Mod To Make Pandora Bigger

[mali]

Chick magnet FTW

 

[Dimacus]

Dang, I had one of these floppy drives, got it free at a garage sale. Couldn't figure out what the heck the connector went to so I just donated it to GoodWill, but we all know they just throw away electronics they don't think they can sell. Wish I'd have known, would've mailed it to one of you guys

CURSES! My Libretto only arrived yesterday. What the seller didn't tell me was that it requires a BIOS refresh (these things have weird BIOS arrangements) and it won't run until that's done. And a PCMCIA floppy drive is is the only way to do it. And it didn't come with one. <_< So I just bought one.

A what-now?
I own both a 50ct and a 100ct and I have never encountered that, would you mind elaborating?

 

[gruso]

A what-now?
I own both a 50ct and a 100ct and I have never encountered that, would you mind elaborating?

I thought it was broken at first, no LCD or VGA output. Evenutally I found out that holding F12 on powerup takes you to the BIOS refresh screen, a single line of text that asks you to insert a floppy. It's not going anywhere until I give it a disk.

 

[may88]

They don't make trousers with big enough pockets. Not interested.

Urm! A 21:9 aspect ratio Pandora. But where to put the popcorn.

 

[Dimacus]

Ah sounds indeed like a failed bios update.
You will (if you haven't downloaded it earlready) need to download the latest bios, from somewhere like here:
http://209.167.114.38/support/download/files_Archive/Index/bios_upgrade.htm

And if it is a 50ct or a 70ct you will also need a 720k disk, them high-tech hi-density 1.44 disks wont do.

 

[Username]

well i was thinking that someone could redesign the pandora when they get it with a biggeer screen and just enlarge the whole thing including the battery, say twice the size something like what ben heck did with the ps3, made his own case n put a pc screen in there.

I smell a troll.

 

[gruso]

Ah sounds indeed like a failed bios update.
You will (if you haven't downloaded it earlready) need to download the latest bios, from somewhere like here:
http://209.167.114.3...ios_upgrade.htm

And if it is a 50ct or a 70ct you will also need a 720k disk, them high-tech hi-density 1.44 disks wont do.

Ah thanks. I'd done some research and found info to this effect, but this is the confirmation I need.

I found a couple of discussions around the traps where people have reached this screen, done a successful BIOS update, then been returned to the screen next time they do a battery swap. Could that be the result of a dead CMOS battery do you think? Just preparing myself for that possiblity.

 

[Dimacus]

Ah sounds indeed like a failed bios update.
You will (if you haven't downloaded it earlready) need to download the latest bios, from somewhere like here:
http://209.167.114.3...ios_upgrade.htm

And if it is a 50ct or a 70ct you will also need a 720k disk, them high-tech hi-density 1.44 disks wont do.

Ah thanks. I'd done some research and found info to this effect, but this is the confirmation I need.

I found a couple of discussions around the traps where people have reached this screen, done a successful BIOS update, then been returned to the screen next time they do a battery swap. Could that be the result of a dead CMOS battery do you think? Just preparing myself for that possiblity.

No, If memory serves the battery only supplies the rtc with power, so I don't think so.
I suspect that most people who had this problem either used a corrupt floppy or the wrong bios version.
Or perhaps it's possible that they used a high-density floppy to update, but Im not sure what the effects of that would be, since I have never tried that myself.

The symptoms of this might only present themself after you had removed the battery since most users probably thought that the libretto was off, rahter than just asleep.
Just pressing the power button usually sends the unit to sleep, rather than shutting it down.

If you can't find a 720k floppy, I might just be able to dig one up for you.

 

[Tensuke]

Atomicthumbs, marry me!

edit: do you perhaps have a higher res image?
edit2: just where did you get that?

 

[willrandship]

well i was thinking that making it slightly larger wud give it a bit more bootspace for mods such as built in 1.8" hdd and 3G and extra USBs. higher WATTage speakers with a seperate AMP to run them. and a larger screen may do some good as it could have a higher resolution. say using the same screen from an asus EEE with the little 7" screen may be kool

I have a solution for you. I actually presented this idea as an add on in an old thread. Build something that clips onto the top, contains a USB hub and 4 ports. In 2 of those ports hook up a USB 3G adapter and a HD adapter!

The screen is huge! Why complain? They made it almost ridiculously huge for a handheld, and it has awesome pixel density! 3 (or was it 4?) DS screens could fit on it at the same time!

The Speakers already have an amp. There's also a headphones port that would let you incorporate the speakers into the attachment, but its another cord...

It might all fit, but maybe you'd have to do some trimming. While you're at it, throw in a camera too!

