A Few Initial Findings About The Gp2x F-200

[pubzombie]

Hi all, I have just received my lovely new gp2x f200 - its my first gpx and i'm pretty new to emulation, and i need a spot of help.
1. do i need to separately power the gpx2 and cradle or just one if i want to run a keyboard, mouse and joy pad? I was planning to use my xbox360 usb controller.
2. I plan a trip down maplins tomorrow so will get adapters if needed, any known models etc? I already have a Jesups MA1200 3vto 12v manual select polarity adapter but i am not sure it kicks enough amps. it label reads thus:- PR1.: 100-240v ~50/60hz 0.17-0.38A
SEC.: 3/4.5/6/7.5/9/12V =1.25A 15A MAX
are any of these settings usable for either device?
can anybody confirm console & cradle V and A and polarity to stop my paranoia?
should i order official ones? but where from?
3. I have connected my gp2x directly to my JVC big CRB flat screen tv using the s-video cable - however the picture is too big to fit on the screen, and is a bit grotty. then when i load up the built in pacman game the screen distorts - tried both pal & ntsc - and is unplayable---then as i cancel out of the game the picture pauses and appears pixel perfect before returning to the funny sized home menu. - should i get a s-video to yellow pin widget from maplins? i am using the rechargeable batteries that came with the bundle.
thanx very much for your time i will be back soon with more dumb ques no doubts as i aint started messing with emus yet.
cheers
PZMB

 

[morrissey2k7]

Has everyone who has responded on the D-pad actually played with the system? Because a couple of the post read like impression that were less than hands on.

I have a feeling that not ALL, but a good deal of the negative comments about the F-200 in general are from users who don't even own one (just getting caught up in the negative hype). I really don't see what the big problem is. I can concede that getting an F-200 is not a MUST for users who already own an F-100, because when it comes down to it, the two systems are the very similar, but with a few variations. But that's no reason to bad mouth it at every opportunity. Yes, we've established AD NAUSEAM that the F-200 is NOT the Craiginator, but on the other hand, it's here now and it doesn't cost $300+. I'm sure there's a lot of potential GP2X buyers, or people who just bought a GP2X for the first time (and purchased an F-200) who come here and read all the negative posts and get a really bad picture of the quality of the F-200. And that's unfortunate. Especially when many of those new users are here looking for help and support, not to hear (essentially) that they've made a mistake purchasing an F-200. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE my F-200, moreso than my MKII. I can overclock it higher, the D-Pad is great (especially for my obsession with NeoGeo fighting games), the screen is better, the sound is much louder (my MKII was painfully quiet), and there's so much potential for touchscreen programming (even if there are hurdles that must be overcome). Fine, you own a MKII and you don't want to get the new model. That's cool. But don't ruin it for the excited new GP2X fan who just purchased the F-200 with all the negativity.

 

[kfuse]

well I guess I can agree with you here.

No doubt F-200 is great if you play games...hmmm hope craig's review on the f-200 hits the scene soon.

still what grinds my gears is that can't telnet or nothing of that nature...well better grab a cradle or sumthing because I'm gonna need it. but you know what really grinds my gears...now that I honestly think about it Did GPH ever specify once that the product would keep the Usb networking feature...I don't remember a single ad talking about that now that I think about it...so it was like their intention to rip that out and replace it. I dunno maybe evildragon got some insight on that... :blink:

granted it handles my fat kingston 8gb sdhc.

D-pad imo is a hit and miss issue...some people like...some people are against it....and some people are like we need some patience and fine tuning on our fighting game skills. :rolleyes:

but all in I guess its a small step up from the MK2...with the bigger sound amp...and touchscreen.

My main hope is that open2x gets released for it. I hope there is like a open2x donation fund I can donate to so the devs can pay for a Mk1 or Mk2 or sumthin. B)

open2x FTW!!

 

[craigix]

I'm working on my review, I think the dpad is good, better than the mini stick. It's 'good enough' I think. Game playing wise I don't have any complaints about the F200 so far, will post my review tomorrow most likely.

 

[housemonkey]

I just noticed the MAME update/fix...


That was the deal breaker for me anyhow. As long as that and the other emulators that are reported compatible are running I am prolly going to get one myself sometime in the near future.

 

[imhotep]

I just noticed the MAME update/fix...

That was the deal breaker for me anyhow. As long as that and the other emulators that are reported compatible are running I am prolly going to get one myself sometime in the near future.

It looks like you are in luck, because it seems relatively little work for the devs to make the problem emus compatible. There are reportedly a few sound frequencies the F200 doesn't like.

 

[StealthBagel]

I spotted that the net2272 chip (responsible for USB client in the GP2X) is missing in the F200 and in its place a GL827 chip has appeared. ParkyDR has managed to track this down and it's not good news if we're right. It seems to be a chip designed for use in a USB card reader, so has no USB client capabilities beyond that. On the plus side, the GP2X USB SD reading should be pretty damn good now, but USB networking (or any other gadget drivers) is probably impossible.

