Release HotFix 5 - RC 1 ready for testing!


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EvilDragon

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HotFix 5 is finally nearing completion. It's pretty stable already, so we got out of the Beta-Status and into RC 1.


It's not the final one yet and might have some bugs left, but it should run mostly without issues.


The final release will only add bugfixes and no new features.


It's still not in PND-form, so flashing this puts your Pandora back to the state you got it. Be sure to backup anything you put on the internal storage if you need it.


I'll work on making a PND-HF5-Installer for the final release.


Here are the changes that happened from Beta 4 to RC1:



Code:
* Added codepages (they had been removed when AbiWord has been removed). This prevented some apps like XBMC from starting.
* Removed the community backdrops to make the image size smaller.
* Added xdotool, a pretty useful and versatile app for mapping GUI functions to the keyboard
* Added Pandora Input Tester to the System-Menu
* Input Tester: Show keys that have been pressed
* libpnd: Increased the number of apps that can be defined in a PND from 20 to 50
* op_menu: specify field width for longer usernames (this fixes the non-working Pandora-Menu button in XFCE for some users)
* Low Power Mode: Now using cpu-speed-script to properly set the CPU Speed back
* MiniMenu: Some bug fixes (Keyboard-Shortcut wasn't working, crashed with wrong categories), etc.
* MiniMenu: Added Subcategory-folders in the Main Category
* MiniMenu: Added OVR-Editor
* MiniMenu: Added the possibility to add custom categories / subcategories (otherwise, the Freedesktop-Standard is used)


As you can see, there are a LOT of good new things happening with MiniMenu, thanks a lot to skeezix for this!


MiniMenu now supports subcategories as folders. On the main tab, only the main categories are shown. The grid shows ALL programs in that category as well as all available subcategories as folders. You can go into the folder to only view the programs within that subcategory.


If you have an program selected, you can press SPACE to open an OVR editor. You can change the category / subcategory as well as the name or CPU speed.


You can also hide an app if you want.


Please test these new features of MiniMenu! :)


In case you haven't checked the changes of HF5 Beta 1, 2 or 3 yet, here is the link to the the Beta 1 thread, here to the Beta 2 thread, here to the Beta 3 thread and here to the Beta 4 thread.


Download the latest version here.


How to flash the image?


Easy: Download the zipped image and extract the full contents onto the root of your SD Card.


Put the SD Card into slot 1 (the left one), switch on the Pandora while holding the R-Shoulder button and select "boot from SD1:1"


The flashing process should start. After it's finished, reboot the unit.


The first boot will take a while (up to 10 minutes). Patiently wait and you'll be greeted with the First Boot Wizard.

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Thanks ED! Downloading now to test things out. The team is making some righteous improvements! Thanks for your hard work.
 
Flashes my unit... I can confirm the long (>8char) username bug is indeed fixed. Other than this I did not notice anything special. I'll probably try minimenu tomorrow.


Great work on the constant firmware update :)
 
Nice! You guys work quick! My Pandoras on the way and at this pace I might just be loading up HF5 as soon as I get it! :)
 
Just put this on my unit, looks nice and I like the new features and fixes!


Thanks ED!
 
After booting the RC1 and overclocking at 1000 MHz, CPP 4, I've had my xfce menu button randomly disappearing and programs crashing. This was not showing in the previous beta.


Moving max CPP to 5 makesit stable at 1000 MHz.


What's changed into the overclock routines?
 
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After booting the RC1 and overclocking at 1000 MHz, CPP 4, I've had my xfce menu button randomly disappearing and programs crashing. This was not showing in the previous beta.


Moving max CPP to 5 makesit stable at 1000 MHz.


What's changed into the overclock routines?
Nothing, it probably worked for you before due to luck (when you overclock too much it's pretty much unpredictable).
 
This release so far has been uber stable, no bugs, working flawlessly. Played with it for about 2 hours and not a hitch. Getting better each time!
 
For anyone doing skinning .. next build lets you specify alternate artwork for different folder types ..


IMG_FOLDER config key is used for directory browser folder, or in the absence of the two new config keys. (ie: so existing skins still work)


IMG_SUBCATFOLDER config key provides filename or path for subcat-folder artwork


IMG_DOTDOTFOLDER config key provides filename or path for ".." folder in subcats


One of these days I'll make it so user can provide preferred folder artwork for each subcat separately, but thats not in yet :) Anyone want to be able to put a 'Emulator' tab, and a 'LogicGame' tab, and stuff like that? (I could make it just pick the first game in the subcat, or a random one, or the most played one, but that seems hokey.)


jeff
 
People has mentioned that OPP5 reduces the lifespan to about 5 years. But has anything been said about OPP4 in that regard? Can't find any information on it.
 
Just out of curiousity, are there any plans when to release the next version of the OS itself (Yia Kungfu? Yarrgh? Y-whatever?) like when you reach a given number of hotfixes or when the kernel gets updated etc.?
 
People has mentioned that OPP5 reduces the lifespan to about 5 years. But has anything been said about OPP4 in that regard? Can't find any information on it.

Any overvolting will reduce the lifespan of your processor. There's a thread on the GP32x boards that had lots of overclocking and overvolting information in it.


The fact remains though that unless you're overvolting your processor all the time, it's still relatively safe to run it at OPP4 or OPP5. I personally have not run my unit at a higher voltage, and I probably won't unless I really need a good speed boost. I can get 850 stably on stock voltage.
 
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