Has My Gp2X Just Died?

[agent_orange]

Hi everyone,

I just sold my GP2X F100 to someone via Ebay. It had Open2X as the installed firmware, and I tested it before packing, no issues. It was working perfectly before I even thought about selling it so had no reason to be concerned. I even have photos of it operating fine (i.e. showing the Open2X menu having completed booting).

The buyer has received the item fine, asked for some help as to how to use it, but then he claimed that the 8Gb SD card which I supplied was not working, but that his own 1Gb SD card was working fine. I admit I did forget to tell him earlier that ofcourse the GP2X cannot mount an SD card while it is running.

Anyway, later he claimed that he was playing away and that the GP2X just died, and now does not boot up at all either using the batteries or the power lead. Unconvinced, I suspected that the GP2X was not getting any power so I gave a list of suggestions and recommendations, like charge the batteries for atleast 35hrs, ensure the polarity of the power adapter is correct (its not the official power lead, its a 3rd party universal adapter), trying to power the GP2X via the cradle (and ofcourse the polarity of the cradle is reversed).

He has come back to me this morning saying none of this has worked! I have enjoyed this device for several years without ANY issues whatsoever. Despite all the problems, frustrations & build quality issues, I have NEVER heard of a GP2X just dying like that.

Ruling out stupidity and negligence like zapping the device with too many volts, can anyone think of any possible explanation to this apparent fault? I cant think of any logical explanation, other than the switch breaking.

Personally my hunch is that the buyer bought this, tried it out for a few minutes and now realises it takes a bit of effort to enjoy and now does not want it. What do you guys think? I might have to be prepared for a battle with PayPal

 

[torpor]

There is a bug in the GP2X that can cause these symptoms, I seem to remember it being mentioned in the GP2X wiki .. something to do with the power plug having a small component inside it that 'switches' if you don't plug the power cable in properly. Perhaps his style of plugging in the cable is slightly different to yours and thus he encountered it much sooner than you did .. but anyway, check the wiki, because its pretty well documented and can easily be fixed.

EDIT: See details here: http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/External_power_supply

Look at Caution/First Aid.

 

[senquack]

I think it might have been a mistake to include a universal power adapter because a lot of people aren't mindful enough of the delicacy of electronic components. He probably messed around with the DC adapter and fried the GP2X.

 

[christo930]

Hi everyone,

I just sold my GP2X F100 to someone via Ebay. It had Open2X as the installed firmware, and I tested it before packing, no issues. It was working perfectly before I even thought about selling it so had no reason to be concerned. I even have photos of it operating fine (i.e. showing the Open2X menu having completed booting).

The buyer has received the item fine, asked for some help as to how to use it, but then he claimed that the 8Gb SD card which I supplied was not working, but that his own 1Gb SD card was working fine. I admit I did forget to tell him earlier that ofcourse the GP2X cannot mount an SD card while it is running.

Anyway, later he claimed that he was playing away and that the GP2X just died, and now does not boot up at all either using the batteries or the power lead. Unconvinced, I suspected that the GP2X was not getting any power so I gave a list of suggestions and recommendations, like charge the batteries for atleast 35hrs, ensure the polarity of the power adapter is correct (its not the official power lead, its a 3rd party universal adapter), trying to power the GP2X via the cradle (and ofcourse the polarity of the cradle is reversed).

He has come back to me this morning saying none of this has worked! I have enjoyed this device for several years without ANY issues whatsoever. Despite all the problems, frustrations & build quality issues, I have NEVER heard of a GP2X just dying like that.

Ruling out stupidity and negligence like zapping the device with too many volts, can anyone think of any possible explanation to this apparent fault? I cant think of any logical explanation, other than the switch breaking.

Personally my hunch is that the buyer bought this, tried it out for a few minutes and now realises it takes a bit of effort to enjoy and now does not want it. What do you guys think? I might have to be prepared for a battle with PayPal

Did you put any kind of guarantee in your auction? Usually if something arrives in working condition, that's it (unless a guarantee was specified), especially if you put guaranteed not DOA. It If it is clear that it was working in your email correspondences with him, remind him that it was in working condition when it arrived and you have the email to prove it. Why don't you post a link to your auction so we can see it.

Chris

 

[coldfish]

I would echo christo930's thoughts.

If you have correspondence from him confirming it worked when he got it then you've done all you can.

It sounds suspicious, its too easy for someone to damage an item through carelessness or negligence then pretend that "it just stopped working." Even if it did, fact is used items aren't new items, you take a chance when buying used.

 

[agent_orange]

Heres the auction for your perusal:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180548710471&ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT

I have included no guarantees or returns.

He has stated in emails that it was working when it arrived (as mentioned his initial complaint was with the SD card - but I think that was because the cards only mount through booting), further subsequent emails has revealed that it was working fine through batteries, they ran out because they were not fully charged, he then used the uni adaptor which was correctly set ( you will notice in the auction photos that the device is being powered by the adaptor).

@Senor yes I agree that supplying a uni adaptor was risky as has been proven in this case, however the real reason for supplying it was for the cradle, plus I didnt need it anymore so thought I might as well include it.

Having said all that reading between the lines, I am wondering if the guy just was asking for support, in a badly worded way and that sending the link above about replacing the voltage regulator is all I can do.

Writing a responce now, will keep you updated

 

[christo930]

Heres the auction for your perusal:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180548710471&ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT

I have included no guarantees or returns.

He has stated in emails that it was working when it arrived (as mentioned his initial complaint was with the SD card - but I think that was because the cards only mount through booting), further subsequent emails has revealed that it was working fine through batteries, they ran out because they were not fully charged, he then used the uni adaptor which was correctly set ( you will notice in the auction photos that the device is being powered by the adaptor).

@Senor yes I agree that supplying a uni adaptor was risky as has been proven in this case, however the real reason for supplying it was for the cradle, plus I didnt need it anymore so thought I might as well include it.

Having said all that reading between the lines, I am wondering if the guy just was asking for support, in a badly worded way and that sending the link above about replacing the voltage regulator is all I can do.

Writing a responce now, will keep you updated

You probably have enough to fight him, but Paypal will often rule in favor of the buyer. Be sure to print out the emails you have from him stating that the item is working. He hasn't already left feedbacks, that might be something to consider. I would think that you can win this. I would remind him that it arrived in working order and that no guarantee was made. He can probably replace the gp2x itself for under $50 USD which is only 32 pounds, or less than 1/2 of what he paid for the whole kit.

 

[CCmachined]

Maybe he wasn't used to the way the GP2X powers off abruptly with the familiar "zzzbzbzz" noise in the headphones (if you know what I mean?) and the weirdness that happens to the image onscreen when the batteries run out of energy.

Sorry to say this, but I'm pretty sure there's a defect in DC in port of the unit that will fry some components if the polarity is wrong. Did you ask him if he tried both polarities? If he has ever tried center positive (outer grounded, this is the default for most power adaptors; for dual polarity ones TIP needs to line up with -,GND,-ve or etc, not +) or applied a voltage that was too high for even a second, his unit is almost certainly dead due to some voltage converters in it now being fried.

Relevant wiki post: link

The only thing I can suggest is that he replace his GP2X. Try calling him on the phone/skype/other VoIP service (or give him your number/id) so you can have a proper conversation, emails alone can seem cold and make you look like an evil bugger. If you didn't make the voltage/polarity thing clear, I'd apologise even if you didn't know about this problem either (just saying, no offence ), you've been lucky until now if that's the case.