Most ED64 Plus units come pre-flashed with a working core. For 95% of users, "updating" simply means updating the Menu OS and the SD Card Files, rather than flashing the FPGA chip.
The ED64 Plus firmware is a community-patched, reverse-engineered operating system that makes a cheap N64 flash cart functional. The latest stable version is OS 2.06 (circa 2023), which fixes most major game compatibility issues and adds RTC support for V2 hardware. ed64 plus firmware
Recommendations:
Active development on ED64 Plus firmware has largely ceased. The last meaningful community release was in 2021 (unofficial v2.01). Since then: Most ED64 Plus units come pre-flashed with a working core
The scene has moved on to the SummerCart64 (open-source) and the EverDrive 64 Pro. However, for the vast majority of commercial N64 games, the community ED64 Plus firmware v2.0 remains stable and usable. Active development on ED64 Plus firmware has largely ceased
The final stable firmware can be identified by:
ED64P folder to the root of the SD card.roms folder next to ED64P.