Easy Tutorial For Noobs?

[Trip]

As the GP2X becomes more well known & popular..
Chances are that sooner or later there's going to be some new(ish) computer users coming to the forums for help & advice on some of the really basic stuff, that most of us just don't even think about anymore.
I thought I'd get a start on some of the more important information that they would need to know & write a quick tutorial.

Please let me know of any improvements that can be made. Here's what I've got so far..

Beginners Archive Tutorial

.rom Archives:
.roms normally come in .zip ,.rar ,.tar or .7z file archives. These are just containers to hold & compress the .roms, so they won't take up as much room on your storage device & will download easier/faster.
A lot emulators have archive support built into them, that allow you to keep the roms inside the archive (mostly .zip archives) while still being able to play the games.

http://www.7-zip.org/ - Is the home of the 7zip open source file archiver.
It can handle all 4 of the formats easily & would probably be the best thing for new users to install.
It will allow you to extract files from compressed archives, as well as create new archives or veiw the contents of already made one's.
***This is basically the same as the WinRAR & WinZip programs but it's completely free & opensource ***

How to Install 7zip on Windows:
Click Here! & download the .exe version for easier installation. It's most likely to be the first download link that you come to.
Install it the same way that you would install any program on Windows by double clicking & following the on screen prompts (basically just keep pressing next until it's finished, then click close ).
Once installed you can right click on any of the archive files & you should notice a new entry within the menu that pops up called 7zip. This will give you the choice of doing different things to the archive.

Extract Files - Will open the archive within 7zip's main archive manager program.

Extract Here - Will extract the files from within the archive to your current location. If your on the desktop & you choose extract Here, then the files will be extracted straight to the desktop without using 7zip's main archive manager program.

Test Archive - Will test the archive & make sure it doesn't have any defects or problems.

Add To Archive - Will collect together all currently selected files & allow you to save them within one archive. The new archive will (usually) be saved at your current location.


How to Install 7zip, rar & unrar programs on Ubuntu (Dapper) Linux:
First of all you need to follow the guide here to add extra repositories.
***p.s You can find the terminal on the top menu bar in Applications/Accessories/Terminal, left mouse click on it to start a new terminal.***

To install the needed archive support, just type into the first line in the terminal sudo apt-get install rar p7zip unrar & press the enter key to begin the installation.
Feel free to close down the terminal now, as you won't be needing it any more.
The .zip & .tar archives should be supported by default.

To use, simply right click the desired archive & select either..

Open with "Archive Manager" - Will open the archive within the main archive manager program.
File Roller is the archive manager for Ubuntu Linux & 7zip just works in the background unseen by the user.
It's also the same for rar & unrar, which add full .rar support to the File Roller program.

Extract Here - Will extract the files from within the archive to your current location.

Create Archive... - Will collect together all currently selected files & allow you to save them within one new archive, that will be placed at your current location.

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Extra Info:
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Multiple part .rar archives:
Sometimes roms are downloaded in .rar archives that have more than one part to them (example.. goodgame.part1.rar & goodgame.part2.rar).
You will need to extract all of these archives into the same folder, starting with the lowest number archive first & extracting your way up the list.. before finishing with the highest number archive.
These should all join together to form one single new archive.
***It can sometimes create empty folders in the same location but these can be safely deleted.***


.tar archives:
.tar archives can sometimes act a little different when used within the Windows operating systems. You can extract the downloaded archive & there will be another archive inside that looks just the same. You will need to extract the contents of that archive too, before you find the files that you need.
Linux doesn't have this problem with .tar archives & just extracts the needed files as if they were only within one archive.

 

[Blah]

Except that, with the kind of noobs we're getting, they'll never read this. You know where my finger is pointing. <_<

 

[Trip]

Except that, with the kind of noobs we're getting, they'll never read this. You know where my finger is pointing. <_<

Explain please..
Either that doesn't make much sense, or I'm just too tired to get it??

 

[Shikaku]

Chances are, a noob will either never search or browse to this topic to check and see what this is. People expect a system like a DS where you put in the catridge and it plays instantly. However, the GP2X is far from user friendly, it is actually the least user friendly handheld on the market.

 

[Dzz]

Chances are, a noob will either never search or browse to this topic to check and see what this is. People expect a system like a DS where you put in the catridge and it plays instantly. However, the GP2X is far from user friendly, it is actually the least user friendly handheld on the market.

