Hacking EZ4 kernel 2.02 released

[EZ-Flash2]

http://www.ezflash.cn/ez-flash-iv-kernel-2-02-released/

We added GLOBAL SOFTRESET AND SLEEP(GSS) patch and customized hotkey configuration file.

default softreset key combination is “L + UP + B”, default sleep key combination is “L + R + START”, default wake up key combination is “START + SELECT”.

Some games can not apply the GSS patch properly, you can use “L+B” to launch them without GSS patch.

If you want to set your own hotkey combination, there is a file named “KEYSET.CFG” in the EZ4Kernel 2.02 package. please check it out. This file must placed in the root of SD card.

We also made a quick tutorial at here

Jump to download

Credits: @kuwanger Thanks for the softreset and sleep hack code.

 

[slaphappygamer]

It's so great that this card is still getting updated. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Localhorst86]

nice to see this. I already applied my skin to it, can't wait to test this later.

 

[Localhorst86]

I have noticed an issue with a few ROMs when writing them to NOR. The following games would write to NOR, but would result in a filesize on the NOR of 8448Kb instead of the regular 8192Kb.
That's So Raven (USA).gba (CRC32: 8E190698)
Banjo-Kazooie - Grunty's Revenge (Europe) (En,Fr,De).gba (CRC32: FB4F38E2)

Now, at first I thought the issue could be the apostrophe (special character) in the name so I tried removing that. But that didn't work, the games would still cause this issue. And then I came across "Ab durch die Hecke (Germany).gba" (CRC32: 31E57A19) which also acted the same way. There are no special characters in the name. The only thing these games have in common is that they are all using an EEPROM Save type. But other games that use EEPROM saving are fine.

Can someone verify these issues using these three games?

That's So Raven (USA).gba (CRC32: 8E190698)
Banjo-Kazooie - Grunty's Revenge (Europe) (En,Fr,De).gba (CRC32: FB4F38E2)
Ab durch die Hecke (Germany).gba (CRC32: 31E57A19)

Note: I've tried with the official 2.02 release of the kernel and fresh ROMs and SD Cards. I know for certain that Banjo-Kazooie worked perfectly fine from NOR on 2.01 but now just reset loops on 2.02 due to the bigger file size on NOR.

None of the ROMs I am using are trimmed.

 

[Localhorst86]

Ok, I figured it out (sorry for tripple posting, but I figured it would be better to have the sollution/findings in a separate post instead of burried "within" the issue.

I noticed what these three games have in common: They don't contain any padding, or have been purposely manipulated by the developers to *appear* not to be padded (The last 8 bytes of "That's so Raven" and "Ab durch die Hecke" reads "baisoku!")

It seems as if the GSS Patch gets appended to the end of the ROM if it can't find any padding, increasing the size on NOR by 256Kb, presumably due to NOR block sizes (the GSS patch is probably a lot smaller but write operations on the NOR are probably alligned in 256Kb blocks).

On a side note: The EZ-Flash Team has overlooked of documenting a feature when writing to NOR: If you write a ROM to NOR you can decide of you want the GSS Patch to be applied (by pressing Select) or not (by pressing L+Select). This is very usefull since launching a GSS Patched game off of the NOR will always activate the GSS Patch even if you launch it with L+B. The 256Kb still gets appended when writing to the NOR without the patch enabled, my guess is they are only not patching in the instructions to the game code to execute the GSS Patches.

So, everything's working at least, not sure if appending the additional 256Kb block might cause issues with "non-trimmable" 128Mbit ROMs, though.

 

[EZ-Flash2]

Ok, I figured it out (sorry for tripple posting, but I figured it would be better to have the sollution/findings in a separate post instead of burried "within" the issue.

I noticed what these three games have in common: They don't contain any padding, or have been purposely manipulated by the developers to *appear* not to be padded (The last 8 bytes of "That's so Raven" and "Ab durch die Hecke" reads "baisoku!")

It seems as if the GSS Patch gets appended to the end of the ROM if it can't find any padding, increasing the size on NOR by 256Kb, presumably due to NOR block sizes (the GSS patch is probably a lot smaller but write operations on the NOR are probably alligned in 256Kb blocks).

