Losing My Love for My Pandora?
- Thread starter Hồng Thất Công
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WizardStan
Mega GP Mania
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- May 24, 2008
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I've had 3 Pandoras and never had a major problem with wifi on any of them no matter where I go. I was using it at PAX, surrounded by 80'000 people with wi-fi enabled devices who were constantly complaining about being unable to get a signal, and I was surfing just fine.
Kumaki
Well-Known Member
I have had limited minor occasional trouble with the wifi, but always in places where I had weak signal anyway. Never in a place with a strong signal.
Edy
Member
Almost any time I have to install or configure anything on Pandora. Many times stuff don't work nicely and seamlessly out of the box.
Latest experience: Yesterday I've received my upgraded Pandora (600Mhz -> 1Ghz plus silver case). I thought it would be a good idea to update some software and see how things have evolved (almost hadn't used my batch-one-first-ed Pandora for the latest 1-2 years). Here we go...
PNDStore. Still doesn't even have a search option. Switched to PNDManager. Found a new VICE (C64 emulator). Install. Starts downloading, reaches ~20%... crash to desktop. Open PNDManager again. Repeat operation. Click install. Crash to desktop. Tried to open PNDManager. Doesn't even open. Restart Pandora...
Extracted SD, inserted in PC, downloaded latest VICE in PC, inserted the SD back in the Pandora. My "Emulators" menu is now bloated with lots of emulators for Commodore machines nobody uses. 90% people use VICE for C64. I figured out I could edit the PND for keeping C64 only. Downloaded PNDTools. Tried to open VICE.PND in PNDTools. Doesn't work. Doesn't show any error. Followed instructions in the readme.txt for figuring out the error. Repeat trying opening VICE.PND in PNDTools. Shows some kind of error that it can't find don't-remember-what signature or code in the file. Switched off Pandora. Going to sleep.
I'm really surprised and pleased when anything related to Pandora work seamlessly without any issues.
So when I feel in the mood I may think on doing things with Pandora. I assume I'll waste a day/evening/night fighting with issues, searching for solutions in bloated forums and spare docs, downloading things here and there, and so on. So once I've finally made everything work (that is: installed emulators/apps, configured whatever thing they want to be configured, copied files/roms/ninjas to the specified directories, and surprise! it works!), then I finally close the 30+ tabs in Chrome (PC) and forget about ANYTHING related to touching a single setting in Pandora. I can finally enjoy it, or at least in the way I can live with the impossible-to-deal-with issues (there are some of these left, always), and play some games and emulators hoping not to have to do this again in a long, long time.
I can't complain... it's the way it has always been.
In the end, the good times enjoying the Pandora compensates these days of extreme frustration. Pandora 1Ghz + Dosbox Ex v8 have made System Shock actually playable!! It's my personal All Time Number One game. Even the frame rate is the same as when I played it the first time in a 486 @66 Mhz. And the long runs with the SCUMMVM games. It's like if Pandora were designed to play point&click adventure games. Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Dig... and many others I hadn't played before, but now sometimes they even substitute my book reading before sleeping.
ekianjo
Hardcore Member
Not surprised by what I read above. The Pandora is not made for everyone. Personally, while I like smooth, painless experiences, I still enjoy trying new stuff and seeing they do not work as expected. Then it throws me in a "trying to fix it" kind of mode, just like when I use Linux on my desktop. You learn a lot this way about how the system is structured, how the OS works and so on.
The Pandora is a Desktop Linux Computer. That's the reality. Not everything will work exactly like you want, but you can do SO much with it.
The Pandora is a Desktop Linux Computer. That's the reality. Not everything will work exactly like you want, but you can do SO much with it.
WizardStan
Mega GP Mania
- Joined
- May 24, 2008
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- 16,731
It makes me sad to hear that people are struggling because whenever I use my Pandora it does "just work" (for the things that are supposed to "just work" I mean, not the experimental stuff we're playing with). The wifi isn't the fastest but it's good enough; I don't experience all these crashes that some people complain about; the most difficult part I can think of is copying data files and roms into the correct directories and that's just basic file manipulation. Whenever I hear about someone having troubles I want to sit down next to them and go "show me step by step exactly how you're using it, maybe they've made something non-obvious that we can help improve" but that's unlikely to happen. This is a benefit to big teams with lots of money and large expected sales: they can hire playtesters and work until everyone knows what is going on. OPT doesn't have that luxury.
