EZ-Flash Omega bricked?

geocamus

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For anyone arriving at this thread looking for answers regarding their non booting (no Nintendo logo at start) EZ-Flash Omega.

If replacing the crystal oscillator according to the "basic repair guide" (mentioned above) doesn't repair it then maybe the EEPROM (U3) chip is malfunctioning. In this case it was a bad "Puya P25D40H".

I repaired it by getting a new EEPROM, in this case a "M25P40" by "ST" I chose this one because my two Omegas had it.

It was flashed with a BIN file created with offsets from a known working Omega EEPROM dump and offsets from the bad EEPROM.
It appeard to me that each EEPROM dump became unique after offset 0x00030000.
I used a hex editor (HxD) and pasted everything from 0x0 -> 0x0002FFFF from the good Omega and then the rest from 0x00030000 and beyond from the bad Omega and saved as new 512KB .BIN file.

For the dumping and flashing:
The EEPROM was de-soldered from the Omega and soldered on to a socket adapter board connected on top of a CH341B programmer (check Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress) and was used together with NeoProgammer.

Attached to this post you can download the .BIN file with the first offsets from the good Omega at FW and Kernel 1.09.
You'll also need the ezkernel.bin v1.09 in the root of your SDcard if your Omega isn't updated to 1.09 since it will want to update if it detects and older version.

One give away that the EEPROM was failing was that different CRC codes were calculated each time NeoProgrammer read it.
The more obvious one was that the data was being changed each time it was flashed and couldn't be verified afterwards.
This wasn't an issue with the new EEPROM.

Maybe the @EZ-Flash2 team could advice us what to do in the case that the EEPROM is completley corrupt and there's nothing to salvage or maybe if possible divorce the EEPROM from the rest of the cart in their next update?

Good luck!

-edit for clarification


Hello my brother,
Maybe you can help me, I changed the U3 chip and reprogrammed it. Previously I had already made the change of the Crystal.

But when I finished changing the U3 chip and tested it, I was surprised that this happened:

1. I insert the cartridge in the GBA or GBA SP console, in both.
2. I turn on the console, and it doesn't turn on at all with the cartridge inside.
3. If I remove the cartridge, it turns on without any problem.

I have checked that I could have short and I have nothing, the U3 chip I programmed it well and even tried with another new chip the M25P40 programmed and soldered it also to test and same behavior, the consoles do not turn on with the cartridge inside.

Do you think I can check something else? I comment that before changing the U3 chip if the consoles turned on with the cartridge inside, but did not pass the Nintendo Logo.
 

moon_rabbit

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Hello my brother,
Maybe you can help me, I changed the U3 chip and reprogrammed it. Previously I had already made the change of the Crystal.

But when I finished changing the U3 chip and tested it, I was surprised that this happened:

1. I insert the cartridge in the GBA or GBA SP console, in both.
2. I turn on the console, and it doesn't turn on at all with the cartridge inside.
3. If I remove the cartridge, it turns on without any problem.

I have checked that I could have short and I have nothing, the U3 chip I programmed it well and even tried with another new chip the M25P40 programmed and soldered it also to test and same behavior, the consoles do not turn on with the cartridge inside.

Do you think I can check something else? I comment that before changing the U3 chip if the consoles turned on with the cartridge inside, but did not pass the Nintendo Logo.

If it doesn't turn on with the cartridge in, it means it's shorted.
Check the area you touched.
If you don't see it anywhere, it might be under the BGA.
 
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geocamus

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If it doesn't turn on with the cartridge in, it means it's shorted.
Check the area you touched.
If you don't see it anywhere, it might be under the BGA.

Thank you, I will check for short points. Although I did not see anything and I only touched the chip when desoldering/soldering. What worries me is that it does not remove the clock battery from the board when working, will it have affected something that was put the chip U3 and did not remove the Battery before?

Do you know if there is any circuit diagram to check input/output voltages on the board?
 
Last edited by geocamus,

moon_rabbit

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Thank you, I will check for short points. Although I did not see anything and I only touched the chip when desoldering/soldering. What worries me is that it does not remove the clock battery from the board when working, will it have affected something that was put the chip U3 and did not remove the Battery before?

