EZ-Flash USA Forum

I've recently bought an EZFlash III. It took a while to get it all going, but thanks to these forums everything is working fine now.

Except for the fact that I cannot back up the saves from the saver folder. Every time I've tried to use "Backup Saver Folder", it causes a problem with EZ Manager and the program has to close (error). When I try to read individual saves from the saver folder on the cart to the hard drive, the light on the linker turns red, Write Info area in EZ Manager says something in Chinese (I'm guessing "DIE CAPITALIST ROUNDEYE PIG!"). The red light never does go off, no file is written to the hard drive, and this helpful message doesn't change. Maybe I'm just not being patient enough. But surely it doesn't take longer than 30 minutes to back up a single save file?

I've gone through all the messages in this forum. I did note an identical issue in another thread and I've made sure that there is a saver folder in my Manager's directory. Actually it was already there, and has some F-Zero save files in it for some reason (?).

If anyone has any additional wisdom to pass along concerning this, I'd be grateful.

well you didnt say what manager you used
so try some diffrent managers
for GBA its recommended to use 2.08
but you can also try 2.22 2.20 2.10 or earlier 2.07-
is it only the SAVER you have trouble with??
well try the programs EZcheck/EZrecovery
this means formatting starting again from scratch
but it might solve your problems

Hey Slothette64, thanks for reading.

Sorry about the lack of details. I've got an EZ Flash III 4Gbit, running v2.21 of the Manager. It's only about half full currently, never gone above half either. I have absolutely no trouble as far as using the cart other than being able to pull the saves off in any way. It's as if I have a Unidirectional USB cable (like in the old days with parallel cables). Of course if this were true or even possible, I don't think I'd be able to read the card at all...

I've tried the following versions of EZ3 Manager:

2.22
2.21
2.20
2.10
2.09 (final last update...)
2.08
2.07

I've tried just about everything.

EZRecovery just sits there at "1:Erasing SRAM" and doesn't proceed. Again, I'm guessing this specific operation is not supposed to take more than 15-20 minutes before it proceeds to "Erasing NOR" or whatever comes next...

EZCheck always shows I have a NAND Flash ID Error. Thus I have to use a newer version Manager to format (2.21 specifically), which takes into account the issues with the apparently poor quality memory on the NAND side with newer/larger carts. So it seems that as a result, I cannot access the EZ Disk with any other version of Manager. They all tell me I need to format that area. Trying to format the EZ Disk with any other version stops before it is completely formatted with an error (it wouldn't hurt if they were in English), and the EZ Disk is not usable.

Why I have to use version 2.21 is beyond me. It is the only version that allows me to get the NAND formatted properly and use this cart. This version is found at jandaman.com, where I bought mine, on the description page for the EZFlash III cards.

This is strictly for GBA, by the way. I'd really like to be able to use 2.08 as everyone recommends, but I can't. I'm suspecting there's something wrong and I'd like to be as sure as possible before I get a RMA.

Tried using different ports, uninstalled & reinstalled everything. Now the NAND only formats about half the actual capacity.

This thing is going back. Hopefully the next one will work...or maybe I'll try another brand.

Before you send it back, I'd recommend doing a few things first. First off, find a copy of EZCheck (Should be relatively easy to find in this forum) and run that with your cart. Usually if there's actually something physically wrong with your cart, it'll tell you so. Also, what operating system are you running? As far as the backing up saves button, my computer does the same thing, but I've found even though it does crash the EZManager, your saves should still be in the saves folder under the manager. Be patient, I've had all the same issues you're having. If you keep working with it, unplugging it, rebooting it, etc etc, eventually you should get it to work. Let me know if I can be of any further help

Update: http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php ... ht=ezcheck
Here's a link to post where you can download EZCheck

It's a longshot but just to cover all bases I would try a different USB cable and also test other USB ports.

Since I don't have one of the larger carts, I can only speculate so...

If the EZ3Recovery tool takes too long, it might not be able to handle the larger carts. I don't see why that would be an issue, so it is most likely not able to proceed due to a physical problem with the cart.

I think that you would be able to use the newer managers to format your cart, and then go back to using the 2.08 version for writing everything over for your GBA enjoyment.

I believe that you cctually have a faulty cart, due to the fact that you have already tried the number of managers that you have, and bot the Check and Recovery tool as well as the different ports. I really don't think that a different USB cord will solve the issues you are seeing.

One thing that I would like to clarify is:

Are you running your writer through a USB hub? If you are, this might cause the issues with the save files not being saved at all. Although this should also show errors while writting your files over to the cart. From the way the previous posts are written, I don't think you have used a hub, but just to clarify...

I would say that your cart is foul. I have had to return 2 of my carts due to a physical failure on them, and I am now on my third. And I believe that both of my other carts were using an inferior memory manufacturer than what I have on the new cart. I haven't opened my cart to verify this, but as of yet there have been no issues.

Good luck either way you go, although it sounds like a return is your best option.

Thanks guys for all the responses.

Since my last post, I've gone over to another desktop and given it a try (both running XP Pro). I did at least get the NAND reformatted properly, put some roms on, played, and created saves. But still, no ability to transfer them. Four different USB ports total that are all functional (and not hubs) as well. I also tried another cable, still no good. I think I've gone way beyond holding up my end of the bargain.

Given that the memory used for NAND (at least in more recent carts) has given several people such trouble, I'm just not certain whether I should spend more of my time (which is valuable) testing this company's product. I was able to ascertain that mine uses a Samsung chip, whatever that's worth. The most worrisome issue is that, as I stated before, you have to use a version of manager that marks bad sectors/blocks/etc. when formatting so you can use the thing. If you had to do this with a brand new hard drive, iPod, flash-based MP3 player etc., would you feel very confident? Or is this considered acceptable when dealing with current GBA "development kits"? Or is it just this particular unit?

All I can compare it to is my Z64 "backup unit", which has been happily humming along now for nearly 7 years without issue. One would think that as wildly successful as the GBA has been compared to the N64, and the amount of time it's been on the market, the state of GBA devices of this sort would be at a much much higher level...just my 2 cents.

Yeah I think you've pretty much troubleshot it to death. Honestly the number of units that have unrecoverable hardware errors is pretty small compared to how many people own the EZ3. It's true that you shouldn't have to mess around with a 'consumer product' to get it to work but in the case of flash carts and other gray market hardware/software you have to expect more problems than with a 'bona fide' manufactured good. If you compare the quality of the flash carts to other electronics sold in Asia then you will see how good the integrity of them actually is. Unfortunately, you just happened to get a bad cart.

I'll just try another one then. They are pretty cool gizmos.

Thanks again for all of your assistance. Don't mean to sound like an arse, but I really hope you never hear from me again.

Don't worry about it. The frustration is understandable and many of the users have been annoyed at some point for various reasons.