Hacking Where Real Hot Stuff Stands as a Reseller

[iMinotauro]

So I was really anxious to get my acekard2i, and came across Real Hot Stuff while going through the Acekard official list of resellers.
After searching around to find out if the site was reputable, I came across a post that read that Real Hot Stuff sold fake Acekard 2i's.
The "fake" Acekard 2i's that the site were supposedly be the ones that had the Actel Chip, this was posted at AKAIO forums. (AKAIO forum post should be updated now)
Then I found an actual post here on GBAtemp from them stating that they were removing the "fake" Acekard 2i's and restocking with authentic ones.

I was really craving an Acekard 2i at the moment so I went for it.
The transaction was fast. The shipping was incredibly fast.

I spent $24(free shipping + microSD reader included)- I only waited for 3 days!

As for the product, 100% authentic.
No chip protruding the outer shell, No clips holding the shell unlike my old Acekard 2.1 (man those clips were ugly, now it looks more like a legit NDS cart), I can also partly see a black PCB from the teeth of the flashcart.
I also loaded it up with the latest AKAIO and my HWID was 81= real.

In conclusion, It can be said that Real Hot Stuff is a reputable reseller and should regain it's great reputation.

P.S. The spring loader was not working, is this due to it being the newest model or something? or could it be that it was removed from them? *Someone please get back to me...

 

[tk_saturn]

There is no reason for anyone to buy from RHS

SimplyMods sell the Acekard 2i for $16.50 + $1.99 shipping http://www.simplymods.com/products/Acekard-2i.html
LeetMod sell the Acekard for $16.99 + $1.99 shipping http://www.leetmod.com/acekard-2i-cartridg...e-ds-p-169.html
Both of these retailers are US based and have similar shippings times to RHS, except they are cheaper! If you aren't concered with shipping times then you buy from ShopTemp and save yourself even more money. No one has claimed to receive a clone from either.


RHS talk BS. On the 15th of last month they were telling people Acekard were going to release an updated firmware to fix the 'bad batch' they are selling http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=214224 1 month on still hasn't happened...

 

[Leonidas]

RHS talk BS. On the 15th of last month they were telling people Acekard were going to release an updated firmware to fix the 'bad batch' they are selling http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=214224 1 month on still hasn't happened...

I don't think it's BS, since the AKAIO team is supposedly also working on support for these. I think RHS got the timing off because the Chinese are just being lazy with their kernel updates.

 

[flamingo24]

P.S. The spring loader was not working, is this due to it being the newest model or something? or could it be that it was removed from them? *Someone please get back to me...

They flash the linker before shipping it out. Maybe when the spring was depressed for the TF card when flashed, the card was just removed w/o using the spring. Try inserting a TF card and pressing firmly down on it. This should spring eject the card and allow it to function again.

 

[Leonidas]

Some Acekards don't have spring loaded slots.

 

[flamingo24]

Some Acekards don't have spring loaded slots.

I thought the Black PCB HW 81's all did?

 

[hsace]

I don't know how long you guys have been into flashcarts. I have been here long enough to know a lot about most of the resellers including realhotstuff.

realhotstuff is one of the few online stores in US that are still survive today. A lot of them closed because of Nintendo threat. realhotstuff is still here serving people in US. People are talking about the new site simplymods.com. I want to remind you other sites like that (stuffs4kids.com, dragonds.com or even the gamebygame, dealwoot) have been all gone. For those of you who had purchased from them and had problem with their products are stuck. They can not get them fixed or replaced.

The reason realhotstuff is more expensive than others is unknown. But I would imagine they had spent good amount of money fighting Nintendo while others just gave up.

Regarding Acekar 2.1 issue, the post by Rinnon here http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=217360 proved what they said was correct. However, it seemed like Acekard gave up on those fix and decided to come out with a new hardware instead of fixing it.

