F200 Crashes On Every Game After 1-2min. Of Playing

[Marco_in_motion]

Hi all,

I got my gp2x on june 26th this year and it played flawlessly almost everything i wanted.

but since 3 day's it started to crash and beeing totally unresponsive after 1-2min. of gaming.
the screen dosent go black or so, the game just stops and the gp2x dosent respond anymore. all i can do then is to shut it down. it does this even when i load a game and don't play (just lettig it "run" the intro and such)

I use highqaulity rechargables ( 2700mah ) and i have a Kingston 4gb sd and a sandisk extreme3 4gb card.
it has this failure with both cards.
i also tyed several other batteries but i get the same error all the time.
i havent got a power supply for the gp2x. The Firmware is 4.1.

My device never fell to ground, never had fluids on it, was never used by other people, never layed in the sun or into cold temperatures.

it just started to malfunction and this tears me my last nerves out :-(

so plz, if anybody has an idea to help me, i would greatly appreciate it.




greetings from Zürich (switzerland)

Marco

 

[iprice]

Try getting a power supply. Always presume the problems to be battery related first - they're the easiest and cheapest things to eliminate from any investigation.

 

[TrevorBradley]

Try getting a power supply. Always presume the problems to be battery related first - they're the easiest and cheapest things to eliminate from any investigation.

I have some older NimH batteries that hold very little charge. My newer 15 minute charger labels them as "bad" and won't charge them. Like laptop batteries if recharged enough times they just aren't usable anymore.

If a pair of brand new non-rechargable AA's work for 30+ minutes, you have your answer...

 

[Marco_in_motion]

Hi Trevor,

I already tried it with non-rechargable AA's and the gp2x still crashes after 1-2min. of playing.

@iprice, i try to get a powersupply on monday.

Greez Marco

 

[Squidge]

I already tried it with non-rechargable AA's and the gp2x still crashes after 1-2min. of playing.

I've not found a gp2x yet that lasts longer then 1 - 2 minutes on non-rechargables.

You need to try some brand new high quality rechargables, and don't buy the fake relabelled batteries from ebay.

 

[Squirrel61]

Does it only crash after starting a game, or does it also crash when in the main menu?

And when it crashes, can you reboot it immediately or do you have to wait for some minutes before it is able to reboot?

 

[Exophase]

I already tried it with non-rechargable AA's and the gp2x still crashes after 1-2min. of playing.

I've not found a gp2x yet that lasts longer then 1 - 2 minutes on non-rechargables.

You need to try some brand new high quality rechargables, and don't buy the fake relabelled batteries from ebay.


1-2 minutes? Holy crap. I've gotten them to last at least 30-45 or so.

 

[TrevorBradley]

1-2 minutes? Holy crap. I've gotten them to last at least 30-45 or so.

Ditto. Regular batteries are bad, but not *THAT* bad.

I'm thinking this isn't a battery problem. I'd also agree to try the main menu as well. Pull the SD card completely, and get out a stopwatch.

The fact it works at all is strange. Does the unit get hot? Does it work for longer from a cold state?

 

[Marco_in_motion]

Hi Squidge,

I bought my rechargables in a fotographer-shop, 2700mh nimh accus designed for long play. i got them some month after the gp2x. they did last about 2 hours in the unit. i also have poor quality ones ich last a little more than an hour. and normal non-rechargables last me about 45min.

@squirrel61 : i'm having now about 10 minutes powered on and in the main menu and it dosent crashed yet. When it crashes during a game it wont respond anymore with any buttons and i can't reboot at all anymore. just tu turn the powerswitch off.

@Trevor : i think i noticed that it lasts a littlebit longer from cold state, but the unit dosent get hot. the only thing that did get hot were the batteries after an hour of playing or so...

Greets Marco

 

[Squidge]

If they used to last that long, and don't any more after such a short time, then it seems like there's definitely something wrong with your gp2x. Batteries do tend to get warm, but they shouldn't get too hot. That is a sign of too much power being drawn by the gp2x (possibly a short?).

 

[Marco_in_motion]

I don't know sqidge... i just know that it crashes all the time with no other sign of disfunction, not getting to hot no crappy sound or graphics, it suddenly just stops to run and stay's with the actual "game-moment" displayed with no possibility to reboot or something.

damnit :-( what should i do? i want to play...
garou on the ds is just not the same as on the gp2x

i hope someone has a good idea...


Greets Marco

 

[TrevorBradley]

@Squirrel61 : i'm having now about 10 minutes powered on and in the main menu and it dosent crashed yet. When it crashes during a game it wont respond anymore with any buttons and i can't reboot at all anymore. just tu turn the powerswitch off.

*Weird.*

I think a lot of us are at a loss.

Do the onboard games and other applications work without the SD Card?

How long do games work if you don't play them? (leaving the device physically like you did for the main menu test.

How about other apps like movie playing?

What if you mute the volume?

What about non-game, SD apps like GMenu2X?

I'd do your best to isolate the source of the problem: Batteries, time on, button pushing, SD Card, volume, unit movement. Make sure you're not doing more than 1 or 2 of these at once. Deduction by elimination. Be slow and methodical and don't let your (justified) frustration affect evidence gathering.

If this isn't a time on problem as you've indicated above, I'm stumped. I'm wondering if it's a button mashing problem/something with the motherboard that doesn't like being moved around/batteries get dislodged due to movement. Something tertiary you wouldn't expect.

Good Luck!

 

[Marco_in_motion]

Thankyou trevor, i try these tests step by step one by one, i'm interested how the built in games will do...

Greets Marco

 

[Squirrel61]

@Squirrel61 : i'm having now about 10 minutes powered on and in the main menu and it dosent crashed yet. When it crashes during a game it wont respond anymore with any buttons and i can't reboot at all anymore. just tu turn the powerswitch off.

The two things that come into my mind are:
1. Firmware failure. The best seems to me to use the nandblanker found in the file archive and then reflash a full good firmware. I've found the 4.0.2 from the gp2x.com site to be reliable and complete. However, you might need jtag unbricking equipment, depending on how complete the nandblanker erases the nand. I'm pretty new into gp2x and haven't tried nandblanker yet. Maybe someone else can provide a step-by-step guide for a complete fresh firmware reflash.
2. Hardware failure. When a component on the mainboard heats up and then produces electrical problems (bad connection), it needs to be resoldered. I've encountered this kind of problems when repairing PSPs but I don't know how sensitive the gp2x is to this.