EZ3 Frequently Asked Questions

Here is my attempt at knocking up a basic EZ3 FAQ any worthy additions/criticisms glaring omissions add on below.
I shall start by linking to some programs and things you may (should) want:

EZ3 main programs

You may find the ezflash.cn site a bit slow of you not in China or the general Asia area so you can get you the following three programs here at
http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/

EZ3Manager: The software for burning ROMs (and other things) to your cart http://www.ezflash.cn/en/

EZPDA rombuilder: Used in changing the appearance of the EZPDA (EZ3's GBA loader) http://www.ezflash.cn/en/

EZClient: (used for backing up ROMs/saves form commercial carts only): http://www.ezflash.cn/en/

EZ3check A small program by the EZTeam that can wipe your EZ3 without the use of EZManager:
http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/files/EZ3Check.rar

General interest/things you will almost certainly want

EZFlash Wiki:Has a fair few articles for things that you may want to know:
http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Offline List: (a great program that can list of all known GBA and a whole load of other systems ROMs along with save types, sizes, original location, language and some pictures of title screens and in game play also acts as a ROM launcher for emulators and renamer and can verify ROMs with a crc check: http://offlinelist.free.fr/
If you want a DS dat (romlist) for offline list the good people at ADVANsCEne have made one: http://www.retrocovers.com/advanscene/html/dats.php

ADVANsCEne: While not technically a program it acts as an online version of offline list with the added bonus of being able to get some intro fixes, trainers, save patches and a mirror few of these tools. http://www.retrocovers.com/advanscene/

GBA tool Advance and NDSTS: GBA tool Advance (GBATA) is used to fix over dumps, ips patch ROMs, remove basic intros (some more advanced ones require patches), basic save patches, trim ROMs and view headers.
NDSTS is a similar program but for clean NDS ROMs.
Go to http://gbadat.altervista.org/tools.htm or if it does not work try ADVANsCEne

Flash Advance Toolkit (useful for adding headers to public domain ROMs and other basic flash cart functions (use GBA tool Advance though)) http://www.gameboy-advance.net/rom_tool ... oolkit.htm

No-Frills and other patch sites: Another source of patches http://bubbz.pocketheaven.com/?system=gba&section=patch
http://arcvoreppin.free.fr/ips/

GBA renamer: similar to offline list in that it can check and rename ROMs: http://www.gba-renamer.com/

GBAFAN: a site all about emulators on the GBA http://gbafan.com/

Zophar's domain: A similar if less comprehensive site than GBAFAN http://www.zophar.net/consoles/gameboy.html

Tips of EZPDA: http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/viewtopic.php?t=31

French Startup guide: http://www.playeradvance.org/article.php?article_id=6
French EZPDA tutorial: http://www.playeradvance.org/article.php?article_id=10

GBACCC: A tool for converting various types of GBA cheats to other forms (written by forum member Cracker): http://min.midco.net/cracker/GBACCC.v1.2.zip
Cheat Editor (written by forum admin Slade) http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/files/chted/chtedv1.9.zip

Everything else
Quirkys GBA remakes: A site with a bunch of classic game remakes (including elite) and the author of Pocketbeeb (a BBC micro emulator)
http://www.geocities.com/quirky_2k1/emu ... index.html

Flubba's homepage (GBA emulator author of great repute): http://hem.passagen.se/flubba/gba.html

Video/Audio files: (more advanced guides/tools exist on the wiki) http://www.gameboy-advance.net/emulated ... h_card.htm

Inside-Cap (Meteo GBA video tool official site in Japanese only): http://www.inside-cap.com/

The FAQ

1: What is the EZ3?
The EZ3 is a GBA flash cart by the EZ-Group including some very impressive features such as Rom compression, instant save (yes just like the emulators), customizable loader, text and picture viewers as well as an SDK (software development kit) and some nice EZ3 tricks courtesy of Flubba the GBA emulator author.
Check out some of the EZ3 reviews:
GBAtemp's review , GBAflashguide.com's review (slightly outdated) ,

