it's going nowhere, I've never heard of AP killing an SD card. as was mentioned before, micro DS cards have a limited lifespan, especially if you're constantly adding and deleting files as one would with a flashcart. I've been through several in the last couple of years, just back your stuff up regularly, especially your saves. you never know when your sd is going to go pffftshshtht.
Would this also apply to real game cards? I know that it doesn't go through as many cycles, but still, just wondering. Or do they use something else?
If the game cards are flash, which I don't think they are, then it applies. But remember, you don't need to constantly format, add and delete files on a retail card. So it should last 10+ years anyway. So I guess that pretty much settles it. I didn't know I was abusing it so badly by constantly reformatting the stupid thing, but it's not like it could be helped, being constantly corrupted by akaio and all. Still not entirely sure why akaio corrupted my files, but it's definitely the culprit, as it stopped happening when I switched to official. No matter, the supercard dstwo will hopefully be more reliable and stable. I backed up my saves 5 days ago, so I lost a little dq4, dq9 and 4 heroes of light data. No big deal. I didn't post because I was mad, just wanted to find out about it. Learned more than I expected to.
This might just be me, but I guess you really have a lot against AK, don't you? This, and then that other thread stating how much you hated your AK2i since it was flawed or something? But that aside, did AKAIO really mess your SD card up? Should I watch out for my card and really back up often? I'm a bit worried and to be honest, quite abashed towards AKAIO now that this came up.
I believe my acekard is faulty, as I seem to be the only one who can't seem to get akaio to work in a stable way. I wouldn't be too worried if I were you. I really should have exchanged it the first time it corrupted my files. Even without a faulty card and a perfect track record though, you reeeally should be backing up your files every week. That goes for every brand of card with every brand of SD with every kind of firmware. Backing up your files is universally a smart thing to do in any circumstance. What I do is, just in case I accidentally save over a good .sav file with an already corrupt one during a backup is I make two folders, and go back and forth between them, playing leapfrog. I'll date one for september 20th and put my saves in there. Then when the 27th rolls around, I make a second folder called september 20th, and put my files in there. And then 7 days later, change the 20th to the next date, and then 7 days later, change the 27th to the next date, etc. That way, if the card corrupts and I've already put a corrupt save into my current folder, I can go back another week as a safety net.
You're actually a very reasonable and rational person, which I would not have known if I have not asked since the most I have read from you is hate towards AK. Thanks for the piece of advice about backing up. I'm doing it right now. Hope my AK2i and my R4i Gold don't fry MY SD CARDS. hahaha
its probably also worth mentioning that PSX/PS2 memory cards, USB thumb drives, and virtually all forms of digital camera media all use flash memory and thus are subject to the same 10,000 read/write cycle lifespan.
READ/WRITE? I know that writing denotes copying files unto the memory, and or even deleting. But what does READ mean?
So, is there any way of finding out just how many cycles are wasted for various tasks, such as writing a file, reading a file, formatting, and corruption/deletion? Post Merge: [time]1287416886[/time] Reading is when a machine takes and processes the data. ie. Loading. It READS the save file in order to load it. Think of Read as Access. It accesses the data.
read is accessing the data already on the card to use it (NOT modify). Reading itself doesn't use up a cycle, but reading usually also involves a write. unfortunately not. Deleting uses a lot more than anything else because of write levelling, and formatting burns through them even worse because of write levelling again.
So then it's no wonder that Corruption (and ultimately deletion), followed by formatting over a dozen times, followed by reloading games/.savs in addition to regular (heavy) use, burned through the card in 6 months.
So am I correct to assume that every single time I boot my AK2i on my DSi, my SD card's read/write counter goes up 1 click out of 10k? or does it vary depending on what type of activity I do with it?
providing all you do is turn the thing on, and it doesn't update any timestamps or anything, it does not increase. It is only when data on the microsd is changed (added/modified/deleted) that it goes up. Modifying properties, such as the last access timestamp, is a write.
Varies with different activity. Like loony mentioned, things like deleting and formatting use a whole lot more than simply saving your game. Don't lose sleep over it or you'll never enjoy your flashcart again, lol. If you aren't experiencing regular corruption, forcing you to reformat your sd card, then you have plenty of time, years, before you experience this problem. And it doesn't ruin your flash cart as far as I know, just your microSD card, which are dirt cheap anyway. My 4gb was about $10. Gonna buy an 8gb for $20 tomorrow. With the 3ds coming up as well, chances are you're going to ditch your ds flash cart long before it dies.
True, true. Thanks again mate(s). Those were a few things I didn't know about flashcarts, sd cards and read/write processes.
That's not how it works. Did you read ANY of the last page of posts? Even if that were possible, which it isn't, AP wouldn't target your sd card and fry it. AP prevents you from playing to begin with. What if I never went on wifi? I would still have the entire game for myself making the purchase moot.
No it wouldn't target it. That's what I'm saying. That must be the main reason it is corrupted. REALLY means "DO NOT". If you do in the process (or if the game freezes, in your position), it may corrupt the SD card or (in the state if it was an original cardridge) corrupt the game card.
