R4 clone user? Here's something that you need to know, even if you think your R4 is the real deal. Apparently, the R4 team has grown tired of seeing clones of their user-friendly flashcart, and is now taking steps towards the eradication of those who manufacture and sell flashcarts based on their own R4 Revolution for DS card. That is, if their statement below is correctly translated by Google from Chinese to English:

In order to protect the original R4 majority of the basic interests of users, now R4 against the proliferation of counterfeit cards, R4 group will be on September 15 after the program on the fake cards blocked. As a number of technology is not yet mature reasons, if the use of counterfeit cards in this program, the DS machines could lead to serious consequences, such as floor tiles changed...

We don't mind getting our floor tiles changed, but the paragraph above certainly reads as if the R4 team intends to brick DS units that use R4 clones with the use of a future firmware update.

Now, the problem here is that it is very, very possible that some people have unwittingly bought a clone instead of the real deal, since some clones are packaged as real R4 flashcarts, as shown in the picture (courtesy of TehSkeen) above.

Even if you think you bought a real R4, you'd better make sure that yours is the complete thing before you download and install any of their future updates. The problem is that telling whether you have the real deal or not mostly requires opening the cart itself...not really a good idea if you're not experienced with tinkering delicate stuff.

In any case, here are some pictures that will help you tell a real R4 from a counterfeit one. The examples on the left are the real R4; those on the right are fakes.