2: How much space does the EZ3 have?/ The memory sections thing is confusing please explain it
Firstly the difference between bytes and bits will have to be defined: there are 8 bits in one byte and so 8 megabits in one megabyte.
You will most likely see the EZ3 advertised as a 1 gigabit GBA flash cart/developers kit.
The EZ3 actually has two user accessible sections holding 256 Mbit (32 megabytes) which uses NOR based flash memory and 1 Gigabit (128 megabytes) using NAND flash memory giving you a total of 160 megabytes of space.
There are also EZ3's with 2,4 and 8 gigabit NAND sections in production and available from a few retailers now giving you a total of 288,544 and 1056 megabytes of space respectively.
There is also another seperate section for the loader but that is not used for anything else.
The 256mbit section acts just like any other flash cart and runs code directly off of it.
The NAND section (also known as the EZdisk) is a bit different though:
When a ROM 128mbit (16megabytes) or smaller is written to the NAND section the data is copied off of the NAND memory section to another memory section called the PSRAM section before it is run hence the load time when using the NAND memory section. This is as NAND memory is not fast enough to run code for the gba.
It is for this reason that if you use a version of EZManager prior to 2.04 you can only write one ROM greater than 128mbit(16megabytes) to the EZ3 at a time and only to the 256mbit section.
EZManager 2.04 however marked the introduction of GBA/GBM/DS/GBplayer side (i.e. when the cart is in the GBA/GBM/DS/GBplayer) NAND to NOR transfer where a ROM bigger than 128mbit will be transferred to the 256mbit section from the 1,2,4 or 8 Gigabit memory section.
To make use of this feature simply write the bigger game to the NAND section and try to play it, it will then be copied to the 256mbit section and remain there until you erase it with EZManager or copy another game from the NAND section to it.

This will take a short time and also erase the contents of the 256mbit section in the process.

The memory sections being this way also means the largest (GBA) ROM you can fit and use on a cart is 256 Mbit (32 megabytes).
There is little worry of you not being able to use a commercial gba ROM in the future as the largest commercial ROM the GBA will ever likely see is 256mbit (32 megabytes): there are currently very few 256mbit games, unless you count the GBA video ROMs which are all 256mbit in size as well.
It is theoretically possible for commercial carts to hold more data (using a technique called bank switching) but it is not really financially feasible to do so: if it has not happened thus far into the GBA's life then it will probably not happen at all.

All in all unless you use Meteo (for GBA video), add trainers/translations to your 256mbit games or have giant emulator files you should not have to worry (emulators for the GBA generally contain the emulated systems ROM images within the ROM file you burn to your cart (the same way a zip/rar file contains all the files within itself) and so can end up very big).
All three "problems" are easily solved too: do not use trainers use cheats, break up your emulator collection and have multiple emulator files (ROMs a-f in one emulator file, ROMs g-n in another and so on or do it by genres, games you want to play often.......).
As for video break up the video into smaller chunks and make multiple files like where videos are split across multiple CDs.
There are a few schools of thought as to why bits are used in sizing but originally Nintendo and Sega decided to use this method: the files/games look bigger and so it stuck.

As for the DS it does not require code as quickly as the GBA so code can be loaded directly from the NAND section.

Homebrew DS code is only able to be used with 2.09final and above and only works from the 256mbit section.

3. Why does the EZ3 cost less than the equivalent EZ2 cart?
This happens because the EZ3 uses slower hence cheaper (and the need for a load time when using the NAND (1 or 2 gigabit space)) memory section whereas the EZ2 uses more expensive and faster memory.
The advantages of the EZ3 are: ROM compression (incredibly useful I assure you), instant save, random delete (the ability to delete any file from anywhere on the NAND section: on other flash carts you have to delete the last ROM written) and it being cheaper.
The advantages of the EZ2 (1 gigabit carts) are: ability to hold GBA ROMs greater than 256mbit (DS ROMs should not matter) and easily hold multiple 256mbit ROMs and no load times as well as having more mature and so more stable software.
The EZTeam are doing a stunning job however with the EZManager software stability and features are growing with each release.

4. Does the EZ3 play GB/GBC games?
Yes and no. The way your GBA detects GB games is triggered by the hardware and it is not possible to change this.
However there exist various emulators (Flubba's goomba being the emulator of choice for most) that allow GB mono and GBC games that have GB compatibility (so no Legend of Zelda oracle of ages/seasons) to be played in black and white or if you have the time with a colour palette you created or ripped using an emulator, head on over to http://www.gbafan.com/ for information on how to start sorting out a colour palette.
The emulators also allow your DS and micro (which can not play GB/GBC games) to play GB games too.

