R4 Revolution (V2) DS Card Adapters

The R4 V2 is the most popular DS card on the market today. It has been available for quite some time now and due to the amount of help and support on user forums it is still one of the favourites available today. The R4 (Version 2) does all you would want to be able to play music and watch videos on your DS. The limitations with this card are that it does not accept memory cards with capacities bigger than 2GB as this device is not SDHC compatible. However 2GB is more than enough space for most people. The other limitation is that this card is NOT compatible with the latest Nintendo DSi game console.

What is an R4 Revolution adapter? Why should I get one?

R4 adapters have been around for quite some time now, they where created so that you could do more with the Nintendo DS game systems. This R4 revolution adapter, also known as the R4 V2 (or version 2), has been around for quite some time and is the most popular device to open up the potential of your Nintendo DS.

The R4 Revolution Adapter allows you to perform tasks with your DS that you could never do before! This includes listen to music, watch videos, browse your piccies and also read e-books all from your Nintendo DS! The adapter itself is the same size of a standard nintendo DS game cartridge and fits into the same slot (Slot 1) as the game cartridges. The adapter has amicro SD memory card slot and its on the micro sd cards that you store all the files you want to use on your DS. This then goes into the adapter and that, in turn, into your DS console. Turn on the DS and away you go.

How does an R4 Revolution work?

The R4 Revolution DS card works by turning your DS into a multi media machine! The same size as a game cartridge the adapter behaves just like a proper game cartridge. But instead of playing games you can load the adapter with a Micro SD memory card filled with your favourite music, films, pictures and e-books! The R4 software (That you also need to load onto the memory card) allows you to access these files and play them on your DS.

What do I need to use an R4 Revolution?

Some people are confused about what you need to get the R4 V2 card working. All you need is the following:

• A Nintendo DS or DS Lite

  

• The R4 Revolution Adapter (See box image above). The package should include the R4 Adapter itself, A Micro SD USB Card Reader, and Plastic case and a languard keychain thingy. (You only need the adapter and the Micro SD Card Reader though :-) You may also receive a CD disc wich contains the operating system software. However we would recommend downloading the latest version from this site and discarding the included CD.

   - AND - 

• A Micro SD Card - The R4 Revolution Adapter does not support SDHC so you can only use micro SD cards with a capacity of 1GB or 2GB. Although to be honest its very hard to find a 1GB micro SD card these days. A 2GB card is more than enough for most people though and if you do run out of space you can always have 2 cards and swap between them as needed.

  

R4 Revolution Step by Step instructions

For people with little or no technical knowledge then setting up your R4 V2 DS Card can be a little tricky and sometimes daunting. Fear not though we have all the information you need to set your DS adapter up. Just follow these easy to use step-by-step instructions and you will have it working in no time.

• STEP 1 - Buy your R4 Revolution Card & Memory

  If you have not done so already you are going to need to buy your device before you can do anything at all. Obvious I know but if it is the case that you still don't actually have an R4 V2 as yet then we can recommend that you buy one from www.memorycardzoo.com. You can buy them elsewhere but we have heard good reports about this vendor and their cards all seem to be genuine. If you don't already have a micro sd card hanging around then make sure you buy one of their bundle deals that includes the card as part of the package.

• STEP 2 - Check you have everything you need

  Its now time to double check that you have everything you need to continue. The checklist is as follows:

  • R4 Adapter
  • USB Micro SD Card Reader
  • A Micro SD Memory Card
  • A PC running windows XP or Vista (With the latest updates installed)
  • An active Internet connection

• STEP 3 - Download the R4 Revolution Software

  Before you can use your R4 Revolution you first need to download the latest R4 software. The software is constantly being updated and is therefore not supplied on the R4 adapter itself. There may also be some sort of legal reason why the adapters are not supplied with the software out of the box. To save you some time we have the latest version of the R4 Revolution software for you to download

  R4 Revolution Operating software (Kernel) (ZIP File)

  Click the link and choose a location on your PC to save the file to. Remember where you decided to save the file. When the download is finished, find the file on your PC and then right click the file and choose "extract all...". Follow the prompts and choose the default options. When you are finished you should have a folder called 'R4 v2 (1.18)' and inside that folder you will find the files that you will need in the next step.

• STEP 4 - Setting up your Micro SD Memory Card
  • Find the Micro SD memory card and remove from its packaging if necessary
  • Insert the Micro SD card into the USB Micro SD Card Reader
  • Insert the Card Reader into a free USB port of your PC/MAC
  • On a PC you should be prompted when you insert the card reader. Choose to open to view files/folders
    
  • You should now have an empty file window (Unless you have already transferred some files to your micro SD card.)
    
  • Now go back to your other window where you extracted the downloaded files to. Selected all the files and then press the right mouse button and choose COPY.
    
  • Go back to the empty folder for your memory card and right click and choose PASTE
    
  • When done your memory card should look like this:
    
  • Thats it for now - you can add your files you want to use with the R4 Revolution card later on. Click onto your C: on the right panel and then right click on the memory card drive and choose to safely remove the device (If you just unplug the USB reader without doing this you can damage your memory card and lose your files!)
    
  • Now remove the USB reader from your PC and remove the memory card from the reader. Try not to touch the metal connections.
  
  

• STEP 5 - Using your R4i for the first time

  Now we can test out your R4 card using the memory card that we setup in step 4 above. If you followed exactly what I outlined in step 4 then you will not have any music, video or other files on the card as yet. That's fine because we only need to test that the card works and the menu appears on your Nintendo DS when used. Follow these steps to test out your R4 V2 Adapter:

  • Insert the Micro SD memory card into your R4 adapter
  • Insert the adapter into your Nintendo DS game port (Slot 1)
  • Turn on your Nintendo DS
  • Your DS should load and and the R4 software should boot immediately.
  • The R4 Revolution software should load and it should look something like this:
    

R4 Revolution Latest Software

To make the most of your R4 you need to make sure that you have the latest version of the R4 Revolution software. This is also known as the R4 Kernel or the R4 system files.

You can download the latest version of the R4 software here: R4 Revolution (V2) Operating software (Kernel) (ZIP File)

Where to Buy R4 Revolution v2?

There are many different places online where you can purchase the R4 v2 revolution, we have contacted many of these vendors to to assess customer service, product knowledge, etc. Have a look at our where to buy R4 V2 card page for more information.....

R4 Revolution (V2) FAQ (Frequently Asked questions)

We will put the answers to all your R4 Revolution related questions here. We will also post solutions to common R4 problems.

1. What is the maximum micro sd capacity an R4i DS Card can accept?
   Because the R4 Revolution (Version 2) is not SDHC compatible the maximum memory size you can use is 2GB.
2. Are the R4 DS cards compatible with the Nintendo DSi?
   No unfortunately the R4 v2, or R4 Revolution is not compatible with the latest Nintendo DSi games console. If you require a DS card that is compatible with the Nintendo DSi then you need to look at the R4i Revolution or the DSTTi cards.

SUPPORT FORUM

Please visit our Support forum for the latest help & support and also if you would like to ask us a question about these cards.