# EZ Flash Omega + Analogue Pocket firmware



## 0bvious (Dec 16, 2021)

I have an EZ Flash Omega. If I run it on an original GBA or a DS Lite it loads up fine. It is updated to v1.09

But with the new Analogue Pocket the EZ Flash Omega asks every time to update from v1.07 to v1.09. If I hold R and boot it seems to update, and then asks this question again. No matter how many times I update it still asks the same thing.

In the EZ Flash system menu it says the Flash cart is updated to v1.09. And yes, if I load the EZ Flash Omega on a regular GBA it doesn't ask the update firmware.

Seems like a bug with Analogue Pocket. Please advise.

Thanks


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## Son of Spam (Dec 16, 2021)

I saw this comment from the EZ-Flash team. It sounds like it is something Analog would need to fix.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/hey-wil...rk-with-analogue-pocket-d.570793/post-9691331


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## coolbho3000 (Dec 16, 2021)

My Omega DE works fine but Mode B doesn't work at all.


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## koshi (Dec 17, 2021)

coolbho3000 said:


> My Omega DE works fine but Mode B doesn't work at all.


This is interesting. I can't get my Omega DE to work (latest firmware) - it only says "link-mode". My Omega (not DE) works fine. Jr. for GB/GBC worked after updating to beta firmware. Which firmware version are you running?


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## koshi (Dec 17, 2021)

coolbho3000 said:


> My Omega DE works fine but Mode B doesn't work at all.


This is interesting. I can't get my Omega DE to work (latest firmware) - it only says "link-mode". My Omega (not DE) works fine. Jr. for GB/GBC worked after updating to beta firmware. Which firmware version are you running?


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## 0bvious (Dec 17, 2021)

I hadn't considered it before, but there are SO SOOOOO many different flash carts for the GB and GBA. Analogue might have their work cut out trying to accommodate them all. Either way, I hope this gets fixed.


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## ghjfdtg (Dec 17, 2021)

They probably don't care for the flashcarts. Besides that if they fix their timings (accuracy is the whole goal) the flashcarts will he fixed too.


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## coolbho3000 (Dec 18, 2021)

koshi said:


> This is interesting. I can't get my Omega DE to work (latest firmware) - it only says "link-mode". My Omega (not DE) works fine. Jr. for GB/GBC worked after updating to beta firmware. Which firmware version are you running?


The Pocket troubleshooting FAQ says to clean your contacts if this happens.


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## Cheapergamer (Dec 18, 2021)

koshi said:


> This is interesting. I can't get my Omega DE to work (latest firmware) - it only says "link-mode". My Omega (not DE) works fine. Jr. for GB/GBC worked after updating to beta firmware. Which firmware version are you running?


Same here! It states the Bios and Link-mode but does not say Error in red underneath. I've cleaned the pins etc with IPA but it's almost as if a cart is no inserted at all.

Omega Non-DE works as expected and Jr. is working fine also.


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## coolbho3000 (Dec 18, 2021)

For what it’s worth my Omega DE has trouble with my GBA Player. Maybe the cart PCB doesn’t make good contact with some slots.


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## koshi (Dec 19, 2021)

I really can't image it's the pins. At least not for the folks not getting the red "error"-text. My Analogue Pocket (obviously) and my EZ flash are both brand new...
(But I did try the flash card in an original GBA after running into the problem, so I know it is working)


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## hyuganet (Dec 19, 2021)

Same position. I get "ANALOGUE BIOS 1.4 LINK-MODE". No red ERROR text. It's definitely in GBA mode.

Did same as koshi, plugged in an original GBA cart, it works. I did the firmware update on a DS Lite. Works great, never any trouble booting. Everdrive GB is 100% successful.

Anyone who has had this error manage to get it working?


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## Snowekim (Dec 20, 2021)

exactly same issue than @obvious (with my Ez flash omega) , if i cancel the update I can boot any game but so far none works.


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## 0bvious (Dec 20, 2021)

Snowekim said:


> exactly same issue than @obvious (with my Ez flash omega) , if i cancel the update I can boot any game but so far none works.