On a side note: The EZ-Flash Team has overlooked of documenting a feature when writing to NOR: If you write a ROM to NOR you can decide of you want the GSS Patch to be applied (by pressing Select) or not (by pressing L+Select). This is very usefull since launching a GSS Patched game off of the NOR will always activate the GSS Patch even if you launch it with L+B. The 256Kb still gets appended when writing to the NOR without the patch enabled, my guess is they are only not patching in the instructions to the game code to execute the GSS Patches.

So, everything's working at least, not sure if appending the additional 256Kb block might cause issues with "non-trimmable" 128Mbit ROMs, though.

it will be fixed in next release, the quick tutorial also fixed.

 

[droople]

it will be fixed in next release, the quick tutorial also fixed.

Nice work! If the EZ4 support RTC, it will be perfect.

I'm still have two EZ3, its a shame the driver not working under win7 64x.

 

[Bart Lemming]

Great news! I'm so glad that these features were added. I'm also really happy to see that you've been working with kuwanger - One of the last bastions of the GBA hacking glory days. Here's hoping that GB/GBC and NES drag'n'drop can become a thing (still dreaming. )!

 

[PoppaDre]

do i need the .pat file in the PATCH folder on the sd card once its flashed?

 

[migles]

Nice work! If the EZ4 support RTC, it will be perfect.

for rtc needs a new card...

 

[droople]

Yeah, I should say if the EZ4 could support.

 

[Hanafuda]

Sleep hack is awesome. Awesome, awesome. I'm not having a lot of success with the global reset hotkey though. Actually, none so far, but I've only tried a few games. Can someone suggest a game for which the global reset code is known to work, so I can see it (or figure out what I'm doing wrong)? Ty.

 

[PoppaDre]

whats the patch folder for? and i cant put metroid zero to sleep mode? any reason why? the rom?

 

[Bart Lemming]

Having issues with Kirby - Nightmare in Dream Land. Game loads but when I push START the game freezes.

I've tried both (U) and (E) ROMs from No-Intro and GoodGBA... Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Localhorst86]

Having issues with Kirby - Nightmare in Dream Land. Game loads but when I push START the game freezes.

I've tried both (U) and (E) ROMs from No-Intro and GoodGBA... Anyone else have this problem?

Q: My game crashes/behaves oddly when I launch it from PSRAM (example: Banjo-Kazooie - Grunty's Revenge)
A: The GSS Patch is not 100% compatible with all games, some games simply wont work with the patch running. The EZ-Flash Team has provided us with a way of launching the games without the GSS Patch enabled. Simply launch the Game with the button combination "L+B" from the file selection menu.

 

[migles]

i am gonna stay with the 2.01 for now. this one seems to be a really good one and stable.. while the 2.02 gets fixed\better

what are the sleep hacks for? to put any game to sleep, or to make the games that come with the sleep function work?

 

[Localhorst86]

i am gonna stay with the 2.01 for now. this one seems to be a really good one and stable.. while the 2.02 gets fixed\better

what are the sleep hacks for? to put any game to sleep, or to make the games that come with the sleep function work?

It puts any game to sleep. Not a feature I ever used.

 

[Bart Lemming]

Q: My game crashes/behaves oddly when I launch it from PSRAM (example: Banjo-Kazooie - Grunty's Revenge)
A: The GSS Patch is not 100% compatible with all games, some games simply wont work with the patch running. The EZ-Flash Team has provided us with a way of launching the games without the GSS Patch enabled. Simply launch the Game with the button combination "L+B" from the file selection menu.

Thanks for that. Had a brainfart.

 

[migles]

It puts any game to sleep. Not a feature I ever used.

i rather not use it cuz game compatibility and may break stuff...
i had the "in game menu" patch in my flashcarts, some games had issues with it for example graphical glitches

btw, i seen they also patch soft reset.. whats the difference between that, and the normal softreset (start+select+a+b)

 

[JCR1]

I suggest to the ez team the option of enable/disable gss on the ez menu.