I Can't Plug Sd Cards Into My Brand New Gp2x

[berighteous]

hi all!

I just got my first gp2x yesterday, and I can't plug any of my 1gb sd cards into it. I push em down and they pop right back up.

Here's a youtube video of me failing to plug the card in

It's supposed to just go down without any force right? I use these cards regularly in my computers, mp3 player, digital camera, etc. All of them "click" into place. I feel spring resistance pushing it back, but it doesn't ever lock.

EVery once in awhile if I push it down with some force it will stay in, but the gp2x doesn't load. I get to the green loading screen and it stays there forever. When I switch off and remove the card, it will start up fine.

I have 3 different cards from 3 different manufacturers, all formatted to fat 32 via my computer's card reader.

I sent a flurry of messages to pricego where I bought it from, and they're only response so far has been
"Hi, must push it all the way in." As you can see in the video, which I sent them as well, I seem to be doing that.

Is there a trick to it? If I push it very hard it will stick, but the gp2x won't come up. I'd rather have an easy fix than waiting for a week or more turnaround on a new one.

Anyone else ever have this problem?

Michael Packard

 

[thumpgun]

i no this sounds stupid , but are you putting them in the right way...with the label facing away from you and the cut of corner to the right-hand bottom , push down on it gently and it should click in...or maybe your using the wrong type of card...

 

[yodaofborg]

If you watch the vid he posted, you can see it is an SD card and he is puttin it in the right way, if it was the wrong way, you would have to apply real force to get it past the read only switch. Looks like a faulty SD card slot...

 

[imhotep]

Use your thumb nail to push it right in...

 

[GameGod]

There was a batch of GP2Xes with fault SD card sockets earlier this year, and it looks like you got one of the units. (I got one around Christmas with this problem, and a bunch of users had the same problem here on the forums.)

Contact whoever sold you the GP2X and get it exchanged. They'll hook you up with a new one or fix it.

 

[berighteous]

There was a batch of GP2Xes with fault SD card sockets earlier this year, and it looks like you got one of the units. (I got one around Christmas with this problem, and a bunch of users had the same problem here on the forums.)

Contact whoever sold you the GP2X and get it exchanged. They'll hook you up with a new one or fix it.

I was hoping there was some fix available. Waiting 2 weeks to get a new one is painful. I got it from pricego, and I had to send them 5 emails and a video before they responded to me. WHo knows if the next one they send me will work? maaaan.

The rest of the unit works fine, but with only 32 megs of accessible ram nand ram to uploa to, it severely limits what you can do. I put a few genesis games in it and they were fun. BTW Aladdin is my all time favorite Genesis game.

I'm looking at doing some game dev on it, porting a bunch of arcadey games I wrote for he PC 10 years ago. Looks lik a fun thing.

Oe of my master plans is building an arcade cabinet around it. The cradle is exciting, n that I can pop he unit into it to be in cabinet mode, then pop the gp2x out and take the games wth me places. If only the dang sd slotworked.

Sure there aren't any workarounds?

 

[thumpgun]

didnt see video link lol

 

[yodaofborg]

Well, none that I can think of without voiding your warrenty. If you get a torch, you can see if the pins are bent, which is what could be stopping your gp2x from accepting the card, if this is the case, you could open the unit and straighten them. But his is all depending on 2 factors, 1) are you willing to void your warrenty? 2) do you feel comfy doing the repair? Afterall, you can make matters worse if you break a pin off...

 

[GameGod]

Yeah, there's almost definitely a bent pin in there, and the socket they used in the crappy batch just blows - After seeing what the normal/better socket looks like, I'd recommend NOT trying to fix it yourself, because it's liable to happen again and totally snap off a pin. (...and since you'll have voided your warranty trying to fix it the first time, you'll be snookered.)

If your retailer's giving you trouble, I would suggest talking directly to GPH, if you can. (That's all your retailer's going to do for you...)

