EZ-FLASH Parallel

EZ-FLASH Parallel Video Review

Where to Buy EZ-FLASH Parallel?

What else do we need to purchase?

1. Micro SD memory card. This can be a Micro SDHC memory card (from 4 GB to 32 GB)

In what format should the memory card be formatted?

FAT32 -> 32KB

2. Memory card reader. It is needed to write games from a computer. Of course - this is not for piracy purposes.

All this must be purchased separately. And after you have the cartridge itself, a memory card and a card reader, you can move on.

Package Contents

The creators did not bother much and used a standard box that is already 15 years old. Despite this, the box is still stylish and beautiful:

The package includes only the cartridge:

Preparation and Game Launch

Before starting, you need to download the firmware files to the memory card.

In the Download section - EZ-FLASH Parallel, you need to download the Kernel 1.06 archive (currently 1.06 is the latest version). Please note, you need to select the EZ-FLASH Parallel subsection!

After that, you need to unzip these files and copy them to the root of the memory card.

To play games, you will need ROM images of games (or applications) with the ".nds" extension. After that, you need to write them to the root of the memory card or create a folder (multiple folders) and write the ROM images into them. EZ-FLASH Parallel can recognize folders and display their contents.

After we have written the necessary ROM images to the memory card, insert it into the cartridge, and then insert the cartridge into the Nintendo DS. Turn on the console and launch EZ-FLASH Parallel, after which you will enter this menu:

There are 4 buttons here:

1. microSD Card – shows the contents of the memory card. We will discuss this section in more detail below.

2. Slot2 Card – this button launches the cartridge in the GBA slot.

If you press it, you will need to choose in which mode to launch the GBA flash cartridge: as a regular GBA cartridge or as an NDS flash cartridge (NoPass technology).

3. Favorites – you can move game icons here that you play frequently.

I spent a long time trying to figure out how to add something here. After all, there are no buttons like a heart or a mark in the firmware. It turned out that you need to copy the game (in the microSD Card menu using the Start button and selecting Copy), press X (this button will move you from the microSD Card menu to the Favorites menu), and then press the Start button and Paste. On one hand, it seems like you are copying the game (and that would be the case if you did it in the microSD Card menu), but in fact, you are creating an icon. Even if it's in such a strange way.

If you are interested, you can take out the memory card and check it on your computer. There you will see that the game files did not become two, and in the technical Favorites file, a text line with the name of the game appeared (so in theory, you can also fill the Favorites folder on the computer).

4. Start Button – this is the menu (various settings, copy and delete buttons, other). It is identical for all submenus, so we will discuss it in the section about the microSD Card, which we will move to right now.

Let's start with the microSD Card section. If you select it, you will enter this menu:

Here are the folders and files located on your memory card. This is where all the main game settings will be made.

Let's talk about the button assignments:

D-pad – used for navigation in menus.

A – start / agree;

B – cancel / decline;

Y – opens file information (including if a game is selected, you can access the settings of a specific game or launch cheat codes);

X – moves to the Favorites folder;

L – returns to the parent directory (actually duplicated by the B button, which also returns to the parent directory). This button also acts as a modifier for other buttons. L + Y opens the cartridge settings menu. L + X will immediately open the cheat menu for a specific game (if it is selected);

R – changes the brightness of the console screen;

Start – opens the Start menu;

Select – changes the icon style (can be changed in the settings).

Let's start with the most important - launching and setting up games. Games are launched simply by pressing the A button. However, each game can be configured to launch with certain parameters. To access these settings, you need to select the game and press Y. You will enter this menu:

Let's go from left to right.

X button (Cheats) – allows you to use cheat codes for each game. If you press it, this menu will open:

Here you can choose which specific cheats you want to use.

Y button – opens the settings menu for a specific game:

Please note! There are two pages of settings here, you can switch between them by pressing the L and R buttons.

The first page is Compatibility:

Select a save type – you can choose the save type. In 99 percent of cases, you will have the default value – unknown/auto. You should change this setting only if you are running a heavily modified game or homebrew application.

Link with GBA – some NDS games have special features that open if a game cartridge is inserted into the GBA slot. For example, if the NDS slot has the Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow cartridge, and the GBA slot has the Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow cartridge, then playing Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow will give you special bonuses (for example, a rare ring (it's called that). Accordingly, by switching this setting to "On", you tell the game that it needs to check the GBA slot for a cartridge.

