Open2x That Was Just Uploaded

[Tobriand]

I've been a little nervous about updating my firmware to either Cramfs or Open2x. Does it upgrade the same way as the official GPH firmware? I've succesfully upgraded to 1.4.0 with no problem. I might then try to upgrade to Cramfs or Open2x.

Pretty similar, though not quite the same. You have to run a program to flash the filesystem separately before updating though, or you end up with a crash, but that's just a matter of finding the right filesystem download (open2x in the filesystems section on Art's page - there's a link to it in the archive under homepage of the package with the modified skin) and matching up the firmware required with it.

i.e. If you want to use Open2x, download the filesystem called Open2x, the kernel with the same name, copy the filesystem to SD and run the .gpu... when it finishes, copy over the GP2xkernel.img file from the kernel zip and turn on - and hope you get a firmware flash.

If you update Uboot first, the flashing bit is less haphazard is all, if I understand rightly...


In terms of which is better, most seem to be saying Open2x; it does have some slight advantages over cramfs, and possibly some major ones. And so far as I can tell, the only disadvantage is the lack of an sterm (which you can *get* - you just have to install it yourself). So go with that, I would...

 

[fomit]

Install instructions:

1) If you are running CramFS make sure you reflash the GPH 1.4 firmware. You only need to flash the firmware. You don't need to run the applications utility.

2) Insert an SD card with the contents from the Open2X archive ONCE THE GP2X has booted the GPH 1.4 firmware. Run the Open2X utility. This will perform the update to SquashFS and will make your NAND read-only.

3) Make sure that the only thing on your SD Card is the new kernel (gp2xkernel.img) and restart your GP2X. This should install the new kernel.

Once this is finished you will have a fairly quickly booting GP2X.

---

I have noticed the same movie player freezes with this firmware as with CramFS. It only seems to freeze when running on "normal". I'm not quite sure why the video freezes.

Also, one thing I have noticed with the movie player is that when I have multiple video files on a card and I am playing the last file, the movie player refuses to play the last approximately 30 seconds of the last file. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Javacat]

Does this fix the problem with sound coming out of the speakers on the GP2X when using TV-Out?

 

[DijiTao]

Fomit - on a completly unrelated note - I'd just like to say that every time I see your name I think of the GCC complier optomization "--fomit-frame-pointer"...

-fomit-frame-pointer
	Don't keep the frame pointer in a register for functions that don't need one. This avoids the instructions to save, set up and restore frame pointers; it also makes an extra register available in many functions. It also makes debugging impossible on some machines.

	On some machines, such as the VAX, this flag has no effect, because the standard calling sequence automatically handles the frame pointer and nothing is saved by pretending it doesn't exist. The machine-description macro FRAME_POINTER_REQUIRED controls whether a target machine supports this flag. See Register Usage.

	Enabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3, -Os.

 

[DynaMight]

Just upgraded to this (Aswell as art103's uboot) boot time is now 11secs from switch on, very impressive. The menu aint half bad either.

 

[cbox]

I'm a little confused about this stuff too, is there just a modified firmware that doesn't change your NAND to write only that has USB host support? I got a USB cable and want to be able to hook up stuff as easily as possible without needing a degree to figure out the stuff that's posted here, I don't have any Linux background like a lot of people here so a lot of these words just go over my head.

 

[aapje89]

I dont think there is one.

 

[sbock]

I'm a little confused about this stuff too, is there just a modified firmware that doesn't change your NAND to write only that has USB host support? I got a USB cable and want to be able to hook up stuff as easily as possible without needing a degree to figure out the stuff that's posted here, I don't have any Linux background like a lot of people here so a lot of these words just go over my head.

You need the "user_files" from Art's Homepage.
There is no need to change the firmware for USB host support.

Regards,
Stephan

 

[Huxley]

I'd like to, but I can't really upgrade to this firmware because my SD doesn't support the GPH method of installing.

 

[yaustar]

Can you install the Open2X firmware using any standard GPH firmware (1.1 etc) or must you upgrade to 1.4 first?

 

[evill33t]

shock can you make an image with this skin ? :rolleyes:
i am to lazy to compile squashfs atm ^.^

 

[virusx]

Thanks for this Firmware guys !
I only have one or two questions :
Is it possible to have a skin-changer patch like the one we've got for Cramfs ?
Is it normal that I get slight skips with this firmware. Like the ones I got with Cramfs ?

 

[sbock]

Can you install the Open2X firmware using any standard GPH firmware (1.1 etc)

Yes.

sbock can you make an image with this skin ?
i am to lazy to compile squashfs atm

Nice skin, but I'm lazy, too
Use a live linux with squashfs support like Slax . It's a piece of cake then.

Thanks for this Firmware guys !
I only have one or two questions :
Is it possible to have a skin-changer patch like the one we've got for Cramfs ?

Yes, I think it is possible. I hope fheusel will submit a new version from his great tool.

 

[Crazy Goat]

I followed the Tharos Portal tutorial and it worked GREAT! Boot time is quite impressive.

http://fusion.tharos-online.de/readarticle-5.html

[Re-posting in case someone overlooked it]

 

[DaveC]

Does this FW allow you to adjust LCD timing to reduce flicker?

Does this FW allow you to adjust the backlight (not graphics) brightness? I noticed different FW versions have diferent backlight brightnesses, most are too bright.

 

[Crazy Goat]

Think of it like this - it is like the boot speed of CramFS, but with all the same features as 1.4.0.


Pros - Really Fast Boot

Cons - Worst Skin I have ever had to use.
- Cannot Replace this horrible skin.
- This skin uses a gradient, which to me - increases the scanline problem 100x over.


Until they add support for custom skins - do not get it.

(I am going to dig through the readme.txt and see if I missed something).

 

[yaustar]

As linked earlier, it is possible to use different skins on the firmware:
http://archive.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,42,1439

 

[sbock]

Does this FW allow you to adjust LCD timing to reduce flicker?

Yes, the same as Firmware 1.4.0.


@Crazy Goat

Read the thread. There are 2 open2x versions with different skins. At the moment there is no tool to change the skin, but you can mount the open2xfile.img with Linux and edit the skin.

 

[GeminiDomino]

I'm just a bit confused because I thought it was a seperate filesystem image, so I don't get why the FW on it before flashing matters.

Just as I said. Cramfs is a read-only filesystem. So you can't run a program that wants to write to the nand. You need one from the GPH firmwares (1.4.0 is just an example, 1.1.0 should also work...)

Does this mean that it will stop you from making further upgrades when the problems in 1.4 are fixed?

No.

Oh, I get it. When you said "you need the 1.4 FW" you meant the OP specifically. I thought it was a generic "you" and there was something specific in the 1.4 that you needed.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[wiggythebrave]

Sorry if this is a daft question, but I just want to make sure I don't total my gp2x.


I want to update to open2x, so I've reverted to gph 1.4 from camfs. I'm now stuck on what to do next after downloading version from the archive.

The version in the file archive has the following files when you decompress...

flash_open2x.gpu
gp2x_write
gp2xkernel.img
gp2xole
open2xfile.img
veraMono (font file)


Which files do I use for first and second steps?


Thanks.