Following this a version of Goomba has been released that allows you to play GBC games on a GBA/GBmicro (as well as the DS in GBA mode)
It is still in alpha (albeit one of the most featured/best alphas ever seen by me) but get it here:
http://home.comcast.net/~alanweiss3/dwedit/
On a different note there have been rumblings of GBC emulator for the DS (a initial port of gnuboy had source released as well as a few other projects) obviously with the need of a "me" (pass/flash/wifi) to run them but not much has been heard of them for quite a while.

5. Does the EZ3 support/work on the DS?
Yes the EZ3 works fine with the DS for GBA things.

The EZ3 has been shown to work with the all the major methods of running unsigned DS code too:

Later model DS owners and iDS owners beware these methods were blocked by Nintendo but a workaround for the Passme has been developed, head on over to http://www.dspassme.com/ for the latest news and workarounds (the workaround is the passme2 with the EZTeam releasing their own model: http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/viewtopic.php?t=415

DSlite users make sure you use the latest Flashme versions should you choose to use Flashme or you will lose the ability to have multiple light levels, v5 firmware owners may even gain the ability to have multiple light levels on their normal DS

http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Has a bunch of good infomation on Passme/EZPass models Flashme and Wifime.

Passme: a small device that plugs into the DS port and allows you to run DS code through the GBA port (you can either buy one or make one with the information contained here: http://www.dspassme.com/ )

WifiMe: similar to the Passme but using a certain series of wifi cards (they are all 802.11g cards in case you ask) and special drivers for them in place of a Passme.
For more information head here: http://www.aaronrogers.com/nintendods/wifime.php or see the wiki.

Flashme: a way of modifying the firmware requiring either a passme or wifime: head here for a tutorial and all the latest news regarding flashme:
http://ds.gcdev.com/dsfirmware/

When using Flashme use the latest version so as not to cause any troubles with Mario kart and other online games and DSlite users flashme will render you unable to have multiple light settings if you do not use the latest versions

A nice flashme tutorial but may it not be shown using the latest flashme version:
http://www.dspassme.com/FlashMe.shtml

For commercial ROMs see next question

As of EZManager version 2.09final homebrew DS code runs off of the 256mbit section making the following kind of redundant:

To get DS code to run originally you had to write the code as a loader and the code needed to be padded out to a certain size, however you can use a loader developed by Darkfader (not the trojan one): only the 256mbit section is available for using files off of though.
http://anonym.to/?http://members.lycos. ... ezf3me.zip
(Just write the loader.bin in the zip to the EZ3 using the write loader option in EZManager).

6. Does the EZ3 run DS ROMs on the DS?
Simple answer: Yes, although you will likely need some extra hardware to do it.

If you are completely new to all this this article will hopefully clear a lot of this up and give you a basic grounding in what you need to know, read on though if you have a grip on the basics.

Most DS ROMs are dumped with some software and a GBAMP, initial versions of the software caused bad dumps to occur.
To this end some early dumps (and a fair few of the later ones) will need to be patched. You can verify your ROMs with Offline list and ADVANsCEne's NDS dat (see links section up top), ADVANsCEne also has the patches for the re-dumped version of the ROM should you have a bad version of the ROM.

To get the DS to run DS code (ROMs and homebrew) from your flash cart you will need the use of a Passme or to be using a Flashme modified DS.

WifiMe does not work with the ROM patchers or EZManager's commercial DS ROM support (just use WifiMe to run Flashme on your DS instead)

You can strip various things from the DS ROM image (introduction movies, in game music etc) with relative ease so you can get ROMs down in size (1 gigabit NAND users take note), Guide and some methods here: http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/viewtopic.php?t=457 .

There is official support for commercial DS ROMs built into EZManager 2.09test and above, with this you are also able to run commercial DS ROMs directly off of the NAND section with no load times like you get with GBA ROMs, you will however want to stick to later betas or preferably the final version and at least the v6 version of Flashme should you be using Flashme.

Compatibility is fairly high, make sure to use clean ROMs with it though: Compatibility list

Simply put clean DS ROMs are ROMs that have not been touched with ndspatch/loadme patched/GST patchers/ or have the secure area re-encrypted.
See the wiki article Clean ROMs for ways to make sure you have the correct ROMs and potentially fix them if you do not (also has a section on GBA ROMs).

