8gb Sd Cards Suported?

[JesterDev]

I was just browsing through ebay and found a handful of 8GB SD cards. I was curious as to whether or not the GP2X supports them? Seems most handheld's support at least up to 4gb these days.. Maybe I should just get the 4GB ones..

 

[shinneri]

Only up to 4GB for now.

 

[JesterDev]

That's what I figured. But it's enough space I think. Maybe I'll get a couple of them.

While on the subject, how would I go about connecting a thumb drive? Was thinking there has to be a USB adapter of some sort.
I mean besides the break out board.

 

[shinneri]

I'm pretty sure there are ways to build things like that, but I don't know of something you can just purchase. I mean, outside of the BoB.

 

[craigix]

8GB will be supported eventually, it isn't a hardware issue, it is software.

 

[Goemon4]

yeah, good to hear, since ive run out of space on my 2gig, and have way over 4 gigs of crap waiting to be played.... any idea of when that eventually will be?

 

[DaveC]

Yes we really need 8 GB. Sega CD, GBA etc are card hogs.

Just hopefully it can be added/hacked to FW 2.1.1. I hate that dreadfully slow 3.0

 

[Goemon4]

dont forget the arcade emus (combine mame+cps2+neogeo is way over 4 gigs!)

 

[craigix]

Yes we really need 8 GB. Sega CD, GBA etc are card hogs.

Just hopefully it can be added/hacked to FW 2.1.1. I hate that dreadfully slow 3.0

It is very likely it will be in a new firmware but not one based on much gph code.

 

[starpause]

8GB will be supported eventually, it isn't a hardware issue, it is software.

totally looking forward to this. totally holding out on buying another card until then B)

edit: craigix, are you talking about open2x, or yet ANOTHER firmware project?

 

[nickspoon]

Open2X. DJWillis has almost sorted SDHC support, but don't go bugging him about it because otherwise I'll be in trouble

 

[Orkie]

edit: craigix, are you talking about open2x, or yet ANOTHER firmware project?

As far as I'm aware there isn't another project interested in making another firmware for playing games (the only other one I know about is the Gentoo/Debian one). I was (well, I still am) working on a firmware for game playing but that work has now been merged into Open2x and I'm now basically doing all the root filesystem from scratch (in the last few days it's come on a lot -- gone from segfaulting all the time to working fairly flawlessly)

So basically, it'll be coming 'sometime' with lots of nice features. Have a look on the Open2x wiki for more information (there is a link on the right hand side of open2x.org).

As nickspoon says, SDHC support is planned for 'our' kernel, but no idea when that'll be - DJWillis has been quite busy recently

 

[DJWillis]

As nickspoon says, SDHC support is planned for 'our' kernel, but no idea when that'll be - DJWillis has been quite busy recently

Thanks to RobBrown and Notaz helping work to out some bugs a I am going to pop my SDHC support into the Open2x kernel when I get home at the weekend (well, lets be honest, this all stems from the SD org releasing the specs and Phil Langdale for the great 2.6 kernel patch).

It seems sensible to pop this in SVN now as it is no longer causing any problems with existing non block mode SD's so I am happy that it wont kill (that many ) existing cards any more .

I have been testing the code on my 2 4GB SDHC's (dif. brands) and an 8GB SDHC from work (DaneElec) and it seems solid enough for more open testing (having all my ScummVM supported games on one SD makes testing so much less hassle ). I don’t think that all SDHC cards will work as the code stands but as always Open2x loves contributions .

 

[sam fisher]

how many more months/years, approximately, will it be till Open2x is a viable replacement OS for the GP2x?

 

[DJWillis]

how many more months/years, approximately, will it be till Open2x is a viable replacement OS for the GP2x?

Depends what you mean by viable. Open2x has been a viable platform for Linux hackers for years (literally ) and there are many that use it (or portions of project) without even noticing.

You can build a fully working toolchain, libs, bootloader, kernel and filesystem from the code in SVN now but there are problems around distributing things like the closed source 940 firmware for mPlayer so there is no decent GPL friendly video support for example.

Orkie has a compatibility layer now working that lets you have a full 2.11 GPH firmware you can launch from the menu if you need that extra layer of compatibility (not quite sure how we will package it mind you) but every app I have tried runs on the native Open2x firmware anyway.

What people do have to remember is there is a grand total of 3 people who are hacking on Open2x in there spare time (and another few who provide patches here and there and the usual support from #GP2XDev), it is hardly a well resourced project .

The GP2X scene seems to want improvements to the firmware and code to hack about with etc. but when it comes to getting stuck in and doing some work to make it happen there seems to be very few people willing to step up and have a go as everybody is to busy grabbing there latest multi-gig ROM pack to play with .

If we even had a few people who where just willing to help sort documentation out on the Open2x WiKi or just hack about a little on small parts of the code (maybe cleanup work on mplayer, porting over handy libs, help with the problems with USB host support, bug fixes, mailing list contributions etc.) or failing that just offering to help in some way things would go a lot quicker.

The main reason up till now that we don’t offer direct downloads for things like the kernel and filesystem is purely that there is not enough of us working on the project to support users who are not technical enough to build it themselves , that is changing and we are working towards test releases of firmware as soon as we get the outstanding bugs to a sensible level but nobody involved in the project wants to release something that totally sucks so it will be ready when it is ready.

 

[Micket]

With Open2X what other improvements upon the official firmware?
Like reduced boot time?

 

[Orkie]

The main things I can think of off the top of my head are reduced boot time, loads of built in libraries and glibc 2.3.6 so you should be able to dynamically link most programs (reduced binary size, memory usage and load times), and in the future there should be more built-in applications than the GPH firmware offers (and open source/free replacements for the GPH applications). It is also likely Open2x will be updated more often than the official firmware.

There are others, but nothing worth bragging about until it's done

 

[nubie]

While on the subject, how would I go about connecting a thumb drive? Was thinking there has to be a USB adapter of some sort.
I mean besides the break out board.

Read my sig , I have found the parts cost ~$20 but the skill is needed to put them together. In bulk it can be made for cheap.

I found EXT connectors for $0.15 apiece (quantity 500 and it is $30 for 2-8 weeks ground shipping), the USB termination IC's are like $0.50-0.75 in bulk, all you need is a USB extension lead to cut the USB connector off of and a little circuit board to put the miniscule Termination IC on (which needs to be designed around the connector you use, and which cost a lot).

Here it is for scale, it is the chip right above the ruler. (Go large, web album)

I can't bank-roll the project because it takes $500-1000 to get it rolling and I can't afford to lose it if no-one wants the USB host TV-Out cables. (For a couple bucks more you could get 6/10/20 foot TV cables on it , S-Video or Composite, or both and a switch ).

Maybe I should make a kit, but even that is too much risk because of initial cash outlay, and likely mediocre demand for DIY style stuff. I wonder if the Distributors would want to drum up something like this, or if they are contracted to GPH for all add-ons.

The Termination IC circuit board could easily be put on the Hack-a-day style internal USB, thus making it a mod that distributors or someone could offer as a service. Internal USB next to the SD slot.

 

[goob]

8GB will be supported eventually, it isn't a hardware issue, it is software.

Eventually... like the BoB?

 

[DJWillis]

8GB will be supported eventually, it isn't a hardware issue, it is software.

Eventually... like the BoB?

Eventually... like I am running Broken Sword 2 from ScummVM on a 8GB SDHC card in the GP2X