Yet another enhanced EZ Omega D.E kernel

[ZaindORp]

As mentioned in the title, this is an enhanced kernel for EZODE. It aims to enhance functionality as much as possible while maintaining compatibility with official kernel. You don't need to make any changes to the file structure, simply flash in and enjoy the new kernel.
The functions it has are as follows:

1. Pogoshell plugin support
Similar to the SimpleLight theme, Pogoshell plugins can be used for their functionality. Renaming the relevant plugin to <Openable File Extension>.[gba|mb|bin] is sufficient. For example, goomba.gba can be used to open files with an extension of gb, so rename it to gb.gba. Place the renamed plugin in the/PLUGINS directory.
2. Dynamic switchable themes
Based on the structure of image.bin, which is consistent with the official kernel theme, theme authors can create theme packs by editing the file. Change the extension to .odetheme, place it in any directory on the card, select the theme, press A, and wait for a few seconds to apply. Please note that the theme function needs to be enabled in the settings section. All custom settings added to this kernel are located on the right side of the original About page. Press R on the About page to access the relevant settings.
3. Archive backup
These are also features that need to be enabled in custom settings. After activation, each time the archive is saved, the original archive will be copied to the /SAVE/BAK directory. You can connect your storage card to your computer at any time to restore the previous saved data.
4. Skip saving
If you hold down L while booting up, the save process will be skipped directly (this will discard the last game progress). If you have enabled auto save but your previous game score was poor and you want to start over, this feature will be helpful.

Due to the fact that the author is a transgender individual and has been subjected to insults from some administrators in EZ official customer service group. for that, a small transgender flag pattern has been added to the About page of the kernel. If you feel that this affects the beauty of the theme, you can manually create an empty file called I_SUPPORT_TRANSGENDER in the /FLAGS directory, which will hide the pattern.

Download here

 

[EZ-Flash2]

Correction, the title should be kernel, not firmware.

 

[ZaindORp]

Correction, the title should be kernel, not firmware.

Ah... thanks for pointing that out... but it looks like there's no way to change the title of an already posted thread in this forum? Can't even find where to delete the posted post so it's not appropriate to repost it...

 

[hippy dave]

Ah... thanks for pointing that out... but it looks like there's no way to change the title of an already posted thread in this forum? Can't even find where to delete and post the post so it's possible to repost it...

Best you can do is report the original post and ask for a title change.

Sorry to hear you've experienced transphobia from the EZ Flash team, very disappointing.

 

[zxr750j]

Just say your kernel identifies itself as firmware.

 

[Localhorst86]

Very nice, I like the idea of custom themes. It seems like you're using the default folder setup, with the system folders sitting on the root of the SD. Personally, I prefer the simple light version, where the system folders (CHEAT, IMGS, SAVER, etc.) are put into a SYSTEM subfolder on the SD card - makes for a cleaner root. Maybe consider moving the folders into a SYSTEM subfolder as well

 

[ZaindORp]

Very nice, I like the idea of custom themes. It seems like you're using the default folder setup, with the system folders sitting on the root of the SD. Personally, I prefer the simple light version, where the system folders (CHEAT, IMGS, SAVER, etc.) are put into a SYSTEM subfolder on the SD card - makes for a cleaner root. Maybe consider moving the folders into a SYSTEM subfolder as well

Doing so can indeed make the root directory more tidy overall. However, the concept of this kernel is more about improving it without destroying the official kernel behavior as much as possible, so it is not designed that way... But it's not difficult to make a compilation that is consistent with SimpleLight in folder layout. Maybe it's possible to release a separate compilation here? After all, it is different from the original concept, and such a feature is not planned to be written into the main branch.

 

[Localhorst86]

Doing so can indeed make the root directory more tidy overall. However, the concept of this kernel is more about improving it without destroying the official kernel behavior as much as possible, so it is not designed that way [...] After all, it is different from the original concept, and such a feature is not planned to be written into the main branch.

That's fair enough, Simple light is still there to use for people wanting its enhanced features.