OK it is now official..... this 'upgrade' is a fucking disaster and GPH is just looking out for themselves.... they clearly got touchscreens for price reasons and probably they added a 'dpad' (4 buttons) because they ran out of sticks not because they wanted to benefit gamers..... they probably swapped the USB chip because they ran out and picked something else cheap.... USB networking was the best idea GPH ever had and I couldn't believe it occurred to them, and there they go and ruin it. Bravo.....

GPH might stop screwing up so bad if people voted with their wallets against bad hardware but it seems like too many people aren't doing that..... more preorders paying for more of GPH's untested crap because they go bankrupt every 45 minutes.....

A replacement for GPH can't arrive soon enough. :angry: :angry: :angry:

 

[DJWillis]

Especially when many of those new users are here looking for help and support, not to hear (essentially) that they've made a mistake purchasing an F-200. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE my F-200, moreso than my MKII. I can overclock it higher, the D-Pad is great (especially for my obsession with NeoGeo fighting games), the screen is better, the sound is much louder (my MKII was painfully quiet), and there's so much potential for touchscreen programming (even if there are hurdles that must be overcome).

Fine, you own a MKII and you don't want to get the new model. That's cool. But don't ruin it for the excited new GP2X fan who just purchased the F-200 with all the negativity.

Valid point, I think its fair to say that I was not intending to criticise the F200 as a games machine (I can't really comment on that, I never got into the GP2X to play games ).

However it is fair to say that currently from a developers standpoint it is a backward step. Developing on the F200 looks to be less pleasant then the F100 with the changes to the USB being a major drawback for anybody who wants to readily and quickly test code. Your pretty much stuck with taking the SD in and out every time you want to test a small change rather then just building the code and blasting it to the 2X via USB.

Usual caveat, I don't have an F200 and I can only comment based on the experience of people I (and others) have been helping to get there F200's setup for software development/hacking.

To be honest GPH (as usual) have been less then upfront about the changes to the USB (and other areas of the machine) when questioned. As of now they have also not released there sourcecode for the touchscreen driver, new USB chip etc. etc. or stated they are closed source - In fact the whole V4 firmware is back to being a technical violation of the GPL again as there are obvious changes to GPL'ed code and no source with the binaries but I am dammed if I am going to go there .

 

[StealthBagel]

QUOTE
Fine, you own a MKII and you don't want to get the new model. That's cool. But don't ruin it for the excited new GP2X fan who just purchased the F-200 with all the negativity.

The guy who buys an F200 can decide for himself if he likes it or not, negativity from people who got one and felt scammed are not going to ruin it for him unless he has some problem making up his own damn mind. You know what lots of positivity and ignoring the problems does, it makes GPH money and because they don't do any research they think they did a good job, so they screw it up again....

Prospective customers need to know if they are buying a POS and I'm glad I read this thread before even considering dropping money on this overpriced trainwreck in motion.....

here is my prediction (let me know if my crystal ball needs cleaning

F800 will have a 1280x1024 screen the size of a postage stamp, 20 486-33 mhz processors, 1 big shiny red button, and a microphone that broadcasts up to 100ft away so you can pretend you are a radio DJ! And a 10 hour battery life thanks to being the size of a microwave and having 64 battery slots. And let's not forget the big red 60 watt light bulbs duct taped all over it because they ran out of backlight LEDs.... oh! and because no one likes Dpads or analog sticks you can control the f800 with a remote control from a distance of 20 feet and no other manner. Go GPH! let's all invest in homebrew with f800!






...

 

[Magic Sam]

Hi,

I just realized that many details I considered as flaws could be only temporary ones and could be solved in a near future...I mean, loud sound and firmware issues could be solved through a community/GPH firmware update, it's only a matter of time.

In some days/weeks/months the first touchscreen applications will be (with some luck) available and they will justify this new unit by themselves. Coding for the F-200 could also be a good training for those who plan to code for the Craiginator, as both platforms share the same touchscreen technology.

And finally, opinions about the d-pad depend on who use it, and for which purpose, so speaking about it doesn't make a lot of sense anymore.

Please remember that the most important thing about a gaming machine is...its games, and in that category the F-100 has proved to be quite good (thanks to this community), so will be the F-200

EDIT : I have edited my first "review" in this thread, it has been posted too soon, as my opinions about this new handheld are constantly changing, for the better F-200 needs a lot of testing, that's it. My main concern is now about the telnet issue, which could be a real pain in the ass of the devs NO DEVS = NO GAMES = F-200 IS AN EXPENSIVE BRICK I hope it's not as bad as it sounds...

Bye !