The final version supports homebrew off of the 256mbit section only, should you want you can add a GBA header though and get things working easily: http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/viewtopic.php?t=731
be wary there does exist homebrew out there for supercard/M3 carts which will almost invariably not work, there also exists some Trojan code which can cause major hassle if not using Flashme.

7. I heard those Classic NES/ Mini Famicom games do not work, do they?
Yes but for some reason Nintendo used an obscure save type so the ROM will need patching: http://anonym.to/?http://members.lycos. ... /IPSCN.zip (patches from disruptor re-hosted by myself) works and No Frills and ADVANsCEne also have some patches.
However pocketNES is regarded as superior to the NES Classic series with more functions and so on so I recommend you use that, there is a DS port too that works nicely.
[url= http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/wiki/inde ... :Emulation]See this article

8. Can I use my EZ3 to back up my games that I own?
Yes although for now you will have to use EZClient (links up top Sosuke's being the faster). When backing up your ROM you will need to set the size of the ROM using the ROM Size box (three down) in the show ROM info tab. As you will most likely not know the size of your ROM use Offline list or ADVANsCEne. Another thing to note is that if you overdump your ROM EZClient fills the extra space (not all ROMs are exactly 32/64/128/256 Mbit) with things other than 00's or FF's so your ROM trimmer application may not be able to trim the ROM down: just use the fix overdump feature of gbata which any self respecting flash cart owner should have.
In the unlikely event of you game having not found its way to ADVANsCEne or offline list (or gbatemp, playeradvance, GBARL.it etc) you will have to grab a Hex editor and the end of the ROM should be easy to notice.

9. Can I use my EZ3 to back up my gamesaves?
If they are games which are on your EZ3 cart then you can just simply back them up with EZManager
However if they are on a commercial cart then only gamesaves that do not use EEPROM based saves (Offline list/ ADVANsCEne will tell you which are) can be backed up once again using EZClient (there is no way to backup EEPROM saves to your PC as far as I am aware).
As for DS ROMs there exists programs to transfer savegames to (and from) the SRAM of your flash cart.
http://nds.cmamod.com/download.html

10. How do I change the Skins in EZPDA (changing the loaders apperance)?

When changing/building the skins make sure the version of RomBuildPro.rom in the EZPDA rombuilder directory is the same one that comes in the sysbin subdirectory of the EZManager version you are currently using

First download the EZPDA rombuilder zip (Sosuke's site has this download) then having unzipped it:
In a subfolder of the zip (EZPDA_Rombuilder\Res\.shell\bmp) there should be some bmp files that you will recognise: edit/replace these leaving them with the same name and size in pixels.
A word of note use a light repeating picture for txtbg.bmp or you will be unable to see the text very well (I learnt this the hard way).

After you have done all your picture tweaks delete all unnecessary files from the directories (only leave those that were there when you unzipped the EZPDA rombuilder and obviously those that you have edited).

Now run the EZPDABuilder.exe program and select a file/name for your output file, press the build button and up should come an EZPDA.gba file rename this to loader_GBA.bin (or loader.bin if you are using the pre-2.09 versions of EZManager) and replace the existing one on your cart by overwriting the loader_GBA.bin in the sysbin directory and pressing burn loader in EZManagers pulldown menu.
You can check this file out in your favourite emulator (if using VBA/VBAlink/VBA for hackers or one of the other builds of VBA you may not be able to see all you work in action as the VBA's do not support all the EZ3 loaders functions).

If you have just made a skin and it works good for you grab a few screenshots from the emulator compress these pictures into a zip file of some sort and then upload the files to some form of site and post your skin for all to see: http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/viewforum.php?f=4

11. Does there exist any EZPDA translations?
Not officially but you can edit the rombuildpro.rom file

For other French startup guides and tutorials head here:
http://www.playeradvance.org/liste.php?cat=3
If you want to translate EZPDA into another language grab a hex editor then edit rombuildpro.rom file from the EZPDA rombuilder (you will see the text from the English version in a hex editors ASCII viewer), only basic ASCII is supported as far as the rombuildpro.rom method is concerned (the conventional extended set is used for Chinese characters) so if there are any Greek or Russian people (or anyone who wishes to create a translation using a different letter system) among us then you will have to get the SDK and have some fun (this would also apply to those who could not stand to see a c where there should be a ç).

