EZ-Flash Air DOA?

SolidShredder

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So, I just bought a EZ-Flash Air from RetroGameRepairShop and it's basically DOA. Every time I try writing a rom to NOR, it's corrupted to varying degrees. Sometimes it's so bad I just get a white screen, no sound, no nothing. Sometimes I can even play perfectly normal for 5-10 minutes before inevitably encountering a glitch, usually graphical. I've had anything from a random black pixel on the trainer sprites in Pokemon to straight up missing tiles in Mother 3. Or, everything being fine until I bring up the menu and all hell breaks loose like a bad acid trip. Rewriting it sometimes makes it better, sometimes worse. I've tried multiple different roms. Multiple different SD cards. I've formatted the cards and NOR flash. I've scanned the SD cards for errors, no problems. Booted into safe mode on the EZ-Flash and checked the cart, no problems. I updated the firmware to 1.02. I've even tried swapping out the battery on the DS on the off chance it was causing weird fluctuations. Also tried with it plugged into the wall and not. I even happen to have a new DS Lite coming to me in a few days, so I'll be able to rule that out as well. Not sure what else I could try, but if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears.
 
Update. Now it's even giving me trouble flashing the firmware. I thought maybe the firmware didn't flash properly, so tried reflashing it just to be sure. And now I'm getting random pixels here and there in the menu. Sometimes it gives me "folder errors". Reflashing the firmware sometimes helps, sometimes makes it worse. But there always at least one random pixel hiding somewhere in the menus. I'm feeling like it's something to do with the actual SD reader on the cartridge, or something related. One of the SD cards I'm using is older but the other one is brand new and it doesn't seem to make a difference. I've even checked the hash of the files after copying them to the SD cards and they all check out. Just to be extra sure though, I have TWO more SD cards coming today. Each a different brand.
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Update Update: Yeup. As expected, the new SD cards did nothing. And now the thing is failing worse and in more ways. I'm starting to get errors in safe mode on the NOR flash. "1994 errrr". It's like the thing is imploding on itself. Maybe the main FPGA chip is bad? I'm guessing it interfaces with all of these components. Curious. I'd like to know what exactly happened, if anyone has any ideas. In the meantime, I think I can safely call this thing DOA. I'm going to try contacting RetroGameRepairShop and hopefully exchange it for one that isn't completely borked.
 
Last edited by SolidShredder,
Sorry, that sucks. Their quality control is as lacking as their customer service these days.
Damn, I was going to get an Omega soon.

Are there any alternatives that do work well? I need a flashcart because I'm too cheap to buy a save dumper or perform battery replacements.
 
Wait so EZ-Flash has bad quality control lately? Damn!

Was planning to get an EZ-Flash ODE mainly for the rumble feature, since that's one thing its got that the Everdrive GBA doesn't have.
 
Wait so EZ-Flash has bad quality control lately? Damn!

Was planning to get an EZ-Flash ODE mainly for the rumble feature, since that's one thing its got that the Everdrive GBA doesn't have.

Yeah, looks like it's pretty hit or miss. I've seen several reports of bad AIRs. But for some people it seems to work fine. RRGS got back to me already, so I'll be shipping mine out tomorrow. Let's hope I get luckier with my replacement.
 
Wait so EZ-Flash has bad quality control lately? Damn!

Was planning to get an EZ-Flash ODE mainly for the rumble feature, since that's one thing its got that the Everdrive GBA doesn't have.
They've always had bad QC lol

One of their fixes is to literally reflow the solder joints on the Junior, OMEGA, and OMEGA DE.

1. EZ-FLASH Junior stuck on OSINIT, Sometimes can randomly enter the kernel, but only a bunch of glitch sprites.
After excluding the fact that the user upgraded the FW5RC. This failure can be determined for the S71 chip solder point failure. The S71 chip is located at the top left corner of the PCB, there are two BGA chips, S71 is the one at the right side. Use a heat gun to re-solder it. Please use high-temperature tape to protect other chips and components around it from being blown away.
8. EZ-FLASH OMEGA/OMEGA Definitive Edition shows "bad nor id" when updating the kernel
The S71 chip solder point failure. The S71 chip is located at the back side of the PCB. The one at the left side in three chips. Use a heat gun to re-solder it. Please use high-temperature tape to protect other chips and components around it from being blown away.
10. EZ-FLASH OMEGA/OMEGA Definitive Edition write game to NORFLASH getting stuck in fix point.
The S98 chip solder point failure. The S98 chip is located at the back side of the PCB. The one at the left side in three chips. Use a heat gun to re-solder it. Please use high-temperature tape to protect other chips and components around it from being blown away.
Source: https://gbatemp.net/threads/basic-repair-guide-of-current-ez-flash-products.601332/#post-9628371
 
Damn, I was going to get an Omega soon.

Are there any alternatives that do work well? I need a flashcart because I'm too cheap to buy a save dumper or perform battery replacements.
GB Flash is only $20 on AliExpress... Which is cheaper than a flash cart.
 
They've always had bad QC lol

One of their fixes is to literally reflow the solder joints on the Junior, OMEGA, and OMEGA DE.

I'm not excusing bad QC, obviously this situation is not fun for me. But, let's try and at least be fair. The whole premise of that post you're quoting is that you've had your flash cart for a substantial amount of time already, something has gone wrong for whatever reason (could be their fault, or yours, or the God's), and your only recourse is to try and fix it yourself (ie no returns or warranty). He's not suggesting that you should in any way be expected to do any of those things with a brand new purchase, as you seem to be suggesting.

That being said, I wouldn't recommend anyone get a Parallel for any reason, except maybe morbid curiosity. lol
 
Last edited by SolidShredder,
Damn, I was going to get an Omega soon.

Are there any alternatives that do work well? I need a flashcart because I'm too cheap to buy a save dumper or perform battery replacements.
Wait for the SuperChis, it's going to be an improved Supercard clone that looks really promising. There's already a thread talking about it.
 
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the black ones are fakes that will read/write at very reduced speeds
only because the guy who made the original detects clones and intentionally makes them work slower. it might still be possible to buy a registration to unlock it and make it work the same as the original. he makes you tell where you bought it so I would imagine he makes you pay whatever the difference is between the "fake" and the original so it ends up being the same price as buying the original directly, but maybe he doesnt and it's just a flat fee. then the fakes could end up being cheaper, and it's still profitable for him just selling licenses without having to make hardware
 

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