Getting some serious issues (maybe through bad flashes/faulty SD Card)

[TooCoolToRule]

Got my Pandora on Monday and have had some issues with it :-


1, I had problems logging in after creating a password in the initial setup so I re-flashed it. The SD card I was sent was very laggy while transferring files from my desktop (like the firmware flash). It took about two seconds just to create a new folder. The flash process took about 5-6 minutes and complained about not being able to create/write to a small number of the install files, but it installed and booted.


2, After the re-flash, the Pandora CPU speed was 500MHZ and it wouldn't let me change it to any other speed. I was advised to flash to the latest version. I did. The installer still complained about not being able to create/write to a small number of files, but (again), it flashed and booted. That seemed to fix the CPU speed problem, but :-


3, I go to the Pandora store and tries to download some apps. Most failed with MD5 checksum failures or 'Guru ?' errors. I used my PC to put Midori on the Pandora because downloading it on the Pandora failed. It ran, was laggy, and crashed. Ran it again, crash. Tried to installed Firefox and it wouldn't install because it didn't have permission to or just refused create a profile for me. Mame4all ran for me but would sometimes exit to the desktop instead of the roms browser when I quit it. I sent stuff to the trashbin and emptied it. The icon looked like there was still trash in the bin. My deleted files re-appeared on a re-boot as if they had never been deleted.


4, I have the stuck left shoulder button issue and I do not feel competent enough to fix it myself.


5, I also have some rather noticeable dead pixels/artifacts on the screen.


I would like to send my Pandora back for repair.


I created this thread because my last thread mainly got ignored (even though I am having some quite serious issues).

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

all midori does is crash.Forget it.Make sure you are using the latest stable firefox version.if you have dead pixels then it sounds like an rma though

 

[TooCoolToRule]

It's the weekend (and I understand that Cragix must be busy), so i'll wait a few days for him to reply to me.

 

[TangentDelta]

What's the size and maker of the SD card?

 

[EvilDragon]

That sounds like a broken SD Card to me.


Midori accesses the SD Card as well, so if it has issues, it slows down a lot.


That the SD Card doesn't work properly on the desktop PC is another sign for that...

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks for the reply and your time. It is a 16GB Kingston Class4 SDHC from Craig. Is it better if I send the Pandora and the SD card back to Craig instead of waiting for him to reply ? I can't fix the shoulder button myself and the dead pixels/artifacts on the screen are annoying. Please can anyone recommend me an SDHC card for the Pandora ? I was gonna buy one or two of the SanDisK Extreme 30mb editions using Fat32.

 

[WizardStan]

Before writing anything off, get yourself another SD card. A cheap 2GB card can probably be found for under $5.


If you can't think of anywhere to buy an SD card, try reformatting it with the Panasonic format tool. It's consistently been found to work the best. Then run h2testw to scan the card for errors. When both of these are done, try copying stuff onto it again, see if it starts behaving better.


edit: actually, do those in the opposite order: format and check for errors with h2testw first, then try to find another cheap SD card. If the format doesn't make things better, and the cheap SD card continues to have errors, then odds are good there's a problem with the Pandora; this does sound like an SD card issue though, so I'm hopeful.

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks for the reply. Panasonic's format tool was the first thing I used and still the lag was there. I don't think using h2testw is going to do anything but confirm the cards faulty status. I wasn't writing anything off, but i'll try a new SDHC card first. Like I put, I don't feel competent to try and fix the shoulder button myself and the dead pixels should be an RMA anyway under the dead pixel policy.

 

[WizardStan]

Yeah, good point on the pixels and shoulder. Sorry, got a little caught up in the adventure of troubleshooting

 

[TooCoolToRule]

That's okay, m8. I appreciate the help .

Gonna test my Kingston card now, and order a new card from Amazon today as we don't have much choice with high street retailers in the uk.

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Hmm. Using H2testw, the card reported no errors . Best if I wait until I get my new SanDisk card sometime next week.

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Did some more testing :-


1, Used another card (SanDisk Ultra II 1GB). Re-flashed the Pandora. No 'immediately noticeable' issues including installing and running Firefox.


2, Put my Kingston card in slot 2. Both cards being recognised but according to the Pandora, both cards are the same (My SanDisk Ultra II in slot 1). Timestamp is wrong. A-ha (a brainwave ), let's swop the cards over in the slots. Nope, still the same both ways :huh: . Driver issues with the Kingston card ?


And BTW, why oh why does Angstrom insist on putting a shortcut on the Desktop to stuff I install. I don't mind most things but the 'Community Codec Pack PND' ? And why are they marked as read-only ? I'm a WinDoze user. Is there something I am missing like these PND files being both the installer and the executable (or Linux equivalent) for the program ?

