Table of Contents
PassMe 2 Ewin
At the turn of 2006, there was a little-known company called Ewin. Its creators tried to break into the niche of flash cartridges and even held on for a couple of years, releasing various solutions for both Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS consoles.
However, their devices did not have any interesting features and were pushed aside by more famous manufacturers.
In this article, we will look at PassMe from Ewin.
Package
This PassMe came in a beautiful light box.
Inside was only the PassMe, without any instructions or other paperwork.
Usage
This PassMe, apart from having a case, is no different from the device invented by Natrium42.
If you look inside, you will see the same chip as on a regular PassMe.
On the left is the classic PassMe, and on the right is the PassMe from Ewin.
Please note! This device, despite having the same 6 JTAG contacts (for reflashing the chip), is slightly different in terms of these contacts.
If the classic PassMe JTAG connection looks like this: 1 – TMS, 2 - TDI, 3 - TDO, 4 - TCK, 5 - GND and 6 – VDO.
Then the Ewin PassMe is different: 1 – TCK, 2 – TMS, 3 – TDI, 4 – TDO, 5 – VDD, 6 – GND.
Given that the plus and minus are reversed (compared to the original), it's no surprise that I burned the chip and had to solder a new one. However, one thing remains unclear: I still don't know which version this PassMe was originally. First or second? Personally, I reflashed it to the second version of PassMe.
This design also has one big plus. The port for connecting Nintendo DS cartridges faces down, not up, so it doesn't stick out of the console.
Epilogue
This PassMe, compared to its counterparts from Supercard and M3, has one big drawback – there is no device for reflashing it in the package.
Because of this, it is quite difficult to reflash.
On the other hand, the quality build and reverse "grip" of the NDS cartridge make it much more pleasant to use than a regular PassMe.