12. Does there exist any EZManager translations?
Take a look in the langdata folder of the EZManager software and edit any of the .ini to your language of choice.
This time there is no worry of character troubles assuming the computer you ultimately use it on supports the characters.
Take a look at http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/wiki/inde ... anslations while you are at it too.

Should you make a translation I am sure others would appreciate it if you shared it.

13. I do not use/like windows can I use an EZ3 in another OS?
I can not say I blame you but there exist no official MAC/Linux/DOS....... EZManager versions.
This said some people have reported success with Virtual PC: http://www.ezflash.cn/english/vbb/showthread.php?t=587 and others have attempted eCos, Linux and Mac conversions although not much has been heard for a while so do not hold your breath.

14. I have run into a problem can I get some help?
If you are having install troubles the following post has helped a few people: http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/viewtopic.php?t=337

You might also want to try out the EZ3check program

If you have just got your cart (after September 2005):
There are now 3 different types of linker/cradles available with EZcarts: 1,2 and 3.

version 1 came with EZ1 and EZ2 carts

version 2 came with earlier models of the EZ3

version 3 comes with newer EZ1 and EZ2 and EZ3's

To this end if you have just downloaded the new software or have just got your cart run the EZmode program contained within the main directory of EZManager and if it comes up grey just close it, if not select the type of cart you have, you should only have to do it once too.

Otherwise either post here or if you know Chinese try at the extensive Chinese forum (the English forums on ezflash.cn were taken offline following a series of DDOS attacks).
There are various other forums for EZ cart help: A German speaking one exists over at http://www.rbenda.de (who also happen to be one of the few EZ3 Europe+UK dealers).
Many people will generally try to help you (the Official forum both international and Chinese are frequented by the EZTeam developers).

Make sure you use an administrator account on your PC if you use windows XP and DO NOT use a USB hub/USB splitter device.
For IRC there is a channel on the irchighway.net network called #ezflash .
There is a java applet IRC client available at http://sosuke.com/ezflash/irc-ezflash/

15. I saw that this cart can play music and video how do I do it?

There is an article in the EZFlash wiki which should be able to explain in far greater detail how to do all this:

http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/wiki/index.php/Multimedia

Simply put you can do audio and video as well as text readers (and now a few editors for the DS) on both the GBA and DS, the DS is likely going to be better due ot increased speed.

16. Where can I/should I buy my EZ3?
Not all places on the official dealers list ( http://www.ezflash.cn/dealere.asp ) stock the EZ3 but Jandaman: http://www.jandaman.com is recommended, http://www.rbenda.de is good for European (Also the UK area).
Some of the Chinese/Hong Kong based sites offer things cheaper but you may be stung for import duties as well as shipping and returns can be difficult.
http://shop.01media.com/en/brand.asp?ID=434 also does European and UK sales and are based in Sweden.
If you are looking for a real world dealer Jandaman has been known to sell things to people offline (In the Washington area of the USA) and there are according to the EZTeam many shops in the Chinese mainland stock various EZ products. A lot of online shops will also arrange for you to be able to go and buy a product at their warehouse/storage facility or if they are at a computer fair or something but you will have to email them first to find out.

http://www.resellerratings.com/ is a good place to check out prospective dealers.

17. Instant save does not work what is wrong?
Instant save is XCODE (the EZGroups catalogue of games) based so if you are trying with a public domain ROM or an emulator that does not have an instant save feature it is not going to work. You may have to wait for the EZGroup to update XCODE (it usually happens often so do not worry). Failing this remove any trainers and if possible ips/BOMA patches should be removed and not used.
If you still can not work the instant save try posting on a forum.
Also you will see a file on your EZ3 called "romname".inv this is your INstant saVe file so unless you want to lose your save do not delete it.

18. I need cheats, how do I use them?
In the event you need cheats (instant save is usually as close as I come to cheating) do this:
When the options menu pops up prior to writing the ROM, under "cheat information", hit the "..." button, navigate to the "data" folder (located within the EZMANAGER folder), then choose the cht file for your ROM. (If your games aren't numbered, and you have no idea which one to use, then get yourself a renaming tool and run your ROM through it, that'll tell you it's number. Personally, I use GBA-Renamer.) You cannot use cheats for games in the 256mbit region. (adapted from a post by velocity37).

