For those of you that may be unaware, the AKAIO 1.5 version was JUST RELEASED moments ago! The firmware believed to be speculation has lifted off at last! Well, this information is straight from GBAtemp, and Normatt, the AKAIO programmer, teamed up with some Yellow Wood Goblin dude and released the binary files. Now, ladies and gentlemen, please note that if you want to update loaders in the future, you MUST UPDATE TO 1.5. I repeat, you must UPDATE to 1.5! This version is quite fantastic, because it features fixes for 100+ NDS games, anti-piracy destroyer thing, a POR fix (what the bloody hell is that?) and WII CONNECTIVITY. I really am pleased and kinda laughing right now. Please download at GBATemp.net and discuss here or there.
Here is the official changelog from GBATemp:
+ Fixed issue with the hiddenFileNames globalsettings option not accepting non lowercase filenames.
+ Optimizations to the AK2 dldi should be a little quicker now.
+ Update Dutch translation (Thanks MarioWaza).
+ Update Spanish translation (Thanks Pendor).
+ AK2/AK2i clones are now officially unsupported.
+ Gba icon has been removed from main selection screen on DSi.
+ Removed outdated plugin system.
+ Per rom GBA frame support (256x192x15bpp)
– Place BMP with internal game id of gba rom in __aio/frames.
+ Added support for save sizes up to 256Mbit (32Megabyte).
+ .sav is now default save extension.
+ Reverse Alphabetical List sorting (set sortListAlpha=0 in globalsettings.ini).
+ Auto-Anti-Piracy Patcher updated.
+ ARGV support for homebrew.
+ New DSi detection (Shouldn’t show slot2 icon after softreset on ak2i now).
+ Disable start menu by adding “LockStartMenu = 1” to your globalsettings.ini
+ Fixed Trainer Toolkit support.
Please refer to LoaderChangelog.txt for compatibility fix!
I believe POR stands for Castlevania Portrait of Ruin
I’d like to start for apologizing for my ignorance, but I am relitavely new to DSDatabase and flashcarts, and I would appreciate it if someone could clear up a few issues for me.
1. Does AKAIO have something to do with the AceKard?
2. If it does, does it know support DSi version 1.4?
3. Also, could you please explain the new features now availiable in terms a newbie would understand?
Thanks 🙂
No for your Acekard to run on Nintendo DSi 1.4 you have to download the 1.4 update and update your Acekard using a DS/lite/DSi 1.3 or lower.
AKAIO is the firmware/Server for the Acekard. You need it to run games.
1. AceKard 2i is semi-open source in that you can ask for the source code and if you have any credentials whatsoever, they’ll let you fiddle around with the code. As a result, you have the official firmwares and a slew of unofficial ones. Now most of the unofficial ones are you know minor releases, some project someone wanted to try, etc. However AKAIO is the number one unofficial firmware, and I don’t think anyone will debate me on this when I say that AKAIO is the superior firmware even in comparison to the official one. It updates faster and is much more thorough in its execution. There are more features, etc.
2. AKAIO is merely a firmware. To make an AceKard 2i work on the DSi 1.4 update you need to update the kernel (confusing eh?). This post should detail you on how to do it (http://dsdatabase.org/blog/2009/08/14dsifirmware/), obviously head to the AceKard 2i section and nothing else. 🙂
3. I could, but there’s really no point. For the most part, these are fancy terms to say that the games will play more like the original, checks that stop games from running are disabled, etc. Minor features on how to sort roms like reverse alphabetical now, etc. I mean you won’t really notice much asides from the huge jump in compatibility. 🙂
All right, thanks guys 🙂
What would you suggest be the best flashcart for the DSi? I am interested in a balance of both homebrew/media and games, but I am split between several carts…. could you please give me some advice? I am willing to get the iPlayer and another cart if there is an excellent DSi cart that isn’t the best with homebrew and media.
By the way, I enjoy reading your reviews Pharaoh, keep up the good work 🙂
Thanks
Heh hard to say ChocoMint, even I switch between carts often. To be honest, my personal favorite is the AceKard 2i. However it lacks the RTS and RTG functions that I so sorely need. I’ve been swapping between carts mainly because I like the AceKard 2i’s menu but need those features.
EDIT: By the way ChocoMint, for future reference, it might be smarter to ask things in the forum. I check the forum a lot more often than the blog, and to be honest, if the post isn’t on front page, it practically never gets answered because I simply don’t see it.
I love the feature of the AKAIO 1.5 that it doesnt work with clone Acekards ^^,
Wow this is awesome.. i think its time to update from my very outdated R4.
Wow, great job team AKAIO. So glad they finally made .sav the default, the old extension was kind of hassle with other karts. Also, can anyone tell me what ARGV stands for?
I can’t tell you, but I can’t help but wonder if it is something related to Action Replay.
OMG, WII CONNECTIVITY!!!
I CAN TRANSFER MY POKEMON OVER TO PBR!!!
Thanks so much to the AKAIO team!!!
Great. Im thinking about getting this one or the iplayer (seeing as it can emulate GBA). Not sure which one though.
Same here! I wanna try to participate in this raffle 🙂
Great firmware, everything works smootly
I used this firmware,its awesome =D
AWESOME!!! REALLY DS TO WII?
If I only had the money…
I wasn’t using my AK2 much due to my comp breaking on me. and the HDD being corrupt and all my files along with it, I was devistated(broke around febuary). I got my new one on friday and a few days later it released. All I can say is that I am very pleased with the release of this firmware. 🙂
Sora, you know the Acekard 2 sells for a little over $10, right? It’s not really any kind of bank-breaker. Skip a few coffees this week and you’re done.
I’m entering into the iPlayer raffle, YAY!
Oops, distorted_soul697@yahoo.com
Great firmware, have had no problems at all.
I love my AceKard, and this makes it even more useful.
I think it’s finally time for me to dump my R4 forever and get an AK2i 😀
I want an iplayer.lol
I really like the akaio firmware and it works like a charm.I’ve just downloaded kingdom hearts and it works on akaio without a patch sooo….that’s awesome.Thanks for all your work Normatt
finally they do it!
Finally! I prefer the acekard 2i orig. firmware though.. dont know if thats compatible with wii >.>
So does that mean PoR will work even on slower cards? How?
I’m little worried they removed the plugins system. I still have to test the possible homebrew alternatives.
This card looks very promising, I’m planing to buy one for my little Sister’s DSI for Christmas.
~Monty
ok i know this is a stupid question but how do i update? i already downloaded it and extracted it and copied it to tha main root of my acekard 2i but it still the same
i could do with some help please i was using acekard system 4.18 i went to see if there was an update and i saw akaio 1.5 i have tried putting this onto my flash card but when i load it up all im getting as a black screen can anybody help me?
Might be smarter to post your questions on the forum. Asides from the latest post, I usually miss replies to older blogs.
Anyways it seems you loaded AKAIO but are missing the loaders. So go to http://www.normmatt.com/forum and click loaders on the header bar, and then follow the instructions.