Gp32 Doesn't Read Sm-cards!


KingCheese

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Hi everybody!
I bought my Gp32 from the internet and first everything was ok - I tested a few emus and everything worked well. But then I decided to upgrade the firmware and that was a big mistake!
Since I upgraded, the Gp doesn't read the smcs - I mean they're the same than before .... :blink:
The firmware is now the official europ. 1.5. And I can't even run other autoflash firmwares! So, what can I do? I tested things like the smcrecorder or other fws, but :angry: .....
Please, I need quick help .... thanks in advance ....

Cheese
 
are you sure its the euro fw? bouncing gp logo on white bg?
If it is, make sure you have the right folder structure.
GPMM
and
GAME
are needed
mp3 may be as well.
Make sure to place your fxe files inside the gpmm folder.
 
First it was the bouncing logo, but after flashing it, it's showing now the 3 pics (for game, mp3 and pc-link) with the orange background. And yeah, I have the specific folders and I think I need this freelauncher tool - but what is the right one? I downloaded a few and the read-mes are so weird sometimes (I tried slubman's fw with built-in launcher) .....

Cheese
 
yes, that's not the eu fw that is the original fw which needs freelauncher, why the hell did you downgrade to it?....

Search the board for "hacked freelauncher" that should do.
 
KingCheese said:
First it was the bouncing logo, but after flashing it, it's showing now the 3 pics (for game, mp3 and pc-link) with the orange background. And yeah, I have the specific folders and I think I need this freelauncher tool - but what is the right one? I downloaded a few and the read-mes are so weird sometimes (I tried slubman's fw with built-in launcher) .....

Cheese

try this:

http://www.gp32x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,8,1052
 
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The original freelauncher doesn't work - that's clear.
I'm looking for a hacked version, but there are over 20pages, when you do the search. I'll try, but I don't think that I'll find one ...... :(

Cheese

Edit: Ok, now I found a cracked freelauncher, but what can I do with this program! When I start the .exe I can't connect the Gp with th pc and so it's not usefull.
 
The link is posted is for the cracked freelauncher. When you say you cannot connect... do you have the usb cable for the GP32?
 
mrsnature said:
The link is posted is for the cracked freelauncher. When you say you cannot connect... do you have the usb cable for the GP32?
well ... I tried this version, but it won't work - I have a usb-cable and the gp32 says it's connected. But what do I have to do after starting the .exe in that folder - how does the freelauncher work anyway??
and how can I re-upgrade it? Sorry for the the late answer, I was on holiday - Canada is a great country!! :rolleyes:

KingCheese
 
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well its been a long long time since i've used my gp32, so all this is from my bad memory... oh, and i just found this:

http://gpnewbie.com/gp32/basics.htm

which should help you understand...

QUOTE

Oh, the dreaded freelauncher. Back in the GP32's infancy, it wasn't an open platform, and, because of this, the original firmware did not include support for homebrew software (generally in the .fxe file type). To solve this, Gamepark made the freelauncher, which worked pretty well. This freelauncher, however, had to be made to correspond with your GP32's unique GPUID (or your GP32's unique ID). Once again, that was fine... until Gamepark stopped offering it on their website.



Therefore, you could only run 'official' gamepark programs (i.e. next to none). Freelauncher is one of these, which allows your gp32 to run your .fxe programs (nearly all homebrew). This includes running the program to install a new firmware. New homebrew firmwares where created which let you run programs without freelauncher.

Finally GP made it so their new official firmware (the euro one with the bouncing logo) no longer needed the freelauncher, all homebrew stuff would run as is. Unfortunatley you seem to have downgraded to the old firmware. :rolleyes:

Ok, so here is the problem...
1)you must upgrade you firmware or install freelauncher to run homebrew
2)the firmware you have will not let you update the firmware without freelauncher
3)gamepark no longer offer freelauncher

remember the freelauncher has to be encoded to your specific gp32 (actually, i think it is possible to encode it for a smc too, look into that if you really can't get this working). To find your puid you need to connect you gp32 to the pc. there was a solution that involved logging into #gp32 and giving your puid, and then you could download the freelauncher that had been encoded for this puid. Not sure if this is still working.

Recommended solution (i haven't tried it):

1)download the cracked version off the archive.
2)plug your gp32 into your pc.
3)Turn on your gp32 and go to pc-link or something (can't remember)
4)load the crack program on your pc (zpkinstaller.exe). now, i've never used this, but it seems to me what it does is takes a zpk file (an installation file for gp32) and encodes it to your specific puid, and installs it. so...
5) click "add" and browse to the gp_launc.zpk file that is included.
6)select "encrypt by pduid" in the drop down list
7)click connect
8)click start

The crack should encode the free launcher and install it on your gp32.

Some things to try if that does not work:

make sure the gp32 drivers are installed on your pc - http://www.gp32x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,23
install gpmanager and connect to your gp32 and format you smc - http://www.gp32x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,15,852

for more info check the link i posted at the top of this post
 
OK, everything is getting a bit clearer! so, what I have is the cracked freelauncher and the driver for xp(64bit). I put the driver into WINDOWS/DRIVERS and when I plug the gp32 in, it says "now wating..." - that is good :)
When I start the freelauncher and try to connect it won't work! It says "USB (and afterwards some weird signs)" - that is not good :( . Maxbe the driver isn't for my xp, because pclink doesn't recognise it, too .....
Anyway thx for the small tut and sorry I didn't answer your pm.

