Is my GP32 faulty?

[delphiaddict]

Today is the day I've used a GP32 for the first time. I've read all the messages on here while waiting for it to arrive, followed all the guides on how to install etc and everything in that respect is fine BUT...

1. The machine crashes a lot - The number of times I've started Frodo for it to crash as the C64 screen is about to appear, well, I've lost count. The machine just resets itself.

2. ScummVM crashes straight away too although I've not run it enough times to compare it to Frodo.

3. When they do actually run, the sound is very crackly - Frodo crackles when you bring up the keyboard but then is OK once you get a game to load

4. The screen is a bit flickery. Frodo appears to make this worse until I increase the brightness which helps a lot

5. This morning the PC-Link software was fine but in the last hour I've started to get a lot of communication erros and the GP32 starts to click while the screen goes funny.

6. It seems to get very hot.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Are some of these problems down to the emulators being unstable? I'm a little bit worried that my machine is faulty.

Any suggestions?

 

[Axeman]

Some of these problems are the same sort of thing we all get from time to time, but some do seem suspect...

1) Unusual for Frodo to crash a lot even before the c64 screen appears...

2) ScummVM - used on Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Day of the Tentacle, and has never crashed on me...

3) Frodo does crackle sometimes - still something that is to be ironed out. Crackling tends to change/get better/worse when you do various things (e.g. bring up the keyboard as you described).

4) Hmmm... havent seen screen flickering that much - sounds a bit strange...

5) Check your batteries - you often get these types of errors when you have low batteries on your GP32.

6) Shouldn't be getting very hot (mine doesn't anyway) - does a backlight affect this does anyone know? If so have you got one?

All-in-all, I'd be inclied to suggest you've got a faulty unit. But change the batteries for some fresh ones first, and also try a new SMC before freaking out too much. Both can be the source of many woes....

Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[Demonix]

Did you use brand new batteries (not the cheap crappy ones where you get 100 for £2). I use Duracell Plus and they work a treat - I find towards the end of their life I get all sorts of weirdness happening on the little machine (like screen flashing etc).

 

[delphiaddict]

and also try a new SMC before freaking out too much

thanks for your input. That was the next thing on my mind. I guess I should try a new card but I only bought the one I've got 2 days ago

 

[delphiaddict]

I use Duracell Plus

Exact same brand in mine!

 

[zenocha]

Hmm, the heating up sounds very suspect to me, where abouts does the unit get hot, and also how hot. Mine runs cool and I've never heard of anyone elses heating up so I think it must be fualty, unless you have very hot hands .

 

[Flack]

I hate to add to your doubts, but I was going to mention that in the other Frodo thread we had going. I've never had Frodo lock up unless I loaded a non-compatible game. It's never locked up before the blue screen comes up, ever.

For batteries, I'm on my third set. The first were two brand new Duracells, the second set were two generic ones I pulled out of my VCR remote (hey, it was late and I was desperate) and the third set I'm on are Radio Shack rechargables. I haven't seen a significant difference in performance in any of them, except when the second set was running out things began getting dimmer and dimmer, and some things seemed to run slower (or was that my imagination?).

Of, two other things. Yes, Frodo makes crackly noises at the menu sometimes, so that's normal, but no, I've played my gp32 for, oh, let's say an hour or so and I didn't detect any warmth at all. My unit has no light.

Flack

 

[Kop_007]

Havent got anything to run on Scumm yet. Evertime I selct a game (click start) it just freezes. I have found Frodo a bit weird. It resest itself sometimes but apart from that....

 

[canterburyufo]

i agree with the flickering at the end of battery life. even it resets itself aswell, i definatly think u should try getting good batterys- expensive recharge ones will be a good investment. i thought one of the emulators was no good, but when i put new batteries in, all the bugs dissapeared. 10 hours goes pretty quick on one of these babies!

jim

 

[delphiaddict]

Thanks everyone, for all your comments.

I really do think my unit is faulty. I don't have a backlit unit but it gets hot near the battery compartment. Sometimes Frodo will run and I can play a game for a 10 minutes or so, but the moment it crashes it takes many attempts before I can get back to the position of being able to run a game.

Sometimes, Frodo will reset the GP32 and the startup sequence runs twice as fast as it should do with speeded up sound!

 

[Axeman]

Blimey! Sounds like it's massively overclocking! That could cause the heat problem, as an overclocked processor does give out a lot, and will proably die soon. <_<

 

[delphiaddict]

Thanks again, Axeman.

I've just emailed Craig at GBAX so I'll see what happends but it does appear to be faulty.

 

[zenocha]

If its not overclocked it sounds a lot like something is short circuiting, if the batteries are getting hot then thats usually why, a short circuit also this would explain the reseting and flickering, becuase mine does that on very low batteries so if it was a short circuit, it would cause the power to be drained very quickly, causing the batteries to heat up and the gp to reset and flicker due to lack of power. Although I am puzzled by the speeded up start sequence.

 

[Tim]

Dumb people like you put batteries in the wrong way.

 

[Degenerate]

Dumb people like you put batteries in the wrong way.

Dump people like you make idiotic posts on forums where you're not welcome.