Fake or real R4

[cybermatrix]

I bought a R4 from a site that i found on here in the ds section for cheap R4's.
It came and the packaging looks real but it does not looks real when i campared it to the one i purchased last year.
I have googled and youtubed to try and find if it is but just get stuck with people asking the same questions.
The one i think is fake does not have a a sring system for the micro sd card, you just push it in and it also does not have a curve at the top it is flush.
when i googled looking for original r4 images that image seem to come up. Have the R4 team changed the design slightly. When i youtubed it i found that you get fakes but there are easy to tell they are fake buy taking of the sticker and you can see a chip behind it. mines does not have a chip, its just plastic. i have also tried 1.18 firmware and it works but did not use it long enough just incase i bricked it (been reading about this so didnt want it to happen).

If it is fake im not bothered but i dont want to put on 1.18 firmware and then it bricks. The reason i want that firmware is because i have noticed some games i have downloaded do not work with the 1.15 firmware i have on my original card from last year.

Thanks for any replies.

 

[Curly]

I believe the cheap R4's from Amazon with the 1.20 firmware were the fakes.
The originals are still on 1.18
If you've got an original older R4 on 1.15, that will work ok on 1.18

Curly

 

[HappyH]

i have also tried 1.18 firmware and it works but did not use it long enough just incase i bricked it (been reading about this so didnt want it to happen).

Pretty sure if it worked - even for a short time - with V1.18 you'll be safe enough to keep using it like that. Think if it was gonna brick it, it would happen right away.
Obviously no guarantee mind :banana::banana:
HH.

 

[supermoto al]

yup i would say it's a fake,the one i got a couple of weeks back came with a photocopied sheet with instructions and a link to download v 1.21 which took an age to download so have added it to downloads for future reference.i also tried it on v 1.18 but it got stuck on the loading screen.
so far running on version 1.21 i have had no problems

 

[Messa]

The spring ejector is no indicator as only the first generation of cases used this. The springs snapped after very little use and so that design was soon dropped and replaced by a friction slot instead.

Messa

 

[cybermatrix]

Thanks for all your replies. So i now can say the case hase changed without spring loader and if it works 1.18 firmware then it is real.
I did not get any papers with it or a cd.
i also tried that 1.19 firmware because i thought it might be fake but that did not work. the only softwarte that does work is 1.15 and 1.18.
so hopefully now im thinking it could be real.

THanks again for all the replies.

 

[cybermatrix]

Last question. How would i know if its not a N5 in discuise, is there anyway to tell??

 

[HappyH]

Last question. How would i know if its not a N5 in discuise, is there anyway to tell??

Not being rude mate but who cares? You've got a working kernal (I'd suggest leaving v1.18 on as it's compatible with 'newer' games). Any games you put on there in *.nds format should work. If you're updating the kernal (some new games might need upgraded firmware) stick with official R4 releases as you know v1.15 & v1.18 work from them
BTW I ain't even heard of N5's doesn't it say N5 on it if it's an N5 & R4 if it's an R4?
HH.

 

[maca]

i bought one of these n5 and they are sh*t

 

[cybermatrix]

I have read insveral places, people sell N5 with R4 stickers on them. I think they both work with R4 firmware but the N5 eventually burns out your chip or blows a fuse making the DS unable to play.
I will take the advice and stick with putting on the 1.18 firmware and seing how it goes.

Thanks

 

[guitaro_man]

I've no idea, it does seem a little tacky compared to the old ones as it doesn't come with the software or anything when I bought mine and v1.18 doesn't seem to work

 

[sez123]

did'nt seem to have this problem last year with buying them, i bought one last year and had no problem but this year seems we need to be careful where we buy them from.
Does anyone know where the best place to buy them from, have come across a lot at £13.99 however these do not come with the full package i am looking for the disk,card,and free case any suggestions???

 

[jay 210]

hi guys sorry to hijack this thread
got a couple of the r4 advanced cards and carnt find the software to em ...ive tried 1.8 and the 1.21 with no luck ..any help please

 

[HappyH]

What fault do you see jay? Stuck at loading screen or not even get that far?
HH

 

[jay 210]

What fault do you see jay? Stuck at loading screen or not even get that far?
HH

yes m8 stuck on loading screen........

 

[HappyH]

Loading screen normally means wrong rev of firmware. If you bought it recently it's more likely (IMO) to be a fake. If there's no clue with the paperwork i.e which version to load & where from I'd say try the latest clone firmware (V1.23 maybe) & work back from there.
Good luck, HH.

(set one up for a colleague a few months back & for some reason only V1.19 would work on it. No idea why & it took a lot of trial & error to get there)

 

[jay 210]

cheers for the info m8 i have tested 1.23...1.21...1.18...but not 1.19 as for some reason not able to find ///any help welcome
just seen another thread posted by digidude were he says use n5 firmware will test it 2moz and post results
these r4,sdhc should take a 4gig micro but only tested with 2gig...will the n5 firmware support 4igig micro

 

[HappyH]

cheers for the info m8 i have tested 1.23...1.21...1.18...but not 1.19 as for some reason not able to find ///any help welcome
just seen another thread posted by digidude were he says use n5 firmware will test it 2moz and post results
these r4,sdhc should take a 4gig micro but only tested with 2gig...will the n5 firmware support 4igig micro

From GBAtemp

No MicroSDHC compatibility (freezes on loading screen)

HH.

 

[jay 210]

thanks for reply HH
had a result with the R4 SDHC card it will only work with the N5_v1.24_English fw..
And the R4Advance card uses the R4Advance_v1.20_English

thought both cards were faulty at first but turns out getting the right fw make them work

 

[HappyH]

Glad your up & running mate (with very little help from me).
HH.