The Noob-Friendly Guide and FAQs About Setting Up Wood R4.
Latest Revision - 6/16/10 - Wood R4 v.1.09.
(Thanks to jurassicplayer for the logo.)
-Work in progress. many more sections to come.-
Alright, so you have an old R4 lying around, and you’re like, “Well, WTF do I do with this piece of
Contents
1. Obtaining the firmware.
2. Getting the firmware onto your Micro SD card.
3. Adding roms.
4. Oh fu-! My saves don't work
Section 1. – Obtaining your Firmware
The only way to obtain Wood R4 is via the main page’s news section. Alternatively, you can visit this section for the most current, and previous versions of the firmware. Here is a link to version 1.08
Section 2. - Getting the firmware onto your Micro SD card.
So now you’ve gotten the firmware, but it’s in a .rar format. Don’t freak out. Head on over to this site for a tool to unpack the .rar file. Once you’ve done that, open up the folder. It should be labeled something along the lines of “wood_r4_v1.08” or whatever the latest revision is. Now, open up that folder and you should see a folder called “root.” Put all of the contents of that folder onto your micro SD card. (And not the root folder.)
When finished, your Micro SD card should look like this:
Section 3. - Adding roms.
Alright, you have your shiny new firmware on your R4, but how can I add games? Well, you can do this any way you like. All you need to do is drag and drop the roms onto your Micro SD card. You can also use folders for better organization. For example, I put my roms in a folder called, "Games," my homebrew in a folder called, "Homebrew." Then, for the games I'm currently beating, I make another folder and put my roms in there. You can organize your roms any way you like! ;D
Section 4. - Oh fu-! My saves don't work
No need to panic. In the FAQ, there's a link to a .sav converter. Wood R4 uses .nds.sav rather than .sav, so you just need to convert the file extension. It's really easy to use. All you do is you put all of your savs into a folder with the .bat file inside. Then, just run the program and it'll convert your .sav files into .nds.sav files. It's as simple as that. Be sure to back up your save files before running this program to prevent accidental data loss.
FAQ
Latest Revision - 6/16/10 - Wood R4 v.1.09 Change Log.
This FAQ is compiled of questions related to all versions of Wood R4.
Getting Started
Q: What does Wood R4 v1.04 look like?
A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3y7Q-sAJY0 - Awe yeah, first video about it on Youtube.
Q: How do I install this onto my R4?
A: Download the file, extract it, and place all of the contents of the "root" folder into the main directory of your cart. For example, K:\ and not K:\root
Q: How do I add my own cheats?
A: You can download the usrcheats.dat file and place it in K:\__rpg\cheats.
Q: How can I add my own themes?
A: Once you find a theme of your liking, place it in this folder:
"K:\__rpg\ui"
Q: How do I switch themes?
A: You switch theme by going into Start>Settings>System Settings Tab.
Q: What themes does this cart use?
A: All Acekard 2/2.1/2i themes should work.
Q: My sav files aren't working! What do I do?
A: Change the ".sav" or ".SAV" into ".nds.sav"
Q: Can I use an SDHC?
A: No. Well, if you used a clone you could
Q: Can I hide the __rpg folder?
A: Yes.
Q: The Clock/Calender doesn't work!
A1: For the theme clock/calendar problem, there is sort of fix for that. Don't know if it fixes every theme though, but it has for a few that I've tried.
Place these 4 files (clock_colon.bmp, clock_numbers.bmp, day_numbers.bmp, year_numbers.bmp) into a folder named "calendar" within the theme folder.
A2: Read this guide. Works for most themes o-o
Q: The cheat list is blank! I added USRCHEAT.DAT to the correct folder!
A: Your skin might be messing with the color of the font, making it the same color as the background , try changing the skin. (the Black skin that comes default with the Wood R4 has this issue.)
Q: Does this have Wii Compatibility?
A: From what I hear, it does.
Q: When I try to boot slot-2, I just get two white screens.
A: Update to v1.06.
Q: What does pressing "X" do?
A: It takes you to your favourites.
Q: Can I use my own icons?
A: Here's a thread on how to do it. Specific instructions for Wood R4 at the bottom of the post.
Q: How can I soft reset? The R4 combination isn't working for me.
A: L+R+A+B+Down.
Key Commands
L+R+A+B+Down - Soft Reset to menu
Select+L (Hold down select, then press L) - Shows or hides all files.
L+Y - Shows global settings.
Batch Converting
Download this and put it in the same folder with all of your .sav files. They should convert.
Another version. Download it here.
Useful Reads & Discussions
Wood R4 vs YSMenu
Wood R4 and YSMenu Simultaneously?
Compatible Cards
Original R4 (Black and White)
M3
R4 Clones (See this for more info.)
Non-Compatible Cards
Clones of non-R4 carts under the R4 label.
Q: What does Wood R4 v1.04 look like?
A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3y7Q-sAJY0 - Awe yeah, first video about it on Youtube.