I would like to note separately that personally, this function worked with EZ-FLASH Definitive Edition and did not work with the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack cartridge, despite the fact that the Wood firmware is explicitly tailored for the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack cartridge.

Rumble Strength – a function intended for the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack. Sets the vibration strength in a specific game (if there is such vibration in the game).

Copy Slot, Ok, and Cancel buttons.

Copy Slot button: each game has 4 save slots (default, 1, 2, and 3). This button copies the save from the default slot to any other. For example, from default to 3 or vice versa. We will talk about choosing the default slot later.

Ok button – saves the settings changes (when pressed, a submenu will open where you will be offered to save the changes or discard them).

Cancel button – cancels all changes.

The second page is Features:

Cheat in Game (AR) – shows whether cheats are enabled in a specific game. Initially, there is a global setting global(on) or global(off) – this depends on the cartridge settings, which we will discuss later. If for some reason you need to change this setting specifically for this game, you can choose (using the left and right D-pad buttons) the On or Off options.

Reset in Game – exit to the flash cartridge menu from a specific game. Initially, there is a global setting global(on) or global(off). You can choose the On or Off options.

Exiting the game to the menu is done with the buttons: L + R + A + B + Down.

Choose Save Slot – set the default save slot. As I wrote above, there can be four (default, 1, 2, and 3). The default slot will be used to copy to another slot using the Copy Slot button.

Show Icon – changes the icon background (makes it transparent if possible, or leaves it as it is). Depends on the icon itself and how it is drawn.

Language – changes the language in the game itself (if such a language exists in it). Relevant for European games where there were different European languages.

We are done with launching and setting up NDS games and move on to the general cartridge settings.

Cartridge Settings

If you press the Start button, the menu will open

Copy – copy a file (as I wrote above, it is also used to add something to Favorites);

Cut – cut a file;

Delete – delete a file;

Paste – paste a file;

Settings – the main settings menu (we will discuss it later);

File Info – file information (you can call it from this menu, or you can simply press Y and the same menu will open).

Help – in this menu, you can see the firmware version and see what different keys do (for some reason, not all key combinations are listed).

Tools – a submenu for individual tools. At the moment, there is only the 3in1 expansion pack settings menu (we will talk about it in the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack section).

Let's return to the Settings menu (inside there are five submenus, navigation between which is done with the L and R buttons). If you select it, you will enter this menu:

User Interface style – in the basic set, there is only one style (red, which you see in the screenshots);

Language – the menu language of the cartridge, currently two options: Chinese and English;

Set file list type – which files to display in the menu: only games (files with the .nds extension), games + save files (NDS + SAV) or ALL (all files).

Safe Mode – enables the console's protective mode. A child-proof function to prevent deletion. You can launch games, but the Start menu does not open. Please note, you can disable this function only with a computer. You need to go to the firmware's technical files (settings) and delete the Safe Mode line there. Or simply delete the firmware folder and reinstall it.

Next menu Interface Settings:

Scrolling speed – the scrolling speed of games in the menu. You need to adjust it to your preference.

Filelist style – choose the style of displaying file icons (you can change it directly in the main menu with the Select button, it will be much clearer).

Animation – if you hover over a game icon, after a while it will start pulsating. With On, the icon pulsates, with Off, it does not.

12-hour clock – on the upper NDS screen, there is a clock. With Off, they will work in 24-hour format, with On in 12-hour format (with AM and PM).

Next menu File system settings:

Show hidden files: show or not show hidden files (you can hide them only on a computer);

Trim rom when copy – cuts out unnecessary things from ROM images. It was relevant earlier when memory cards were very small.

Save extension – you can choose between .nds.sav or .sav. The .nds.sav option is outdated. Previously, the cartridge could not work with just .sav, but now it can.

Next menu Patches:

In this menu, you can enable or disable global patches.

Cheat in Game (AR) – enables or disables cheats (applies globally to all games);

Reset in Game – enables or disables exiting the game (applies globally to all games). Exiting the game is done with the buttons: L + R + A + B + Down.

Reset in Homebrew - enables or disables exiting Homebrew applications. You need to test exiting the application with each Homebrew separately (it may not work and lead to critical errors).

