Hacking Updated EZ Flash IV firmware, now I can't save games

[eXtremeDevil]

Hi, a few days ago I decided to recover my old SP. I have a white-translucent EZ Flash IV (EZ402 2006.3) with firmware version 1.720. To my surprise, I discovered that there are newer firmwares for my flashcart, specifically 2.05, so I downloaded it and installed it. With a few problems, I may add, as it seems that from 2.xx firmwares normal SD cards are not being recognized, only SDHC. Once I got a new card and the firmware finally booted, now my games doesn't save anymore. Also, they doesn't seem to load old saves.

I understand that maybe the saving process has changed from 1.xx to 2.xx, but does that mean I won't be able to play old saves? Maybe the new firmware does some patching to the games and, since my ROMs are already patched there's some sort of problem?

Thanks in advance.

 

[FAST6191]

The save files should be the same -- some things took to adding footers and headers to things (GBA games don't have save headers so carts and emulators added them to make sure they matched up with a game) but not the EZFlash internal stuff.

SD cards can still be done by some but it took some odd formatting, for the most part though SDHC is the suggested path and they are reasonably cheap these days.

What is the name of your saver folder? For the new ones (assuming you just copy pasted the ROM collection and such over) it will probably be called SAVE instead.

 

[eXtremeDevil]

My MiniSD to SD adapter is severly broken, I will test things when I gent a new one (soon, hopefully) and get back to you.

Thanks!

 

[eXtremeDevil]

OK, so I was lucky enough to find olds MiniSDs here in my town from a local seller, new or low-use cards. I bougth 2GB and 4GB models, as I can't flash anything from 4GB cards or up, only from 2GB cards or less.

Anyway, all saves seems to work fine, even without patching, the firmware seems to does it itself.

But I'm having problems with the same ROMs I tested on my DS Lite with a Wood R4 + EZ Flash V Slot 2. You can help me in this other link I opened for that:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/cant-save-gba-game-through-r4-ez-flash-v-expansion-pack.555546/

Now I know that there are no problems with the ROMs, apparently.

Thanks!

 

[FAST6191]

4 gig miniSD? Impressive. Technically SD tops out at 2 gigs but you can get some very rare non SDHC format ones in 4 gig, and I honestly did not think 4 gig non SDHC miniSD existed. Had this been 5 or so years ago such things might have been quite desirable.
As for micro to mini adapters I generally consider them all broken until proven otherwise. The amount of issues such things have caused over the years... I don't know why either -- me and mine have micro to full and mini to full with years of abuse and they work fine.

I vaguely recall some people having some issues with Kuru Kuru Kururin once but not seen anything for the newer kernels (granted it is a bit of a forgotten game, do also check out its Japanese sequel if you have not already). It is not an anti piracy issue that I know of and I don't know if a bad ROM is out there... not sure there.

 

[eXtremeDevil]

I though like you, that MiniSDs didn't exist far from 2GB, and if that were the case, they wouldn't be SDHC standard. Mine is a chinese one with no brand card, and so far it has no problems (let's hope it doesn't get corrupted soon), but check this out:

https://www.google.com/search?q=min...ECA0QBA&biw=1472&bih=725#imgrc=6h-hej_q2fOsfM

Kingston, along other brands, did create some hehe. I guess mine is SDHC indeed, otherwise the 2.05 firmware may not be reading it right now.

Kururin saves fine on my new MiniSD in my SP, gonna try different MicroSD on my DS Lite now. It is weird though, SP saves ok but DS fails...

 

[Localhorst86]

Just an FYI, a non-SDHC card is only needed on the mini SD models for updating the firmware. The bootloader of those cards can't handle SDHC cards. When updating to a recent firmware (I think 1.75 upwards) the ezflash kernel can utilise SDHC cards in the kernel, and it seems to be a common issue with the carts no longer being able to use non-sdhc cards for ROM loading. As for the miniSD models, miniSD was a rather short lived format and is not very common, it was quickly superceded by microSD. Some mini-to-micro adapters can be flakey, but generally should work.

In your case, you're probably gonna keep two cards for your EZ-Flash:
The non-sdhc card for any potential future kernel updates (or downgrading if necessary)
The SDHC variant for loading roms.

 

[eXtremeDevil]

That's exactly what I plan on doing! Thanks!

 

[eXtremeDevil]

So, I got a new MicroSD to MiniSD adapter, as mine was severely damaged, and the same problems persists. I can't save games with a MicroSD on the cart. I was lucky to get a 4GB MisiSD, as it seems.

Is this normal? Is it that hard to get a MicroSD working with the EZ Flash IV?

I want to cover myself in the case my 4GB MiniSD is lost or damaged in the future, as the MicroSDs are way more easy to find.

Thanks.

 

[eXtremeDevil]

OK, tested another MicroSD and I got it working. Who would have thought that the problem was on the MicroSD, and not the MiniSD adapter hehe.

Thanks for all the support.