BTW, are skins kernel specific? I tried using these (https://github.com/orzgithub/omega-de-kernel_ZaindORp/releases/tag/Skins4kernel_gnatydnac) skins, I could see a small window flashing that said its loading the theme, but it would not apply the theme, even after toggling the custom theme in the advanced settings.

 

[ZaindORp]

That's fair enough, Simple light is still there to use for people wanting its enhanced features.

BTW, are skins kernel specific? I tried using these (https://github.com/orzgithub/omega-de-kernel_ZaindORp/releases/tag/Skins4kernel_gnatydnac) skins, I could see a small window flashing that said its loading the theme, but it would not apply the theme, even after toggling the custom theme in the advanced settings.

The skin won't take effect at once when you press A at that setting interface, but when you switch to another interface or after you reboot your GBA.

 

[EZ-Flash2]

This is what happened in the EZ official customer service group for Chinese users. One of administrator in the group, who can probably be regarded as a part of official team, in a conversation that had nothing to do with cartridges (in fact, a user was looking for advice on buying a gaming computer, and the administrator suggested buying a Mac), called ZaindORp by "人妖", which is a derogatory names for transgender female in Chinese, because of her objections. And another administrator also said some insulting words in the group after ZaindORp left the group. It's believed that not all EZ official members are like this, but at least these two make ZaindORp still very angry when she thinks about this matter.

It should be clarified here that the administrators of EZ's user group, other than myself and the aftermarket staff, are regular EZ product users and not members of the EZ TEAM.
Personally, I don't have a negative view on diversity, but the vast majority of people in China do.

 

[ZaindORp]

It should be clarified here that the administrators of EZ's user group, other than myself and the aftermarket staff, are regular EZ product users and not members of the EZ TEAM.

It is such a relationship. Okay, the description written above has been changed.

 

[EmpressEspeon]

I didnt get the EZ-Flash Omega yet but was thinking of just opting for the regular instead of the DE, can you tell me the differences or what I will be missing out on thats really significant? I have my own post just about questions on the Omega and like what checklist or steps I need. I didnt buy the SD cards and or reader yet either but I just have folders set up prepared for them.

 

[BETA215]

I didnt get the EZ-Flash Omega yet but was thinking of just opting for the regular instead of the DE, can you tell me the differences or what I will be missing out on thats really significant? I have my own post just about questions on the Omega and like what checklist or steps I need. I didnt buy the SD cards and or reader yet either but I just have folders set up prepared for them.

I think EZ-Flash already explains them in detail: https://www.ezflash.cn/product/ez-flash-omega-definitive-edition/

Omega has no DS/GBA Rumble, DS RAM or GBA NOR memory, uses a (not easily removable) battery to manage save files, has no activity LEDs to indicate whenever your SD card is being written or read - so you might find yourself probably corrupting your savefile if you turn off your console fast enough. I think that's the gist of it.

 

[EmpressEspeon]

“Omega has no DS/GBA Rumble, DS RAM or GBA NOR memory” how important are these features? Im not too knowledgable on them also, im interested in playing the retro sonic games like the ones from sega console, will they run well and retro megaman games. What did the sega sonic games ported to that im able to run on my gameboy using either the Omega or DE?

 

[BETA215]

“Omega has no DS/GBA Rumble, DS RAM or GBA NOR memory” how important are these features? Im not too knowledgable on them also, im interested in playing the retro sonic games like the ones from sega console, will they run well and retro megaman games. What did the sega sonic games ported to that im able to run on my gameboy using either the Omega or DE?

That's subjective. Some people (like me) love rumble on DS/GBA games and GBC (emulated), for example. It depends on what you like to do with it.

Normal Omega runs the same GBA games as EZODE, so don't worry about that.

 

[EmpressEspeon]

Some people (like me) love rumble on DS/GBA games and GBC (emulated)

so does rumble just mean vibrations on the gba? will i feel vibrations for every gb games? also, you didnt tell me about sega games etc

 

[Jack_Lime]

Having trouble getting themes to apply. I have enabled them in settings (confirmed presence of /FLAGS/USERTHEME).
I selected my custom one and a few of the ones provided on the github page. The popup flashes "loading theme" so fast I had to record it and pause the video to be sure.
After this, I turn off and back on the GBA - New themes not loaded.