And the last menu GBA settings:

Universal sleep – enables sleep mode for GBA games (launched using the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack). L + R + Start to enter sleep mode and Start + Select to exit.

Backup save at startup – the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack save is stored in SRAM memory, which is powered by a battery. If you enable this option, then every time you launch the EZ-FLASH Parallel cartridge, you will make a backup of the save (from the SRAM memory of the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack) to the memory card of this cartridge.

Slot-2 mode – choose the default launch mode for the GBA cartridge (from the start menu):

Ask – ask in which mode to launch the GBA cartridge;

GBA – by default, launch in GBA mode;

NDS – by default, launch in NDS mode (essentially, EZ-FLASH Parallel works as NoPass).

3 in 1 Expansion Pack

A big advantage of the WOOD firmware is its compatibility with the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack.

3 in 1 Expansion Pack – a cartridge that EZ-FLASH sold separately. It worked as: a RAM memory expansion (for the Nintendo DS browser), a GBA flash cartridge, and a Rumble Pack. All these functions work perfectly with EZ-FLASH Parallel.

This cartridge came in a beautiful white box:

The package included only the cartridge itself.

If you use this cartridge with EZ-FLASH Parallel, many additional features open up.

RAM memory expansion – works out of the box. You don't even need to press anything. Just open the NDS browser and everything is fine.

Rumble Pack – also works out of the box. In the 3in1 expansion pack settings menu, you can change the vibration strength, but this setting is not saved. Therefore, I adjust the vibration strength for each game separately by pressing the Y button – Settings – Rumble Strength.

Launching GBA games is very simple. You need to write the GBA game ROM image to the memory card, select it in the EZ-FLASH Parallel menu, and press the A button. The game will launch, but using RAM memory. That is, each time you will wait for some time to launch the game.

If instead of the A button you press the Y button, a menu with additional settings will open. There are not as many settings here as in the case of NDS games.

Essentially, there are only two buttons left: L to RAM and X to NOR.

L to RAM – a strange button. In theory, it writes the game to RAM memory. In practice, if you write the game to RAM memory through this button, when you launch it, the game will be written to RAM memory again. Perhaps the developers will fix this in the future.

X to NOR – writes a specific game to the NOR memory of the cartridge. There are several advantages to this: the game will launch instantly every time (until you write a new game in its place), it will remain in the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack cartridge even if you stop using EZ-FLASH Parallel.

There are also additional settings in the Start menu. (Start – Tools - 3in1 expansion pack settings).

Rumble strength – changes the vibration strength in games. In theory, this setting should work globally and change the vibration strength in NDS games. In practice, it somehow does not save. If you exit and re-enter, it will be set to off.

The inscription fat0:/ shows which file is written to the NOR memory of the cartridge.

Y sRAM – makes a backup of the console's SRAM memory to the EZ-FLASH Parallel memory card;

X RAM – the button does not work (or works, but I, for the life of me, cannot understand what it does);

A OK – confirm;

B Cancel – cancel.

NTRBoot

The developers announced that NTRBoot would work out of the box. And it turned out to be true. I tried to launch my 3DS in this mode and everything worked immediately. I did not have to prepare the flash cartridge in any way. It was enough to insert it, place the magnet in the right place, and turn on the 3DS, holding the buttons: X + Start + Select + TurnOn.

Epilogue

Honestly, I have very strange feelings about this cartridge. A long time ago (about 5 years ago), I bought a simple 208 in 1 flash cartridge with Wood firmware:

And it can do everything the same as EZ-Flash Parallel except for NTRBoot. At the same time, it is almost twice as cheap.

The saddest thing is that the Wood firmware reveals itself 100% only when using the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack, but, firstly, this cartridge is not very easy to find, and secondly, any other flash cartridge with Wood firmware will work just as well with the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack.

Of course, open firmware + FPGA can turn EZ-Flash Parallel into a very cool thing, but, as EZ-FLASH Junior showed, the opposite can happen: there have been no updates for more than two years, and the last official firmware bricked the flash cartridge. Essentially, the EZ-FLASH Junior cartridge is dead.

At the moment, EZ-FLASH Parallel is just a normal working solution that will not cause trouble, but it will not become something very cool, especially if you cannot find the 3 in 1 Expansion Pack.