GBA:EZ Flash Omega / Definitive

The EZ Flash Omega [Definitive Edition] is a GBA flash cart that is capable of natively playing GBA ROMs on any device with a GBA cartridge slot. It replaced the EZ-Flash IV and EZ-Flash REFORM carts. While it is capable of playing Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, these games are emulated on cart and just display the video output on screen. This guide originated using the official setup guide.

The "Definitive Edition" is the upgraded version that has these differences:

• A "MODE B" operation that allows the cart to work as a DS expansion cart
• Replaced SRAM with FRAM for saving (no need to wait a few seconds after saving for it to save to the SD card)
• Larger form factor (size of a regular GBA cartridge)
• Larger NOR flash area for up to 64MB ROM support (really only useful for GBA Video ROMs)
• Significantly lower power consumption
• Rumble support (see the List of GBA Games with Rumble Support for more information)
• RGB LED

After saving a game, wait at least 10 seconds before powering off your device so that the EZ-FLASH OMEGA can copy that save to the SD card.

Setup

You will need:

• An EZ-Flash Omega flash cart
• A Micro SD card that is up to 128GB in size
• The latest kernel file for your device
• Optionally the cheats library and thumbnail pack

1. If your kit came with a different cartridge case, you may opt to swap that case depending on the device you are using it in. One case is for the GBA / GBA SP, while the other will better fit a DS Lite. A single screw holds the case together.
2. Format the Micro SD card appropriately using the SDcard.org formatter tool:
   • ≤ 2GB: FAT/FAT16
   • ≤ 32GB: FAT32
   • ≤ 128GB: exFAT
3. Extract the latest kernel file (ezkernel.bin or newezkernel.bin) to the root of the SD card. Optionally, extract the IMGS and CHEAT folders from the same website to the root of the SD card if you wish to use thumbnails or cheats.
4. Create a folder to hold your games and add your ROMs to it. You may wish to make a folder for each system you plan on having (e.g. GB, GBC, GBA) and multiple sub-folders (such as A-G, H-Q, R-Z, etc) to make menu navigation quicker.
5. Insert the SD card into the EZ Flash and insert the cart into your console.
6. Ensure the device is fully charged (if a handheld) and preferably connect it to a charger. Hold the Right trigger button while you turn on the console. The kernel will install.

Usage

Controls

• Up/Down: Scroll through menus
• Left/Right: Change page in file browser
• A: Confirm or or open ROM launch menu
• B: Back
• L/R: Change between tabs
  • SD Card: Lists all games and files on your SD card
  • NORFLASH: Shows what game is currently loaded in the NORFLASH
  • System: Shows various settings
  • Help
• Start: Open recently played games list
• Select: Toggle thumbnails off/on
• L+Start: Delete file
• L+R+Start: While playing a Game Boy game, you can press this combo to open up an options menu to save or load savestates or to turn on/off cheats.

ROM Launch Menu

The options presented in the launch menu are:

• CLEAN BOOT: Execute the ROM
  • Highlight CLEAN BOOT and press L+A to use Multiboot. This will launch a game with the GBA bios loaded to be compatible with link play and other accessories.
• BOOT WITH ADDON: Execute the ROM with the functions enabled in the System menu (cheats, savestates, etc)
• WRITE TO NOR CLEAN: Write selected game to NORFLASH.
• WRITE TO NOR ADDON: Write selected game to NORFLASH enabled in the System menu (cheats, savestates, etc). Cheat must selected before write.
• SAVE TYPE: This option is usually used with fan translated games, as most of them are patched to other save mode instead original save type which will cause AUTO mode to fail to identify the correct save mode. If you encounter save issues when playing fan translated games, use D-PAD Left and D-PAD Right to toggle the save type. Under normal circumstances just leave it on AUTO.
• CHEAT (#): If cheats are available, this option appears. You can select this button to open a cheat menu to turn on or off cheats. The cheats will not take effect until you press L+R+Start while in-game and choose CHEATON.

Mode B Usage

There is a small physical switch on the cartridge to switch between Mode A and Mode B. The normal operating mode is Mode A, from which you can set the behavior of Mode B in the System menu by setting the "MODE B" option to one of the following:

• Rumble: Uses the cart as a Rumble Pak for DS games when inserted into a DS.
• RAM: The cart functions as a NDS:Memory Expansion Pak for the DS.
• LINK: This allows you to boot the game currently loaded on the NOR flash as a standalone game without having to use the EZ Flash menu. This helps games that have issues loading from the menu and allows you to use both slots of a DS at the same time (otherwise disabled).

Custom Firmware

The EZFlash OMEGA firmware was officially open sourced. Thanks to this, multiple custom firmware (CFW) options have been created, such as the Simple firmware.

Installation

A video covering installation can be found on RetroGameCouch's YouTube channel. To install the Simple CFW:

1. Download the File:Simple.zip (use File:SimpleDE.zip if you have the Definitive Edition]]).
2. Copy the SYSTEM and BACKUP folder to the root of the SD Card.
3. Move your IMGS, SAVER, RTS, and PATCH folders into the SYSTEM folder.
   • If you want the light theme, copy ezkernel-light.bin to the root of the SD Card.
   • If you want the dark thing, do the same with ezkernel-dark.bin.
4. Rename the new kernel file to ezkernel.bin.
5. Hold R while you turn on the system and continue to hold it until you see the "EZ-FLASH UPDATE MODE" screen appear. Allow it to finish and fully boot into the new firmware.