Q: How do I install this onto my R4?
A: Download the file, extract it, and place all of the contents of the "root" folder into the main directory of your cart. For example, K:\ and not K:\root
Q: How do I add my own cheats?
A: You can download the usrcheats.dat file and place it in K:\__rpg\cheats.
Q: How can I add my own themes?
A: Once you find a theme of your liking, place it in this folder:
"K:\__rpg\ui"
Q: How do I switch themes?
A: You switch theme by going into Start>Settings>System Settings Tab.
Q: What themes does this cart use?
A: All Acekard 2/2.1/2i themes should work.
Q: My sav files aren't working! What do I do?
A: Change the ".sav" or ".SAV" into ".nds.sav"
Q: Can I use an SDHC?
A: No. Well, if you used a clone you could
Q: Can I hide the __rpg folder?
A: Yes.
Q: The Clock/Calender doesn't work!
A1: For the theme clock/calendar problem, there is sort of fix for that. Don't know if it fixes every theme though, but it has for a few that I've tried.
Place these 4 files (clock_colon.bmp, clock_numbers.bmp, day_numbers.bmp, year_numbers.bmp) into a folder named "calendar" within the theme folder.
A2: Read this guide. Works for most themes o-o
Q: The cheat list is blank! I added USRCHEAT.DAT to the correct folder!
A: Your skin might be messing with the color of the font, making it the same color as the background , try changing the skin. (the Black skin that comes default with the Wood R4 has this issue.)
Q: Does this have Wii Compatibility?
A: From what I hear, it does.
Q: When I try to boot slot-2, I just get two white screens.
A: Update to v1.06.
Q: What does pressing "X" do?
A: It takes you to your favourites.
Q: Can I use my own icons?
A: Here's a thread on how to do it. Specific instructions for Wood R4 at the bottom of the post.
Q: How can I soft reset? The R4 combination isn't working for me.
A: L+R+A+B+Down.
Key Commands
L+R+A+B+Down - Soft Reset to menu
Select+L (Hold down select, then press L) - Shows or hides all files.
L+Y - Shows global settings.
Batch Converting
Download this and put it in the same folder with all of your .sav files. They should convert.
Another version. Download it here.
Useful Reads & Discussions
Wood R4 vs YSMenu
Wood R4 and YSMenu Simultaneously?
Compatible Cards
Original R4 (Black and White)
M3
R4 Clones (See this for more info.)
Non-Compatible Cards
Clones of non-R4 carts under the R4 label.
Change Log
v1.09
- i'm tired of complaints from noobs about euro sonic classic collection so: encrypted roms support added.
- error shown if not enough space for save.
- total/used/free space calculation improved.
- slot2 in favorites bug fixed.
- brightness stored in separate ini. so now on ds lite settings occasionally not reset after power off.
v1.08
- fatfs core updated to 0.08.
- cheats cause slowdown in some games. fixed.
- softreset/cheats arm7 core updated.
- bug in cheat custom code processing fixed.
v1.07
- mp3 playback in moonshell2 fixed.
- r4 hardware supports only 8 megabytes save size maximum. added workaround for warioware games. now problems with music and comics must gone.
- 'children of mana' game has a bug that causes random freeze at 1st startup on slow cards. fixed.
- empty folders can be deleted.
- rom titles fixed for german and italian language.
v1.06
- brightness stored.
- removed unused system settings.
- slot 2 boot works
- you can use the savelist.bin from the lastest Akaio so that Roms auto-detect their correct save size
v1.05
- now softreset works
- 'afl mascot manor' % 'nrl mascot manian' fixed
- if your change language or/and skin firmware now restarts
- removed rpg specific options from rominfo dialog
- X goes to favourites
v1.04
Firmware released.
- i'm tired of complaints from noobs about euro sonic classic collection so: encrypted roms support added.
- error shown if not enough space for save.
- total/used/free space calculation improved.
- slot2 in favorites bug fixed.
- brightness stored in separate ini. so now on ds lite settings occasionally not reset after power off.
v1.08
- fatfs core updated to 0.08.
- cheats cause slowdown in some games. fixed.
- softreset/cheats arm7 core updated.
- bug in cheat custom code processing fixed.
v1.07
- mp3 playback in moonshell2 fixed.
- r4 hardware supports only 8 megabytes save size maximum. added workaround for warioware games. now problems with music and comics must gone.
- 'children of mana' game has a bug that causes random freeze at 1st startup on slow cards. fixed.
- empty folders can be deleted.
- rom titles fixed for german and italian language.
v1.06
- brightness stored.
- removed unused system settings.
- slot 2 boot works
- you can use the savelist.bin from the lastest Akaio so that Roms auto-detect their correct save size
v1.05
- now softreset works
- 'afl mascot manor' % 'nrl mascot manian' fixed
- if your change language or/and skin firmware now restarts
- removed rpg specific options from rominfo dialog
- X goes to favourites
v1.04
Firmware released.
