R4 problems? Especially with the site?

Question

I have the Chinese r4 and so I have to download the Chinese kernel, but when I go to the r4 site and click on Chinese a bunch of weird symbols pop up and I can't do anything!

The site worked before because I currently have v1.18 on my r4 but I want to see if anything new is there?

Also, are R4s only usable with a MicroSD chip and not a MicrSDHC?

And is the R4 really outdated, I was at the shop in China and they asked me if I wanted this other type and I'm not sure what it was called because I wasn't really paying attention but it might have been the cyclone. If the cyclone is really much better I might have to tell my brother to send me one from china.

Answer 1

The reason you may be experiencing problems with the R4 site is because Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against the company, which has stopped producing the R4.

Even though you bought your R4 in China, my guess is that the U.S. software will work--they're the same product, the only difference is the language!  

Try downloading and putting the U.S. kernal in your Micro SD card--I'll bet money it will work!  Oh, here's the download site:  http://www.r4ds.com/soft/24-en.htm

And yes, the R4 is not compatable with SDHC cards, only regular micro SD cards.  However, I know people who have other flash carts that do support SDHC cards and they've had a lot of problems with them, so you might be best off sticking with the regular SD cards anyway.

No, the R4 is not "outdated", it's still the most popular flash cart out there because it's known for being extremely stable, reliable and ease of use.   However, it may become outdated, especially if the manufacturer loses the lawsuit and is no longer able produce or support the R4.