Hacking does anyone have any idea what might be wrong with my EZ Flash IV ?

[darklordchris]

i apologizes if with is the wrong section for this post but it seemed like it would be appropriate . so i bought this EZ Flash IV card a few years ago for my ds lite to compliment my R4 revolution. card always worked just fine in my ds, however my ds broke about a year and a half ago. recently i got a gba sp and i can't get it to boot up. it just brings up the gba screen, makes a coin noise and freezes. i've tried lots of times and have only ever been able to get it to load the ez-flash 4 or 5 times over about a year. i tried the paper trick, that doesn't seem to have much effect. i tried leaving the gba on for a few hours to charge the battery and that didn't really do anything either. do you guys think maybe replacing the battery would fix it? i got it to boot once this month, so i know its not just completely fried. however i also recently put it in a ds lite and the ds didn't seem to acknowledge it either. so anybody got any ideas?

 

[Hielkenator]

Dead battery?

 

[darklordchris]

Dead battery?

oh yeah? are these common signs of a damaged battery? has anyone successfully replaced one?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

If you used GBA Exploader or the Wood GBA internal loader to treat the EZ-IV as a 3in1, you probably erased the boot sector on the EZ-IV.

 

[Hielkenator]

oh yeah? are these common signs of a damaged battery? has anyone successfully replaced one?

Yes I have, but it''s rather tedious.

 

[darklordchris]

If you used GBA Exploader or the Wood GBA internal loader to treat the EZ-IV as a 3in1, you probably erased the boot sector on the EZ-IV.

pretty sure i have not done that.

 

[darklordchris]

Yes I have, but it''s rather tedious.

really? that sucks. well ok so would you say i would be better off to try to replace the battery? or to buy some other card?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

They are not being made anymore, so getting a new one will likely cost you more than what you paid for the first one. It is time to learn how to solder.

This is what is called maintenance, even though some people think batteries will last forever for some reason. I also have listed a battery with tabs for a 3in1 that also works for any flashcart that uses a battery with tabs.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=130659


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You can try and flash a new bin file to the EZ-Flash IV and see if it will work for you.

You can use the EZ-Flash IV guide to get yours up and running if you didn't erase the boot sector.

http://gbatemp.net/threads/ez-flash-iv.291109/

 

[rs1n]

When your GBA SP boots up, do you see the "Nintendo" logo at the bottom of the screen? If not, and only the word GAMEBOY shows, then the console is not recognizing that there is a card in the slot. The most likely issue is that the card is either not being powered properly, or that the card is not working because it does not detect any SD card. Try pressing the SD card (miniSD, or microSD with miniSD adapter) a bit more firmly into its slot -- even if it looks firmly in place. If this does not work, then try to insert the EZ card into the GBA slot lightly -- in the sense that you want to push it in as little as possible but still get it to boot.

Whether or not your internal battery is dead should not prevent the card from booting. I find that miniSD cards are easier to work with than the microSD with an adapter because that is yet another layer of hardware issues that could arise.

The battery only affects saving games. As long as the unit is powered, and you use the soft-reset (4-button combination), I believe saving will still work provided the saves are set to AUTO. If you have a dead battery, all that means is that if you do a hard reset (power off, then on), then your save will likely be corrupted or gone if you indeed have a dead battery.

Changing the battery requires a bit of soldering -- to remove the old one, and solder on the new one. You just need some good flux, a 15watt soldering pen, and a screwdriver to open the cart.