I can definitely load games. You need to update the cart to the latest firmware, possibly on a device other than the Pocket (GBA etc). Hold down R when you load the cart. Make sure it is with latest firmware. Then reboot.

The message to update remains, but after pressing B you can play any games fine.


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## EZ-Flash2 (Dec 21, 2021)

We have tried to contact Analogue by email, if they can adjust the shipping priority, we can buy a sample to participate in the debugging, but I can not find a valid contact email on their website, only a [email protected], yesterday I sent a mail to this email, as of now no response.


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## koshi (Dec 21, 2021)

EZ-Flash2 said:


> We have tried to contact Analogue by email, if they can adjust the shipping priority, we can buy a sample to participate in the debugging, but I can not find a valid contact email on their website, only a [email protected], yesterday I sent a mail to this email, as of now no response.


They do have a [email protected], but as far as I can tell from monitoring various forums/subreddits they aren't responding to anyone in a timely manner right now. They had the first devices shipped last week with all the bigger and smaller support requests this causes (my power button is slightly deformed, for example). At the same time they launched their biggest pre-order campaign ever - they probably bit off more than they can chew...


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## coolbho3000 (Dec 21, 2021)

Just emailed Analogue Support asking them to please send a Pocket to the EZ-Flash team lol.


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## mephisto_mods (Dec 21, 2021)

Hey guys, I created an account just to give you a solution that worked for me with the Ez-Flash Omega DE: my card shipped with version "Kernel 1.03 firmware 4.0" so I never bothered to flash it, since it was the same version that is listed on the website. I had the same problem as multiple people: on the analogue pocket, it booted in "link mode". I saw a post on reddit where a guy said his card worked fine, so I downloaded the firmware on the website (so Kernel 1.03 firmware 4.0 too), flashed it using a GBA, and now my card works on the analogue pocket!! My guess is maybe it shipped with a beta version of the firware? anyways, I hope it'll work for you guys too...

edit2: typos
edit: link to the reddit post in question, I left a message there too:


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## koshi (Dec 22, 2021)

mephisto_mods said:


> Hey guys, I created an account just to give you a solution that worked for me with the Ez-Flash Omega DE: my card shipped with version "Kernel 1.03 firmware 4.0" so I never bothered to flash it, since it was the same version that is listed on the website. I had the same problem as multiple people: on the analogue pocket, it booted in "link mode". I saw a post on reddit where a guy said his card worked fine, so I downloaded the firmware on the website (so Kernel 1.03 firmware 4.0 too), flashed it using a GBA, and now my card works on the analogue pocket!! My guess is maybe it shipped with a beta version of the firware? anyways, I hope it'll work for you guys too...
> 
> edit2: typos
> edit: link to the reddit post in question, I left a message there too:



I just did the same thing. It might even really have changed something, since I now see a very short logo at bootup on my original GBA - I am not sure if this was the case before. However, the behaviour on the Pocket is unchanged...


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## Randomguy1818 (Dec 22, 2021)

0bvious said:


> I have an EZ Flash Omega. If I run it on an original GBA or a DS Lite it loads up fine. It is updated to v1.09
> 
> But with the new Analogue Pocket the EZ Flash Omega asks every time to update from v1.07 to v1.09. If I hold R and boot it seems to update, and then asks this question again. No matter how many times I update it still asks the same thing.
> 
> ...


Hi,
At first glance, mine doesn’t work too, I have updated my firmware on my ez flash and my pocket and it doesn’t work too.
So I checked the settings of my pocket and by default it’s on gb mode so I put my pocket in gba mode and it works just fine !


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## Pascoungou (Dec 28, 2021)

Randomguy1818 said:


> Hi,
> At first glance, mine doesn’t work too, I have updated my firmware on my ez flash and my pocket and it doesn’t work too.
> So I checked the settings of my pocket and by default it’s on gb mode so I put my pocket in gba mode and it works just fine !


Might I ask what you meant by "I put my pocket in gba mode" ?


