Hacking EZ-Flash IV won't save games to NOR - no error, it just doesn't work

[Hyperstar96]

My EF4 just came in today and I want to play Mother 3 on it, but I haven't been able to copy it to NOR. Not only that, but I can't copy anything to NOR. When I try to copy, there isn't any error or anything; it supposedly goes through the process of copying the ROM, but nothing shows up when I go back to the first menu. It's like I just didn't try anything at all. Another thing I've noticed is that the "copying" only takes about a minute for Mother 3 (a 256 Mb ROM), whereas every tutorial I've read says it should take at least five minutes. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Also, not nearly as pressing of an issue since I plan to only use this for GBA ROMs, but how do I boot the cart in DS mode? I haven't found any sort of option for it.

 

[Technicmaster0]

Which EZ-Flash IV do you have? Where did you get it?

 

[FAST6191]

To go a bit further if you got a recent model (aka the 2013 edition) and have put an old skin on it then the NOR will likely not work.
http://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/f...ion-premade-loaders-ez42013norfix-f32647.html has a few premade ones of the nicer skins using the 2013 compatible loader though the clearlooks there has some issues.

DS mode will be booted into if your DS/DS lite tries to boot DS code from the GBA slot. If you have a nopass (not sure what DS flash carts still feature the functionality, though there should be a software method) and having flashme on your DS are the main two methods these days for that. I can suggest it even for GBA use as the few extra megahertz knock a few seconds off the save cycle.

 

[Hyperstar96]

Which EZ-Flash IV do you have? Where did you get it?

It's the phat model that works with a regular GBA, and I got it from Real Hot Stuff.

To go a bit further if you got a recent model (aka the 2013 edition) and have put an old skin on it then the NOR will likely not work.
http://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/f...ion-premade-loaders-ez42013norfix-f32647.html has a few premade ones of the nicer skins using the 2013 compatible loader though the clearlooks there has some issues.

DS mode will be booted into if your DS/DS lite tries to boot DS code from the GBA slot. If you have a nopass (not sure what DS flash carts still feature the functionality, though there should be a software method) and having flashme on your DS are the main two methods these days for that. I can suggest it even for GBA use as the few extra megahertz knock a few seconds off the save cycle.

Looks like the skin was the problem. I had clearlooks and it didn't work, but I installed carbon from that link and it works fine now. The ROM takes about five minutes to copy to the NOR and then it showed up on the first screen, with everything working! Thanks!

 

[MartinAugustsson]

Looks like the skin was the problem. I had clearlooks and it didn't work, but I installed carbon from that link and it works fine now. The ROM takes about five minutes to copy to the NOR and then it showed up on the first screen, with everything working! Thanks!

You can grab a fully working clear looks skin for the 2013 edition here
http://www.mediafire.com/download/h4xmh2vbdk3pp9d/Clearlooks v5.zip
You should want to choose the 1.74 version from the zip (Clearlooks v5 (1.74).bin - rename this ezfla_up.bin)

Screens:

 

[Hyperstar96]

You can grab a fully working clear looks skin for the 2013 edition here
http://www.mediafire.com/download/h4xmh2vbdk3pp9d/Clearlooks v5.zip
You should want to choose the 1.74 version from the zip (Clearlooks v5 (1.74).bin - rename this ezfla_up.bin)

Thanks

DS mode will be booted into if your DS/DS lite tries to boot DS code from the GBA slot. If you have a nopass (not sure what DS flash carts still feature the functionality, though there should be a software method) and having flashme on your DS are the main two methods these days for that. I can suggest it even for GBA use as the few extra megahertz knock a few seconds off the save cycle.

Now I'm having another problem... I want to rip DS games and saves using Rudolph's NDS Backup Tool Slot 2, and I've heard that I need to boot the Slot 2 cart in DS mode for it to work, but every time I try to do that, the EZ4 forces an update, as though I'm holding R every time I go into Slot 2 DS mode. And since you're required to turn the system off after an update, I'm just stuck in a loop. GBA mode works fine and only tries to update when I hold R, but DS mode is stuck. I've also tried deleting ezfla_up.bin from my SD card, but it still required an update upon startup. Any ideas here?

If it helps, I'm using a Supercard DSTwo (I've also tried an old M3 DS Real; didn't help) and my EZ4 is using a Micro SD in a Mini SD adapter (yes, I've heard that can cause problems).

 

[FAST6191]

Given Rudolph's tools are DS code then yeah you need to be in DS mode.
I am not sure what nopass options the DSTwo has these days (if you have to hold R as part of it then it might trigger the EZ4 thing), and beyond that given the oddities we have seen with updates on the new EZ4s it could well be a bug of some form.

Whether you can skirt around this by hardpatching Rudolph's dumper with the EZ4 DLDI patch and launching it from the DSTwo remains to be seen. Not sure what there is in the way of software launched patches either.

Else flashme might be in your future. The lack of a health screen alone means I run it on every DS I can so I tend not to face these issues.

 

[Technicmaster0]

Thanks


Now I'm having another problem... I want to rip DS games and saves using Rudolph's NDS Backup Tool Slot 2, and I've heard that I need to boot the Slot 2 cart in DS mode for it to work, but every time I try to do that, the EZ4 forces an update, as though I'm holding R every time I go into Slot 2 DS mode. And since you're required to turn the system off after an update, I'm just stuck in a loop. GBA mode works fine and only tries to update when I hold R, but DS mode is stuck. I've also tried deleting ezfla_up.bin from my SD card, but it still required an update upon startup. Any ideas here?

If it helps, I'm using a Supercard DSTwo (I've also tried an old M3 DS Real; didn't help) and my EZ4 is using a Micro SD in a Mini SD adapter (yes, I've heard that can cause problems).

You can use this plugin to use the DSTWO as NoPass.

 

[Hyperstar96]

You can use this plugin to use the DSTWO as NoPass.

I can launch it as NoPass just fine through DSTWO, M3 DS Real, and Acekard 2i, but once I'm actually in NoPass is when it starts requiring an update. Nonetheless, I did manage to hardpatch Wood Dumper (since Rudolph's tool just doesn't work for me and is now stuck on "FAT Initialize") with the EZ4 DLDI like FAST6191 suggested so that none of my Slot 1 carts will patch over it, and it works, but I'll have to use a different tool to rip saves since Wood Dumper only does ROMs (which isn't difficult, just inconvenient).

 

[FAST6191]

Depending upon your wireless network setups you can dump saves over wifi. It is painfully slow for ROM images which end up in the several hundred meg range often enough, saves are usually only a couple of hundred kilobytes though.