Analogue Pocket FW 1.0B & EZ Flash Omega DE - New issue after first boot

[noj86]

Hello,

To give a bit of context, I have an EZ-Flash DE rev.A (on the ez-flash fw4) which has been working flawlessly on the Analogue Pocket on the launch and first analogue firmware update without any issue.
That includes game with larger savegames & autosave features on.

Analogue just released a new firmware (1st of Feb 2022) numbered 1.0B, so naturally I updated and the release notes states this

- BIOS update v1.5 - Better messaging. Can now detect Bad header, No Header and No Cart

source: https://www.analogue.co/support/pocket/firmware/1.0B

After the update of the console, first boot, no issue. Played some quick games, turned off the console. A few minutes later, I decide to go back for some more gaming and this time at boot I get an error :

Analogue Bios 1.5
Bad Header

At that point I'm like maybe it's the autosave features which is broken with the new firmware of the console, so i pop my ez-flash in my regular gba, allow the auto-save to go through, turn of the autosave feature and put it back in the pocket, but same error.
At that point I decide to downgrade the pocket to the previous firmware and the card works flawlessly again (regardless if the auto-save is on or off).

I tried the manipulation a few times and it's consistent.
I suspect an new incompatibility somehow. I'm gonna try to flag the issue to the Analogue team too but I'm hoping that @EZ-Flash2 will be able to do something on his side with this extra information.

Cheers !

 

[noj86]

I just tested with the more recent FW5 and the updated kernel 1.03 (that comes with the eeprom fix version) and it's the same behavior.

 

[EZ-Flash2]

I can't help you because we don't have a Analogue on hand and it's lined up for 2023 to get the console. We wrote to Analogue and there was no response, so I can only say sorry!

 

[noj86]

I can't help you because we don't have a Analogue on hand and it's lined up for 2023 to get the console. We wrote to Analogue and there was no response, so I can only say sorry!

I understand it's not easy to work in the dark, but waiting for 2023 isn't ideal for your customers either.
Your competition, namely krikkz, didn't order a Pocket either and when the pocket released he managed to get in touch with Analogue and later received a Pocket to adapt/debug his products for it. I'm sure Analogue would be ready to do the same for you.

I'm no expert and Analogue seems to be pretty terrible at answering to messages but they are active on twitter & instagram, some of their main developer are active online (kevtris), they have a [email protected] email and a developer form on their website. For sure, there is a way for you to get noticed by them, it's not in their interest to leave you in the dark.

I love your product (I own the Jnr, Omega, Omega DE and some older ones too), they work great on my GBA SP but I wish I wouldn't be worried about any FW update in the future on a premium/hyped product such as the Pocket.

 

[ghjfdtg]

Tbh the issue is on Analogue's side. The Pocket just isn't 1:1 behaving like the real Game Boys. It's not surprising since it's basically emulation but in hardware.

 

[noj86]

Some more update just in case this is ever useful using other cards from EZ-Flash.

The original Omega (non DE) under FW:6 K 1.04 is working out of the box in the pocket 1.0B.
After update of the original omega to FW9 K1.09, the pocket reads the firmware properly but not the firmware and it will request to update the firmware after each boot (even though it's properly update on a regular GBA). You cancel the update and the omega still works exactly as expected.

The EZ-Flash Junior with the latest beta firmware (from 0918) also works flawlessly (assuming you don't have the SD card issue which can occur to me with some new folders at the root of the sd card)

 

[epistaxis]

The original Omega (non DE) under FW:6 K 1.04 is working out of the box in the pocket 1.0B.
After update of the original omega to FW9 K1.09, the pocket reads the firmware properly but not the firmware and it will request to update the firmware after each boot (even though it's properly update on a regular GBA). You cancel the update and the omega still works exactly as expected.

This is normal behavior right now for the original Omega. It looks like the pocket will only read the factory set firmware (in your case, FW9. Mine is FW0 lol) and ignore the user upgraded fw, forcing you to bypass it on bootup.

 

[coolbho3000]

It's working fine for me after 1.0B on an Omega DE.

Worked for a few weeks on 1.0A, then stopped working at all. Then worked perfectly after updating to 1.0B.

I'd report your issue here: https://github.com/frederic-mahe/Analogue-Pocket/issues

 

[Borland]

have both Omega and DE. The DE edition did not work on the previous Pocket FWs however never had problems with the Omega. I did not want to update just in case but yesterday I had upgraded my Pocket and .... surprise! Both Omega and DE work like a treat! omega JR did not work but after FW update (on Jr) works fine with the latest pocket FW. before Jr was throwing error.....

 

[noj86]

@Borland Would you know which revision of the EZ-Flash DE you have ? is it revA or revB ?
I have a revision A and I found another person with the same issue as me and also on a revA

 

[Borland]

I don't know how to check the Rev.

 

[noj86]

@Borland in the latest firmware you can check under the "?" menu.
Otherwise you can look at this page from the official website and compare your ezflash de

https://www.ezflash.cn/ez-flash-omega-definitive-edition-added-a-new-revision/

 

[Schtexhiiiord257]

Are these working better now?

My pocket arrives this week and I’m really eager to get the best flash cart possible

 

[andeers]

I have this problem too, but when I get it I boot the flashcart on my original GBA and then it works on Analogue

EDIT/UPDATE: I realized that if I quit game from the Analogue Menu I get the error, but if I power off Analogue inside a game of the flashcart (like a normal gameboy), the error doesn't occur when I power it back on.