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## epistaxis (Dec 28, 2021)

If anyone cares, EEPROM save games currently fail to save when using a EZFlash Omega on a pocket. Some games like A Link to the Past won't even let you past the initial save screen. Temporary solution is to patch these roms with GBATA to use SRAM saves. When you select the patched game in the Omega menu set the save type manually to SRAM. Tutorial: https://flashcartdb.com/index.php/How_to_Patch_GBA_Games_with_GBATA


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## coolbho3000 (Dec 28, 2021)

The EEPROM issue also occurs on some ED GBA X5s and is being tracked here: https://github.com/frederic-mahe/Analogue-Pocket/issues/15


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## astrodraco (Dec 31, 2021)

Just here to report the same issue as OP. 

Updating the Omega to v09, restarted the console, asks every boot to update firmware to v09. My menus say v07 still but hilariously on my actual GBA it doesn’t have the message and shows v09 working fine as normal. 

Have also noticed that Mother 3 doesn’t work on my Pocket with the Omega. I have to write it to NOR flash due to its size, booting from there on the Pocket gives a white screen. Tested ROM and it works fine, playing the game from NOR on an actual GBA also works fine. 

Other games booting from the SD seemingly work just fine however.


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## PhilippeA (Jan 1, 2022)

For Ez Omega DE, i manage to make it work with every pokemon game from gb, gbc and gba.
I had the "Analogue BIOS 1.4 LINK MODE" with no "error" and that have nothing to do with clean or plugged error.

Need:
- Ez flash already on FW 4 and K 1.03.
- Analogue Pocket on FW 1.0
Optional:
- Having the ezflash firmware (.bin) in the root of you SD card on Ez

The process is to put any regular gba game on the cartridge, after start of the game put the AP (Analogue Pocket) in sleep.
Change the gba game with the Ez Omega in A mode, wake up the AP,
*** Optional need firmware file
 hold R to use the last firmware it will "update" without reboot, after it will print the update menu,
***
 choose  *B when it ask for update. 
EZ is ready to use.

B mode don't work.*


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## PhilippeA (Jan 1, 2022)

I think the issue is about power consumption and some check by the bios.


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## coolbho3000 (Jan 1, 2022)

PhilippeA said:


> I think the issue is about power consumption and some check by the bios.


Interesting. Do you have to do this every time you boot the Omega DE? Or did you have to do this just once?


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## livinitwarrior (Jan 1, 2022)

This happened on mine as well, all you have to do is complete the upgrade process on a regular gameboy advance, and then once the process is complete, you can then play it normally on the analogue pocket.


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## astrodraco (Jan 1, 2022)

livinitwarrior said:


> This happened on mine as well, all you have to do is complete the upgrade process on a regular gameboy advance, and then once the process is complete, you can then play it normally on the analogue pocket.



This is partially covered in the thread and did not work for me or OP.


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## epistaxis (Jan 1, 2022)

astrodraco said:


> Have also noticed that Mother 3 doesn’t work on my Pocket with the Omega. I have to write it to NOR flash due to its size, booting from there on the Pocket gives a white screen. Tested ROM and it works fine, playing the game from NOR on an actual GBA also works fine.


Are you using the latest mother 3  1.3 patch revision? It's working perfectly fine flashed to NOR on my Omega/Pocket combo.


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## livinitwarrior (Jan 1, 2022)

astrodraco said:


> This is partially covered in the thread and did not work for me or OP.


Weird, I've used this both on the Omega and the Omega definitive edition without any issues


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## coolbho3000 (Jan 1, 2022)

Is boot to NOR flash or mode B working for anyone else on the DE?


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## Manwichman44 (Jan 2, 2022)

I think I have found a fix, but please don't hate me if it doesn't work for you. When I would load any game on the pocket, I noticed that there was a small window where the pocket loads it's bios before the game, so what I did was boot a game, then quickly switch the cart to the Omega de. It will then freeze on a white screen if done right. While it is on this screen, use the Pocket's save state beta feature and create a save state. You then load the state. It will still be a white screen. You then quit and reload the cart (Omega de) and it loads fully. It will then boot like normal every time. What I'm thinking the issue is is that with the Pocket's timing (not sure exactly what that means), I'm able to fool the system into thinking the flash cart is a real game, kinda like a disc swap on ps2 for example. It seems to kind of 'jump start' the Omega de. I'm not sure how this makes it work every time afterwards but it seems to so far.
Warning: DO NOT PUT IT IN MODE B!!! Doing so will cause it not to boot again and you have to do the above steps again. 

