Firmware Flashin


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As my dear girlfriend is getting me a GP32 for my birthday in 10 days time, I thought I would ask some questions to get me prepared for the big day...

Now, I understand that flashing the GP32's firmware is the done thing, just like I always make sure my motherboard's BIOS are always up to date on my PC.

However, I have seen what look like 3rd party firmwares available. I'm getting a 166 model from GBAX.com - shall I leave it as it is, or is there a firmware I should be flashing to?

I'm slightly concerned about the possibility of a bad flash...
 
flash it with one of the new firmwares.
the original firmware is crappy :(

EDIT: I heard that slubmans firmware is good
I have mine flashed with the aquafish firmware... but an old one.
You should wait 4 some other replies and then decide.

P.S. Hope you will have much fun with your gp32 :)
 
i have aquafish too. its quit good i would recomend it, and press select whilst it switches and a menu of different stuff you can boot comes up e.g pac rom. its truly great.
 
Allright, since you get a BLU from GBAX, you'll be getting a BLU+, which means it has a simple FW included, which is pretty good, but doesn't look very nice. You can however flash the FW, but you have to make sure it's BLU+ compatible, as old FW's will give you a big white line. I'm not sure if there is a BLU+ compatible Aquafishs MFW 4.8, but if there is, get that one. Else you'r proababyl good off with slubmans.
 
before you flash, just make sure which version of the BP32 BLU you have, dont want to flash it with the old BLU's bios :s
It will prolly be what the scene calls the BLU+ if its new. just make sure u know which one it is before.

just my 2p
 
Bronze posted on Apr 3 2005 at 12:57 PM said:
Thanks for the response, but what firmwear should I flash to?
gpbios, I use it in combination with slubmans fw, I dont know if its blu+ compatible.
 
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Flashing your firmware is not like flashing you PC´s BIOS. GP32 Firmwares are not (like PC ones) simple upgrade of existing stuff, but everyone of them is unique.
I recommend Slubman´s, it has a decent file manager and lets you format your SMC without using a PC. If you buy from gbax, be sure to go for the BLU+ compatible version.
 
Well there is a 99.9% chance of mine being a BLU+, so assuming slubmans are not compatible, I guess I am going with the latest aquafish ones

I assume www.gp32x.de has everything I need?

What is the difference between the slubman and aquafish ones then?
 
Just to be annoying, I have seen a BLU+ version of slubman available, so now I'm really interested in what the differences are!

I guess it wouldn't hurt me to try both?
 
ok the difference between the 2 firmwares are that they launch different stuff.
e.g aquafish does pacrom ect ect i havent used slubman before only read about it.

you can fing out if your gp32 is a BLU+ by trying to use the snes emu, but i forgot ehich one. if it works its not a BLU+ and if it doesnt its a BLU+, oh so i think its like that. :unsure:
 
I have Slubman's Firmware on my BLU+.
Very good firmware, only ONE drawback:

SMC encrypted games (commercial games that come on SMC like Blue Angelo, Dungeon & Guarder, etc.) don't work.

So be sure you don't want to play one of these before flashing.
 
Bronze posted on Apr 3 2005 at 04:57 PM said:
Well there is a 99.9% chance of mine being a BLU+, so assuming slubmans are not compatible, I guess I am going with the latest aquafish ones

I assume www.gp32x.de has everything I need?

What is the difference between the slubman and aquafish ones then?
Well, as the name says, its a Multifirmware. That means Aquafish has put together several firmwares and implemented a menu that lets you choose what firmware you want to boot with. The featured firmwares are: Pacroms (very basic, but you can launch files in every directory, and view .txt´s), Yafl (very nice looking, with different backgrounds and themes, but not many features), EuroFW (the standard BLU firmware, necessary if you want to play boxed commercial games) and Windups (Windows- looking, changeable backgrounds but not really useful because too cumbersome to use).

Slubman´s FW is 100% unique, it is the only firmware with a real file manager.
 
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Welcome, Great to see someone take the plunge and hope you will have months, Ney years of fun with your new gadget.

Personally i wouldn`t flash your GP`s firmware straight away. At least give it a couple of weeks and see how you get on with it, you may even get to like the original Blu+ firmware. The last thing you want to do is kill your shiny new GP through a bad flash as soon as you have got it (btw, What would your GF say :blink: ).

Not doing it straight away will give you plenty of time to read up on exactly how to do it, What you need, the pitfalls etc. You ask anyone here and i bet 99% of people waited quite a while before they plucked up the courage to flash their GP.

Use it, Enjoy it and get the most from it, Then think about flashing it once you feel comfortable with it.

But most of all, Have fun :).

Trooper
 
lizard808uk posted on Apr 3 2005 at 09:50 PM said:
Theres a plugin for the slubman firmware to play those games. Use the aquafish plugin from your site ;)

GP32x.de

Nope, only works for downloaded commercial games, not for the SMC encrypted ones ;)
 
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Bronze posted on Apr 3 2005 at 11:28 AM said:
As my dear girlfriend is getting me a GP32 for my birthday in 10 days time, I thought I would ask some questions to get me prepared for the big day...

Now, I understand that flashing the GP32's firmware is the done thing, just like I always make sure my motherboard's BIOS are always up to date on my PC.

However, I have seen what look like 3rd party firmwares available.  I'm getting a 166 model from GBAX.com - shall I leave it as it is, or is there a firmware I should be flashing to?

I'm slightly concerned about the possibility of a bad flash...


Why do you need to flash the FW? Despite what is said a flash CAN fail and your new unit would be worthless and can not be fixed without the use of a special cable and Linux (never heard if the windows version has ever been fixed). Things can go wrong, the FW dump may be bad, the batteries can be dodgy, the SMC could be loose and cut out etc. I have even heard rare cases where a successful flash would go bad on its own in a couple of months.

I would try it as it is. It is not bad, why dick with it?


THIS is what can happen if you flash:

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=18257
 
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Thank you all so much for your kind advise

DaveC - thank you for your post, this is something that has been going round my head. The thing is, I've been looking throught the forums to get a brief idea of firmwares and have been given the impression that the standard firmware was not 'up to scratch'.

I think what I'll do is give it a while, as one of you suggested and get a feel for the unit. If it plays all the emulators (my main interest) I need, then I guess I won't fiddle about with it until I feel I have to.
 
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