 

[EvilDragon]

And BTW, why oh why does Angstrom insist on putting a shortcut on the Desktop to stuff I install. I don't mind most things but the 'Community Codec Pack PND' ? And why are they marked as read-only ? I'm a WinDoze user. Is there something I am missing like these PND files being both the installer and the executable (or Linux equivalent) for the program ?

If you place your PNDs in /pandora/desktop, they appear both in the menu and on the desktop.


If you place them in /pandora/menu, they only appear in the menu.

 

[WizardStan]

If you place your PNDs in /pandora/desktop, they appear both in the menu and on the desktop.


If you place them in /pandora/menu, they only appear in the menu.

Put them in /desktop and they appear on the desktop. Put in /menu they appear in the menu. Put in /apps and they appear in both. Put in /mmenu and they only appear in Mini Menu.


Unless these were changed when I wasn't paying attention.

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks EvilDragon and WizardStan.


Messed around with my Pandora and experienced two hard lockups. Still getting bad md5 chucksums when downloading from the appstore application.


I don't seem to be getting anywhere so far. What's going on ? Gonna have to send it back to Craig if no-body has any more advice, questions, or things they want me to try. Do I just send it back to him ? I did PM him about the initial issues I had in my first post but so far I've got no reply :unsure: .

 

[mcobit]

Well, most of these issues seem to be software issues and can be solved!


Try to use pnd manager instead of the pndstore.


If downloading doesn't work properly, download from your windows pc and put the pnds on the card manually.


This is NOT windows, where you can override everything by clicking ok, but most stuff becomes clearer, if you read a bit in the wiki about how linux and the pndsystem works.


It is not windows, but try not to see it as windows in the first place.


And don't give up, when something is not working 100% on first try. Those apps are user created for the users. Thats the joy of an open source console. It is better to post such stuff in the threads about the apps to make the authors aware of problems. If your sd is faulty, try another one and maybe replace the faulty one instead of insiting on getting it to work.


These are all suggestions and I hope you will get tons of joy out of your pandora. It is no windows or ios device, but thats the fun in it


Edit: Of course hardwaredefects should be repaired under warranty. Btw, if your shoulderbutton is stuck, maybe it registers all the time and that causes issues.

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Mcobit, if you mean the pnd manager that is included with Angstrom, I'm getting MD5 failures with it like I mentioned before. I've already tried two different cards like i've already mentioned as well, unless I am not making myself clear enough. No offence intended if I am.


It's when the Pandora is using the SD card slots or trying to acces the SD card slots that I am seem to be having the issues. 'Both' cards check out 100% when using H2testw after being formatted with Panasonic's SD card formatter with size adjustment on. I was using the SanDisk and not the Kingston when I got the two hard lockups. So, both the SanDisk Ultra II and the Kingston seem to have given me problems when I put them anywhere near my Pandora. I've got one more new card coming (a SanDisk SDHC Extreme which according to the wiki, works fine) so 'third time lucky' ? Maybe not. I'm gonna download lots of different PNDs over the weekend (via my PC and a stable wired ethernet connection) and see how many crashes I get (or not) while using both the old SanDisk and the new SanDisk card (when it comes). I'll get a checksum of everything I download from my PC and verify it when putting the files onto the SD card which (combined with another H2testw test on the new card ) will rule out all possibilities of dodgy SD cards.


In the end the new card and the steps I'm gonna take will either solve all my problems, or all three SD cards are faulty/not supported in Angstrom (really -_- ), or the SD card slots/controller is damaged, or there is obviously something 'seriously wrong' with my Pandora.


I am not a software/hardware engineer, just an end-user.


Regarding the stuck shoulder button, I shall use the keyboard test and see if it is registering all the time.

 

[mcobit]

Ok, youtube stuttering and broken downloads are "normal" though... Well, if you have issues, just send it in and let ED or craig test it. If its a hardwarefault they will repair it. Maybe its a bad sdslot or something...


Edit: What I really wanted to say: No need to get angry, your problems will get sorted eventually

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Sorry, mcobit. I've edited my post a bit to try and simplify things. Could you read it again ? I'm not getting angry and I'm sorry if you or anyone else takes it that way. It's just that i've just got my Pandora after 3 years and 8 months wait and it's mostly unuseable to me. Unless i like watching things crash or lock up randomly :lol: .

 

[mcobit]

No problem. I think the best thing to do is to get it repaired, I know that it is hard to give it out of your hands, but the hw issues need repair anyway.


I sent mine in 4 times, but that is the prize for being an early adopter.


Edit: also I don't seem to be good at reading emotions. I should stop that