wise you really can not do much better than the efforts of Yellow Wood Goblin. This Flash Kit is worth its cost, works very well, and does what a Flash Kit should do; it plays ROMs and Homebrew without issue.
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/style_images/1/folder_post_icons/icon11.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <a href="http://www.r4ids.cn/index.htm" target="_blank">R4i Gold Homepage</a>
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/style_images/1/folder_post_icons/icon11.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <a href="http://www.r4ids.cn/kernel/WOODV1.19/WOODV1.19_R4ids_gold.rar" target="_blank">Wood R4 v1.19 for R4i Gold</a>
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/style_images/1/folder_post_icons/icon11.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <a href="http://www.r4ids.cn/kernel/V1.41/R4idsgold_upgrade_V141.rar" target="_blank">R4i Gold DSi v1.4.1 Update</a>
