Gaming GBA Flashcart vs. Revo K101+

Cornholio309

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Starting a new topic here because I'm mildly curious.

Recently, it seems that GBA Flashcarts have pretty much "dried up" in the sense that they're nearly impossible to find right now. As far as I can tell, the official GBATemp shop doesn't seem to carry (or rather link) to any shops that sell the EZ Flash IV, and the same applies with most others.

The Revo K101+ on the other hand seems fantastic however. It can basically do what a GBA with a flashcart can, but you don't need to hunt down an actual flash cartridge. The only downside I see is that those who are comfortable with the GBA/SP/Micro's layout might have some trouble adapting to this new layout, but otherwise it seems great. Is it possible to dump GBA cartridges using this?

Any thoughts on if anybody thinks that the Revo K101+ is a good GBA Flashcart replacement?
 

FAST6191

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The EZ4 should still be pretty available (they made a new batch and then a new model that has microSD support and is GBA cart sized) and more than suitable for task, not sure what US vendors are out there at this point though.

Anyway I have not played with a K101 but most accounts have the k101 as suffering the usual "tried to clone rather than improve and came up a bit weaker" problem. It is effectively real hardware so the compatibility is there but supposedly the buttons (kind of important for such a system) leave a tiny bit to be desired. You can get most of the GBA library done with one but sadly the real deal and a flash cart is the better route.

Dumping games. Not that I am aware of but it is trivial if you have a DS and a DS slot flash cart to dump GBA games and saves. http://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/applications/download-gba-backup-tool-0-21-f3228.html is a program that can do it.

By the way "the official GBATemp shop" does not really exist any more, shoptemp is a shopping directory and something of a trading platform. Paypal saw to the end of the first shoptemp which did sell flash carts and other stuff.
 

romanaOne

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Any thoughts on if anybody thinks that the Revo K101+ is a good GBA Flashcart replacement?

I'm skeptical. I am always disappointed with quality and look/feel of these knock-off devices. I've tried enough of them: GB-Boy, Dingoo, GCW, Pandora. Even my old Sony PSP2000s are falling apart and I use them way less than my GBA/NDS.

If you find the rubbish build quality of most flashcarts appalling, imagine the whole device is built like that. I think the best of the lot is Pandora and it is VERY clunky and fragile compared to Nintendo devices.

For some reason it is just funner to play Klonoa on a GBA SP than on some funky Frankenstein stripped-down Linux distro full of half-broken emulators with strange names and no two of them having the same user interface....
 

Chickenhunterx

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Well I got two of them the k101 and the k101+ and the only reason I got the + is that while the k101 supports link cables bigger games like 4 swords and the battle network games didn't work in multiplayer the k101+ fixes that issue and the saving issue while also having a bigger battery but some games suffer from minor sound graphical bugs like the black sky in super Mario world and I'm pretty sure the sound of the megabuster and viruses being destroyed are a little off there's a couple more but I can't remember them
 

VmprHntrD

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I had been considering the same but given what I'm reading here even with the built in device for flashing games it appears to still stink enough not to bother. Now I just would have to find a reliable hopefully US based ez4(micro new style) seller. It's not like I'm short on Gameboy anyway as I recently did my first system mod plopping a 101 into a normal white GBA and I do have a micro as well around (and a gb player, and a retron 5.) Thanks for the tip.
 

Retrospectives

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We still got a lot of both the EZ-Flash and another alternative GBA Flash cartridge in stock. Of course the Micro SD version.
 

Riptide

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was recently faced with a similar decision, GBA SP + EZF4 or K101+, I decided to go with the SP + EZF4, which I don't regret, but I think there is more merit to the K101+ option that hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread so I'll give a quick breakdown of my thoughts/experience thus far

