Hacking bricked ez flash iv?

[reggierumble]

hi, first time posting. i looked before to see if it was covered in a previous thread but i didn't see anything about my specific problem.

so i got my ez flash iv a while ago (the GBA size one, i like carrying an SP more than a DS), and someone else got me a miniSD card for it. the ez flash turned on fine and went to the main screen, but after trying to format my miniSD and put stuff on it a hundred times with no success, i realized i probably just had a bad card. i got a new miniSD online but couldn't wait to get it, so i tried putting the GBA games on my cyclo and putting the ez flash in slot-2 and trying to run it that way. it patched my ez flash, which i didn't think anything of at the time, but the game still didn't load. i tried it again and it said it patched it again but same thing, just a black screen.

so a while later i got the new miniSD card which works fine, i guess the other one was just bootleg. so i put games on it and popped it in the ez flash and turned it on but now it's basically bricked, it's just a black screen. i'm basically positive it had to be the patching that the cyclo did, so does anyone know if there's any way to unpatch it or to patch over it or reinstall the firmware or anything? i really hope i don't have to buy another ez flash =/

thanks in advance.

 

[FAST6191]

Yeah sometimes using an expansion pack tool has caused such things. Still http://gbatemp.net/t219859-have-i-killed-m...t&p=2740179 might be worth a read.

 

[reggierumble]

thanks! got it up and working and i've been playing a bunch of games but now i'm having more issues, kind of. i read somewhere about having to patch your games so they'll save, so i did that, but it's taking a while to load, and it takes a while when i start it up again after having saved and quit. i think i read somewhere about loading something to psram to eliminate the wait time? and also, there was one point where it just deleted all my saves for no apparent reason. i dont think i turned it off while saving or any of the usual problems, but when i went around to all the games, they acted like it was the first time i ever turned on the game. the files were all still there though, so i have no idea. i patched all the games and put them and the 'saver' file folder in the root of the minisd. i don't know if i'm missing a step or if there's something else i'm supposed to patch or something.

so in short: what's this about psram? is there a way to reduce load times? and is there something i haven't done that's causing the saves to be unstable? oh, and i'm also having that problem with not being able to load games over a certain size, is that what the psram fix was for? i cant find those threads now that i'm having those problems, of course...

 

[FAST6191]

Glad you got it working again- can I ask what you ended up doing to fix it (there are a lot of fixes and discussion in that thread).

The reason it takes a while to load is because it has to load the games from the miniSD into the PSRAM of the flash card (being ram it tends to lose data whenever you power off) as miniSD is far too slow.

You can however flash a couple of games (up to 32 megs worth) to the NOR memory section. To do it in the GBA mode loader press select on a rom and it will flash it to the NOR. It will take quite a while but unless you delete the rom you only have to do it once and it will load instantly after that.

"having to patch your games so they'll save,"
That you do have to do but I think you might have done something odd here- there is a program called EZ4client ( http://filetrip.net/f4753-EZ4-Client-2009-04-03.html ). Run this and set the destination to your SD card drive and patch away. The saver folder is usually populated with a blank .sav file with the same name as the rom you just patched and if you patch using GBATA chances are that will not exist (you can however just copy and rename another save)

Also make sure you have updated the loader for the EZ4- there is a file called EZFla_up.bin bundled with the client. Stick it on the miniSD (via normal copy) and hold R when booting.

"i'm also having that problem with not being able to load games over a certain size"
That would be 128Mbit or 16 megabytes of rom (you say miniSD so I assume you do not have an EZ4 lite compact), the NOR write up above should take care of that but remember you only have 32 megabytes of NOR so it is likely going to be a trade off between the roms you want to load quickly and being able to play roms over 16 megabytes.
I am guessing one of these is mother 3 and another might be fire emblem. On the matter of fire emblem the hackers changed something in the header for no apparent reason ( http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16229 ). Once you ignore the 2 in 1 collections, film tie in games and GBA videos there are not so many games that are over 16 megabytes (hence the design decision) but some of those are quite notable so keep it in mind. Nothing stopping you having them on your miniSD either and just writing them when you have a desire to play them (stick them in another folder called 256 or something).

