Dodgy Gp2x?

[ant512]

I got my GP2X in the post yesterday, and have been fiddling with it for a couple of hours. I've got the SNES and NES emulators installed, along with Quake, and until recently everything was going fine.

However, it looks like the GP2X is overheating. After running it for a while, the batteries get red hot and it starts having problems:

- ~80% of the time when I switch it on, the battery light stays off and the screen either stays white or slowly gets filled with vertical bars of random colours. Tried it with different batteries, and I get the same result.
- When it does switch on properly, it soon crashes - the screen starts corrupting and occasionally rolling, and the controls stop responding. It does this whilst running any programs, using the menus, or even when the GP2X is booting up.

This looks like a hardware issue to me, not a firmware problem. Anyone got any ideas, or should I just send it back to GBAX?

 

[ant512]

Never mind, think I've worked out the problem. It looks like the unit has heated up, and either the solder on the battery terminals has cracked, or a trace on the PCB has burnt out. The slightest movement of the batteries causes the circuit to break, which crashes the GP2X. In fact, I can't get it to turn on properly at all now.

Back to GBAX then, I suppose. Bah.

 

[Hobo]

 

[Eolair]

Let me guess. You're using the included batteries?

The batteries that come with the unit suck. They run out in less than an hour. Put in a couple of new ones to test if the unit works and then buy rechargable 2500+ mAh NiMH batteries ASAP. Preferably ansmann 2500mAh NiMH PHOTO batteries if you can find them.

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[ant512]

Let me guess. You're using the included batteries?

The included batteries, some new Sony batteries that I bought yesterday, some Duracell batteries that were in my GP32... It's not the batteries.

 

[AireTamStorm]

Let me guess. You're using the included batteries?

The included batteries, some new Sony batteries that I bought yesterday, some Duracell batteries that were in my GP32... It's not the batteries.

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All of which are Alkaline and therefore not meant for this. Alkalines are NOT meant for high drain applications like the GP2X.

 

[gothakane]

Let me guess. You're using the included batteries?

The included batteries, some new Sony batteries that I bought yesterday, some Duracell batteries that were in my GP32... It's not the batteries.

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All of which are Alkaline and therefore not meant for this. Alkalines are NOT meant for high drain applications like the GP2X.

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I found that as well, I was wondering why all my games were showing black screens on loading, and movies were crashing on load! Answer : Too high power demands! Even Duracell Ultra M3!! (which are damned expensive) My 2100mAH Uniross rechargables do the trick though

 

[CRWoody]

:blink: :angry:

 

[ant512]

I read these posts, and still knew that the batteries weren't the problem. I thought I'd dig out my digital camera and get a photo, and that'd show the bizarre screen I could see. So, I took the batteries out of the GP2X, stuck them in my camera, switched it on, and it didn't work. So, I went through all of the batteries I could find that haven't been in the Atari Lynx I got from eBay last week, and eventually found one set that works. Put them in the GP2X, and it works too. No problems.

Jesus, this thing's heavy on the batteries. And it turns out that I've got about two dozen brand new Sony batteries that are dead. Looks like their batteries are as worthless as their rootkits.

Anyway, what confused me most about the whole thing is the weird symptoms that the GP2X displays when the batteries are running out. I looked through some other posts about battery problems and they didn't really list the issues I was having. So, for future reference (unless posts get deleted regularly here), the symptoms I encountered were:

- GP2X does not boot, but screen turns on. Initially it is plain white, vertical bars of colour slowly appear across it spreading from the right to the left;
- Battery indicator does not light up unless you move the battery a little, in which case it comes back on;
- Occasionally the GP2X will start up properly, but will freeze up fairly soon. The image on the screen will quickly begin to corrupt, either developing horizontal fringes and losing vertical sync or turning into a mass of randomly-coloured pixels;
- Fiddling with the positions of the batteries can cause the system to boot up;
- Leaving the system on a desk at the menu screen and not using it will cause it to crash less quickly than if you're pushing buttons or running an application (leaving the system idle presumably uses less battery power than running something like Quake).
- Crashing is related to the system's temperature.

Think about this last one for a moment - the hotter the GP2X is, the longer you've been using it, and so the more drained the batteries are. Hence, the more likely it is to crash. This one, plus the one above it, completely threw me off the track of the real problem. Too much exposure to shoddy hardware has left me unable to see the obvious, I think!

 

[abigsmurf]

look at the connectors in the battery sockets, are they covered completely in white substance? if so, use a sharp knife and scrape off the covering. It would explain the freakish amounts of frain you're experiencing, why the batteries are getting so hot and why you have to fiddle with the batteries

 

[green1152]

Let's not have an xbox 360 scare... k?

 

[AireTamStorm]

I read these posts, and still knew that the batteries weren't the problem.

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Its more than likely that the batteries ARE your problem. The reason they got so hot is because Alkaline batteries have a natural resistance, and therefore they heat up from inefficient transfer when used in high drain applications. Its not a battery life problem, but a battery type problem. Try some NiMHs and get back to us.

 

[ant512]

Its more than likely that the batteries ARE your problem. The reason they got so hot is because Alkaline batteries have a natural resistance, and therefore they heat up from inefficient transfer when used in high drain applications. Its not a battery life problem, but a battery type problem. Try some NiMHs and get back to us.

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Um, try reading the rest of my post... :rolleyes:

 

[Rayek]

Let's not have an xbox 360 scare... k?

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that would definitely suck. i guess i'll have to spend a lot more on batteries than planned... but all's well, i suppose.

 

[AireTamStorm]

Um, try reading the rest of my post... :rolleyes:

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I don't see anything about rechargeable batteries anywhere.

 

[garteth]

Oh, no. Don't use uniross