I agree with this 100%

If GPHk had any sense they would invent a mechanism that makes certain apps just that easy -- maybe a custom installer or something (as has been discussed on this forum before) -- then apps which conform to the "plug and play" standard and pass some review for general quality would be promoted directly from the GPH site and possibly distributed on CD with a new gp2x. We could easily come up with a list of 20 or more such things from the current catalog that deserve this treatment because they rock. GPH probably can't directly promote some of the best stuff, like emulators and games that use ripped off copyrighted material, but even for those this common infrastructure could be put to use. The prevailing attitude of "spend a couple evenings with the readme, idiot" is not very productive for getting a broader audience.

I can see somebody saying in response "Hey Dzz you're not a bad coder, why don't you develop this thing?" The answer is that if it just goes into the archive with everything else that is generally ignored, it doesn't do any good. I can be happy developing a game like Zooov that only gets 300 downloads (out of what we expect might be 10,000 or more sold gp2x units) because it's a creative outlet, but coding an installation/management/help-the-comman-man app is only rewarding if it gets widely used by its target audience.

I know a lot of people will still think "how hard is it to install stuff, you just download it, unzip it to your card, maybe read an instruction file and you're set to go!" But think about that process -- sorting through the archive site which is wonderful but has very little useful information (just an often cryptic description and a too-small-to-be readable thumbnail picture with an incorrect aspect ratio which is optional anyway). Then figure out how to unzip it (or figure out how to find a program that can deal with .rar or .bz2 or whatever), then get it onto an SD card, and so on. That all seems trivial to most of you but now imagine sexyjessi dealing with it. Ease of use doesn't have to be sneered at. The gp2x will never achieve even 1% of the sales of the other handhelds, but if it is impossible for an average person to use it will never even be mentioned in the same sentence.

 

[jpic3yk]

Some of these emulators are getting too complicated to, for example with one X is select and Y or something is back and then on another B is select and X is go back. Another problem is it is hard to remeber how to exit or reset certain emulators as well as save states. I think it would be best if in the future we moved toward a more uniform emulator rom selection/management/options screen.

 

[Trip]

Yeh.. that would make it a lot easier

Valid points on the tutorial, but I was thinking of it being useful for the new users who buy a GP2X as a good platform for learning to code on or are just simply looking for a challange. After all.. the GP2X is being touted as one of the easier sytems to code for & this could bring in a lot of younger wannabe coders & tweakers who havn't got a clue as where to start. These people aren't going to be bothered about how much stuff they need to read.
The easier we make it for them to learn, the more people to contribute to the GP2X community

Before we go too far off topic here.. does the tutorial read ok?, is it easy to follow?, or are there any mistakes?
Feedback would be cool cheers..

 

[Magnulus]

Ease of use doesn't have to be sneered at.

Yes! Thank you!

I think that if there was made such a "plug-and-play" CD, it could also contain easy-to-use tutorials under the heading "Hungry for more?" or something like that. I totally think that the GP2X right now lacks direction. It has taken me more than a month to find some of the better homebrew games, simply because I'm not patient enough to go through every single archive page and try all the games out. I've been picking out games as I've seen them mentioned in the forums.

I'd love to help develop an "everyman CD" with "p&p" games and tutorials if anyone else wants to take the initiative. Seeing as how I'm in the middle of the community contest and developing a few games (and the Talent Thread, which I've been forgetting about lately. Will update soon...) I don't want to helm a project like that, but I'm here if you need me.

 

[Shikaku]

WHOA LOOK WHAT I FOUND GUYS!!

http://archive.gp2x.de/quickview/index.php

[/heavy sarcasm]

 

[Yono]

Except that, with the kind of noobs we're getting, they'll never read this. You know where my finger is pointing. <_<

You know, until recently we haven't had that many newbs who were unable to catch on that readmes can usually solve their problem. Of course, I think that more ease of use would be excellent, especially uniform controls for emulators.

 

[Trip]

You know, until recently we haven't had that many newbs who were unable to catch on that readmes can usually solve their problem. Of course, I think that more ease of use would be excellent, especially uniform controls for emulators.

That's probably because the GP2X is becoming more well known now & most of the new users use Windows.

Windows users normaly check the internet for info if they get completely stuck & only check help in the programs menu, as a very last resort (for some reason). Most simply won't realise that the programs come with a readme file, as they don't even pay attention to where abouts on their computer the program is being installed.

New Linux users get used to reading the readme files & checking out forums for info very quickly.
That situation should get easier as Linux gains more ground in the desktop market & within schools.. I hope <_<