 

[reggierumble]

i downloaded that client pack thing and just used the updater and it totally fixed it. i was really worried for a while about possibly having to buy a new one but it was a cinch!

i flashed the one game i've been playing the most and it goes faster but it still has to load. but i'll definitely do that for the top 2 or 3 games i play because it does load a lot faster.

i've been using that to patch the games but i cant send them straight to the card. i send them to a separate folder on my computer and it makes the 'saver' folder in my C drive, but i just copy everything so the sd card anyway so the net result is the same, as far as i know.

i think i used the most recent firmware when i fixed it by updating it.

i'm using a microSD in a mini-size adapter (which i think i read somewhere that this causes some issues or extra steps). but yeah, i have the GBA size one because i think the SP and micro are more portable than a DS.

other than mother 3, riviera and yggdra union are also 32 mb. it's possible i should look for different copies of some of these roms because some of them dont seem like they should necessarily be that size. golden sun 2 is double the size of golden sun 1 but i'm not sure it should be. but if a game really is that size, the solution is to flash it using the select button thing? also, what happens if i flash too many games? will i be prompted to delete them or will there be some error?



edit: scratch the part about still having to wait after i've flashed it. i didn't realize it made another copy of the rom somewhere else, i just had to select that one. but i'm still wondering about all the facets of flashing. is there a way to increase the amount i can flash or is that set by the cart itself?

 

[FAST6191]

"i've been using that to patch the games but i cant send them straight to the card. i send them to a separate folder on my computer and it makes the 'saver' folder in my C drive, but i just copy everything so the sd card anyway so the net result is the same, as far as i know."

It is exactly the same, some people dislike heading down that path so I do not always mention it.

Yeah microSD to miniSD adapters have been known to cause quite serious problems (carts being unstable) but if you have it working carry on. Should it start crashing during play or not working properly in the menu consider finding a proper miniSD.

The EZ4 original (and first EZ4 lite) have
256Mbit of NOR
128Mbit of PSRAM

PSRAM is the default and what you have to wait a few seconds to load up.
NOR is slow to write and has some other quirks* but it is fast and data is retained during power loss.

Their sizes are determined by the physical chips within the EZ4- there was another DS lite sized model known as the EZ4 lite deluxe that had 384Mbit of PSRAM and 256Mbit of NOR (and another model called the EZ4 lite compact which was limited to 64Mbit- it was made as a cheap DS cart back when people might still have had GBA devices) which had larger chips.

*the main one being you can not erase any file you like- if you write files 1,2,3 and 4 to delete 2 you will also have to lose 4 and 3 to get there.

There were a few GBA roms that increased in size when they appeared outside Japan or from the US to Europe (as a rule the European releases are generally considered the better releases for RPGs even if it means you first have to swing by http://www.romhacking.net/?genre=&plat...le=&author= ) not to mention the odd rom hacker using the extra space in a rom. Of your list I think only Riviera was 128Mbit in Japan where all the others were 256Mbit in other territories. I could probably do a nice debate on lazy/rushed programmers but GBA roms are what they are and overdumps were a reason for a nuke (certainly if it happened dumpers were called on it) and there is nothing you can really do to shrink GBA roms.

