"Jack DIY GB" Flash Cart: Thoughts?

[Jayro]

Since this is a clone Everdrive, wouldn't it be better to support the creator Krikzz and buy an original Everdrive from his store? I know it's more expensive, but he works really hard creating these products and has excellent after sales support.
http://shop.krikzz.com/

Well his shop is down, so what other choice do we have?

 

[Razor83]

View attachment 41244

Well his shop is down, so what other choice do we have?

Not quite sure why you quoted my post from a year ago?
I guess Krikzz was just updating his store when you checked.
This new link is working fine for me:-
http://krikzz.com/store/

 

[Jayro]

Thank you. I wasn't aware it was an ancient post.

 

[GBAResearcher]

If your clone has a replacable CR battery, try swapping it for a fresh one - it might work. Then again, if it was the battery, you'd be losing saves aswell, unless it immediately copies them to the SD card.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah it's not the battery. But I figured out the problem. Certain codes will not apply. Like for megaman 2 I couldn't get any of the codes to apply but megaman 3 and megaman 4 did just fine. So to counter this I found a program called cccgp to patch the game with the codes directly and it worked perfectly!

Just to clarify: the real EDGB does not have a flashable firmware, either. Firmware updates are loaded on boot.

Ah I meant to say the OS updates. I figured that since the OS updates didn't work that they cheapened out on non writable chips.

 

[Localhorst86]

Ah I meant to say the OS updates. I figured that since the OS updates didn't work that they cheapened out on non writable chips.

Yeah, OS updates are not flashed. They get loaded from the SD on boot.

 

[Razor83]

Yeah, OS updates are not flashed. They get loaded from the SD on boot.

Just to add to that - OS v1 is the default built-in menu and is stored on the cartridges flash memory, but any later OS update (OS v2, OS v3) are always loaded from the microSD card at bootup.

Its also worth noting that many fake/clone Everdrive-GB cartridges will display an "authentication error" screen after loading OS v3 - even if you then delete OS v3 from your microSD card the error will appear everytime you try to boot the menu, so you can no longer load up any ROMs.

Typically these clone carts have a 3-leg IC instead of 5-leg IC in the corner of the PCB, and if you check the system information page in the menu they show an assembly date (ASM Date) of "2.0.1980"! Some clone sellers now kindly include a note telling you not to update with krikzz's OS:-


This is just one more reason why I would recommend only buying an original Everdrive directly from Krikzz.

 

[GBAResearcher]

Just to add to that - OS v1 is the default built-in menu and is stored on the cartridges flash memory, but any later OS update (OS v2, OS v3) are always loaded from the microSD card at bootup.

Its also worth noting that many fake/clone Everdrive-GB cartridges will display an "authentication error" screen after loading OS v3 - even if you then delete OS v3 from your microSD card the error will appear everytime you try to boot the menu, so you can no longer load up any ROMs.

Typically these clone carts have a 3-leg IC instead of 5-leg IC in the corner of the PCB, and if you check the system information page in the menu they show an assembly date (ASM Date) of "2.0.1980"! Some clone sellers now kindly include a note telling you not to update with krikzz's OS:-
http://i68.tinypic.com/20sj9uc.jpg

This is just one more reason why I would recommend only buying an original Everdrive directly from Krikzz.

Thanks for the information fellas. I knew something was cheapened out. Oddly enough though that with my clone it loaded up the roms fine when I had the v3 os file on it. Maybe the newer ones are exact for exact now.
I'll open the case and take a few pics. Maybe you guys can look at it and see what's what.

Oh and get this. I saw a review from this guy
If you see his everdrive you can see that the battery is on the right and yet both mine and the pic on krikzz site has the battery on the left. So I don't know what's going on there.

 

[Localhorst86]

Thanks for the information fellas. I knew something was cheapened out. Oddly enough though that with my clone it loaded up the roms fine when I had the v3 os file on it. Maybe the newer ones are exact for exact now.
I'll open the case and take a few pics. Maybe you guys can look at it and see what's what.

Oh and get this. I saw a review from this guy
If you see his everdrive you can see that the battery is on the right and yet both mine and the pic on krikzz site has the battery on the left. So I don't know what's going on there.

Krikzz switched the places of the battery and SD card slot on later revision of the cart due to Micro SD cards breaking, AFAIK.

 

[puszcza]

Up, anyone know wheere to buy cheaper flashcard than Everfree?

 

[Justinde75]

Up, anyone know wheere to buy cheaper flashcard than Everfree?

Dont necrobump.

 

[Foxi4]

Up, anyone know wheere to buy cheaper flashcard than Everfree?

You can buy cheap Everdrive clones on eBay, but they're not recommended due to spotty compatibility.

