[FLASHCART] R4 User's Guide

I wanted to update my r4 kernel from version 1.08 to 1.10, but after downloading and copying thenew files onto my 2gb microsd, i found I could no longer use cheats, or choose between twelve different themes/skins like I used to, and when i try to go on multimedia it says 'error cant find DS_MOONSHL_NDS' or something like that. Could someone please help me with this?

sounds like you did not copy over everything, redownload 1.10 and copy over all the files again, you probably did not copy everything over, the reason you cant play action replay codes is because you did not copy over cheat.dat.

No i copied everything over, im absolutely sure. Ive tried copying it about four times already, it doesnt help.thanks anyways

If you have your old firmware version backed up, you NEED to back up all the theme folders if you want to keep them all because the theme folders will be overwritten if you keep it in the MicroSD card while copying over the firmware files. This is what you should do, next time you get a firmware update.1. Download the firmware. 2. Backup any theme folders, copy them over to a place on your hard drive where you can copy them back later. This goes the same for the cheat.dat/usrcheat.dat files. Back those up too if you want to keep them.3. Copy over the entire firmware folder to your DS and click Yes to All to rewrite the system folder and have the firmware updated.4. Copy back the themes and cheat .dat's over, and you should have the updated firmware with the themes and cheat files intact.Now for Moonshell, just copy over the _DS_MSHL_NDS.nds file to the root folder of your MicroSD card, like the day you got your R4 and installed the files. If not, just reinstall Moonshell, and copy the .nds file over to the root folder.

No i copied everything over, im absolutely sure. Ive tried copying it about four times already, it doesnt help.thanks anyways

hmm bad download? try downloading it from another source, or backup all your roms and saves and do a fresh install of the new firmware that might work.

I got mine today, using the 1.06 GUIEasy as pie

I got mine today, using the 1.06 GUIEasy as pie

I cant cook a pie....http://r4ds.com/download-en.htmEnglish 1.10 Firmware. The R4DS.Net site seems to be down but luckily they have r4ds.com to fall back on.

i am thinking of buying an r4 but i wanted to know is the m3 better? cause i would really like to know

oh groovynow i need 1 for GBA roms, so I'm gonna go and look around the site a bit and see what's good, dont' realy care about money just want somethin easy to use

Does anyone else's R4 occasioanlly "miss" being picked up by the NDS? Sometimes it just boots normally as if no card is in slot 1

yeah that happens to me quite often

hmm bad download? try downloading it from another source, or backup all your roms and saves and do a fresh install of the new firmware that might work.

btw it works now. Pretty weird though, even though moonshell and the themes were on there,it woudnt recognize them until i renamed them(for example I had to rename 'themes' to 'THEMES'and 'bckgrd_1.bmp' to BCKGRD_1.BMP etc). I got the idea because it said "cant find _DS_MNSHL.NDS" and the file that was on my card was called_DS_MNSHL.nds, so i thought if i put in capitals it would work, and it did! anyway, thanks for the help guys

this has probably already been discussed, but i need to know which is better - the R4 or the EZflash V.......i was gonna go with the R4, but i would like to use the DS browser rom, which means i would need the extra RAM right? does the EZFlash V come with the extra RAM cartridge? i dont really care about rumble or gameshark codes.....which site sells the EZflash for the cheapest price?does the EZ-flash V work exactly like the R4? ....b/c i just found the EZ-flash V bundle edition on psxboy.com for $37...just $6 more than the R4

The EZ Flash V doesnt come with the extra ram cart (EZ V 3 in 1) you actually pay an extra 22$+S&H.The EZ Flash V has better 3 in 1 support but the 3 in 1 works with the R4.For cheap, head over to dealextreme.com

I have been having bad problems with my games freezing. I understand that slow read times on the sd card could be the culprit, but I am using the japanese 1gig kingston that people say has worked flawlessly. At first I thought it was bad roms, but I got several of them from dgemu and even they were freezing.Could this be a problem that I am not using the latest firmware? I am currently updating to the new 1.1 firmware, but I am not too convinced it will solve my problems.The games themselves work fine, but it was a bit frustrating when I lost a few hours off of my pokemon diamond because I hadn't saved. I noticed it only happens after several hours of play, so if there is no known solution, then I guess I just have to save frequently...which is frustrating with games that have long saves, like Custom Robo Arena.

