Request: OS update to allow automatic copy sram to file after in-game saving

[deoxys]

Since batteries can run out at any time, it would be awesome to have an update to the ED GBA OS to have the option of allowing SRAM to be automatically copied to file whenever the user completes an in-game save function.

[Richardragon87]

Am I missing something here I have had mine since 2014 and have never had a battery issue where it stopped working?

[deoxys]

I've had mine (non-mini, rev. A) for 3 years until the battery finally died.

[nuu]

Never happened for me either, but some people seems to be unlucky and get a cheap temporary battery.

The requested feature isn't possible on all Everdrives, but I don't know if this is the case for the ED GBA. The SD2SNES does something like this.

[Localhorst86]

Not a great idea. There already is a flashcard on the market that does this and its constantly being criticised for that because if the inherit issues this comes with. The Ezflash omega does write the contents of SRAM to the SD card once it changes (I.e. the in-game saving has concluded.)

But write operations to the SD card take time and when you interrupt this process (by powering off the console), Filesystem corruption will occur. Yes, waiting a few seconds after the process has finished in-game is not an issue at all, if you know to do that.

I understand you would want this as an option (not the default or even the only method) but I do see an issue with implementing this as an option for people who don't know the inner workings of these things: people *will* enable that option and people *will* suffer Filesystem corruption and lose their saves. They will be disappointed or even angry and they will fault the everdrive for an "unreliable" option.

The effort to implement this and the risks/downsides that come with such an option far outweigh the benefits it has, in regards to the average consumer IMHO.

[Richardragon87]

Not a great idea. There already is a flashcard on the market that does this and its constantly being criticised for that because if the inherit issues this comes with. The Ezflash omega does write the contents of SRAM to the SD card once it changes (I.e. the in-game saving has concluded.)

But write operations to the SD card take time and when you interrupt this process (by powering off the console), Filesystem corruption will occur. Yes, waiting a few seconds after the process has finished in-game is not an issue at all, if you know to do that.

I understand you would want this as an option (not the default or even the only method) but I do see an issue with implementing this as an option for people who don't know the inner workings of these things: people *will* enable that option and people *will* suffer Filesystem corruption and lose their saves. They will be disappointed or even angry and they will fault the everdrive for an "unreliable" option.

The effort to implement this and the risks/downsides that come with such an option far outweigh the benefits it has, in regards to the average consumer IMHO.

What confused me is that the device never automatically saves SRAM yet it always creates a last played back up so you can select what game you have played before, some other features indeed far outweigh the cons on it... though TBH I used my EZ Flash to play GBA games and the EDGBA to play anything else I could throw at it this saved the battery running dry and it's lasted a lifetime.

[nuu]

The list of games is updated before the game is loaded and the save is made after the game is loaded and the OS is no longer present, and can't write to SD.

Not a great idea. There already is a flashcard on the market that does this and its constantly being criticised for that because if the inherit issues this comes with. The Ezflash omega does write the contents of SRAM to the SD card once it changes (I.e. the in-game saving has concluded.)

But write operations to the SD card take time and when you interrupt this process (by powering off the console), Filesystem corruption will occur. Yes, waiting a few seconds after the process has finished in-game is not an issue at all, if you know to do that.

I understand you would want this as an option (not the default or even the only method) but I do see an issue with implementing this as an option for people who don't know the inner workings of these things: people *will* enable that option and people *will* suffer Filesystem corruption and lose their saves. They will be disappointed or even angry and they will fault the everdrive for an "unreliable" option.

The effort to implement this and the risks/downsides that come with such an option far outweigh the benefits it has, in regards to the average consumer IMHO.

Flash wear would be another concern as writing to the SD card that often would waste its limited amount of write cycles. It's strange that the SD2SNES doesn't got the same complaints as the Ezflash. Maybe it's better at preserving the save file by keeping backups? If it detects that the game is using the SRAM as extra work RAM it will not update the SD card every single change to reduce flash wear, but it will save backups of the SRAM periodically, so it's probably wearing out the SD card faster than Everdrives are.

The current design of the Everdrives is understandable and I don't think it's really a problem, as long as you regularly make backups of your save files (which you should do regardless). You will only loose your latest play session once in every 20 years when the battery dies, that's still better than on real carts where you loose it all.

[Localhorst86]

It's strange that the SD2SNES doesn't got the same complaints as the Ezflash. Maybe it's better at preserving the save file by keeping backups?

I assume that's the nature of home console vs handheld. When you save on the GBA, you already have the console in your hand and you can reach the power switch pretty quickly.
when you save on the SNES, you then have to get up and reach for the power switch or reset button - probably giving the unit enough time to write the save.

I also guess that monitoring the SRAM would take additional power for the FPGA when it is running, which is irrelevant for home consoles but is more important for handhelds - but that's just a guess.

[Mcheza]

My theory is that it's the RTC that kills some people's ED GBAs so quickly.

I've had mine for three years, battery hasn't died. IIRC, retail games with RTC actually don't power it until you start it up for the first time, so the battery wouldn't drain while sitting on store shelves.

I've never even loaded a game on the ED that uses the RTC, never even set the clock. Since whether or not a game uses the in RTC is in the header of the ROM, and since the ED doesn't support multiple RTC games at once, it would not surprise me if krikkzz just never starts the RTC until you run a game that needs it. It seems like a pretty easy win for battery life.

Just a theory.

[pomstazlesa]

if its such an issue to implement this feature, why is there even an sram? make the everdrive with fram

[dav3yb]

I just mentioned in another thread, but I wouldn't mind at least a menu option to manually dump the save file.  Same w/ a RTC option so you wouldn't have to load into Boktai to check/set it. 

[Shadow666]

I just mentioned in another thread, but I wouldn't mind at least a menu option to manually dump the save file.  Same w/ a RTC option so you wouldn't have to load into Boktai to check/set it.

never will happen

[dav3yb]

I just mentioned in another thread, but I wouldn't mind at least a menu option to manually dump the save file.  Same w/ a RTC option so you wouldn't have to load into Boktai to check/set it.

never will happen

Why's that?  The cartridge is already capable of running a routine to dump the save ram to a file, so why would an option to manually run that never happen? 

[Shadow666]

I just mentioned in another thread, but I wouldn't mind at least a menu option to manually dump the save file.  Same w/ a RTC option so you wouldn't have to load into Boktai to check/set it.

never will happen

Why's that?  The cartridge is already capable of running a routine to dump the save ram to a file, so why would an option to manually run that never happen?

Because Krikzz will never add it