Ext Port Powered Gp2x

[buntz]

I'm building a breakout board for my friend with a GP2X. The thing impressed me so much I'm thinking about getting my own. Anyway I want to know if I can power/charge the GP2X through the EXT port. It would reduce clutter if I could do away with the power connector to the GP2X, just powering the BoB. I need to power it anyway for the USB host support.

Thanks
Tony

 

[Squidge]

It's possible and does work on mk1 units, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it for long periods as that is certainly not what it was designed for. It may not work at all on mk2 units which have 5V out on the ext, or may even damage the unit.

In short, it's not worth the risk.

 

[buntz]

yeah i really didnt think the this was a valid option, I'm still going to rip open my friend's and look at the board real quick but im guessing that the traces are so small that i wouldnt want to pass the nessaccary current for charging/operating the GP2X through them.

Whats the deal with 5v on the mk2 units? does it pass through a DC-DC converter?
hell whats teh deal with mk2 period? new hardware version?

 

[BradN]

With regards to the power system on the MKII, I'm not sure if it uses the same dc-dc converter as the MKI, but at least on the MKII, there's a 5V output from the chip which goes to the EXT port, whereas on the MKI, it was 3.3V which apparently also was before any converters for other components, so it could be powered from that.

MKII also uses a different LCD screen, and I think they rotated the joystick assembly by 45 degrees. I don't think there's any other significant changes, except higher build quality (less breaking headphone jacks, etc).