Can the EZFlash Omega Definitive Edition save directly to microSD and skip the FRAM?

[maxpin]

I'm pretty new to the flash cart world and my previous assumption was that they all run like emulators with a simple rom file and a sav file. However upon reading up on the EZFlash ODE I learned it's a lot more complicated than that. I bought the EZFlash ODE around Christmas last year and I loaded it up with Pokémon roms ready to play the night away. However after playing Pokémon Gold for a good 30 minutes after I saved and turned off the cartridge my save file was gone!

After a bit of trial and error I realized that I would need to first close the rom before turning off the Gameboy in order to retain my save. There didn't seem to be any setting that I could enable that would allow me to bypass that process. I was initially disheartened since I wanted the seamless Gameboy experience without having to close the rom before turning off, as I could foresee myself forgetting this and accidentally losing my save at some point in the future. Though I've come to accept that this might as well be the tradeoff for having save states be available on a handheld. I might also add that save states get around this as I can reload those instantly after powering off, but that does require me to go through the menu again, slowly chipping away at my dream of a seamless experience.

Despite accepting this as my fate, my curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to understand WHY it wouldn't load the save. So I did a bit more research and I believe that if I'm not mistaken that the EZFlash ODE saves directly to FRAM and not to the SD card when running a save. That save file would then have to be dumped to the SD card when the rom is closed otherwise it won't be saved if the Gameboy is turned off prior to this. HOWEVER, I have read in multiple sources that the EZFlash ODE's FRAM stores the save even after a shutdown due to it being non-volatile. This being said, it still doesn't load my save even when I select the prompt on a reboot. I've even updated the firmware but still nothing.

So at this point, I'm not sure if I even have a correctly functioning cart or if it's working as intended. If it is, could someone please educate me as to the limitations preventing it from saving directly to the SD card? I think I read somewhere that it was a limitation of the CPU but I just quickly skimmed over that info without fully processing it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[metroid maniac]

Original Game Boy and Game Boy Color games only run on an EZ Flash ODE using the Goomba Color emulator. This emulator only copies the emulated game's save file to FRAM when you press L+R to open the in-game menu. Then the EZ Flash kernel copies FRAM to the SD card whenever you next reboot the console.

If you play GBA games on your cartridge, you should find that saving "just works" without any need to exit the ROM to ensure the save is retained. The game will save directly to FRAM, and the FRAM will be backed up by the kernel on next boot.

If you plan on playing a lot of GB/C games, I recommend that you get a dedicated GB/C flashcart. They will lack the compatibility issues, bugs, and performance problems associated with emulators. They also will save directly to SRAM which will avoid having to do any special tricks to keep your save (with one major exception*). There are various ones to choose from, depending on your budget. Everdrive GB clones are available on Aliexpress in the range of $35 and work great, while an official Everdrive GB X7 is feature rich and gets much better battery life.

*the exception is the Everdrive GB X3. This cart requires you to use in-game reset to store the save, because the SRAM is not retained when your power is turned off.

 

[maxpin]

Original Game Boy and Game Boy Color games only run on an EZ Flash ODE using the Goomba Color emulator. This emulator only copies the emulated game's save file to FRAM when you press L+R to open the in-game menu. Then the EZ Flash kernel copies FRAM to the SD card whenever you next reboot the console.

If you play GBA games on your cartridge, you should find that saving "just works" without any need to exit the ROM to ensure the save is retained. The game will save directly to FRAM, and the FRAM will be backed up by the kernel on next boot.

If you plan on playing a lot of GB/C games, I recommend that you get a dedicated GB/C flashcart. They will lack the compatibility issues, bugs, and performance problems associated with emulators. They also will save directly to SRAM which will avoid having to do any special tricks to keep your save (with one major exception*). There are various ones to choose from, depending on your budget. Everdrive GB clones are available on Aliexpress in the range of $35 and work great, while an official Everdrive GB X7 is feature rich and gets much better battery life.

*the exception is the Everdrive GB X3. This cart requires you to use in-game reset to store the save, because the SRAM is not retained when your power is turned off.

Thanks for the detailed reply! After a bit of testing I can confirm this is how it works. Thought now i've run into a bunch of other specific save file issues (converting esv to sav and back) to which i'll see if i can figure out in my own time. Thanks again!