Do you know if there is any circuit diagram to check input/output voltages on the board?
The battery doesn't seem to matter.
Search for gba cartridge pinout to see the basic pin configuration.
You won't find schematics specifically for the omega.
My guess is that it could be the SD card slot right next to it, or the BGA chip on the other side.
Did you work with hot air?
If you were simply soldering with a soldering iron, it's unlikely to be a problem.
 
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geocamus

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The battery doesn't seem to matter.
Search for gba cartridge pinout to see the basic pin configuration.
You won't find schematics specifically for the omega.
My guess is that it could be the SD card slot right next to it, or the BGA chip on the other side.
Did you work with hot air?
If you were simply soldering with a soldering iron, it's unlikely to be a problem.


Thank you for your answer.
Note that I did have some small details when soldering/desoldering:

1. I stained and calcined tin to 3 tracks of the reader strip of the board, but it worked that way before, so I doubt that this is the reason for the failure.

2. Slightly the edge where the MicroSD is inserted melted, that happened this time I changed the U3 chip and that was the most recent change I noticed after desoldering/soldering the chip. But the melted is little and does not touch the tin track. And with MicroSD in or out, it gives the same failure, so I don't think it's because of this either.

If you see stains on the chips on the back of the board, that's how they came from the factory.
 

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moon_rabbit

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Thank you for your answer.
Note that I did have some small details when soldering/desoldering:

1. I stained and calcined tin to 3 tracks of the reader strip of the board, but it worked that way before, so I doubt that this is the reason for the failure.

2. Slightly the edge where the MicroSD is inserted melted, that happened this time I changed the U3 chip and that was the most recent change I noticed after desoldering/soldering the chip. But the melted is little and does not touch the tin track. And with MicroSD in or out, it gives the same failure, so I don't think it's because of this either.

If you see stains on the chips on the back of the board, that's how they came from the factory.

In some situations, it might cause recognition issues, but the solder on the pin shouldn't be a problem.

Considering the photo, here's what I would do

1. I would test the pins in the SD card slot with a multimeter to make sure they are not shorted.
2. check the capacitors with a multimeter in continuity mode.
3. check the resistors and diodes with a multimeter to make sure they are correct.
4. remove the battery and check the components below.
5. If everything is okay, reball the BGA.

BGA reballing tip

Prepare several sizes of solder balls.
As shown in this YouTube video.
It's easy to do with tweezers and a little patience.
 
Last edited by moon_rabbit,

Falco81

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Hello,
My EEPROM completely died.
I already have a new one and a programmer.
Would it be possible to send me a complete EEPROM dump (U3 chip) from a working EZ-Flash Omega?
Thank you
 

Tenorio91

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Hello guys. I tried to update the firmware and kernel of my ez flash omega, but only after installing did I realize that I installed the wrong kernel and firmware. I ended up installing the definitive edition. Is there any way to fix this error? I've tried to enter safe mode and the gba and ds don't recognize the cartridge
 

YTKOHOC

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Hi. I also have a broken omega(regular, not definitive edition). I replaced the quartz oscillator but it didn't help.

I have an ST M25P40 and a programmer to write information to it.
But this programmer can't read data from Puya P25D40H which is on the cartridge. (tl866cs if interested)

Can someone send a full dump of the eeprom?

And how to create 512kb dump in HxD program?
 

leofreitas

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Thank you for your answer.
Note that I did have some small details when soldering/desoldering:

1. I stained and calcined tin to 3 tracks of the reader strip of the board, but it worked that way before, so I doubt that this is the reason for the failure.

2. Slightly the edge where the MicroSD is inserted melted, that happened this time I changed the U3 chip and that was the most recent change I noticed after desoldering/soldering the chip. But the melted is little and does not touch the tin track. And with MicroSD in or out, it gives the same failure, so I don't think it's because of this either.

If you see stains on the chips on the back of the board, that's how they came from the factory.
In my case have the same problem. I solved invert the cristal. When soldering with the number for UP have Thais problem, but soldering the number of cristal for down my gba start normaly.
Post automatically merged:

Thank you for your answer.
Note that I did have some small details when soldering/desoldering:

1. I stained and calcined tin to 3 tracks of the reader strip of the board, but it worked that way before, so I doubt that this is the reason for the failure.

2. Slightly the edge where the MicroSD is inserted melted, that happened this time I changed the U3 chip and that was the most recent change I noticed after desoldering/soldering the chip. But the melted is little and does not touch the tin track. And with MicroSD in or out, it gives the same failure, so I don't think it's because of this either.

