Hacking EZFLASH Vi v12 regression: Crashes & slowdowns on class2 microsdhc

[matsurisan]

I am having a serious problem with 8GB sandisk class2 and hardware 705. All hacks (softreset, etc) are off.

A lot of games that worked fine just before v12 upgrade (from v5) are now crashing, including The World Ends With You (jp name: subarashiki kono sekai) and Pokemon Platinum (which crashes pretty fast), among a lot of others. (there seem to be problems with more games than not, but then again, there's over 4k of them and my sample's pretty small)

Slowdowns and audio cuts are being noticed in most games. I suspect the microsdhc card's being driven at a slower speed or with loose timings, causing the slowdowns which in turn crash games that expect having the data ready.

Seems from other threads here and in the official ezflash english forums that some other people are experiencing this issue, too.

For those with this issue: Please state your Ez Vi hardware revision (705 or 805) and the details about the MicroSDHC card (brand, size and class. Class is very important because I suspect this is tied to class2).

Everybody else should at least think twice before upgrading, specially if using class2 or slower cards and 705 hardware revision, since those seem to be the common points so far among those with the problem.

Other threads suspected to be related to this issue here and elsewhere:
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=174491
http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=14973

Update
An EzFlash person has announced there'll be a v13 for 705: http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?f=...973&p=62626

I do not recommend upgrading to v12 if you have a 705: Wait instead.

Update
v13 did improve things for some testers and didn't for me.

I'm testing v14 with pretty good results.

If you have a 705, wait for v14. Looks like it's gonna be out soon enough

.

Update
v14 is out. Fixes this.
http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=13991

 

[luney]

You should have stated that only slow cards like class2 are affected. I personally tried Pokemon Platinum on my class4 card after you and one other person complained that it crashed. It runs flawlessly. Most flashcart users know better than to buy a card that is slower than a class 4.

 

[matsurisan]

You should have stated that only slow cards like class2 are affected. I personally tried Pokemon Platinum on my class4 card after you and one other person complained that it crashed. It runs flawlessly. Most flashcart users know better than to buy a card that is slower than a class 4.

EzFlash docs actually recommend class2 or higher, so most flashcard users will get a class2 or higher.

I should answer that I'd gladly include the "only slow cards like class2 are affected" if that was a known fact. At the moment, it's nothing more than speculation of my own, something that I'm sure is quite clear on my post, but apparently wasn't enough.

Reports from people who actually have problems are way more interesting (finding common points between them), but by all means, go ahead and make that report of yours. Please try not to omit any basic details, however. For what we know, you might have done the test with the 805 hardware revision and a 1GB card, or maybe a 705 one and a 16GB card. That's not of use. Try again.

 

[luney]

If my flashcart were anything other than a 705, I wouldn't have bothered to reply. If my memory card were anything other than an 8GB, I wouldn't have bothered to reply. After all, it would not have been relevant to post if I had used anything other than what you stated you are using. Not everyone goes off all half-cocked and making absurd posts. IMHO, you shouldn't be so cheap. I mean come on, you download the games for free and get the flashcart for essentially the cost of a single game. Why go cheap on the memory card and buy the slowest one you find, even if it is 1/2 the cost. I'm just saying............. If you're gonna go cheap, expect to get what you paid for.

 

[Kyrue]

I have a 4gb Sandisk class 2 card. It is freezing with about 50% of the games I had on the card. Perhaps I'll get a new micro sd.

 

[matsurisan]

I have a 4gb Sandisk class 2 card. It is freezing with about 50% of the games I had on the card. Perhaps I'll get a new micro sd.

Was it freezing before the v12 upgrade? If it wasn't, please post a report on the ezboard thread linked in the first post.

 

[matsurisan]

An EzFlash person has announced there'll be a v13 for 705: http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?f=...973&p=62626

I do not recommend upgrading to v12 if you have a 705: Wait instead.

 

[Mbmax]

v14 on his way. Coming very soon.
It will fix freezing problem on EZVi [705] and some microSDHC.

 

[FAST6191]

Also on the portal but

EZ5i firmware update (22-08-2009)
The EZTeam have released v14 of the EZ5i internal firmware making it the sixth public release of EZ5i internal firmware.
Some users of the v11 and v12 firmwares (which brought the DSi 1.4 fix) reported some games had speed issues with class 2 SDHC and the [705] hardware revision (a fairly common one) causing lag and some freezing where it did not before.

Changelog/release notes
This update fixes freezing problem with some memory cards and the EZ5i.
Please note it is only for the [705] hardware revision, should you have another then it will say no need to update.
Users of firmwares below v11 please note it updates the bootloader and the firmware, you will not be able to downgrade. Users of v11 above it will just update to v14.
Icon still changed from EZ5 logo to Tak.

Hashes:
MD5 2D1B6F4CDBC5670425EF8403D34EA347
SHA1 AF987717FA8A4B13418E516FB7E41D36FC264950

GBAtemp download:
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?download=6757

 

[Mbmax]

Thanks FAST6191 for the news in GBAtemp portal.

Also special thanks to matsurisan and JohnnyBlaze for their great help in beta test process.

 

[9600pro]

Thanks, just flashed correctly in my 705 card.

 

[lethalshot]

Thank you everyone for all the supports, needs and so on you are giving to us.

I just did the update, big problem, it's like the update didn't work and worst, i got this message :

An error has occured. Press and hold the Power Button to turn the system off. PLease see Nintendo Dsi operations Manual for help troubleshooting.

I have a DSi, a EZFLASHVi (who was v12 [705] and with the crashes and slowdowns).
I have a Sandisk 2GB microSD, cluster is 32kb.
Help me when you can please, I will get back later.
And again, thank you.

Here is the Topic : http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=175484

 

[Mbmax]

Answered in your post.

 

[prodf]

EZ Team puts any other team on second place,nothing more !

 

[watex5]

I got an error

"current firmware Version is 12
This cartridge need not upgrade,
please power off"

yeah...my card is v12 and i want v14 sooo what do i do? lol

 

[FAST6191]

V14 was for the [705] hardware revision; if your EZ5i is an [805] then you do not need to do anything (it should say when you load up the updating program). Others reading until the next update try the V14 first and if it does not work grab V12 and use that instead.

 

[lrwr14]

i'm having problem with core and scribblenauts i have hardware ver 705 and firmver e00 and i am using a 2gb sandisk. On scribblenauts a picture of a disk appears(which probably means saving) then freezes on a white screen. any help.

 

[FAST6191]

It is more likely a problem with the 2.0 RC5- there is a fix coming but if you go back to RC4 or the 1.9 line then it should work.

 

[lrwr14]

ok thanks, i will try it.