Hacking Sandisk 4gb MicroSDHC Slow?

[BatousaiJ]

Hello folks, picked up one a acekard2i today and while I'm happily upgrading from a M3Simply, I found a rather odd problem that I couldn't find addressed specifically around here so here it is.

I bought a Sandisk 4gb MicoSDHC card(came with reader) along with the acekard2i and after loading up the firmware following the instructions, I find that there are some slowdowns and glitches in certain games.

Some examples-

Pokemon HG: Very slow response time when in item screen going from left to right and etc.
Sonic Collection: Notable input delay between button/direction presses to action
Bowser's Inside Story: Screen tearing, sound distortion
DQ IV: Graphics tearing during intro movie.

I have the card formatted at FAT32 and have tried it formatted on FAT.

I did a test with my previous MicroSD card, the Sandisk 2gb MicroSD and these problems do not exist using the same settings.

So I'm led to believe that it's a problem with the Sandisk 4gb- is it fake and I'm just screwed with it or is this something that's common that I can fix through some method?

No big deal either way but since I was going to give away the M3simply along with that 2gb card to my little nephew, I'd have to go buy another 2gb MicroSD if I can't get this 4gb to work correctly on the Acekard2i.

Any theories or possible fixes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[ZeWarrior]

I have a SanDisk 4GB Class 2 MicroSDHC too, but I don't have these problems :S
Pokemon Platinum seems to lag a little when using the bicycle, but its not a lot.

EDIT: Oh and BTW, didn't notice that this is the Acekard forum, I'm using an M3i Zero if that changes anything.

 

[DeMoN]

Try formatting it using the Panasonic formatting tool: http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/download/index.html
Then try defragmenting it. Normally this is detrimental to the card, but you've got nothing to lose here.
If both options fail, then I suppose you really do have a defective microSD. It's not necessarily fake though.

 

[BatousaiJ]

Tried reformatting with the tool and defragmented what little data there were on the card.

Still the same problem.

So it's most likely just a defective card? That's disheartening to hear. It's not like it doesn't work at all either, which makes it all the more perplexing.

Any other things I should try out or anyone else with the same problem?

 

[tomrev]

Don't defrag the MicroSD card. Defragment is only for Harddrive, not for solid state memory. It has no benefit to do this and it will cut down your MicroSD life.

Try this -> move all files to Harddrive and format your memory card. replace new firmware to memory. It may fix your game problem.

 

[BatousaiJ]

I've tried formatting the card and doing clean installs about three times now in fat32/fat/and fat32 again with panasonic tool.

Didn't help.

But I suppose one more try won't hurt.

 

[optiloc]

Is the SDcard Taiwan production ?
I had the same with a Kingston 4GBSDHC taiwan production. And other guys on the forum had this problem with sandisk and Kingston.
So i just bought another brand, i believe DaneElec, and the problem was gone.

 

[BatousaiJ]

It does not say on the card of the origin of the manufacturer but I do believe I have found the problem.

On the Sandisk 4gb it says (2) on the right corner which indicates that it is a Class 2 card which is actually the slowest of the current three available speeds.

Class 2 = 2mb/s
Class 4 = 4mb/s
Class 6 = 6mb/s

Due to its larger size and slow read speed while it may work just fine for most games that do not demand the highest speeds of access it might show glitches for games that do just like in the way that my games have.

I've purchased a Kingston 8gb MicroSD Class 4 and that should solve the problem.

I really should've done more research on the different classes and speeds but I suppose this is a lesson well learned at the cost of a dozen dollars or so.

Thanks for the help/comments all the same.

 

[Leonidas]

Class only means write speeds on the micro SD card, which is useful info for people with cameras and camcorders, but flashcarts care most about read speeds and random access times. Why your Sandisk doesn't work, I cannot say. Generally I've had good experience with Sandisk. I've just recently bought one Sandisk 8GB SDHC ~ Class 2 ~ and works just fine.

Also you should never defragment any of the SD cards, that's because the access speeds to one block are the same as to any other. Defragmentation is only useful if you want to have data in order - for recovery purposes etc.

 

[Ih8myPSP]

Hello folks, picked up one a acekard2i today and while I'm happily upgrading from a M3Simply, I found a rather odd problem that I couldn't find addressed specifically around here so here it is.

I bought a Sandisk 4gb MicoSDHC card(came with reader) along with the acekard2i and after loading up the firmware following the instructions, I find that there are some slowdowns and glitches in certain games.

Some examples-

Pokemon HG: Very slow response time when in item screen going from left to right and etc.
Sonic Collection: Notable input delay between button/direction presses to action
Bowser's Inside Story: Screen tearing, sound distortion
DQ IV: Graphics tearing during intro movie.

I have the card formatted at FAT32 and have tried it formatted on FAT.

