Hacking .sav not working

[McNA5TY]

Having the same problem on AKAIO 1.5 and the newest official firmware. Two different SDC's tested, one SDHC and one not, on both firmwares. This is the second Acekard2 I've ordered in the past month. The first one worked perfectly right out of the box. Aside from the gamesaves being corrupted or whatever is happening to them (yes they are still in the file system), I've also had other issues like green loading letters on black screen, freeze on white nintendo screen at beginning of certain games.

From what I've read and seen for myself so far it seems like a hardware issue. Could just be a bad batch. Which sucks for us, of course. DealExtreme forgot to include the usb adapter with this one too. bummer.

 

[Siege42]

I'm having the exact same problem. With the exception of Castlevania: DoS all games crash at initial save (before start of game) Then upon loading DoS it doesn't list the save although it is on the cart and menu. I have a DS Lite, Acekard 2.1 and a Kingston 2gb miscroSD all new.

I've used Panasonic SD Formatter. Tried both Acekard's latest firmware as well as Akaio 1.5 (with latest loader in LOADERS folder. Yes, I completely formatted between firmwares. Only files in ROOT were akmenu4.nds and AIO and GAMES folders. Furthermore all games are in their own subfolders within GAMES. I have about 800 mbs free space on microSD. I'll try a diff microSD tomorrow (don't have an extra available at the moment.)

I've heard nothing but good things about the Acekard carts which is why I chose it but unless I'm missing something very obvious I think I received a defective cart. I also got mine from DealExtreme. I don't believe it to be a clone since Akaio 1.5 allegedly doesn't work with clone carts.


There's a thread on the cart's sku forum at DealExtreme. It does indeed appear to be a bad batch. I already opened RMA ticket.

 

[cogitech]

The three I tried were all from mygamingmart.com, up here in Canada. 1 of them was totally pooched (wouldn't run any firmware I put on it) and 2 of them had precisely the issues described in this thread (re: saves).

I figured it was a hardware issue, and I'm not surprised. The build quality on these carts is absolute crap compared to the (genuine) DSTTs I bought to replace them.

Needless to say, there is a significantly large batch of bad AK2s out there in the supply chain. I would recommend avoiding buying an AK2 until the problem is officially recognized, corrected, and all bad AK2 taken out of the supply chain.

 

[f1error]

I tried what zcmack did, and that did work for new super mario, but no others (crosswords ds, desktop defense).

As many other have stated this might be a bad acekard kit, but it could also be a software issue.

I'll keep trying ideas as they pop up, and maybe as a community we can get this thing debugged and working for us.

 

[Lizz0784]

I'm trying to send mine back but they require a picture. I don't have a camera O.o; Does anyone have a pic of the game not loading or something I can use?

 

[Siege42]

Ha! I just opened a generic pic of cart in MS Paint and wrote "I am defective =(" Still waiting for ticket response. I understand it can take a couple of days.

Also Lizz I noticed in your post in the other thread you ordered a 2i. I was considering the same but I'm waiting for OP to respond to this thread: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=200909 as it might be occurring in those carts as well. Unless the store you ordered from might have some old stock. And I really had my heart set on an Acekard.

 

[cogitech]

And I really had my heart set on an Acekard.

So did I, but after losing 2 days of my life to the POS I decided I'll never buy one again.

If I ever need something "better" than my DSTTs (which are working with every game I have tried so far (about 60 new and old games)) then I will just go for a SuperCard DS One.

 

[Lizz0784]

Also Lizz I noticed in your post in the other thread you ordered a 2i. I was considering the same but I'm waiting for OP to respond to this thread: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=200909 as it might be occurring in those carts as well. Unless the store you ordered from might have some old stock. And I really had my heart set on an Acekard.

Oh oh... I shouldn't have been so hasty to order but in my search I only saw people have problems with the 2.1... I also hope that I get lucky with an old 2i or that this isn't effecting them. We'll see in a couple days as it shipped out this morning. I do hope enough people get a hold of dealextreme where as they order a new working batch so I don't have the same problems with my replacements...

 

[DaMummy]

cogitech you need to stfu....

 

[cogitech]

There are many reports both here and in other forums of bad AK2.1s, so I'm not going to STFU. I had three of them in one go and there have been many others with the same issues. People should stop buying AK2.1s till the issue is solved.

 

[zcmack]

i am currently using the setup of AKAIO 1.5.1 and using the official firmware loader 4.08 to load all of my games. saved games work as expected and i have a pretty good experience.. however, i'm still missing out on the newer games that have been fixed in the latest revisions...

i just want to play bowser's inside story!