KingCheese
 
plug the gp32 to your pc and turn it on, go to "control panel">"system">"hardware">"device manager" and look for the gp32 there, and try installing the driver from there.

You mean you can't link with gpmanager? that may confirm that its a driver problem.
 
When I follow your description, I got an error, so it's not compatible with my win xp - even if I choose the driver for the gp32. The driver is compatible with win xp with 64bits - so my pc must have another xp!
I could try it with my older Laptop .....

KingCheese
 
QUOTE
KingCheese, Did you sort your problem with your GP32 ?.

Well the problem is that I couldn't find any driver that's matching with my win xp! I tried several drivers and the gpmanager and I've started to understand how the whole thing works - I have the cracked freelauncher, the right firmware and the sm formatting tool. But all in all I can't use 'em; and I only have a pc and a Laptop (both xp).
My only chance is to try it with a friend's pc, although I don't have much hope .... and that's very sad, because I first had the chance to play some emus on it (LJohn and sms32) and it was great!
Maybe (as a last resort) I could send it to ED or sth .....

KingCheese
 
I would say it IS just a compatibility problem between PC/driver/gp32, I remember it never was very robust... (unless its just your cable thats not good?)

Try it on your friends PC, or a different OS etc, it may be your 64bit setup messing things up...

Does anybody know for sure if freelauncher can be encoded for a specific SMC? if so you could get somebody to encode one and send you the SMC (maybe easier then sending away your gp32). I would be happy to try, but i live in the UK.

EDIT:

in the meantime, do you actually have winxp 64bit edition? If not, try the first driver on this page: http://users.skynet.be/firefly/gp32/

And make sure you actually go into device manager and install the new drivers manually.
 
Ok, I've just tried, and gotten it to work, so I'm in a better position to guide you ;)

Ok, first download and install the drivers i linked to above. These are for a normal winxp (SP2 maybe needed)

Turn on your GP32 with USB cable and lput it in pc-link mode. Load up GPManager. It should connect automattically, otherwise click connect. You'll be in the GAME section (the top buttons), press the SMC button to check it is all connected ok, you should see the content of your SMC. Make sure your SMC is formatted with the right directory structure (GPMM, GAME etc). If not, go to Format in GPManager and it'll do it for you.

Ok, now you no your GP32 connects ok, close GPManager.

Go back to the PC-Link option on your GP32, it should say now waiting. Load up the crack program as before, and click connect. No message should appear, the connect button should now be greyed out.

Go to add, and select the freelauncher file.
It appears on the left. Click to highlight it THEN go to the dropdown box and select encrypt with PDUID or SMC, both seem to work. Click start, a few progress bars should appear. This only seems to work if you have not already tried to install Freelauncher (if there is already GAME/Freelauncher directory/files on your SMC, delete them beforehand). A message appears (just click ok!) The program crashed on me at thsi point, but the Freelauncher should have been installed ok!

Now, turn your gp32 off and on, and go to the game section. You should see freelauncher displayed. Press START to load it. If nothing happens, its not been encoded right - Delete the freelauncher files off your SMC and try again.

If you STILL can't get it to work, post me your SMC and i'll encode a freelauncher onto it!
 
gp32_console = :)
Ok folks, I got it working!!
I think I managed it with the cracked freelauncher, but I don't exactly know that for sure :huh: - let me explain:
I tested several programs like the drivers, the freelauncher and the gpmanager. And after trying to install the freelauncher about half an hour or so, it suddenly was there (the weird thing is, that the gpmanager always said there was a connection error!). So, I installed the EU-fw ("bouncing logo"). That's all .....
This morning I tested a bunch of emus (DrMD, gphandy, snes9x,gpmame etc) and it sure is a great thing :D . And the batterie life of the gp32 is pretty amazing compared to the 2x! OK some emus are a bit difficult to use or to install (gpmame, frodo) but all in all I'm going to enjoy the next few weeks ....

And I want to say thank you to mrsnature for helping me!! That's why I love this comunity!

KingCheese
 
You're welcome, glad you finally got it working!

You might not be brave enough after that ordeal ( B) ) but i would recommend installing this firmware:

http://www.gpbios.tk/

- it is a firmware that simply loads another firmware off your SMC, so you can try out all the different firmwares without having to reflash again. The are a few homebrew firmwares which I think you'll find better than the GP one :)

But then again, if it ain't broken....
 
Well actually I'm not really interested in changing fws *except that gp32 one*. Even on the 2x I only have the normal fw and sometimes gmenu2x ..... As I only play games and emus on it I don't see much sense for that.
By the way: could you recommend some homebrew-games for the gp32?
I tried KOF'91, that slow noiz port, the MGS tech demo and I'm going the try Giana's Return ..... But I think there still are some games that are worth to play! :)

KingCheese
 
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