Hacking Ezflash Junior bricked

[pfero]

I was playing with my week-old ezflash when I accidentally pulled it out without turning the console off. It was running kernel 1.03 (fw 3) and was in the flashcart menu at the time of pull-out.
When re-inserting it into the console, and starting it up, the Nintendo logo shows a black bar instead, as if no cart has been inserted.
I read on the product description that this cart has some sort of recovery mode to prevent firmware update failures. Is there a way to recover from this failure?

 

[EZ-Flash2]

This state should not be caused by unplugging the card when the console is not turned off.
The design of the card has avoided this situation of plug out accidentally.

It is more likely to fall to the ground or burn some components.

Suggestion: disassemble the shell, clean the metal contact and reassemble it properly.

If it cannot be improved, please contact the dealer for replacement.

 

[pfero]

The cart hasn't been dropped a single time since I bought it, and hasn't been in contact with any source of intense heat either (it's still winter here, no direct sunlight or similar). The contacts still look squeaky clean and cleaning them doesn't seem to help. I've also tried pulling the internal battery and nothing.
I pulled it out of my frontlit GBA SP, and it was halfway through drawing the rom list, if that matters. I've tried that console, my DMG and my purple GBC but all give the same result. I guess I must've been really unlucky.
The board markings say EZGB 4619.

I don't think my dealer allows replacements like that but I'll try that, then...

 

[jauma80]

I have the same problem, I turned on my Gameboy and when I booted the OS the screen was frozen and when I turned off the console and turned it on again the Nintendo logo shows a black bar instead, as if no cart has been inserted. I tried several consoles and another sd card and it doesn't work.

How can I solve that problem??

 

[EZ-Flash2]

I have the same problem, I turned on my Gameboy and when I booted the OS the screen was frozen and when I turned off the console and turned it on again the Nintendo logo shows a black bar instead, as if no cart has been inserted. I tried several consoles and another sd card and it doesn't work.

How can I solve that problem??

It can not be solved by your self currently. we suggest you contacting your dealer for a replacement.

OP has the technology and equipment to dump the data on his card and let us try to recovery his card. We sent him the recovery data and haven't got his reply yet.

It is not recommended to dissemble and replace components on the product by yourself. it will break the warranty. unless you know what you are doing and the consequence.

 

[pfero]

Update: I decided to figure out _why_ it wasn't working, and all the power circuitry seemed fine, but I noticed that the FPGA didn't pull its DONE pin high. That means that the FPGA wasn't able to load its firmware correctly. There's an SPI flash chip right next to it (right in the center of the board), so I decided to desolder it and dump and verify its firmware, but I noticed that every dump I made differed by a couple of bytes. The flash chip looked dead.
I sent my dumps to @EZ-Flash2 and they sent me a new firmware to try to replace it with. I bought a couple of SST25VF016B chips (these were the easiest+fastest available to me, the original chip was nowhere to find) to flash this firmware on and it seems to be working again, though downgrading the firmware doesn't seem to work.
All in all, I'm happy my cart is working again, but it looks like this is a hardware defect that may or may not be able to be fixed in a hardware revision (I don't know what causes these chips to fail). If you also have this problem, I don't recommend doing this without the right tools and some soldering experience, but if you have a multimeter you can probe the DONE pin of the FPGA to see if you're having the same problem.

FPGA datasheet (pin description on page 73): https://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/data_sheets/ds529.pdf

 

[JoshuaLind]

I have this same issue: Cannot load EZFlash Jr any more. It just gives me the black bar where "Nintendo" should be. I have tried the restore button, tried it with a different microSD card and also in my wife's unmodified Gameboy Color (mine has a color backlit screen mod)...nothing.

 

[WiLLiW]

Update: I decided to figure out _why_ it wasn't working, and all the power circuitry seemed fine, but I noticed that the FPGA didn't pull its DONE pin high. That means that the FPGA wasn't able to load its firmware correctly. There's an SPI flash chip right next to it (right in the center of the board), so I decided to desolder it and dump and verify its firmware, but I noticed that every dump I made differed by a couple of bytes. The flash chip looked dead.
I sent my dumps to @EZ-Flash2 and they sent me a new firmware to try to replace it with. I bought a couple of SST25VF016B chips (these were the easiest+fastest available to me, the original chip was nowhere to find) to flash this firmware on and it seems to be working again, though downgrading the firmware doesn't seem to work.
All in all, I'm happy my cart is working again, but it looks like this is a hardware defect that may or may not be able to be fixed in a hardware revision (I don't know what causes these chips to fail). If you also have this problem, I don't recommend doing this without the right tools and some soldering experience, but if you have a multimeter you can probe the DONE pin of the FPGA to see if you're having the same problem.

FPGA datasheet (pin description on page 73): https://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/data_sheets/ds529.pdf

It would be awesome if you done all that cool stuff on a youtube video!

 

[Ludan]

I just had the same issue and I was wondering if you could give me some instructions for testing the board and replacing the damaged chip. I have the skills and tools so I might be able to pull it off. Thanks in advance.

 

[itachi81]

The cart hasn't been dropped a single time since I bought it, and hasn't been in contact with any source of intense heat either (it's still winter here, no direct sunlight or similar). The contacts still look squeaky clean and cleaning them doesn't seem to help. I've also tried pulling the internal battery and nothing.
I pulled it out of my frontlit GBA SP, and it was halfway through drawing the rom list, if that matters. I've tried that console, my DMG and my purple GBC but all give the same result. I guess I must've been really unlucky.
The board markings say EZGB 4619.

I don't think my dealer allows replacements like that but I'll try that, then...

Hello, I have a problem with an EZ Flash Junior. I was testing some Game Boys and in one in particular the battery came out while the cartridge was loading the menu. I ignored it and removed the cartridge. When I put it in another Game Boy it no longer started, it only showed the legend Game Boy and the black bar as if there was no cartridge. I saw that someone solved it by reflashing the SPI memory it has. I would like you to send me the files to reprogram the integrated circuit. Thanks.

 

[Doskater]

Hi, sorry to bring up an old thread, but I have a similar EZ-Flash Junior problem.



My cartridge is stuck at Loading / OSINIT and does not reach the menu, so I cannot run the normal firmware update file.



I already tried different microSD cards, FAT32 formatting, and two different Game Boy DMG consoles. Does anyone know if there is still a recovery kernel available for EZ-Flash Junior?