I hope this helps someone other than me!


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## astrodraco (Jan 2, 2022)

epistaxis said:


> Are you using the latest mother 3  1.3 patch revision? It's working perfectly fine flashed to NOR on my Omega/Pocket combo.


Are you using a normal Omega or an Omega DE? My normal Omega fails to boot it from NOR flash, is a garbled mess when booting from the SD itself. The ROM I have is the latest translation, straight from the No-Intro romset. Works fine on PC and on original hardware -- just not the Pocket.


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## epistaxis (Jan 2, 2022)

astrodraco said:


> Are you using a normal Omega or an Omega DE? My normal Omega fails to boot it from NOR flash, is a garbled mess when booting from the SD itself. The ROM I have is the latest translation, straight from the No-Intro romset. Works fine on PC and on original hardware -- just not the Pocket.


Normal omega


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## astrodraco (Jan 2, 2022)

Not sure then. It may have something to do with my Omega reading "something else" and that reporting that its on FW7 while the device is on FW9 according to any original hardware. Who knows.

I have an Omega DE coming just for shits and giggles to see if it works, so I'm going to do a whole bunch of testing on this thing today to see if I can find a solution.


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## PhilippeA (Jan 2, 2022)

coolbho3000 said:


> Interesting. Do you have to do this every time you boot the Omega DE? Or did you have to do this just once?


Yes every time
Edit:
After Reading about save state above I've try but didn't manage to make it work.
But I try to save state after my method and reload and now the ez omega DE work well on Mode A with the proper kernel and firmware.

Tested on Analogue FW 1.0 and 1.0A

So now I just need to load state when I reach analogue bios screen


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## astrodraco (Jan 2, 2022)

Did some testing with a bunch of things — long story short, none of them worked.

I grabbed the FW3Downgrader and downgraded the kernel and firmware to K1.01 and FW3, but it only reported that on the SP — original hardware. On The Pocket, it still showed as FW7.

Tried updating from the SP to FW9, worked fine. Put Omega into Pocket, still says FW7, same boot message about updating to FW9. Updating from the Pocket *looks* fine, as in things show they’ve been updated, but upon restarting the console, the same message about updating from FW7 to FW9 shows up.

Tried the recovery image as well and choosing “Update Loader” with the image flashed to an SD card, but it produces the same set of problems. Tried every which way, doing it from SP, doing it from the Pocket, downgrade on SP, upgrasde on Pocket and vice versa. Same issue persists.

There seems be no way a user can fix this and the fix may need to come directly from Analogue, but who knows. I think a safe measure would be to upgrasde to the latest firmware from original hardware first, then placing in the Pocket and using as normal. 

The Mother 3 issue never fixed or corrected itself — nothing worked. Boots normally from SD sometimes, but most times it has grabbled visuals. Booting from NOR has never worked. Tested other SD cards, same problem. ROM works fine on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android emulators, and in original hardware, but fails on the Pocket. 

Weird issue. Hopefully these notes can assist someone somewhere in finding a solution.


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## coolbho3000 (Jan 5, 2022)

Manwichman44 said:


> I think I have found a fix, but please don't hate me if it doesn't work for you. When I would load any game on the pocket, I noticed that there was a small window where the pocket loads it's bios before the game, so what I did was boot a game, then quickly switch the cart to the Omega de. It will then freeze on a white screen if done right. While it is on this screen, use the Pocket's save state beta feature and create a save state. You then load the state. It will still be a white screen. You then quit and reload the cart (Omega de) and it loads fully. It will then boot like normal every time. What I'm thinking the issue is is that with the Pocket's timing (not sure exactly what that means), I'm able to fool the system into thinking the flash cart is a real game, kinda like a disc swap on ps2 for example. It seems to kind of 'jump start' the Omega de. I'm not sure how this makes it work every time afterwards but it seems to so far.
> Warning: DO NOT PUT IT IN MODE B!!! Doing so will cause it not to boot again and you have to do the above steps again.
> 
> I hope this helps someone other than me!