Dont necrobump.

Don't backseat moderate, your post didn't answer the question, it just added more content to the necrobump.

 

[puszcza]

I tried to search "gb flash card" or similar, but I dont get any result. Could you please send me keyrwords or links?

 

[Foxi4]

I tried to search "gb flash card" or similar, but I dont get any result. Could you please send me keyrwords or links?

If you want a cheap cartridge, try the EMS GB USB SMART 64M. No SD support, but it does the job. Besides that, there's Everdrive clones, so look for those. Personally though I'd just buy an Everdrive - it's the best cart out there.

 

[puszcza]

I readed that Gameboy Pocket whitch I want to use have problems with working on EMS GB USB SMART 64M.
Thanks for advise, but if anyone still have not dead links to ebay/aliexpress for cheaper flashcards than Everstree I`ve be greatfull. Everfree with shipping to Poland is about ~100$.

 

[Foxi4]

I readed that Gameboy Pocket whitch I want to use have problems with working on EMS GB USB SMART 64M.
Thanks for advise, but if anyone still have not dead links to ebay/aliexpress for cheaper flashcards than Everstree I`ve be greatfull. Everfree with shipping to Poland is about ~100$.

Don't expect to pay any less for one that'll work well - most are not being made anymore and of all of them, the Everdrive is the best, as it's a new, contemporary design. You're paying for quality. As for ordering, I'd buy it from Krikzz directly if I were you, but I found one unit on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Official-EV...298586?hash=item4b0d83f39a:g:SLsAAOSwEzxYRGUc

It's not much cheaper than the price on the official store, and there at least you know it's original and not a clone:

http://krikzz.com/store/home/8-everdrive-gb.html

 

[Deleted member 42501]

Hold your horses, mister. If you want a reliable flashcart, don't go for the chinese clones - they all suck and they're not worth the money you're saving. Get a genuine Everdrive GB, the cart is excellent, I reviewed it myself. Support the creators, not the imitators. If you wouldn't buy a "Zony" TV rather than a Sony TV, you shouldn't buy an "Eberdrive" instead of an "Everdrive" if you want quality.

If you want to make a proper DIY GB cartridge I suggest browsing this site, it has everything you need to know including schematics and software. It doesn't take much, all you need is a cartridge with a desirable mapper, a compatible rewrittable memory module, a soldering iron and some patience. It even has schematics for cartridges that can be made completely from scratch.

I agree.

Sent from my Oople mIphone.

 

[postulio]

So i bought a Jack DIY gameboy flash off of ebay for $50 shipped. It took over a month to get to me, but it came with an 8GB Kingston microSD card (which wasn't advertised in the listing, so it was a nice surprised), the card was loaded with full GB and GBC ROM sets.

The cart works flawlessly, the only difference in functionality is that you cannot update it, which makes sense. In fact, there is a disclaimer on the actual PCB in Engrish saying you'll break it if you try to update. The build quality is quite nice, with the SD slot working well with a satisfying spring and click. The case and PCB do not have the general shit feel to them common to $5 Chinese Gameboy game bootlegs. I think there is a new wave of these as there was Jack DIY branding on the PCB, i remember early ones still said krikzz on them.

It's almost half the price of a Everdrive, which is $94 shipped. I honestly don't really care that it's a knockoff. ED is way overpriced as far as how much the tech really cost. It it was a 20% or so price difference, then whatever, but we're talking a 90% price difference. I'm a collector with a 300+ GB/GBC cart collection and many flashcarts. My favorite are definitely the Nintendo Power ones, out of sheer novelty of them being official. The Bung and the 64M USB also do the job.

If the ED drops in price or I find a good deal I'd still pick it up for the collection but otherwise, to save money and maintain functionality the Jack DIY carts work well for those of you on a tight budget.

BTW, i found this thread searching for Jack DIY info on google and it's one of the top matches, so I felt it helpful for others looking for info on these carts, regardless of when the thread started.

 

[bakageta]

I readed that Gameboy Pocket whitch I want to use have problems with working on EMS GB USB SMART 64M.
Thanks for advise, but if anyone still have not dead links to ebay/aliexpress for cheaper flashcards than Everstree I`ve be greatfull. Everfree with shipping to Poland is about ~100$.

Late reply, but maybe useful for others... The everdrive GB is supposedly pretty heavy on power draw in the menu, according to the official forums, and can have issues in some of the weaker gameboys like the pocket.

A better alternative to the clones would be bennvenn's elcheapo. The v1.9's have a low-power version at $55, and compatibility should be very similar to the everdrive, minus cheat features. The upcoming v2.0 will add RTC support at $75-ish.

I'm glad Krikzz has carts for tons of systems, but everdrive aren't the only quality carts.