Hacking Write-Protect & Other Issues with Transcend microSD

[Hakuromatsu]

I loaded a Transcend microSD (class 6, 4 GB) through the USB reader which came packaged with my Acekard 2.1 ("T-FLASH USB" is printed on it) and booted AKAIO 1.8.5a, which I'd never used. Almost every ROM I tested (all trimmed with TokyoTrim) had some sort of issue, none of which I've had with the actual carts:
- Dawn of Sorrow had graphical glitches in the menu and around sprites, and froze once between rooms.
- Portrait of Ruin had graphical glitches on various screens.
- Ketsui Death Label loaded an "Exception" screen.
- Contra 4 couldn't be processed.

I had no choice but to power-off while AKAIO was attempting to process Contra 4, so I figured I would just reformat the microSD if it was corrupted and try again. But when I tried to reformat it (Panasonic or Windows) or do anything else with it (again through the USB reader), I got write-protect errors. I tried the same through the SD adapter included with the Transcend (with the lock taped and in all possible positions), but with no luck.

Windows recognized the microSD and accurately reported how much space was occupied and free, so I though I'd try the write-protect registry fix floating around the web (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/StorageDeviceProperties, with WriteProtect set to 0). I had to create "StorageDeviceProperties" for the CurrentControlSet, but it already existed for ControlSet001 and 004 and was already set to 0 (ControlSet002 and 003 only had a folder called "Services" so I didn't want to mess with them). But after rebooting, I got the same results.

When I try booting AKAIO again with the microSD, Acekard is recognized on the main DS screen, but it goes immediately to black on clicking it. When I try accessing anything on the microSD through Windows, I can't (but I can explore it to my heart's content and, like I said, it reports the capacity accurately).

So I have a couple of questions...
- If this is a software or Windows issue, are there are any other fixes for the write-protect problem?
- If this were a hardware issue, wouldn't I not be able to explore the microSD at all through Windows (wouldn't it give me some sort of "corrupted" or "damaged" message)?
- But if it is a hardware issue, is it the microSD or (both) the microSD readers? I know that the microSD readers packaged with other products are cheap and unreliable, but is there any good reason for the USB reader to have worked fine the first time, and then not at all the second time? (especially given that it followed problems with the microSD in AKAIO and that I had the same exact problems problems with the Transcend SD reader)

If it definitely is an issue with the microSD, I just won't skimp on quality next time...I think the ultimate message here is not to buy electronics from Taiwan...

EDIT: I had already formatted it once before using it at all with the Panasonic formatter (FAT32, 32KB clusters).

EDIT: Another question...TokyoTrim hasn't ever caused graphical glitches like I experienced with the Castlevanias, has it? Is ROM trimming in general not 100% reliable?

 

[Hakuromatsu]

Pardon for the bump, but if anyone can answer even one of my questions I'd appreciate it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up needing to buy something else, and I just want some sort of guidance from the community so I'm not throwing more money away.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Qtis]

Another question...TokyoTrim hasn't ever caused graphical glitches like I experienced with the Castlevanias, has it? Is ROM trimming in general not 100% reliable?

At least this one I can answer pretty well. Trimming usually just removes the extra 0's from the end of the ROM. It has been noted to affect WI-FI sometimes, but that is usually fixed in a newer version of the trimmer. I haven't had any issues with trimming my self (usually I don't even bother to trim since I don't have that many games and microSD cards are quite cheap (under 20e for a 16Gb Kingston inc. shipping..)). TokyoTrim is a very good trimmer for Windows and I haven't heard of graphic glitches with the said trimmer. But as you said yourself, ROM trimming isn't 100% reliable, but still it rarely does any damage to ROM compatibility.


-Qtis

 

[Hakuromatsu]

Okay, thanks a lot Qtis. It's good to have that ruled out.

I may just assume that the microSD is at fault here and buy a new one. Should I try another Transcend Class 6 from a different site, or go with a Kingston Class 4 (I just found out that the Kingston Class 4 actually has a higher read speed than the Transcend Class 6, ~18 MB/sec vs. ~15 MB/sec)? No one on this site seems to have had problems with the Transcend, and one user even bought a Transcend to correct problems he had with a Kingston.

I never considered it until now, but is there a chance my Acekard is the problem? Can a card permanently damage a microSD like this (through voltage? I don't know much about electronics

), and would it have been responsible for the ROM bugs I described on top of that?

 

[Evo.lve]

Don't use a crappy generic card reader.

Go out to your nearest mobile phone shop and buy a real one.

 

[Hakuromatsu]

Thanks for the reply, Evo.lve. Do you think that the reader is the only problem? Because it would've had to do some semi-permanent damage to my microSD, because now *both* of my card readers aren't working, and it doesn't work with either my Acekard or Windows.

And sorry if I seem pushy, but I have a return deadline on the Transcend if I want a free replacement. Thanks for all the help so far