So the process is this? Does it still work after you restart your Pocket? 

Boot the Omega DE like normal. You get a white screen
Save state
Load the state you just saved. You'll still be on a white screen
Quit the Omega DE from the Pocket menu
Load the Omega DE again from the Pocket menu


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## coolbho3000 (Jan 16, 2022)

@EZ-Flash2 did you guys get a Pocket?

My Omega DE was working perfectly except Mode B and then today it stopped working suddenly.


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## astrodraco (Jan 17, 2022)

Just to add on to the methods above, possibly from another comment on the forums, but the sure-fire way for me to get it to work was:

Play normal regular GBA game
Put Pocket in sleep mode
Take GBA game out
Put in Omega DE
Wake up Pocket
Hit Play Cartridge


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## coolbho3000 (Jan 19, 2022)

Kevtris got in an Omega DE today. Hopefully things will be fixed soon.


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## 0bvious (Jan 19, 2022)

Anybody managed to avoid the Omega (none DE) nag to update from v7 to v9? Every game works fine, but I still have to dismiss this message whenever I boot up. Cart is updated to v9.


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## epistaxis (Jan 20, 2022)

0bvious said:


> Anybody managed to avoid the Omega (none DE) nag to update from v7 to v9? Every game works fine, but I still have to dismiss this message whenever I boot up. Cart is updated to v9.


This won't get fixed likely without an update from either EZflash or Analogue.


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## astrodraco (Jan 21, 2022)

0bvious said:


> Anybody managed to avoid the Omega (none DE) nag to update from v7 to v9? Every game works fine, but I still have to dismiss this message whenever I boot up. Cart is updated to v9.


You can "downgrade" your kernel to v7 using Internet Web Archive and going back to whenever it was the current firmware. It would ultimately remove the nag but then also remove the features or improvements added in v8 and v9.



> EZ-Flash Omega Changelog
> K109 FW9
> Fixed the embedded Goomba unable to save issue.
> 
> ...



I've attached it below, but I got it from here if you wanna snag it yourself: https://web.archive.org/web/20200701162427/http://www.ezflash.cn/product/omega/


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## 0bvious (Feb 2, 2022)

astrodraco said:


> You can "downgrade" your kernel to v7 using Internet Web Archive and going back to whenever it was the current firmware. It would ultimately remove the nag but then also remove the features or improvements added in v8 and v9.
> 
> 
> 
> I've attached it below, but I got it from here if you wanna snag it yourself: https://web.archive.org/web/20200701162427/http://www.ezflash.cn/product/omega/


Thanks for this! 

In addition.... if anyone wants to avoid the v7 / v9 nag using the popular Simple theme, this firmware version from late 2020 works great


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## ron!n (Feb 2, 2022)

coolbho3000 said:


> My Omega DE works fine but Mode B doesn't work at all.


Yeah same boat, my DE works like a charm. My Everdrive works just fine too, so I am not sure why that works for some people but not for others.


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## coolbho3000 (Feb 2, 2022)

ron!n said:


> Yeah same boat, my DE works like a charm. My Everdrive works just fine too, so I am not sure why that works for some people but not for others.


My Omega DE that stopped working after a couple weeks started working again after Pocket update 1.0B!


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## ron!n (Feb 2, 2022)

ron!n said:


> Yeah same boat, my DE works like a charm. My Everdrive works just fine too, so I am not sure why that works for some people but not for others.


So strange that so many people are having suck different experiences with the same flash cart.


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## Apple_Blossom (Feb 8, 2022)

This is so disappointing I hope they make a fix for this soon


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## Borland (Feb 11, 2022)

I have both Omega and DE. The DE edition did not work on the previous Pocket FWs however never had problems with the Omega. I did not want to update just in case but yesterday I had upgraded my Pocket and .... surprise!  Both Omega and DE work like a treat!


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