 

[f1error]

I tried that this weekend, but as you state it isn't working with newer games. I do have some homebrew that are working with 1.5.1 and it's loader, these also still work with the 4.08 official. Needless to say I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out some kind of work around.

I still have not heard back from MyGamingMart.com but I'm not convinced it's a hardware issue, so I'm not sure that getting a new one will solve the issue. Since things kind of work with a downgrade, and some homebrew is working with 1.5.1. I'm wondering if there wasn't a change in one of the chips that the card uses, that makes it not function right with 1.5.1 or the official loaders. If this is the case, all new cards will have this issue, and getting a new one will not solve the problem. Is there any way we can get some kind of official word from AKAIO (normmatt & Co.) -regarding software- or from Acekard -regarding hardware-? I've tried emailing Acekard, but I really don't think I'll heard from them.

 

[stompbox23]

Just adding that I also am having problems with .sav not working. I just got my Acekard 2.1 from DealExtreme and it freezes when saving. This is my second Acekard. I loved my first one so much that I ordered a second for my kids DS. I tried a different SDHC card with no luck. I want to play newer games so loading old firmware isn't something I want to bother with.

 

[Todderbert]

Has anyone tried that akaio 1.5 mod file on these carts? Maybe this batch of carts are clones, worth checking into.

 

[zcmack]

Has anyone tried that akaio 1.5 mod file on these carts? Maybe this batch of carts are clones, worth checking into.

i dont have the file and i have no appropriate means of attaining it.

 

[KajaMia]

I have just received 3 acekard 2.1 today, and the games are freezing on all of them. I have also tried a other memory card, but does not work either. Also tried different versions of AKAIO, but still no luck.

I also ordered 2 acekard 2i 2 months ago, and they are working absolutely perfect. So I guess its the acekards that holds the error. The memory cards are working fine on the acekard 2i.

I will try to write to DealExtreme today, as its obviously is a general problem for the latest buyers.

 

[OncleJulien]

I will try to write to DealExtreme today, as its obviously is a general problem for the latest buyers.

although it took a week, i got this back from dx today:

Our apologies for the item you bought being defective. We have arranged a free replacement for you. There is no need that you send defective item back to us. You may track the shipment using the existing order number.

 

[Nimbus]

Well, OncleJullien.

Look at the bright side of this.

At the end of all this you'll have 2 Acekard2's....

Potentially one that does work, and one that doesn't.
or
Potentially one that doesn't work, and another one that doesn't work.

I'm not sure if anyone has payed attention to this aspect yet, but the majority (Not all) have had this issue with Acekard2's shipped from DealExtreme. Has this donned on anyone yet? It sure has on me.

 

[OncleJulien]

Look at the bright side of this. At the end of all this you'll have 2 Acekard2's....
i cant imagine any other way to look at it, honestly.

Potentially one that does work, and one that doesn't.
or
Potentially one that doesn't work, and another one that doesn't work.
if the replacement is from the same batch, then i'm in the same boat with two cards...but if it works with AKAIO, then i'll consider myself lucky - and i'll be able to determine whether or not this is hardware or software related when a new AKAIO or official firmware is released; my existing card works fine, saves and all, under the older official firmware.

QUOTE(Nuclear Crow @ Jan 14 2010, 11:41 AM)

I'm not sure if anyone has payed attention to this aspect yet, but the majority (Not all) have had this issue with Acekard2's shipped from DealExtreme. Has this donned on anyone yet? It sure has on me.

i'm sure its dawned on more than a few people that these cards either came from dx, or from another vendor...where that leaves us, i'm not entirely sure, as we have no idea if dx took almost an entire lot of a specific run of cards, or they simply stored their lot on a box of rare earth magnets they sell, or if there are new components being introduced in the manufacture of said cards, and we're seeing them first from dx. as dx chose to replace my card, rather than opine or explain what may be at the heart of the issue (if they even know) leaves us that much further in the dark.

at the end of the day, i'll simply experiment with what they send me, and find a way to enjoy it using whatever combination of hardware and software thats available to me.

 

[Hasney]

I'm having similar issues.

I put AKAIO 1.5.1 as soon as I recieved it and everything seemed fine, played 5 hours of Bowsers Inside Story then went to bed.

When I came home from work the next day, I powered it up and the card wouldn't boot. It just froze on the "Loading Screen" (prior to picking any ROMs). I reformatted the card with the Panasonic formatter, put my game and save back on and it was fine, except for my save game was gone.

Then the game wouldn't boot unless the .sav file was deleted and now it freezes everytime it attempts to save on any game, unless I use the older firmware.

I've sent a support ticket to DX so we'll have to see what they come back with.