I can't believe people blaming realhotstuff for the spring. We all know the spring is always problem with some flashcarts including the early R4. That was the biggest issue with the R4 at the beginning. R4 eventually replaced the spring with non-spring loading to take care of it. Acekard is too slow in responding to the issue. As far as I know realhotstuff pre-update acekard 2i to 1.4. That means they have tested and it should be fine. However, because of the quality of Acekard and they get the blame. That's ridiculous.

Most of you may like the cheap price from others. If you are one of them, I would suggest you to go with the stores in China (0shippingzone for one). They are cheaper than the stores mentioned here. They will also most likely survive longer than the US stores if Nintendo decides to start another round of threat.

My point is, realhotstuff is not the cheapest but tell me what other stores offer you toll free number for support. I have contacted them several times by phone and every time someone answered the phone. Now, that's what I call customer service.

 

[Rayder]

RHS might be a little more expensive than other retailers, but I've bought ALL my (and my friend's and relatives) flashcarts through RHS and have never had a problem with anything. Just saying.....

Truth be told though, if I ever buy another flashcart, it will likely be through ShopTemp simply because of GBAtemp's affiliation with them.

 

[tk_saturn]

RHS talk BS. On the 15th of last month they were telling people Acekard were going to release an updated firmware to fix the 'bad batch' they are selling http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=214224 1 month on still hasn't happened...

I don't think it's BS, since the AKAIO team is supposedly also working on support for these. I think RHS got the timing off because the Chinese are just being lazy with their kernel updates.

They said Acekard and not AKAIO, they also said that before Normmatt fixed it in his 'Latest Build', which was reported by Another World on April 1st. I believe AW was saying at that time Acekard had no idea what was wrong with them, leaving it down to Normmatt to solve the issue.

 

[flamingo24]

I can't believe people blaming realhotstuff for the spring. We all know the spring is always problem with some flashcarts including the early R4. That was the biggest issue with the R4 at the beginning. R4 eventually replaced the spring with non-spring loading to take care of it. Acekard is too slow in responding to the issue. As far as I know realhotstuff pre-update acekard 2i to 1.4. That means they have tested and it should be fine. However, because of the quality of Acekard and they get the blame. That's ridiculous.

Oh, I think you misunderstood. Removing the TF card w/o spring ejecting is a common practice to avoid problems with the spring. RHS has long been held as a trusted source by the community; it was not meant to be a defamation of RHS.

 

[Hakoda]

RHS talk BS. On the 15th of last month they were telling people Acekard were going to release an updated firmware to fix the 'bad batch' they are selling http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=214224 1 month on still hasn't happened...

I don't think it's BS, since the AKAIO team is supposedly also working on support for these. I think RHS got the timing off because the Chinese are just being lazy with their kernel updates.

They said Acekard and not AKAIO, they also said that before Normmatt fixed it in his 'Latest Build', which was reported by Another World on April 1st. I believe AW was saying at that time Acekard had no idea what was wrong with them, leaving it down to Normmatt to solve the issue.

I'd hate to think that's true but it seems like it. Look at their firmware updates. None in like months. They know people choose AKAIO so until Normmatt decides to stop developing they're not going to update their FW, they'll just link to AKAIO. Thank god for Normmatt.

Anyway, I bought my AK2.1 from RHS, sure it was a little more expensive but all that did to me was increase my expectations form them. And damn, did they meet. I got my Acekard within 3 days and I live on the complete other side of the country. (RHS is in NJ, I'm in CA)

 

[iamthemilkman]

RHS has never screwed me. Always got legit carts and insanely quick shipping. However, once I found SimplyMods, which has cheaper prices and shipping just about as quick, I haven't gone back to RHS.

