Fake Versions of the R4 Adapter

Different Versions of the R4 DS

Since the wildly successful original R4 adapter came out, there has been one major revision to the card, as well as several copycat variations of the R4 adapter. All but one of these variations of the R4 DS were not produced by the original Team R4 DS - however, some work better than others, and a few have distinct advantages. Our quick list of what versions are out there, and what to avoid, are below. The cards we recommend are in bold:

• RECOMMENDED: R4v2 Adapter (Original, current version)
• RECOMMENDED: R4 SDHC Adapter (Non-original, but reliable high-capacity adapter)

Fake R4 Adapters?

The notion of "fake" R4 adapters is both a truth and a myth. It is true that pretty much every card that spawned from the original R4 DS card is not original. However, spin-offs of the original Team R4 have produced the R4 SDHC card. While not original, the R4 SDHC card holds a key advantage over the original R4v2 adapter. There are some companies, however, that appear to produce sub-standard cards. Some of these include:

- R6

- E7

- R4 Advance

In summary, there is no real thing as "real" or "fake" cards - only the original R4v2 adapter, and 'copies' separated into two categories: Those that work reliably, and those that don't!

R4 SDHC DS Card

The R4 SDHC adapter is a card that uses the original R4 DS interface, but has the massive advantage of being able to take, in theory, up to 32GB Micro-SDHC cards! The original R4v2 adapter can only take TransFlash technology Micro-SD cards, which means its limit is 2GB.

Best of all, the R4 SDHC adapter is as reliable as the original R4v2 adapter, and would be our choice for a good card that can take more than 2GB Micro-SD cards.

Avoiding Fake R4 Adapters

Always buy your R4 DS from a trusted, reliable retailer. Try out NDS-Gear, especially if you're in the U.K. (but don't worry, they ship worldwide)!

R4 Adapter Loading Screen Problem

R4 DS Loading... Screen??

The R4 Adapter "Loading..." Crash

One of the most common problems with the R4 adapter, regardless of whether you are using the R4v2, R4 SDHC, R4v3, or anything else, is the "Loading..." error. The majority of people assume that this is because their R4 DS is broken, and immediately panic or send their card back.

THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE. YOUR R4 ADAPTER IS NOT NECESSARILY BROKEN. READ ON...

The most common problem is that you have the wrong software for your R4 DS. Visit the NDS-Gear R4 Adapter Software Download page for help recognising what kind of card you have, and links to software downloads.

Steps to Solve the R4 Adapter "Loading" Problem

1) Make sure you have downloaded the correct and latest software for your R4 DS. For help with this, please visit our Downloads page here.

2) Make sure the software is position in the root directory - the 'base' or first directory of your Micro-SD card. What your Micro-SD card's files should look like, can be seen below:

3) Give your Micro SD a good clean (a good blow, since the card contacts can be sensitive to dirt).

4) Make sure that the micro SD is not overloaded. The remainder of your Micro-SD card's memory is needed to keep your card running in tip top shape. As a guide, we recommend filling your Micro-SD card no more than 60% full. That means that for a 1GB card, we only recommend filling it 600MB full of games on your R4 adapter. For a 2GB card, we recommend only filling it up to 1.2GB full for your R4 DS, and so on.

5) Make sure the micro SD is pushed down completely into the DS Card (ensure good contact between Micro SD and R4 card). In a very small minority of cases, the micro SD has to be pull up a bit if the 'click' between the micro SD and the R4 adapter causes them to misalign.

6) Reformat your micro SD (FAT16/32) for optimal performance with your R4 DS.

7) Use only Micro SD/ SDHC 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24 and 32GB. Untested for micro SD above 32GB and problems reported for 6GB micro SD. *(For R4 v2 adapter, only use 2GB micro SD or below)

History of R4 Adapters

The Original R4 Adapter for DS

The original R4 adapter, produced by the self-titled "Team R4", came into existence in early 2007. The original R4 adapter looked much the same as the current R4 Card, but there was a noticable difference.

The top of the original R4 DS had a small groove to push-lock a Micro-SD card inside. This made use of a spring mechanism so that a Micro-SD card would lock into place when pushed. A simple second push would allow it to come back out of the R4 DS.

The R4 adapter in its original guise was produced for just under one year. Team R4 DS realised that the spring mechanism in the R4 adapter had problems, affecting up to 5% of the card's production. Problems with the spring could cause the mechanism to break.

This meant that Micro-SD cards would no longer go into the R4 DS properly. Obviously, this was a big problem. Therefore, Team R4 set out to create a newer version of the R4 adapter, fixing the problem and helping reliability. They called this card the "R4v2 Adapter".

R4v2 Adapter

The new version of the R4 adapter, titled the "R4v2 adapter" (predictably!), was released in late 2007. This new version removed the need for a spring mechanism to insert a Micro-SD card. Instead, it simply had a slot in the back where a user could manually slot a Micro-SD card in.

This eliminated the problems of the original R4 DS Card where the spring mechanism could go wrong

A new problem could be that the Micro-SD card accidentally becomes dislodged from the R4 adapter during play. However, we found during tests that this is fine. Unless you put a fingernail underneath the Micro-SD card and pry it out, it is hard for it to simply shake out, even on a moving train. The London Underground provided a good basis for this test!

Other Adapters similar to the R4 Adapter

Various other cards similar to the R4 adapter have been produced since the success of the original R4 DS adapter.

To buy your R4 DS / R4 adapter today, check out NDS-Gear!