[SoraK05]

4. Best MicroSD/HC To Use

General Troubleshooting: Which MicroSD/HC Works Best

EDIT
As of the CycloDS Evolution v1.57 Firmware, a fix for CastleVania: Portrait of Ruin was implemented which should stop the problem causing the game to freeze when using different MicroSD/HC cards. There shouldn't necessarily be a problem running this game on any MicroSD/HC as of this Firmware.


The CycloDS Evolution supports any MicroSD (up to 2GB) and any MicroSDHC (theoretically up to 32GB).
That said, there isn't necessarily a 'best' MicroSD to use.
It DOES NOT support SD/HC cards, and ONLY MicroSD/HC cards.

However, MicroSDs vary with speed depending on where they are manufactured, and with MicroSDHC, the CLASS of the MicroSDHC defines its internal speed as well.

The CycloDS Evolution works perfectly regardless of which MicroSD you use, whether it is the slowest or fastest MicroSD you can get.

ONE issue arises when using slower MicroSD however with a very very select amount of games, with CastleVania: Portrait of Ruin being the ONLY ONE AS OF YET, and with the possiblity of a very unknown select few in the future.
If the MicroSD is internally of a slower build, the particular game will freeze or lock up during game play.

THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT OCCURS ON ANY NDS FLASH CART USING MICRO SD/HC MEDIA, AND IS NOT ISOLATED SOLELY TO THE CYCLODS EVOLUTION FLASH CART.

The reason is that the internal speed of the MicroSD, and NOT the speed it takes to read/write data to and from a computer, is too slow for the loading requirements of the particular game, and will result in random freezing - depending on the MicroSD, the game will be more prone to random freezing.


MicroSD and MicroSDHC cards are manufactured in 3 places: Japan, US, and Taiwan.
The Japanese Cards are designed differently than US and Taiwan cards, which are both one and the same.


Japanese Cards:
These have a very fast internal speed, and retain the speed regardless of the amount of data on the MicroSD.

The game CastleVania: Portrait of Ruin requires a "Random Access Time", being the internal speed of the MicroSD, or 0.7ms or below.
Generally Japanese MicroSDs of 1GB or below will have a Random Access Time like this, but Japanese 1GB cards vary and can sometimes have a time of 0.8ms, which is just a little too slow to ensure the game never locks up.
Most Japanese MicroSDHCs, regardless of class or size have a Random Access Time of 0.7ms or below, but then again, if the class is of a low number, it may vary and may be slightly higher than 0.7ms.

TOSHIBA is the only company to manufacture Japanese MicroSD/HC cards, and any other company distributing Japanese Made cards are rebranded TOSHIBA MicroSDs.
Examples are Kingston and A-Data.

Taiwan/US Cards:
These cards have a good internal speed, but becomes slower as more data is filled on the MicroSD. Sometimes the card has to be formatted in order to reset the speed to its best, even when all the data is off the MicroSD.

Taiwan/US cards generally have either the same or slightly higher Random Access Time as Japanese cards. Very few can play CastleVania: Portrait of Ruin with a guarantee that it will never lock up or freeze.
In this case, since the Random Access Time becomes slower with the more data on the card, play that one ROM if you want with nothing else on the MicroSD, to ensure the chances of having the game playable.

An example of a Taiwan/US ONLY card is SanDisk, who do not produce Japanese Made MicroSDs.

Addendum for MicroSDHC Cards
It seems that MicroSDHC cards with a Class 6 brand, regardless of where it is manufactured, will generally be fast enough to play CastleVania: Portrait of Ruin with no, or very little freezing at all.
EDIT:
It seems that having a Class 6 may sometimes not guarantee that you have a card which plays CastleVania: Portrait of Ruin without ever freezing. Some people reported success and others reported failure.
If you want the highest chances possible for playing the game without freezing, it's recommended to get a Made in Japan MicroSD(HC) (although 2GB is said to be JUST too slow, but anything smaller or anything from the MicroSDHCs should work)..

Random Access Time:
You can bench mark the Random Access Time of your MicroSD by running it with a PC program called "HDTach". This isn't accurate sometimes, and can show a higher figure than the true figure of the card at the time due to the USB drive being used or the speed of the computer at the time.
There is a NDS Homebrew called "speedtest for libfat" which can accurately benchmark the Random Access Time within the Flash Cart itself.

If the Random Access Time is 0.7ms or below, the game will never lock up at any point, ever.

If the Random Access Time is between 0.8ms and 1.2ms, the game will be playable, and sometimes freeze while going from one portal to another, or while pausing/unpausing. It is not very frequent though, making the game playable.

If the Random Access Time is above 1.2ms, especially higher than 2.0ms, then the chances of the ROM locking-up or freezing become increasingly high, and the game will randomly lock up at any point, regardless of what you are doing in the game - even while just running around in one spot.