 

[CharmingLugia]

I just bought one a week ago, it came and war real. Real hot stuff is legit, man it never screwed me

 

[papoose1313]

I agree. I bought an acekard 2i last week from RHS, after buying one from consolesource (meh) cause RHS was out of stock and bricking it because I didn't realize they don't update their carts for 1.4 compatibility before they ship them out. 100% legit, HW 81, updated for 1.4, spring loaded which seems to be the new cart (yet pretty dumb IMO), and yea it works perfectly on my DSI XL. Bought my cyclods from them a while back, good site.

Now if only team Cyclops made a legit dsi card. I miss that chip....

 

[ZeWarrior]

I agree, I have ordered 3 flash carts from RHS so far (from 2007-2010), an R4, an M3 DS Simply and an M3i Zero. All worked perfectly and were original.

 

[Another World]

ak 2.1 black pcb sold after dec 2009

acekard made an official announcement, to a very small amount of resellers, saying they were trying to fix the issue. they told myself and others (who won't be named) that the cards were not clones, they had no idea what the problem was or how to fix it. RHS embellished on the news and told people that a fix would be out that week, and then the following week, and so on. the fix never came. norm was able to figure out the problem, it came down to a memory address (from what i recall) and a timing issue. he shared the fix with the official team, who at the time said they could still not work out what the problem was. funny thing about it was that norm fixed it within an hour, and it only took a few minutes of debugging by myself and some others to get it working fully. i guess this goes to show that if you work on the hardware, it is easier to understand how to fix it.... shame on acekard for not working on their firmware for years (loader updates don't count).

i once purchased an r4 (about 2yrs ago) as a gift around xmas. rhs sold me a clone with a window in the shell. this is not what i paid for. when i inquired about it and asked for a refund, they said they had no idea it was a clone. now, i am far from an expert, and 2yrs ago i knew little about slot1 linkers. as soon as it arrived i knew it was a fake by the thick box and the crappy printing job. again RHS embellished the truth and made up a story to cover their end. if anyone cares to dig through the forum, i made a post about it in the r4 section complete with images.

it is true that they ship fast, they offer products in the U.S. and they have good customer support. but they do, have, and probably always will, sell fakes and clones and pretend they do not know the difference.

there was a post that i can't find right now where someone quoted a response they had received from RHS. in the response RHS said that the actel chipped acekard was being produced by members who left team acekard (a lie), and that the actel chipped acekard was no different than the "sst" chipped acekard 2i (another lie).

the problem here is that they got caught in the lie. so what if they are stocking the "real" acekard now, they weren't before. users should not have to take the risk of getting a fake/clone when they purchase. they should not have to e-mail the site and demand proof that the site is selling legit cards. it will be years before RHS can dig themselves out of the hole they dug.

why does it take a post on the akaio forum, which collects the ackeard hwids and digi photos to make RHS start selling real acekards? finally a guide to not buying a clone is compiled and they are worried about all the people that will try to ship back their card?

it is no secret that acekard stopped selling to overseas resellers, making it next to impossible (as a reseller) to get refunds of dead stock, damaged stock, failed stock, clone stock, etc. so resellers like RHS would rather tell you stories than refund your $24. in the end they are out the cost of shipping and the $10-12 they paid per card. they end up with a return of a card they can't use, and if that card is working, chances are high that they will be tempted to just sell it off again in the hopes that the next guy doesn't know the difference.

in the meantime people will order from them because not everyone can find information which bitches about them as a reseller. these same people will receive a clone, the clone won’t work, and the clone will not be covered under the 1yr acekard warranty. i'm happy that they got called out on the akaio forum, and i've yet to hear that they issued any type of apology or have asked to have that comment removed. even if they did, again what can they do to prove that they won't go back to stocking known clones again?

further more RHS makes it very difficult for users to return a defective card and make good of acekards 1 yr warranty. if they are really on the official acekard reseller list, i would encourage any user who got ripped off, sold a clone, or told they could not return their card for a refund or an exchange, to contact [email protected] with their story and some proof of purchase.

i'm not trying to attack RHS, other sites are doing the same things, and it pisses me off. but RHS is in the public eye for this thread. i hope they sell the real stuff, i hope they continue to sell the real stuff, and i hope they never stock clones again. but also i hope the chinese 3rd party sellers stop selling clones to shops like RHS who place orders and receive clones without knowing.

the whole thing is a vicious circle. RHS can only be blamed for some of it.

that’s my 10 cents on the matter.