GBA SP + EZF4
Pros:
- Console itself is original Nintendo quality hardware
- Ability to insert and play GB/GBC carts
- GBA SP form factor allows for easy one handed gameplay. <<< This is actually one of the bigger pros for me and I did not realize beforehand how much this would come in handy (ba dum tis)
- Compatible with Gamecube GB Player for TV out functionality
Cons:
- If you're not already familiar with the EZF4 it can be confusing as fuck to setup. Especially considering that a number of things have changed about it over the years which makes many of the guides/threads you'll read about it inaccurate. You want it in english but the key combo mentioned in all the guides doesn't work anymore since the menu is slightly different now. You'll need to patch your roms before you can play them and when you try and use the software provided by EZF4 to do so you'll be confused when the names of all your roms change and you can only patch 25 at a time. You'll only be more confused when some of those 25 roms don't show up on the cart because the programs header database didn't have them and they all got renamed .gba and overwrote each other. You could go on a quest to make a custom db file that maintains no-intro or goodset naming, but save yourself the trouble and use one of the two 3rd party patchers made by forum members and posted on this board.
- No RTC
- Shitty UI - even if you flash one of the skinned kernels provided here the EZF4's UI really isn't the greatest. Any file with more than something like 64char in its name gets truncated and you don't get the GBA icon. Also wtf is the logic behind the EZF4's folder sorting? Its almost like they tried to do it alphabetically but then quit halfway through the sort and stuck the remainder of the folders in random positions. For example on mine:
  1. Sp-Sw
  2. 0-9
  3. A
  4. B
  5. C
  6. D
  7. E-F
  8. Video
  9. G-H
  10. I-K
  11. Mario
  12. Megaman
  13. L
  14. M
  15. Pokemon
  16. N-P
  17. Q-R
  18. Sa-So
  19. T
  20. U-Z
  21. Dragonball
Da fuk? Srsly that really bugs my OCD side, if anyone knows how to get that sorted alphabetically please let me know.


Revo K101+: (disclaimer I do not own nor have I tried)
Pros:
- RTC
- TV out
- Much nicer UI especially when using the game picture previews
- None of the EZF4's game patching shenanigans, just drag and drop onto SD card
- Native sleep function without patching each rom
Cons:
- Not original Nintendo quality hardware
- Different screen resolution/aspect ratio
- Audio/graphical differences/bugs in some games


Some of those pros/cons could be deal breakers for some people. If the main games you want to play use RTC and you don't feel like dealing with the various patches for those then the K101+ might be a better idea for you. Now that I have successfully setup my EZF4 it is working quite well for me, but I may also pick up a K101+ in the future.

Edit: Added GB Player Pro for EZF4
 
Last edited by Riptide,

kuwanger

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Da fuk? Srsly that really bugs my OCD side, if anyone knows how to get that sorted alphabetically please let me know.

Fat sorter (fatsort for *nix, in most distros I think). I forget if EZ4 even does any sorting. One thing, IIRC, I noticed about Windows Explorer is if you end up copying several files, it'll often copy the selected file first (ie, if you have "1", "2", "3", and "4", and you drag/drop copy with the mouse over "2", "2" will be copied first). Could be wrong about that or mistaken and perhaps it has its own other logic. One thing for certain is that it's not 100% alphabetical. :)

PS - One Pro you forgot for the EZ4 cart? Gamecube + GB Player. As much as, in theory, having TV Out on a handheld is, most handhelds are rather uncomfortable (at least for me) after hours of play. But a Gamecube controller is pretty sweet for games. Add to that that a Gamecube and GB Player are really cheap... Seriously, once you use a GB Player for a while, you really don't want to go back to a GBA SP unless necessary.
 
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Riptide

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Fat sorter (fatsort for *nix, in most distros I think). I forget if EZ4 even does any sorting. One thing, IIRC, I noticed about Windows Explorer is if you end up copying several files, it'll often copy the selected file first (ie, if you have "1", "2", "3", and "4", and you drag/drop copy with the mouse over "2", "2" will be copied first). Could be wrong about that or mistaken and perhaps it has its own other logic. One thing for certain is that it's not 100% alphabetical. :)

PS - One Pro you forgot for the EZ4 cart? Gamecube + GB Player. As much as, in theory, having TV Out on a handheld is, most handhelds are rather uncomfortable (at least for me) after hours of play. But a Gamecube controller is pretty sweet for games. Add to that that a Gamecube and GB Player are really cheap... Seriously, once you use a GB Player for a while, you really don't want to go back to a GBA SP unless necessary.

ty for both of those knowledge tidbits, used fatsorter and everything displays as it should. Also I had completely forgotten GB Player was a thing, I added that to the pros list, dusted off the old gamecube to make sure it still works and ordered a GB Player off ebay :D
 

Snyrf

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Hi,

I have a K101+ but my EZ-Flash IV doesn't work :(
It's a problem with my EZ-Flash or it's normal ?

Thank you
 

Riptide

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Hi,

I have a K101+ but my EZ-Flash IV doesn't work :(
It's a problem with my EZ-Flash or it's normal ?

Thank you
The K101+ comes with a K-Cart so you shouldn't need to use the EZF4 in it? But I also don't see why it wouldn't work.
 

Riptide

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I know but I have a GBA SP et I would like to play with game on the EZ4 on the K101+
It based on their comment on this youtube video it isn't compatible



Edit: Think you need to go to the youtube site to see the comment, forum keeps inserting it as an embedded video.
 
Last edited by Riptide,

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