Hồng Thất Công
Đả Cẩu Bổng Pháp
I appreciate all the support and positive comments. I'm an electrical engineer and I love to play with electronic stuff. Every single electronic toys I own, I open them and see how they work and sometimes modify them to make it better. I won first place in a robot competition in my university. Though an electrical engineer, I love software programming but has never gotten a chance to learn a language until recently. I taught myself C# and created, in my spare time, a pretty powerful financial application for my company where I'm currently working and saved them a whole bunch of money 
. What I'm trying to say is I don't think I'm "the Joe average type of guy." I've spent countless of hours experimenting with my Pandora and encountered all the issues Edy and others have experienced. I also spent lots of time trying to make things work on my new Pandy, and it have been a joy doing that. I did break my Pandy and did order the parts from EvilDragon and did open up the Pandy many times and replaced the case and other parts. I am proud to say that I'm the only one who have this Pandy and I did all this on my own. You can see it here. But I guess I'm a perfectionist and want games to run perfectly on the Pandy. If I were to own the Pandora in, say, 1980, then perhaps I would not feel like I'm feeling now with my Pandora, and that is "Losing my love for it". The problem nowadays is there are so many good gadgets out there (IPad, PS Vitas, 3DS, etc.), and when you put the Pandora close to these, in terms of playing newer games as well as retro games, you would see the difference. I guess the only way for me to fall in love again is to learn to program and make my own emulators on the Pandora. That way I will be like a bird flying freely in this supposedly "freedom" world of Pandora , because right now I'm feeling like I'm imprisioned as I'm new to Linux and the opensource stuff. and have to depend on other developers. Therefore, FREEDOM is a subjective term. If you don't know something, you're automatically imprision by your lack of knowledge doesn't matter how open the Pandora is. I think that's what I'm struggling with. I will definitely fall in love again when I know how to fly in this free world of the Pandora. And that may take a while...........
. What I'm trying to say is I don't think I'm "the Joe average type of guy." I've spent countless of hours experimenting with my Pandora and encountered all the issues Edy and others have experienced. I also spent lots of time trying to make things work on my new Pandy, and it have been a joy doing that. I did break my Pandy and did order the parts from EvilDragon and did open up the Pandy many times and replaced the case and other parts. I am proud to say that I'm the only one who have this Pandy and I did all this on my own. You can see it here. But I guess I'm a perfectionist and want games to run perfectly on the Pandy. If I were to own the Pandora in, say, 1980, then perhaps I would not feel like I'm feeling now with my Pandora, and that is "Losing my love for it". The problem nowadays is there are so many good gadgets out there (IPad, PS Vitas, 3DS, etc.), and when you put the Pandora close to these, in terms of playing newer games as well as retro games, you would see the difference. I guess the only way for me to fall in love again is to learn to program and make my own emulators on the Pandora. That way I will be like a bird flying freely in this supposedly "freedom" world of Pandora , because right now I'm feeling like I'm imprisioned as I'm new to Linux and the opensource stuff. and have to depend on other developers. Therefore, FREEDOM is a subjective term. If you don't know something, you're automatically imprision by your lack of knowledge doesn't matter how open the Pandora is. I think that's what I'm struggling with. I will definitely fall in love again when I know how to fly in this free world of the Pandora. And that may take a while...........
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Kumaki
Well-Known Member
I am a moron and a fool with most of this stuff, and I don't even have problems with most stuff, IT JUST PLAIN WORKS.
I have no idea why these people are having all these problems.
I have no idea why these people are having all these problems.
ExquisiteCorpse
Member
>I taught myself C# and created, in my spare time, a pretty powerful financial application for my company where I'm currently working and saved them a whole bunch of money
Don't want to be sceptical but if you're doing any form of devving - let alone saving your company a ton of cash I'm not sure what problems you're having..
Don't want to be sceptical but if you're doing any form of devving - let alone saving your company a ton of cash I'm not sure what problems you're having..
About those little glitches in emulators:
I have a WiiU and Darksiders 2.
The game is awesome but it froze my WiiU more than PCSXreARMed did with the Pandora.
Also I had to turn off the WiiU twice because I was trapped in some midair.
Also I have to wait for long loading times on field and dungeons, no black screen, but game stops moving and loads.
The game and the WiiU are great but that's bad programmed software, not the emulators on Pandora.
I have a WiiU and Darksiders 2.
The game is awesome but it froze my WiiU more than PCSXreARMed did with the Pandora.
Also I had to turn off the WiiU twice because I was trapped in some midair.
Also I have to wait for long loading times on field and dungeons, no black screen, but game stops moving and loads.
The game and the WiiU are great but that's bad programmed software, not the emulators on Pandora.
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Kumaki
Well-Known Member
Niiiiiiiiice!!>I taught myself C# and created, in my spare time, a pretty powerful financial application for my company where I'm currently working and saved them a whole bunch of money
Don't want to be sceptical but if you're doing any form of devving - let alone saving your company a ton of cash I'm not sure what problems you're having..
I certainly hope your company adequately rewarded you for what you did!
right. It's a UMPC with gaming controls (which puts it into a whole different class pricewise).
I am sorry to hear you are having trouble with PNDTools, a program I am developing.
I tried to open the vice.pnd you mentioned and PNDTools indeed fails to open it, but it does print out an error in the log at the bottom of the main window (it might be a good idea to show a message box, which is more prominent, and in fact I have added that to the todo list).