-another world

 

[Hakoda]

Amen to that AW.

Personally, my AK2.1 from RHS was fine and genuine. But really who are you suppose to believe? Obviously you're going to listen to the reseller because that's the only source of information you've got on your possible defective clone. Unless you hook up with one these guys (AW, Normmatt, Smiths, AKAIO Beta Team, ect) who will tell you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, you're not going to get a solid answer. Ever.

This is why we need research, development, and databases on whether or not a clone is present. AW & AKAIO Beta Team have dug up this information and have compiled a pretty good structure of things pertaining to the subject by asking the only possible true consumers to step up. Us. The database is still in progress and my guess is that they have some interesting plans to do something with the information. The reseller will tell you "Its totally genuine" almost every time but like most sites, the reseller is not the judge. The consumer is.

Look at the guys at 0shipping. They've claimed that they've got a good batch of AK2.1's. Now none of us could believe them until they dished out some evidence. And that they did, they posted pictures of the PCB for everyone to see. Now we can compare this to the database mentioned before and confirm it. I give you props for this 0shipping. But we won't give a final answer until someone buys an AK2.1 from them or the evidence is confirmed.

So ultimately who can we trust? We can trust the developers. We can trust sites with confirmed feedback and solid evidence.

Who can't we trust? The reseller's statement with no proof of anything. The Acekard Team.

This is a very interesting topic, I'd like to here everyone else's two cents.

 

[tk_saturn]

I'm actually suprised 0ShippingZone posted pictures after I asked lol. But I don't doubt they have working Acekard 2.1's, it's enough proof for me.

What annoyed me about RHS was this post

The Actel ones we got were with HWID of 80. They came with 1.4 updated. There is no need to update it. Most of them worked just fine only few of them had problem.

We heard the ones you can get from DealExtreme came with HWID of 8181. Some people claimed those were fake. But we do not know for sure unless Acekard comes out to clear those things out. However, I doubt Acekard will admit that they have internal issues.

What HWID Acekard 2i's were RHS selling before they got the clones? 81. What carts are they selling now? 81's. So why would they insinuate the 81 carts at other retailers were fake? the very same carts they are selling now.

We all know 8181 (update tool) = 81 (AKAIO)

 

[Another World]

two things i want to add.

the 0shippingzone.com images are of the black pcb hw80 ak2.1 which shipped before dec 09. yes this is a new design but this is not the card that has issues. the pics that were posted on the akaio forum of the working 2.1 was the card from before dec 09. i received the images and i confirmed with the user that the card was purchased over a year ago and akaio 1.6 rc2 works correctly on it. so the 0shippingzone.com pics are a bit misleading. yes they have a card that is working, yes it is the "new" design, but it is not the newest design. the newest is the one that is working on akaio 1.6 rc3 (still in beta). it appears they received the pre-dec 09 cards with their new order.

RHS said they were selling an ak2i hwid 80? lol. there is no hwid of 80 for the ak2i. there were rumors awhile back that a jtagged ak2 might allow the user to reflash the chip and make it usable on the 2i. from what i remember being told the ak2i was based on the ak2 hw80, the design that was sold. so based on that information isn't it conceivable to assume that this clone was an ak2 modified to work on the 2i? this might explain the hwid 80.

i still want to collect images and information on all known clones, so we will have to wait and see what info comes in.

oh and Hakoda, there are some plans to do some good with that clone thread once it is completed. =)

-another world

 

[iamthemilkman]

I'm so bored that I found the thread:
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=99503

But yeah, that sucks. I've never had any issues with RHS, however.