Cheat devices have had some success running with the EZ3 but do not count on it.
You would also do well to check out:
http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/wiki/inde ... y:Cheating

19. Does pogoshell/moonshell work on the EZ3?

Yes (the EZTeam sent pogoshell's author an EZ3 to play with) although why you would want to use it I do not know (EZPDA most of what pogoshell does, emulators all have injectors and anything pogoshell does can be replicated using other programs) and you should use the more current versions too.
Moonshell is designed for flash carts using external memory carts e.g. M3,supercard,EZ4 and so will not work.

20. Do I need to charge the battery in my EZ3 often?
After the initial 8 hour charge you may even need to charge again provided you use your GBA/GBplayer/GBM/DS often (it charges during use albeit slower). Some people like to charge their cart for 6-8 hours once a month. Just put the cart back into its (powered) linker and leave it (the computer does not even have to have the drivers installed) make sure not to use a USB hub though.
Also do not overcharge your EZ3 as it has no mechanisms in to prevent this and you could damage your cart.

21. EZPDA is in Chinese how do I change it?
You should get an option when you first load up your EZ3 but if you missed it go to the bottom icon on the EZPDA desktop (it looks like a spreadsheet with a green border by default press A and then select the bottom option press A and you should have a option to change to English.

22. What is ROM compression?
Rom compression is a feature of the EZ3 that allows you to compress the ROMs down below their original size giving you more space to put things on the NAND area of the cart. The downside to this is that it takes time to decompress your file and so more time to get to your game. As a better method of compression (one that results in a smaller file) would consume more cpu power (which the GBA lacks a lot of) the compression you will see is not as much as you are likely to see in a ZIP/RAR file or other compression methods you may use.

23. What is Random delete?
Random delete is a feature of the EZ3 that allows you to delete any file from anywhere on the NAND section.
This may not seem like much but earlier carts could not do this (they could only delete the last file written) and seen as you have 1gigabit of space to play with this is a nice feature.

Hope this helps to sort your problem/ sway you towards buying an EZ3 (you will not regret it).
Thanks go to Cracker (GBACCC), Slade (cheat editor), Velocity37 (cheat guide), disruptor (classic NES IPS patches), Sosuke for mirroring and forum and of course the EZTeam.

Hey dude,

Awesome FAQ.

Just one question. Where can I find info on Velocity37's cheat guide ? I'm curious about it.

The tidy up looks much better: nice work Sosuke.
With regards to cheating as I said in the FAQ I do not do it as a rule but Velocity37's cheat guide was literally a copy and paste job from a post on the ezflash.cn site.

Oh, I geddit now. His post... That was a guide ? Hehehe.

It amazes me how some people just can't figure things out. Like how to add cheats, how to compress roms, etc.

You might wanna put a reference to EZCheck in there somewhere, as it's saved my ass (along with a bunch of others' ass's too) numerous times!

@mother|superior done. Re-wrote a bunch too. Thanks for pulling me up on this it had been a while since I updated it.

You note not to use a USB hub to charge the EZ3. Do you mean a non-powered USB hub? A powered USB hub should provide enough power to charge the battery.

Yes an AC powered USB hub should work fine.

as great as this is, it needs to be updated

Thanks for the FAQ, 6191, the EZ3 is a tricky device indeed and any help is appreciated.
One point made me scratch my brow in consternation, though:


Emphasis mine

There doesn't seem to be any way for me to check how full the battery is; So how could I possibly heed this advice "don't charge the battery too much or too little"?

Also, does my computer need to be running for me to charge the battery, or can I just leave it in standby and the EZ-Writer plugged into the USB port?

I know the SRAM would vanish if the EZ3 battery runs out, but what about the contents of \Saver\ on NAND, and the 256 Mb area?

I've had my EZ3 for a couple years now and I've actually forgotten it in the EZ Writer for days at a time w/o any damage to the battery so I'm pretty sure that you can safely recharge it over night every few weeks or so (depending on how much you use the cart -- if you play every day then you really don't need to charge it in the EZ Writer at all because it will recharge from the DS/GBA). I don't believe standby mode will give power to the USB ports on your computer but if it does then the LED on the EZ Writer will remain on. Basically if the LED is lit then you will be able to recharge the battery. The NOR and NAND are safe from corruption since they don't require power to keep the contents intact.