Hacking Where and what to buy?

[Eldgrim]

I bought a R4 clone last year and it seems to be a really bad one. I didn't even know about R4 demise... I had an R4 a few years ago that's why i searched google and purchased the first one i found.

It is an R4 upgrade. Took me a long time to find a working OS but most games won't work. I searched a bit and found out Wood R4 seems to be the best.

So at this point i need to find a real R4 to have wood r4 and enjoy games FINALLY.

Am i right?

I just want the best compatibility cart.

Where can i buy a real and working R4 that is still supported?

I own a NDS Lite. Will probably buy a 3DS later but right now my focus is the NDSL.

Thanks alot.

 

[Rydian]

"R4" =/= "flash cart".
R4 clone shops thrive off of people that only know the word "R4", as you found out.

http://gbatemp.net/t290097-which-flash-cart-should-i-get
All the carts there play the recent games.

http://shoptemp.net/
That lists shops for 'ya.

 

[BORTZ]

If you had stepped into market around 4 and a half years ago, you would be ok buying a generic R4. Maybe. haha. But not in todays world. Sorry man.

 

[Eldgrim]

Thanks! It seems the acekard 2i is the way to go. Where should i go to download and install the latest OS? Can i install Wood on it? Is the stock OS as good as Wood? Any advice is welcome. I do not want to repeat the experience and frustration with my R4 upgrade crap.

 

[Rydian]

The Acekard 2i updates slowly, so if you're using it on a DSi or 3DS that you always update, you might find the cart locked out for up to a month or more before the next update.

People freak out over Wood because before Wood, there was nothing for certain carts. Lots of carts went without updates for years, then Wood came along and was open-source and ported to many flash carts that were deserted, giving them updates. Then the author changed his mind, went back on the GPL/open-source thing, and Wood is now closed-source and only for a select few carts.

EoS, AKAIO, etc., are all at least as good as Wood.

You generally get updates for the cart from the site printed on the cart itself (on the sticker). The exception is AKAIO for the acekard (since it's made at akaio.com and acekard.com doesn't always update with the news of a new release, so the version on acekard.com isn't always the latest).

 

[Eldgrim]

What do you recommend Rydian? I use a regular NDSL. My only concern is the be able to play games smoothly.

 

[Rydian]

If you're using an original DS or a Lite then you don't actually need to worry about system updates (the original DS models don't have firmware updates), in that case almost anything from the list would work (except the original R4 model since it only supports 2GB of storage and you'll likely want more).

My personally recommendations are the DSTwo or the R4i Gold listed there (but you have to be very careful when picking it out, as there's a lot of imposters from competing sites without legit wood support). The Acekard 2i works fine from a software perspective, but it has an annoying physical contact issue...
http://gbatemp.net/topic/231412-solving-acekard-contact-issues/
That you probably don't want to deal with.

The DSTwo's more expensive for the added features, so people that just want to play DS games without advanced hacking functions usually just go for the Acekard 2i or R4i Gold.

 

[Eldgrim]

I can use the sites listed on here to buy the DStwo with confidence right?

 

[Rydian]

There's not a personal inspection of sites before they're listed, that's why there's reviews.

 

[Eldgrim]

Any store suggestion then?

 

[Rydian]

http://www.zhuzhuchina.com/store/
They're one of the last suggested stores as far as ordering things cheaply out of China (where flash carts are produced).

If you feel better with a continental US-based import store, this one's also good, but import stores are more expensive than China-based ones as they import the product first before reselling it to you.
http://www.modchipcentral.com/store/
They don't sell the R4i Gold/3DS though.

 

[Eldgrim]

Thanks alot for the answers!