Using OMEGA kernel on EZ Flash Reform? [Help]

[tacco]

Can I use the EZ Flash Omega Kernel on an EZ Flash Reform, or do I need to use the latest IV Kernel (2.05) instead?

Also, is the reform just a resized IV? When I launch it, the splash screen still says "EZ Flash IV"

Thank you!

 

[4d1xlaan]

reform is just a better ezflash 4

smaller pcb, but what makes it better is the battery socket so you can replace the battery without having to solder

though ezflash reform doesnt have ds mode, but you probably dont need that. but it's one downside compared to the original ezflash 4 for some people

 

[ZaindORp]

That's impossible. EZ Omega's FPGA firmware implements many features that simulate real cartridges (mainly clocks and game archives), which are impossible for EZ Reform to replicate because it has fewer programmable logic units. The principle of EZ Reform is very primitive. The CPLD on it is mainly responsible for the address space mapping processing and SD card operation. The principle of game archiving is to patch the game with SRAM patches and then read the archive from SRAM next time you enter the main menu, which is not much different from the cheap pirated all-in-one game cartridges you bought on platforms such as AliExpress. Therefore the EZ Reform firmware lacks a lot of functionality that the EZ Omega kernel needs to run.

 

[tacco]

reform is just a better ezflash 4

smaller pcb, but what makes it better is the battery socket so you can replace the battery without having to solder

though ezflash reform doesnt have ds mode, but you probably dont need that. but it's one downside compared to the original ezflash 4 for some people

Nice, thank you for the information!

Post automatically merged: Jun 26, 2024

That's impossible. EZ Omega's FPGA firmware implements many features that simulate real cartridges (mainly clocks and game archives), which are impossible for EZ Reform to replicate because it has fewer programmable logic units. The principle of EZ Reform is very primitive. The CPLD on it is mainly responsible for the address space mapping processing and SD card operation. The principle of game archiving is to patch the game with SRAM patches and then read the archive from SRAM next time you enter the main menu, which is not much different from the cheap pirated all-in-one game cartridges you bought on platforms such as AliExpress. Therefore the EZ Reform firmware lacks a lot of functionality that the EZ Omega kernel needs to run.

Interesting, thank you for the detailed response!
May I ask how you learned all this? I could not find a lot of specific information about ezflash cards online...

 

[ZaindORp]

May I ask how you learned all this? I could not find a lot of specific information about ezflash cards online...

The basic working principle can be analyzed from the source code and actual use. The kernel source code of EZ Omega is public, and the relevant code about the patch process before starting the game can be found in it. Obviously, those are some very simple processes, which do not involve SRAM patches, so it can be determined that the principle of its saving is actually hardware simulation.EZ Reform's predecessor, EZ4, required an application called EZ Client to patch the game in v1, the most important part of which was the SRAM patch, so it was natural to determine that the game save mode used by EZ4 only supported SRAM saves (which was also slightly different, it had a different treatment for 1M Flash saves). EZ Reform is essentially just EZ4 with a redrawn circuit board and equivalent components so they should work in the same way.