Sorry if this problem has been asked about before.Basically, when I first got my R4 I could use cheats. However, my microsd card had some trouble so I had to reformat my card. When I put the files back on, though, I couldn't see the Cheat thing on the bottom. I don't really need it a whole lot, but I'm wondering why this is happening.

Sorry if this problem has been asked about before.Basically, when I first got my R4 I could use cheats. However, my microsd card had some trouble so I had to reformat my card. When I put the files back on, though, I couldn't see the Cheat thing on the bottom. I don't really need it a whole lot, but I'm wondering why this is happening.

it means that you installed a old firmware, firmware 1.08 and up support action replay if you put a older one on it wont have action replay support.

Oh so that's what it means

it means that you installed a old firmware, firmware 1.08 and up support action replay if you put a older one on it wont have action replay support.

Nope, that's not the problem. I've double checked to make sure, plus, that's the only version I've downloaded. (1.10, I mean) Though, since the site is down, I can't really redownload it and check. Not sure if this is relevant, but I've downloaded it twice (my brother did it once, as he thought I didn't yet) and the one that my brother downloaded also allowed me to change skins at the main menu (or wherever you can change them at). However, when I paste the files, it'll ask if I want to overwrite the preexisting files, and the modified dates and whatnot are exactly the same. Wierd, huh?

Edited by StealthriderZero, 19 July 2007 - 03:57 AM.

Nope, that's not the problem. I've double checked to make sure, plus, that's the only version I've downloaded. (1.10, I mean) Though, since the site is down, I can't really redownload it and check. Not sure if this is relevant, but I've downloaded it twice (my brother did it once, as he thought I didn't yet) and the one that my brother downloaded also allowed me to change skins at the main menu (or wherever you can change them at). However, when I paste the files, it'll ask if I want to overwrite the preexisting files, and the modified dates and whatnot are exactly the same. Wierd, huh?

hmmm, check your _system folder, and look for cheat.dat, it should be about 706 kbs, if not then thats why, your R4 reads the check codes off of this and a user created one called urcheat.

Okay, here goes.I am planning to get an R4(Be it by Prepaid Visa or for my birthday) and I was wondering about some things.

• How many ROM's can a normal 1 Gig Stick hold?
• How reliable is the R4(Like durability, how long it will last, etc.)
• Is it repaired if something happens and if I purchase it from a place such as Amazon but need it fixed, would I send it to the making company?
• Where would one go about purchasing one with a Prepaid card?
• What do I do if the spring breaks?
• Concerning with compatibility, can the R4 play both Japanese and American games?
• Say I want to transfer Pokemon from a Japanese Pearl into my American Diamond, would WiFi work correctly or should I expect some trouble?
• Should I expect different loading times between Japanese and American versions?
• Average price on the R4 with a 1 Gig card?

Now with my payment questions via this site and PayPal.

• If I use a Prepaid credit card, would PayPal accept it?
• Does DealExtreme require me to verify my account(I'm only 14 so I don't have a bank account) in order to purchase?
• How long is the wait time for DealExtreme?
• When I sign-up for PayPal, do they send me Mail or call me?

Also, what kind of excuse would I make for getting this if my parents ask?

Watch MTV or something I guess.POINTS were deducted for this post by /salsaPlease refer to the forum rules to find out why your points were deducted.

I have been having bad problems with my games freezing. I understand that slow read times on the sd card could be the culprit, but I am using the japanese 1gig kingston that people say has worked flawlessly. At first I thought it was bad roms, but I got several of them from dgemu and even they were freezing.Could this be a problem that I am not using the latest firmware? I am currently updating to the new 1.1 firmware, but I am not too convinced it will solve my problems.The games themselves work fine, but it was a bit frustrating when I lost a few hours off of my pokemon diamond because I hadn't saved. I noticed it only happens after several hours of play, so if there is no known solution, then I guess I just have to save frequently...which is frustrating with games that have long saves, like Custom Robo Arena.

Well I "think" the problem is your R4. I own a R4 and a M3 simply and I have had only two game freeze up on me, Castlevania PoR and Zelda (froze once). Well my son has a R4 and it freezes up on him all the time no matter what he plays.

Edited by bellzemos, 21 July 2007 - 01:34 AM.

Well I "think" the problem is your R4. I own a R4 and a M3 simply and I have had only two game freeze up on me, Castlevania PoR and Zelda (froze once). Well my son has a R4 and it freezes up on him all the time no matter what he plays.

That is indeed what I am afraid of, I updated my firmware, and the only game I have played since then is pokemon diamond...and it still freezes about every 4 or 5 trainer battles...wasting money sucks.Well I am going to play for a few hours in each of my games until each one freezes, would it be logical to assume if one doesn't ever freeze that it might not be the R4, but somehow bad ROMs?

That is indeed what I am afraid of, I updated my firmware, and the only game I have played since then is pokemon diamond...and it still freezes about every 4 or 5 trainer battles...wasting money sucks.Well I am going to play for a few hours in each of my games until each one freezes, would it be logical to assume if one doesn't ever freeze that it might not be the R4, but somehow bad ROMs?

try formatting your micro sd, also i noticed that after i cleaned the pins on my R4 it stopped freezing, what my problem was that i would need to put my r4 in and out since it would not read, the problem was dirty pins.

try formatting your micro sd, also i noticed that after i cleaned the pins on my R4 it stopped freezing, what my problem was that i would need to put my r4 in and out since it would not read, the problem was dirty pins.

The pins being the metal plates on the bottom of the cartridge correct?EDIT: How does one go about cleaning the pins? I could really easily mess this up, and not have a working R4 at all because of my stupidity.EDIT2: I also have already formatted my microSD with FAT 32, should I use the other option, or would defragging it help? I don't care how long it takes, I really would like to play without constant freezing.

Edited by Interjection, 21 July 2007 - 09:41 PM.

The pins being the metal plates on the bottom of the cartridge correct?EDIT: How does one go about cleaning the pins? I could really easily mess this up, and not have a working R4 at all because of my stupidity.EDIT2: I also have already formatted my microSD with FAT 32, should I use the other option, or would defragging it help? I don't care how long it takes, I really would like to play without constant freezing.

Never use a defragmenting tool on flash media- all the rewriting the tool does will shorten the card's lifespan. The best way to "defragment" your microSD is to copy the contents to HD, format the card and then copy the contents back all at once. They'll be loaded onto the card without fragmenting. It's only when you delete and add new files to the card that they may become fragmented.I'd recommend formatting as FAT16, 64k cluster size if games are freezing on you. There could be some speed problems with your microSD card (are you sure it's actually the Japanese model?), and the fat16/64k format may help due to lower overhead. Normally Windows' formatter can't choose the cluster size, but there's a computer management tool in the control panel under administrative tools that will let you do this via a disk management option.A Q-tip very slightly dampened with rubbing alcohol should do for cleaning the contacts. Be careful not to touch the circuit board above the pins, and let the alcohol evaporate completely before attempting to use the card.

Edited by Grubben, 22 July 2007 - 02:29 AM.

For the formatting options in the control panel I have FAT formatting and FAT32 I am thinking that FAT might be FAT16, but I am not sure, and I see where I have the option for 64k clusters.I am pretty sure my MicroSD card is the Japanese Kingston, it came in a mostly Japanese box, and it says Japanese on the bottom right of the card so I am quite positive it is the Japanese one.

For the formatting options in the control panel I have FAT formatting and FAT32 I am thinking that FAT might be FAT16, but I am not sure, and I see where I have the option for 64k clusters.I am pretty sure my MicroSD card is the Japanese Kingston, it came in a mostly Japanese box, and it says Japanese on the bottom right of the card so I am quite positive it is the Japanese one.

FAT is FAT16. Just as a reminder, FAT32 is not needed for microSD cards under 2GB, so unless you have anything above 2GB capacity, I suggest you don't use it. So far, I've tested a few problem games, such as Castlevania: PoR, and it's been working fine with minor issues to report after reformatting to FAT16/64k clusters.