AceKard 2i User Guide

 

Included with your AceKard 2i is the AceKard 2i flash card itself and a USB MicroSD adapter. The AceKard 2i will not function without a MicroSD card installed with the appropriate firmware on-board, the first step in using your AceKard 2i is to load the appropriate firmware on to a MicroSD card. 

 

Loading Firmware on to MicroSD card

 

Firstly your MicroSD must be formatted prior to use, if using the USB MicroSD adapter provided with your AceKard 2i the MicroSD card should be inserted in to the adapter with the logo side of the MicroSD facing upwards as shown in the image below. The card should be inserted in to the adapter BEFORE inserting the adapter in to a USB port on your computer.

 

 

It is best practice to format the SD card using the Panasonic SD formatting utility available here: PanasonicSDFormatter.zip Once downloaded extract the zip file and within the extracted folder run the  SDFormatter.exe file. Within the program select the drive letter for your SD card and press format. 

This utility formats the SD card conforming to SD card specification which can improve read and write speed from and to the card. 

 You can use the standard format utility provided in Windows/Mac/Linux, the card should be formatted to a FAT32 file system.

 

Once your MicroSD card is formatted you can then copy the firmware and any games/software you would like.

There are a number of firmware options available for the AceKard 2i, both official and third-party, we recommend using the third-party AKAIO firmware as it provides much better compatibility with games than the original firmware in addition to extra features. 

Download links for the latest versions (including latest loaders) of both the official and AKAIO firmware are below:

AKAIO 1.6 RC2 

 Official Firmware v4.21

 

Once you have downloaded and extracted the firmware you will be presented with a folder containing the the files and folders shown below.

 

 

 The 'akmenu4.nds' file and '__aio' folder should be copied to the root of your formatted SD card. You should also create folder(s) in the root of your card to organise your games and software such as DS, Homebrew etc.. and then place your Nintendo DS games in the DS folder for example, this makes navigation and organisation of your software easier within the AK2i software.

 

 

 

 Once the firmware has been copied on to your MicroSD card along with any games/software it is ready to be used with your AceKard 2i.

 

 

Using the AceKard 2i 

 

 

 

The MicroSD card should be inserted in to the slot on the AK2i as shown in the image below.

 

 

 

Upon booting your DS console with the AceKard 2i and MicroSD card installed you will be presented with the option of booting the AceKard 2i software.

 

You could change the DS to auto boot to the AceKard 2i in the settings menu to alleviate having to boot manually.

 

The AceKard 2i interface shows the available storage options, we have a MicroSD card with our software on so we select that option.

 

 

We are now presented with the folder structure we created on the SD card previously, this shows the importance of creating a well organised folder structure.

 

 

After browsing in to the DS folder the software stored in there is shown, clicking on a title will boot it.

 

 

 

If you have any questions or require help at all or would like to suggest more comprehensive guides you would like to see us produce do not hesitate to Contact Us