Random Gp2x F-100 Mk2 Death

[Megagun]

Hey there..

I've happily used my GP2x F-100 MK2 (currently running Open2x DR4 + patch) for two years now, until yesterday I wanted to play a mission in X-Com without my AC adapter inserted (I usually play with the AC adapter inserted). When I turned it on, the screen immediately went to a rainbow screen; obviously the batteries had run dry. I couldn't really be bothered to use the GP2x anymore, and went off to do something else...

..until later that day I got the urge to play again, this time with my AC adapter inserted.... And it wouldn't boot! D:

I got the black GP2x welcome screen, but that was it. No happy Open2x booting screen. I did get the bootsound, though (or rather, the few crackles my 'silent bootsound' makes).. Remember, this is with the AC adapter inserted, and no batteries inserted (I heard that batteries + ac adapter = bad, so I never inserted batteries when playing using the AC adapter). I've been charging the batteries as of then, and I still can't use my GP2x, even when trying it with fully charged (or so I think; charging them a bit again) batteries...

I decided that, maybe, something bad happened when my batteries died immediately upon bootup, so I formatted the SD card, got Open2x DR4, and put that on it. Booted the GP2x with the SD inside, held start+select.... and nothing happened. No 'updating firmware' screen.. Nothing... Just still the black screen.. :/

Same thing happened with fw1.0.0 (I think it was fw1.0.0 that I tried patching): no updating firmware screen.. the same SD card had happily allowed me to update to Open2x DR4 and a few 2.* firmwares earlier on...

That leaves me with no other option than to ask on the forums what might be wrong here. I've only just realized that I'd become rather attached to the little nifty device (even though I usually just play one or two short games, and then listen to music), and I'd hate to see it die an odd death...

Thanks in advance.

 

[senquack]

I would try getting a set of the new Sanyo Eneloop or Maha Imedion batteries and see what luck you have with those. They are supposed to have higher voltage, higher current delivery, and lower internal resistance and less tendency to develop greater self-discharge over time.

I haven't tried them out yet with a GP2X but I have a dozen coming my way. The higher-capacity 2500mah and higher NiMH seem to have wide-spread problems with rapid degradation over time. Some people think it might be because in order to increase the capacity of the batteries, they greatly reduced the size of key parts of the battery making them thinner and more likely to develop internal shorts.

In the mean time, you can maybe try to test the voltage being delivered from the ac adapter to the GP2X.. Try pulling the power plug out a hair, and use a voltmeter to measure the voltage between the negative battery terminal (where you put the black probe) and the outer shell of the power plug (which is positive so you place the red probe on it). Turn the GP2X on before measuring the voltage. If you get less than 2V, I'd say the adapter is likely dead. On my F100 I just tested it to be around 3.4V using the stock GP2X AC adapter.

 

[Megagun]

Hm, I'll try that out when I find my multimeter, thanks..

Though I'm starting to think that there's some hardware issue with the GP2x itself. I inserted freshly charged batteries yesterday night; it just went on but nothing else happened (black welcome screen; couldn't update firmware). I left the batteries inside and when I tried to power it again this morning, it displayed the rainbow screen again. Same happened with the other batteries that I charged fully together with the batteries inside the GP2x...

 

[gp2.eXe]

Hmm... i used to have a similar problem, but in my case it was because although the batteries seemed fine, they wouldn't charge anymore, could it be perhaps something like that? or...
QUOTE

I decided that, maybe, something bad happened when my batteries died immediately upon bootup, so I formatted the SD card, got Open2x DR4, and put that on it. Booted the GP2x with the SD inside,
held start+select.... and nothing happened. No 'updating firmware' screen.. Nothing... Just still the black screen.. :/


Have you tried booting it without the SD inserted?
(Don't know if this will help you sorry... and good luck!)

 

[Pickle]

couldn't update firmware

Its a bad idea to be trying to update the firmware when your having hw problems. If the DC plug is still botched if you have access to a regulated power supply you could apply a voltage to the battery terminals. Ive done this to measure current draw.
The rainbow screen is a typical sign of not enough power. A good share of my nimh batteries do this now.

 

[Megagun]

I bought myself 4 Duracell 2650 rechargeables, yet those don't make my GP2x work, either...

Haven't found my multimeter, though, so I'll have to buy a new one, though I doubt it's power issues now.... :/

(Also, yes, I've tried pretty much every bootup method.. With SD, without earphones, etc)..

Should I perhaps try to hunt down a cradle or BoB now, so that I can use JTAG?

Thanks for all the help, guys.. Let's see if we can get this thing running again somehow.

 

[senquack]

The multimeter will help you figure out where to go next.

Also might look into testing the voltages at the GP2X's battery contacts while batteries are inserted. I've found last night that some new rechargables I got (Maha Imedion) don't make contact at all on the positive end. The plastic around the terminal pushes the battery back from the metal. I had to get a knife and carve away the plastic around the two positive terminals and after that it worked great. I had to use bits of wire (you can use paperclips) to get extend the multimeter's probes so I could get good readings on each end of the batteries. (the probes wouldn't fit)