Still as I have it to hand one list of all the 256Mbit roms

CODEYggdra Union - We'll Never Fight Alone (Europe)
Harry Potter Collection (Europe)
The Legend of Spyro - The Eternal Night (Europe)
4 Games on One Game Pak - GT Advance - GT Advance 2 - GT Advance 3 - Moto GP (USA)
The Legend of Spyro - The Eternal Night (USA)
2 in 1 - Pferd & Pony - Mein Pferdehof + Lass Uns Reiten 2 (Germany)
2 Games in 1 - Sonic Battle + ChuChu Rocket! (Europe)
GBA Video - Cartoon Network Collection - Edition Platinum (France)
4 Games on One Game Pak - Nickelodeon (USA)
GBA Video - Yu-Gi-Oh! Yugi vs. Joey (France)
GBA Video - Turtles le Demenagement (France)
GBA Video - Cartoon Network Collection - Edition Speciale (France)
Strawberry Shortcake - Summertime Adventure - Special Edition (USA)
Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures (Europe)
Arthur and the Minimoys (Europe)
GBA Video - Cartoon Network Collection - Premium Edition (USA)
GBA Video - Nicktoons Volume 3 (USA)
My Animal Centre in Africa (Europe)
Lizzie McGuire 2 - Lizzie Diaries - Special Edition (USA)
Yggdra Union - We'll Never Fight Alone (USA)
Happy Feet (USA)
Happy Feet (Europe)
The Sims 2 - Pets (Europe)
The Sims 2 - Pets (USA)
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Red Rescue Team (Europe)
2 in 1 GamePack - Spider-Man + Spider-Man 2 (USA)
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Red Rescue Team (USA)
Robots (Japan)
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX - Duel Academy (Europe)
Vecinos Invasores (Spain
Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack (USA)
Crash & Spyro Superpack - Ripto's Rampage + The Cortex Conspiracy (USA)
Cinnamon Fuwafuwa Daisakusen (Japan)
Double Pack - Sonic Battle + Sonic Advance Plus (Japan)
Double Pack - Sonic Pinball Party + Sonic Battle (Japan)
GBA Video - Cartoon Network Collection - Edition Premium (France)
Mother 3 (Japan)
Crayon Shin chan - Densetsu wo Yobu Omake no Miyako Shockgaan (Japan)
Yggdra Union (Japan)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Ultimate Masters 2006 (Europe)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Ultimate Masters 2006 (USA)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack (Europe)
2 Disney Games - Disney Sports Skateboarding + Football (Europe)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Expert 2006 (Japan)
Double Game - Cartoon Network Block Party + Speedway (Europe)
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX - Duel Academy (USA)
Summon Night Craft Sword Monogatari - Hajimari no Ishi (Japan)
Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures (USA)
Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon - Aka no Kyuujotai (Japan)
2 Games in 1 - Sonic Battle + Sonic Advance (Europe)
2 Games in 1 - Sonic Pinball Party + Sonic Battle (Europe)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (USA)
Fire Emblem - The Sacred Stones (Europe)
The Sims 2 (USA)
Crash Superpack - N-Tranced + Nitro Kart (USA)
Crash & Spyro - Super Pack Volume 3 (Europe)
GBA Video - Cartoon Network Collection - Special Edition (USA)
Horse & Pony - Let`s Ride 2 (Europe)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Gx - Mezase Duel King! (Japan)
Wagamama - Fairy Milmo de Pon! DokiDoki Memorial (Japan)
2 Games in 1 - Spider-Man + Spider-Man 2 (Europe)
Steel Empire (Europe)
Bleach Advance (Japan)
Riviera - The Promised Land (USA)
Kouchu Ouja - Mushi King (Japan)
GBA Video - Cartoon Network Collection - Limited Edition (USA)
Kingdom Hearts - Chain of Memories (Europe)
GBA Video - The Proud Family - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Super Robot Monkey Team - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Disney Channel Collection - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Cartoon Network Collection - Platinum Edition (USA)
GBA Video - SpongeBob SquarePants - Volume 3 (USA)
Maya The Bee - Sweet Gold (Europe)
Kingdom Hearts - Chain of Memories (USA)
Cinnamon - Yume no Daibouken (Japan)
The Urbz - Sims in the City (Japan)
Kingdom Hearts - Chain of Memories (Japan)
Pferd & Pony - Mein Pferdehof (Europe)
The Urbz - Sims in the City (USA)
Ochainuken Kururin (Japan)
GBA Video - Cartoon Network Collection - Volume 2 (USA)
GBA Video - Nicktoons Collection - Volume 2 (USA)
GBA Video - Pokemon - Volume 4 (USA)
GBA Video - Pokemon - Volume 3 (USA)
GBA Video - Dragon Ball GT - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Yu-Gi-Oh! - Yugi vs. Joey - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Nicktoon's Collection - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Codename Kids Next Door - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Cartoon Network Collection - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Pokemon - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Pokemon - Volume 2 (USA)
GBA Video - All Grown Up - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - The Fairly Odd Parents - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Strawberry Shortcake - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Sonic X - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - Dora the Explorer - Volume 1 (USA)
GBA Video - The Fairly Odd Parents - Volume 2 (USA)
GBA Video - SpongeBob SquarePants - Volume 2 (USA)
GBA Video - SpongeBob SquarePants - Volume 1 (USA)
Tennis no Ouji-sama 2004 - Glorious Gold (Japan)
Tennis no Ouji-sama 2004 - Stylish Silver (Japan)
Mermaid Melody - Pichi Pichi Picchi Pichi Pichitto Live Start (Japan)
Minna no Ouji-sama (Japan)

 

[reggierumble]

"Yeah microSD to miniSD adapters have been known to cause quite serious problems (carts being unstable) but if you have it working carry on. Should it start crashing during play or not working properly in the menu consider finding a proper miniSD."

it's been working okay so far, there was only the one time when i lost everything that i could possibly attribute to problems using the adapter. the menus and games and everytthing else are working with no problems. i got a miniSD the first time but it was some junky bootleg one from china that didn't work so i didn't want to buy any more from china, but i couldn't find any that didn't come from china, so i opted to try the microSD with the adapter. if it keeps wiping my saves though, i'll definitely have to look into finding a real miniSD.

and thanks for all the info, i feel like i have a better idea of how it all works now. i really had no idea there were two types of memory to it, or that you could flash to NOR. so thanks for everything.

so for those bigger games do you just have to flash them to NOR or else they won't work?

 

[FAST6191]

If you have a EZ4 miniSD version and you want to run games larger than 16 megabytes you have to use the NOR.

As for miniSD Amazon still do miniSD for not unreasonable prices (some places are attempting to dump them as well since microSD took over) but yeah I would avoid buying any memory from China/Hong Kong.

 

[reggierumble]

cool, i think that covers any questions i ever had. thanks a ton.