Magic Sam

 

[pubzombie]

Hi guys, I am totally new to gpx and emulators and need a little help, but apart from that i am more than pleased with my new toy, a gpx2 f200 firmware 4.0, i have no problemos with the d-pad, and i am very impressed with my new copies of payback and vektar. and i am just off down maplins to get dc adapters etc.
I have solved my tv out problems, one of the pin ports was blocked with gunk - step kids with chocolate fingers me thinks-on the s-vid port on my tv, and the pacman clone doesnt work right on any tv i have tried, so i guess its not compatible , but other games work, and again it seems better than my brothers psp at the job of tv-out.
i haven't tried my cradle yet.
however, i am having trouble getting amiga emulator and paradroid 90 to work, and have been told that i need to downgrade my firmware - can any body confirm this for me and give any advice to a total newb on how to do this? i suffer a bit from dyslexia and complex jargon really hurts my head- or if in fact this needs to be done, as i killed a mobo on my pc once by attempting to flash a bios chip.
apart from these minor gripes - that are due to my newb brain meltdown and reliance on vodka - i am very pleased as i know with patience and community support i will get things going , all the best things in life require a bit of patience and effort,
cant wait to play my old games
cheers
ps i am up for spending on games that are written directly for this little console as the freedom we have here needs support, I am impressed with the two i have purchased, is there anymore around.
ta
PZMB
if you are new to this and are thinking of getting gpx2 f200 - do it, do the whole goddam village

 

[slaanesh]

However it is fair to say that currently from a developers standpoint it is a backward step. Developing on the F200 looks to be less pleasant then the F100 with the changes to the USB being a major drawback for anybody who wants to readily and quickly test code. Your pretty much stuck with taking the SD in and out every time you want to test a small change rather then just building the code and blasting it to the 2X via USB.

I have to agree with DJW here, I did all my devving like this, it made it awesomely easy to test things and really speeds up the dev process. Can still dev on my MKII I guess.

 

[kfuse]

Hi,

Please remember that the most important thing about a gaming machine Open source handheld that supports games is...its games community, devs, and people who love to homebrew games, and in that category the F-100 has proved to be quite good (thanks to this community), so will be the F-200

Magic Sam

Now unless gph has something up their sleeve like oh, a Series set-up perhaps.

Dev series
Mk1
Mk2

pmp series
F-200

but something tells me GPH ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

And lastly the F-800 I just don't see this making an impact after the craiginator, unless craig acts as a technical engineering consulting to GPH...which I doubt is going to happen.


Edit: Fixed :rolleyes:

 

[sam fisher]

And lastly the F-800 I just don't see this making an impact after the craiginator, unless craig acts as a technical engineering consulting to GPH...which I doubt is going to happen.

1) Craig will be supporting his own console, the Craiginator
2) Craig has tried to help GPH before but they actually wish themselves to fail, also they do not understand anything or speak english.

 

[Dubya']

However it is fair to say that currently from a developers standpoint it is a backward step. Developing on the F200 looks to be less pleasant then the F100 with the changes to the USB being a major drawback for anybody who wants to readily and quickly test code. Your pretty much stuck with taking the SD in and out every time you want to test a small change rather then just building the code and blasting it to the 2X via USB.

I don't know if it's a common enough problem for such an item to already exist, but I suspect that it wouldn't be too difficult or expensive to make a USB-powered hardware device that would consist of a microcontroller with native USB support with an on-board SD slot and SD memory edge connector that would fit into an SD slot. The device would be inserted into the game unit's SD memory slot and via USB cable into a USB port on the PC being used for development, allowing direct writes/reads to the SD memory from the PC.

 

[Neyd]

GP2X platform is pretty new to me so, I am refraining from expressing to many opinions.
So far I am pretty pleased with it. I am able to play PocketSNES. I set the sound to 22050 and saved to global.

I would like to ask if anyone has played a 60 minute podcast. It plays real slow. Songs sound fine.

 

[imhotep]

I would like to ask if anyone has played a 60 minute podcast. It plays real slow. Songs sound fine.

Try Oldplay or Gmu. Not all players on GP2X like the bit rates of some podcasts. All podcasts are encoded differently. I like Oldplay for podcasts as it has very quick fast forward.

 

[poobah]

So, this USB chip deal...

Does the cradle get back some of that connectivity, or are will still hosed?

 

[deluded]

As far as I've worked out, you can use the serial from the cradle to talk to the gp2x and get debug out etc.

You can still transfer files to the SD card on the gp2x using the normal USB - although there seems to be some issues about returning control of the SD card back to the gp2x when you've finished. Not tried it yet.

I was thinking about building up some leads for this purpose - not had any takers yet.

 

[Franxis]

...Developing on the F200 looks to be less pleasant then the F100 with the changes to the USB being a major drawback for anybody who wants to readily and quickly test code. Your pretty much stuck with taking the SD in and out every time you want to test a small change rather then just building the code and blasting it to the 2X via USB.

...To be honest GPH (as usual) have been less then upfront about the changes to the USB (and other areas of the machine) when questioned. As of now they have also not released there sourcecode for the touchscreen driver, new USB chip etc. etc. or stated they are closed source - In fact the whole V4 firmware is back to being a technical violation of the GPL again as there are obvious changes to GPL'ed code and no source with the binaries but I am dammed if I am going to go there .

I agree with DJWillis, both points are unacceptable :angry: :angry: :angry: