Now I need to know why the acekard 2i won't work on my dsi

[Kronological]

Hello ProjectPokemon,

I just registered a new account here. I was a member a while back but I couldn't remember how to log on and couldn't find my activation email, so...

Anyway, I needed to ask a question about good and trustworthy places to purchase ROM dumping hardware. I need a ROM of my heartgold so I can start to practice editing, and since it is illegal to download I am trying to learn to dump the ROM myself. evandixon's thread on "how to backup your NDS ROM the proper way" was very informative (http://projectpokemon.org/forums/showthread.php?29832-How-to-backup-your-NDS-ROM-the-proper-way.), but I don't know where to get any of the hardware he mentions using.

So my question for you is this: of the four methods he mentions, which would you recommend to someone with a slot 1 flashkart (acekard 2i), keeping in mind my relatively low budget (college student, haha), and then perhaps you could give me a link or two of some good places to get the hardware I need?

Thanks muchly!

~Kronological

EDIT:

So I got this question answered quickly, thanks very much. Now my acekard 2i won't load on my dsi without an error message. I recently downloaded the latest AKAIO menu and software, so I'm wondering what the problem could possibly be? Any ideas? Has Nintendo simply blocked all flash kart usage on their newer systems? Thanks again guys.

Edited June 16, 2013 by Kronological

[Bond697]

if you have an acekard, you can just use wood dumper to dump ds games. works great.

http://gamebrew.org/wiki/Wood_Dumper

[Kronological]

Ok great. I'll try that out. Thanks very much! I appreciate the quick reply!

[evandixon]

Digitopz was OK. Their shipper's tracking system was fail but my SMS4 arrived right on time.

If you're in the US, Real Hot Stuff is a good place to buy flashcarts.

[Kronological]

I may have to just buy the sms4. =P My dslite won't connect to our internet because it doesn't seem to support WPA2-PSK security settings. But my dsi won't load the acekard (it is an acekard 2i); it gives me an error message instead. Any idea what the problem is or how to fix it? =P I'm hoping Nintendo hasn't simply blocked flash kart usage on their newer systems.

[evandixon]

The acekard can't be used for backups on the DSi, since you can't swap the cartridges.

But to get it working, make sure you update it on a DS lite.

[Kronological]

I see. That's a bummer. I'll see what I can do with the dslite then. Thanks again.

~Kronological

[Roland]

As per the Acekard site, you do require a phat or a lite to update the Acekard2i.

What they mean when they say this is that you must update the actual card firmware, not just AKAIO.

I don't know the full details of how the hardware works but it appears to be similar to updating a motherboard bios. And AKAIO seems to be more of an OS rather than a firmware. Instructions for updating the card's firmware can be found here:

http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/Updating_the_AK2i_Bootloader

[Kronological]

Oh! That is very helpful as well! Thanks so much! And I also got the dslite connected to my internet finally so that is working too.

Thanks again. You guys have been incredibly helpful in getting me up and running again.

~Kronological