 

[megabyte]

well i was thinking that someone could redesign the pandora when they get it with a biggeer screen and just enlarge the whole thing including the battery, say twice the size something like what ben heck did with the ps3, made his own case n put a pc screen in there.

are you kidding me? that would defeat the whole purpose of the device, the beauty is on the portable side. If I wanted a bigger device I would use a 21 inch Dell all in one to run all the emulators I wanted.

Really what's the point? external joystick? then you might as well get a netbook and plug in a generic pad. If you make it bigger it won't be a portable device.

 

[twent4]

I just bought something that fits the bill.

Spoiler

(Not my pic. It's much smaller than it looks when you see it IRL. And very, very cute.)

Dang, I had one of these floppy drives, got it free at a garage sale. Couldn't figure out what the heck the connector went to so I just donated it to GoodWill, but we all know they just throw away electronics they don't think they can sell. Wish I'd have known, would've mailed it to one of you guys

Connector? All it is is a floppy disk on the end of the cable, so you insert it in the laptop floppy drive and get a floppy drive 7 inches away from your computer. Especially useful for those of us who like floppy, and want to floppy while we floppy.

 

[mali]

edit: do you perhaps have a higher res image?
edit2: just where did you get that?

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/50534-wallpapers-and-other-graphics-wanted/page__view__findpost__p__789039
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/48984-pandora-alternative/

 

[gruso]

No, If memory serves the battery only supplies the rtc with power, so I don't think so.
I suspect that most people who had this problem either used a corrupt floppy or the wrong bios version.
Or perhaps it's possible that they used a high-density floppy to update, but Im not sure what the effects of that would be, since I have never tried that myself.

The symptoms of this might only present themself after you had removed the battery since most users probably thought that the libretto was off, rahter than just asleep.
Just pressing the power button usually sends the unit to sleep, rather than shutting it down.

If you can't find a 720k floppy, I might just be able to dig one up for you.

Cheers for the info.

I have managed to procure myself an unopened box of DS/DD floppies. ^_^

 

[elwing]

No, If memory serves the battery only supplies the rtc with power, so I don't think so.
I suspect that most people who had this problem either used a corrupt floppy or the wrong bios version.
Or perhaps it's possible that they used a high-density floppy to update, but Im not sure what the effects of that would be, since I have never tried that myself.

The symptoms of this might only present themself after you had removed the battery since most users probably thought that the libretto was off, rahter than just asleep.
Just pressing the power button usually sends the unit to sleep, rather than shutting it down.

If you can't find a 720k floppy, I might just be able to dig one up for you.

Cheers for the info.

I have managed to procure myself an unopened box of DS/DD floppies. ^_^

isn't a 720k floppy disk a 1.44Mb disk without a hole in a corner?

 

[Pleng]

Well many DD disks could be used as HD disks by punching through the hole, but I don't think it was a particularly safe way to store data, as far as I recall

 

[elwing]

Well many DD disks could be used as HD disks by punching through the hole, but I don't think it was a particularly safe way to store data, as far as I recall

yes, as some 720kb disk were 1.44Mb bined as bad for 1.44Mb... covering a 1.44Mb hole should be safe I guess...

 

[trooper]

isn't a 720k floppy disk a 1.44Mb disk without a hole in a corner?

No, A 720kb floppy disk is a formatted 1Mb disk (DD = Double Density), And a 1.44Mb floppy disk is a formatted 2Mb disk(HD = High Density). The 2Mb HD disk has narrower tracks on the disk (think DVD vs CD), So is able to fit double the amount tracks, Thus double the amount of data. The hole was there so that floppy drives could tell whether a HD or a DD disk had been inserted and could be formatted accordingly.

Trooper

 

[gp32rich]

if it wasn't supposed to fit my pocket, i'd rather buy a netbook (as a matter of fact, i did)
i bought pandora, but i still hope for a slimmer version in the future

Pandora SP or Pandora slim & lite?
I don't think they'll make one... the majority of the space is taken by the battery and omap needs a bit of space to breeze.
But who really knows?

+1 for tablet edition ... with nubbins of course

 

[Dimacus]

isn't a 720k floppy disk a 1.44Mb disk without a hole in a corner?

No, A 720kb floppy disk is a formatted 1Mb disk (DD = Double Density), And a 1.44Mb floppy disk is a formatted 2Mb disk(HD = High Density). The 2Mb HD disk has narrower tracks on the disk (think DVD vs CD), So is able to fit double the amount tracks, Thus double the amount of data. The hole was there so that floppy drives could tell whether a HD or a DD disk had been inserted and could be formatted accordingly.

Trooper

You can format a HD floppy as a DD floppy, but only if the HD floppy has never been formatted before.
According to Wikipedia , it's because the strength of the magnetic field used to format HD floppy's is much higher than the field used to format DD floppy's.