I have attached the custom theme I put together incase it is the issue (i know the cringe, want to make sure I can do it before I put time in)

 

[ZaindORp]

Having trouble getting themes to apply. I have enabled them in settings (confirmed presence of /FLAGS/USERTHEME).
I selected my custom one and a few of the ones provided on the github page. The popup flashes "loading theme" so fast I had to record it and pause the video to be sure.
After this, I turn off and back on the GBA - New themes not loaded.

I have attached the custom theme I put together incase it is the issue (i know the cringe, want to make sure I can do it before I put time in)

This doesn't sound right. Normally this will take a few seconds (on ZaindORp's card, it took about three seconds) to copy the theme to the correct location. It sounds like the notification on your device just flashed by and wasn't as expected.
Can you check the /THEMES folder to see if there is a file called ODE in it? The theme system will copy the selected theme file there. And you can try to manually rename the theme file to ODE (without suffix) and then put it in the /THEMES directory to try it.
ZaindORp will conduct further inspections to confirm the problem, but she is currently busy with final exams and may need more time.

Post automatically merged: Jul 5, 2024

so does rumble just mean vibrations on the gba? will i feel vibrations for every gb games? also, you didnt tell me about sega games etc

Only some GB game has rumble function. The emulator (Jagoomba Color) used for this kernel support the rumble for GB and GBC games to work with EZ Omega D.E but only do when the game it self has this function.

 

[Jack_Lime]

This doesn't sound right. Normally this will take a few seconds (on ZaindORp's card, it took about three seconds) to copy the theme to the correct location. It sounds like the notification on your device just flashed by and wasn't as expected.
Can you check the /THEMES folder to see if there is a file called ODE in it? The theme system will copy the selected theme file there. And you can try to manually rename the theme file to ODE (without suffix) and then put it in the /THEMES directory to try it.
ZaindORp will conduct further inspections to confirm the problem, but she is currently busy with final exams and may need more time.

Thanks a bunch!!
I manually created the /THEMES directory, now I am able to switch between themes in the interface.

Big thanks to you and to ZaindORp! Not sure why, but being able to customize the skins is a big deal to me. And this is so so much better than having to re-flash everytime like the IV version.

 

[ZaindORp]

“Omega has no DS/GBA Rumble, DS RAM or GBA NOR memory” how important are these features？

At least for ZaindORp, these functions don't seem to be used very often. There aren't many games that support the vibration function on DS/GBA, so they're not used very often (but the new Goodboy Galaxy supports vibration! EZ Omega D.E support this feature). RAM expansion is a rarely used feature. Only Nintendo's official browser and several homebrews need it, and its RAM is too small for homebrew. NOR memory may be the most practical of the three. Some GBA games and NDS games like pokemon can be linked in game save. This function can make the burning card participate in game save linkage like a real cartridge.
The most important feature of EZ Omega D.E may be the change in the saving method. Saving after booting up the GBA greatly reduces the risk of losing the save data.

Post automatically merged: Jul 5, 2024

Big thanks to you and to ZaindORp!

Actually that's the same user .
This is ZaindORp's characteristic of speaking. She is used to speaking in the third person.

Post automatically merged: Jul 5, 2024

That's fair enough, Simple light is still there to use for people wanting its enhanced features.

BTW, are skins kernel specific? I tried using these (https://github.com/orzgithub/omega-de-kernel_ZaindORp/releases/tag/Skins4kernel_gnatydnac) skins, I could see a small window flashing that said its loading the theme, but it would not apply the theme, even after toggling the custom theme in the advanced settings.

Some users have mentioned this situation, and now it can be confirmed that this is a bug. Currently, you need to manually create the THEMES directory in the root directory of the SD card before the theme function can work properly. This will be fixed in subsequent versions.