It does not work, because the vice.png is using a filesystem currently not supported by PNDTools. There is currently no way around it, sorry (but this is also an item on my todo list, which is not of much help now obviously).
In general, if you are having a problem with a certain application, it is crucial you contact the author of said application and report it. This is what the Pandora and the community spirit around it is about. By doing that you are really helping out and applications will be improved over time.
I know this seems much to ask, applications should function without bugs or errors, but developers are doing this in their spare time, they can only anticipate so many use-cases and some bugs will always go by unnoticed.
Some software is labelled "beta" for a reason (PNDTools is for example) and to me the Pandora is more about the community than the device itself - developing, helping others out and using/playing go hand in hand really.
To the OP: Yes, I have felt this way. I was really happy with the device after I got it, but after a while I was more disappointed by the poor wifi speed (which makes browsing or downloading new pnds a pain for me) and poor build quality (my case came with a few major cracks already).
The Pandora certainly is far from perfect and things require some patience and tinkering. I think if you are in for only one of emulators/gaming/music/browsing/etc you will be disappointed.
The Pandora is about tinkering, it's a mini pc for on the go, it's about the community and I think in that case the advertising for it is misleading as it focusses on emulators too much. Sure, emulators are a big part, but if you only come for the emulators you might not stay for long.
@Shenmue:
You seem to have had the same bad luck as I had.
The first game I wanted to play on the Pandora was "Grandia" for PSX and at this time, it stopped at any fighting scene, neither in versions before nor after this,
but I lost the flow of the game and have not gotten into it again.
Second one was "Mario & Luigi" for GameBoyAdvance and.. well.... something very similar happened but more random and it only happens more often in later stages of the game, which really pissed me off,
because with Grandia I lost an hour but with Mario & Luigi these were several hours, although I was able to transfer the saves to my PC and game on there.
Later on, I noticed, that these seemed to be the only ones with issues for me, because every single game I played afterwards was smooth and finishable without any glitches.
If I think about the issues I had with SNES-Games on my Caanoo, I realize, that these were the main reason for buying a Pandora, but I seem to have played the wrong games there either,
because I happened to choose the faulty emulated ones at the beginning with Caanoo AND Pandora, which were very different games of course.
Send in bug reports, get over it and try another one and hope, that your reports are noticed,
mine of Grandia resulted in a version, which could play Grandia great again. ^^
Sadly, "Mario & Luigi" still suffers from the same problem, but that should be the same on PSP and other machines with this emulator.
Load up all the newest versions, try different games and give it another chance.
I am playing more DS at the moment, but I still use the Pandora for Audiobooks, Movies, Webradio and a quick look in some communitys (without having to boot my big PC).
You seem to have had the same bad luck as I had.
The first game I wanted to play on the Pandora was "Grandia" for PSX and at this time, it stopped at any fighting scene, neither in versions before nor after this,
but I lost the flow of the game and have not gotten into it again.
Second one was "Mario & Luigi" for GameBoyAdvance and.. well.... something very similar happened but more random and it only happens more often in later stages of the game, which really pissed me off,
because with Grandia I lost an hour but with Mario & Luigi these were several hours, although I was able to transfer the saves to my PC and game on there.
Later on, I noticed, that these seemed to be the only ones with issues for me, because every single game I played afterwards was smooth and finishable without any glitches.
If I think about the issues I had with SNES-Games on my Caanoo, I realize, that these were the main reason for buying a Pandora, but I seem to have played the wrong games there either,
because I happened to choose the faulty emulated ones at the beginning with Caanoo AND Pandora, which were very different games of course.
Send in bug reports, get over it and try another one and hope, that your reports are noticed,
mine of Grandia resulted in a version, which could play Grandia great again. ^^
Sadly, "Mario & Luigi" still suffers from the same problem, but that should be the same on PSP and other machines with this emulator.
Load up all the newest versions, try different games and give it another chance.
I am playing more DS at the moment, but I still use the Pandora for Audiobooks, Movies, Webradio and a quick look in some communitys (without having to boot my big PC).
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porg
Active Member
WiFi is bad indeed. There is a lengthy report here.
Please try disabling powersaving, as stated in that report, and report if it is better then.
And also which router you use.
There is the suspection, that the WiFi chips were not all properly calibrated.
If you are tech-savvy enough there's also a calibration dump tool in the newest OS.
We would love to see profile dumps from people affected by bad WiFi.
A solution of the WiFi issues is unlikely, but not impossible.
Please try disabling powersaving, as stated in that report, and report if it is better then.
And also which router you use.
There is the suspection, that the WiFi chips were not all properly calibrated.
If you are tech-savvy enough there's also a calibration dump tool in the newest OS.
We would love to see profile dumps from people affected by bad WiFi.
A solution of the WiFi issues is unlikely, but not impossible.
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