R4 3DS .org

Because we are the official R4 3DS store, we get a lot of emails from customers that have purchased their R4 DS cards from various stores.  One of the most common comments and questions we hear are about incompatibility when it comes to the R4 DS loading apps or games.  While this can certainly be frustrating, the fact of the matter is though that all your need to do is an R4 DS Update to fix this issue.  As with all types of electronics or gadgets that can be updated, the R4 DS is the same.  When new apps or games get released, sometimes the R4 DS might not be able to recognize or load them properly.  This is always as a result of the user not udpating their R4 DS.  The truth is that you end up getting the card, it has the kernel / firmware files right on it, and it's working just fine.  The though to check for an R4 DS update isn't even on the radar.

It's only when certain apps and games don't work that users tend to wonder why.  Is the R4 DS broken?  Does the R4 DS not work with their DS, DSi or 3DS systems?  The answer is none of the above of course.  It just means that since the release of the firmware that is on your card already, there have probably been 3 or 4 update versions released.  It's not your fault though, resellers should notify their customers that there's a firmware update available. Send a quick email or as a user yourself, you can come back and visit our site and check the firmware section.  The first time you notice that a game is not loading, you will know right away that perhaps it's time for the r4 ds update.

Installing an R4 DS update is as easy as can be.  The steps you need to take are exactly the same as the ones you did when you first put the firmware on your card.  As a precation, we always recommend that you backup the entire contents of your micro SD card. This will save a whole lot of headaches should you end up making a mistake.  You can keep the backup on your PC until you've copied over the new udpated firmware, and then copy all of your files back again.

Once you've copied all of the files off your card, it's time to download the r4 3ds firmware (or the r4 ds firmware, whichever card you have, these instructions apply to them all)  You can get it from our r4 3ds firmware page.  Now uncompress the archive using 7-zip (also found on the same firmware page) and make a note of where the files are being saved to on your computer.

With your card ready and inserted into the reader and in the USB port of your PC or MAC, it's time to copy over the firmware files. When you unzip or uncompress the kernel archive, it often creates a folder that has the same name as the archive itself.  You do NOT want to copy the folder over.  You want to copy over the contents of that folder only.  And you want to copy them over to the root of your micro SD card.  By the root, we mean there is should go into any folder at all.  When you double click on the removable drive icon on your PC, you'll see the root directory.  This is where you want to copy the kernel files.

That really is all there is to it.  Now just copy back all of the files you originally backed up (making sure not to copy over the old kernel files from the backup) and you're all set to play. Naturally, if you need additional help or information, feel free to contact the r4 3ds team by going to our contact us page.