If you see stains on the chips on the back of the board, that's how they came from the factory.
In my case have the same problem. I solved invert the cristal. When soldering with the number for UP have Thais problem, but soldering the number of cristal for down my gba start normaly.
Post automatically merged:

In my case have the same problem. I solved invert the cristal. When soldering with the number for UP have Thais problem, but soldering the number of cristal for down my gba start normaly.
Post automatically merged:


In my case have the same problem. I solved invert the cristal. When soldering with the number for UP have Thais problem, but soldering the number of cristal for down my gba start normaly.
But in my case o have problem again, o change the cristal and u3 but no solved
 
Last edited by leofreitas,

YTKOHOC

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I created with base in tutorial this post, but I have no idea if this is right, I put together what I extracted and what was made available, but I don't know if the dump you made was good.
Can you upload here the files you took off your eeprom? And your assembled image. I'll try it on my cartridge. My programmer unfortunately can't read ez-flash and I can't dump it (or I'm too dumb and can't figure out how to dump it=]).
 

leofreitas

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Can you upload here the files you took off your eeprom? And your assembled image. I'll try it on my cartridge. My programmer unfortunately can't read ez-flash and I can't dump it (or I'm too dumb and can't figure out how to dump it=]).
ok, follow the files, case function for you or modification the image, send back for me testing in my. Image name ORIGNAL is the my eprom.
Post automatically merged:

ok, follow the files, case function for you or modification the image, send back for me testing in my. Image name ORIGNAL is the my eprom.
 

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YTKOHOC

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ok, follow the files, case function for you or modification the image, send back for me testing in my. Image name ORIGNAL is the my eprom.
Post automatically merged:
I was able to capture the image from the EPROM. And it turned out to be read and written normally. So it's alive. So it doesn't seem to be the problem. But it might help someone.
 

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leofreitas

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Consegui capturar a imagem da EPROM. E ela acabou sendo lida e escrita normalmente. Então está viva. Então não parece ser o problema. Mas pode ajudar alg

I was able to capture the image from the EPROM. And it turned out to be read and written normally. So it's alive. So it doesn't seem to be the problem. But it might help someone
Original eprom ou your modification ?
Post automatically merged:

I was able to capture the image from the EPROM. And it turned out to be read and written normally. So it's alive. So it doesn't seem to be the problem. But it might help someone.
Tankssss this eprom resolve my problem.
Post automatically merged:

Original eprom ou your modification ?
Post automatically merged:


Tankssss this eprom resolve my problem.
Update:
It worked and I can run the games using the mode that records the game in NOR, if I try to play in the first two modes it freezes in the loading game.
Post automatically merged:

Original eprom ou your modification ?
Post automatically merged:


Tankssss this eprom resolve my problem.
Post automatically merged:


Update:
It worked and I can run the games using the mode that records the game in NOR, if I try to play in the first two modes it freezes in the loading game.
update: I re-recorded it with the eprom that my friend sent, but as I said previously, the game only works when recording on the NOR. But I compared this eprom to the one on my original chip that had been dumped but was corrupted. Side by side I compared all the lines and saw that mine was FFFF from the beginning until a certain part, and then I copied that missing part from the eprom sent here to mine and then I soldered it to the cartridge again and now it's 100%. I appreciate everyone's help here.
Post automatically merged:

Original eprom ou your modification ?
Post automatically merged:


Tankssss this eprom resolve my problem.
Post automatically merged:


Update:
It worked and I can run the games using the mode that records the game in NOR, if I try to play in the first two modes it freezes in the loading game.
Post automatically merged:


update: I re-recorded it with the eprom that my friend sent, but as I said previously, the game only works when recording on the NOR. But I compared this eprom to the one on my original chip that had been dumped but was corrupted. Side by side I compared all the lines and saw that mine was FFFF from the beginning until a certain part, and then I copied that missing part from the eprom sent here to mine and then I soldered it to the cartridge again and now it's 100%. I appreciate everyone's help here.
From what I understand, the code for these eproms has some parts that are unique to each cartridge, and that is why it does not start the clean boot when using the code from another eprom, but that can be the salvation for those who cannot get the dump of their eprom, because recording in NOR is fine, but for those who can get the eprom dump the best way out is to be able to see which part of the code in your eprom caused the problem and try to correct it using a good one.
 
Last edited by leofreitas,

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