I did a test with my previous MicroSD card, the Sandisk 2gb MicroSD and these problems do not exist using the same settings.

So I'm led to believe that it's a problem with the Sandisk 4gb- is it fake and I'm just screwed with it or is this something that's common that I can fix through some method?

No big deal either way but since I was going to give away the M3simply along with that 2gb card to my little nephew, I'd have to go buy another 2gb MicroSD if I can't get this 4gb to work correctly on the Acekard2i.

Any theories or possible fixes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

The tearing in the intro for DQIV happens to me. I have a 2i with a PNY class 4. Once in game however there is no tearing no slowing or anything.

 

[xdf]

I've purchased a Kingston 8gb MicroSD Class 4 and that should solve the problem.

I think ive heard that cards made in japan perform better than ones made in taiwan..? I just bought an 8gb kingston class 4 as my previous card had slowdown on some games and this one does too! (its made in taiwan...) Only games ive noticed problems with are chinatown wars and metal slug, not tried any of the ones you mentioned but they run fine on my kingston 2gb card (made in japan)....

 

[BatousaiJ]

See, if the problem was only about some graphic glitch during the intro of a game I would not mind so much but when it generates input delay or actual glitches in graphics and sound in the games themselves, it becomes a problem.

Well, if it's not a matter of Class speeds, I have really no idea what it could be.

Perhaps it's the fact that it's a MicroSDHC card that this randomness occurs.

I've personally not had any problems with my Sandisk 2gb(made in Taiwan) and maybe would've been better off buying another 2gb to ensure it would work instead of going for a larger size.

If it has something to do with manufacturer origin, there's nothing to do since it's not like you can actively go buy a card made from Japan or Taiwan. All you can really do is buy it and hope.

Now I wonder if I wasted even more money but buying the Kingston Class 4 8gb. I really hope not and I suppose I'll know when it comes in the mail in two days.

Memory card troubleshooting sure is a confusing hassle.

 

[EJames2100]

I have a Taiwan 8Gb Class 4 card and runs perfectly fine on all games I've played.
So hopefully yours does too

And yeah it's read speeds that matter as I got told.
The Flashcart is contantly reading off the card and only writes to it when saving.(I think lol)

 

[BatousaiJ]

So to give an update and some closure to the matter, I got my 8gb Kingston Class 4 MicroSDHC(Taiwan made) and did some tests.

The DQ IV opening graphics tear still persists, albeit to a lesser degree and the sound is no longer out of sync and slow.

The slow input from games like Pokemon HG is no longer there and now Bower's Inside Story plays fine without sound/graphic glicthes.

I tried formatting the card in Fat 32 using windows format and Panasonic is 32/64 kb allocation and came up with the same results.

All in all, this card is completely fine to use as there are no problems that persists during game play and the only graphical glitch I observed were in DQ IV/V and only at the intro for a few brief moments.

It's not perfect but it works plenty well enough for me to use.

As for why the Sandisk 4gb had problems and the 8gb does not, I'm still not sure. Perhaps some more concrete info can be found elsewhere but I would suggest people get class 4 cards over 2 since it takes less time writing on it at the least and there might be some link to it with the overall performance.

 

[Leonidas]

Maybe your Sandisk 4GB SDHC is a fake/bad batch, esp. if you bought it in China/H.K. and at a low price. Mine came in a packaging with a "Wake up your phone" sticker.

 

[monkey316]

I have the same problem, pokemon is very laggy when entering new buildings and chooseing pokemon

 

[DDTmanSP]

Hello, I have the same problem as you are facing. I have bought 4GB class 2 SanDisk MicroSDHC and the speed is god of slow. And I have the same as your example that when I play Pokemon Pt&HG/SS, the speed is noticably slow on item menu and also when entering any building. The screen was faded out and looks like it was loading for a long time. I am very frustrated of it.

I have bought the same 4GB SanDisk class 2 before this and have no problem with it. It works just fine.

Besides, I have sent this idiot MicroSD card to the service center for 2 times. But they throw me back the same rotten MicroSD. The same problem still exist and I have no idea how to solve this situation. I have spent a lot of money and time for travelling around for the reclamation and it is beyond the cost of this microSD!

 

[Gvaz]

What class is it?

Class 6 is really what you should have invested in anyways (A-Data or Kingston)

 

[inter4ever]

Bought a Sandisk Microsdhc Class 2 4GB locally. I am sure it is original, however, slowdowns in Pokemon are unbearable. My G6 lite ran this game perfectly. I ordered a Kingston 8GB card from Shoptemp with my Supercard DSTWO and will report back if there are any improvements with both AK and SC.

 

[Mages4ever]

Someone should test the 16 GB Kingtson Class 10 SDHC.