 

[rokdcasbah]

you tried pushing it farther down than that, right? i don't want to be responsible for you bending the pins more if that's the case but, it doesn't look in that video like you're going down all the way with it. like imhotep said, try using your fingernail.

but it is possible you got one with a faulty sd slot. sorry to hear it if that's the case. craigix, evildragon, or jrswiss might be of assistance if you didn't already buy it from one of them.

 

[berighteous]

yeah I got it to snap in a few times pushing hard with my fingernails. It went in, but the gp2x wouldn't boot up. It just hung forever on the green screen. When I push down sometimes it will pop out, and sometimes I needs to just pull it out. It's supposed to come up right away with the sd card in it right? WHen it's locked on the green, if I pull the card out it boots correctly.

I've tried it with 3 different cards, a toshiba, an impact, and an X1, and all of them do the same thing. All the cards work in other devices.

I guess I'm stuck shipping it back on monday. Till then I'm using the smaller emulators in NAND. 32 megs ain't enough to do much, but a few Genesis games fit in.

 

[rokdcasbah]

yeah, sounds like a bent pin all right.

 

[EvilDragon]

Yep, definately one of the defective units from last christmas batch.
I fixed too many of them, I know this behaviour..
It's fixable by opening up the SD Card slot and bending the pin back, however, I wouldn't suggest to do it as you have warranty.

 

[berighteous]

for a new device, it's weird that it didn't come with a warranty card or manual. Just the unit and a CD. They didn't even spring for a couple of batteries. cheap people. I couldn't even find a serial number on it, just a bunch of korean writing on the back.

Yeah I paid with paypal to pricego on the 16th, got it on the 19th and was just annoyed as all getout that I couldn't get it working.

I opened the back and looked to see if there was anything mechanical that was stuck or something, but I didn't see anything. Just the rectangular metal outside to the sd slot. I didn't see any way to get in, so I put it back together.

A few years ago I made a few hundred dollars "fixing" broken palm IIIxe's. I bought 10 of them in a lot on ebay for $9 each and all of them just had the motherboard improperly seated. I opened the cases, pushed the boards down on their mount pins and poof they all worked and I sold them back on ebay good as new for $45-50 each.

Anybody have any history with returning things to Pricego.org?

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, the warranty is the invoice of your dealer.
It's not common all over the world to have warranty cards.
It was quite common here in Germany until a few years ago, but most devices don't have a warranty card.

 

[berighteous]

thanx all

I wanna get one that works. I'm gonna scream if they send me another defective one.

I want to change the bootup pictures and sound file. Maybe a photo of my lovely wife. and smooching sounds...

 

[berighteous]

well, I shipped it back today. I asked them to please test the replacement unit to make sure it works before sending it to me.

 

[imhotep]

Just think positive, berighteous. I know it's frustrating, but soon you will have a new unit and will love every minute of using it like we all do here.

 

[jimid2]

well, I shipped it back today. I asked them to please test the replacement unit to make sure it works before sending it to me.

I asked the guys at gamersection.ca to test mine before shipping it to me because I had read of this issue prior to purchasing, and they were happy to do it for me, though it did delay my ship date by a couple of days while they pulled it and tested it. It was worth the wait though, because when I told them I wanted it for NeoGeo emulation they also tested the overclocking to make sure it would be a fast one; I get a solid 266MHz with zero issues!

 

[Miika]

well, I shipped it back today. I asked them to please test the replacement unit to make sure it works before sending it to me.

I asked the guys at gamersection.ca to test mine before shipping it to me because I had read of this issue prior to purchasing, and they were happy to do it for me, though it did delay my ship date by a couple of days while they pulled it and tested it. It was worth the wait though, because when I told them I wanted it for NeoGeo emulation they also tested the overclocking to make sure it would be a fast one; I get a solid 266MHz with zero issues!

Wow, why didn't I ask for that... I got a sucker that goes only up to 240MHz