Just ordered and I have a couple questions

[ChaosWarmech]

I just ordered my Pandora and I can't wait! I first heard about the Pandora back in 2009, but didn't have enough money to buy something I didn't know when I'd receive it. So I went with a Dingoo A320 instead. Blech. But a couple weeks ago when I found out that you could simply order them I immediately made plans to buy one; to know that I will soon have one is awesome! So I've been reading a lot on the forums/wiki but I still have a couple questions. I'm a linux noob for the most part, but I know my way around Ubuntu pretty well, and I'm becoming a little more comfortable with the CLI. Enough rambling, on to the questions!


1. opkg. Is it useful? I know it stores files on the NAND, and it can update other files that can corrupt the system, but is it still useful, or is it too volatile to use without proper instructions for something specific?


2. Formatting SD cards. Does it matter what file system you use? Since I would like to be able to access the files on a Windows system I plan on using FAT, but would the pandora be able to read ext2/3 slightly faster or better in anyway?


3. Swap files, does anyone use them? I briefly looked up how to set one up, but 256mb seems like it should be enough RAM. Do any of you find swap files necessary for any games/applications?


4. What type of files does PCSX support? I think I read somewhere that it supports cue/bin and img, but what about iso, mdf/mds, etc?


5. If there was a small applications for linux that doesn't require much resources, could it be ported by simply recompiling the source for ARM and packaging into a PND? Or would it require someone who knows what they are doing even for a small simple program? I would like to learn how to port applications/games, but I have no idea where to start; if it's easy to move small programs over that would be a nice way to get my feet wet.


I think that's all the questions I have for now. Thanks in advance. I look forward to becoming a part of the pandora community!

 

[vadsamoht]

1. It depends on what you plan on using the system for. If you just want to run games and emulators, or web browsing, then you should not need to use it, it is mainly for people who are either developing for the Pandora or want to tweak the system in some way. (of course there are always exceptions)


2. Yes, ext2/3/4 would be faster, but FAT should be fast enough for pretty much everything you can do on the Pandora, and even if you were to use ext3/4 the read and write speeds would probably be bottlenecked by the speed of your card anyway.


3. Some people put swap files on a usb stick, but for most applications it will not be necessary. I can only think of one game where it was reccommended to use a swap file, but I forgot it's name.


4. If you can recompile for ARM (and know how to to do that), then you should be fine. Some games, etc. require libraries that are not yet on the Pandora e.g. OpenGL or Ogre3D, and so cannot run without major code rewrites. So for example a 'hello world' program that has been compiled for ARM should be very easy to port.

 

[ChaosWarmech]

Awesome, thanks for the fast reply! I didn't expect a post for at least an hour.


Is there a list anywhere of things you shouldn't install with opkg? Or is it mostly just trial and error?


Do you know a good program that would be easy and doesn't require extra libraries? Would Gedit be a simple recompile?


Sorry for asking these questions a little premature, seeing as I don't even have mine yet, but I can't stop thinking about it! Anytime my brain is on idle the pandora pops into my mind and it's all I can think about for the next 30minutes or so afterward. It's even become a major part of my dreams. I'm showing signs of addiction to something I don't even own yet that's probably not healthy!

 

[vadsamoht]

Unfortunately, I don't think such a list exists just yet, but the worst that will happen is that you break something in the system and have to reflash (the pandora is unbrickable by design).


As for an easy program to port, I have no idea, although I'll let you know if I find one, because I'm about to start learning to port stuff as well.

 

[ChaosWarmech]

Yea, I saw how easy it was to reflash, and the fact that they made it unbrickable is freakin' awesome. I'm pondering how they were able to do that. I'm looking for the motivation to get back into programming, hopefully the pandora will do it.

 

[Addahn]

Hey guys,


So unbrickable means that if you really badly mess up system files that you can always return it to its default


settings and function?

 

[Nintendo]

^ That's right! It's totally unbrickable.

 

[ChaosWarmech]

Hey SONY do you know how they did that? I've been pondering it the past few minutes. With regular motherboards the way they prevent bricking is with dual CMOS, but I have no idea how the pandora is set up. I guess the bootloader is just independent from the firmware?

 

[vadsamoht]

Hey SONY do you know how they did that? I've been pondering it the past few minutes. With regular motherboards the way they prevent bricking is with dual CMOS, but I have no idea how the pandora is set up. I guess the bootloader is just independent from the firmware?

I think it's just the fact that there is a hardware reset and a bootloader that always checks the SD slot if the R button is held down. Hardware stuff is waay beyond me though, so this is just a guess.

 

[WizardStan]

Hey SONY do you know how they did that? I've been pondering it the past few minutes. With regular motherboards the way they prevent bricking is with dual CMOS, but I have no idea how the pandora is set up. I guess the bootloader is just independent from the firmware?

There's the bootloader on the NAND, and then a super secret boot loader in what effectively amounts to ROM: even if you completely thrash the NAND, including the bootloader, this backup ROM can be activated. Doing a full recovery in this way requires a very specially prepared SD card.


For the most part, you hope your bootloader never gets corrupted though: telling it to boot from SD card or reflash is pretty simple. Occasionally, it might be necessary to update the bootloader, hence the secret bootloader.

 

[ChaosWarmech]

There's the bootloader on the NAND, and then a super secret boot loader in what effectively amounts to ROM: even if you completely thrash the NAND, including the bootloader, this backup ROM can be activated. Doing a full recovery in this way requires a very specially prepared SD card.


For the most part, you hope your bootloader never gets corrupted though: telling it to boot from SD card or reflash is pretty simple. Occasionally, it might be necessary to update the bootloader, hence the secret bootloader.

Ahh, so there's two. I guess that makes sense. My guess was pretty close . I knew it had to be separate from the NAND somehow.

 

[Blue Protoman]

Hey guys,


So unbrickable means that if you really badly mess up system files that you can always return it to its default


settings and function?

Correct, but not from within the system; you'll need to download the firmware files (not the installer PND) and boot up holding the R button.