Super Smash Bros.

[Musicman]

I was wondering if I can run Super Smash Bros. at full speed on my Pandora via Overclocking, etc. What is the optimum CPU speed for emulating the N64?

 

[DaMummy]

do you have your pandora? if yes, try it, if not, mupen will be completely different by the time you get one

 

[neko]

It's playable at 900MHz with frameskip enabled. Still a bit slow though. Optimum would be >1GHz if your Pandora can go that high.

 

[Musicman]

I have one, been trying to get Mario Kart 64 and Super Smash Bros. to run full speed. Not working out well, haha. Any advice? I've tried it at several different "clocking" speeds, everywhere from 500 to 850.

 

[Musicman]

Hmm, I can clock to 880 with no problems, but if I clock it to 900, my Pandora freezes.

 

[sebt3]

Hmm, I can clock to 880 with no problems, but if I clock it to 900, my Pandora freezes.

Minbe freeze at 825, consider yourself lucky

 

[alastor]

Minbe freeze at 825, consider yourself lucky

And what about this then:


http://www.arm.com/products/processors/cortex-a/cortex-a8.php


"Frequency from 600MHz to 1GHz and above" ( Is there software limiter ? )


( You are lucky - you have a unit. )

 

[WizardStan]

And what about this then:


http://www.arm.com/products/processors/cortex-a/cortex-a8.php


"Frequency from 600MHz to 1GHz and above" ( Is there software limiter ? )


( You are lucky - you have a unit. )

The design, on paper, can do those limits.


In actual development, those ranges change based on the size of the processor and the power it's being given, etc...


The processor in the Pandora is guaranteed by TI to get 500Mhz at stock voltage. Most people are able to reach 800Mhz at stock voltage, however.


TI included an "overdrive" mode, however. Overdrive is a higher voltage, so gives more stable results at higher clock speeds, at the cost of battery life and CPU longevity. TI guarantees 600Mhz to be stable in overdrive.


Most people, when activating overdrive, can clock over 900Mhz, some even reaching 1Ghz or even a little higher.


There are risks to running the overdrive mode for too long, however, which is why OPT originally had it locked down. With hotfix 4, however, it became available to set if you knew the command line to run.


A future hotfix will probably add a gui for it, as well, or make it more dynamic.

 

[alastor]

The design, on paper, can do those limits.


In actual development, those ranges change based on the size of the processor and the power it's being given, etc...


The processor in the Pandora is guaranteed by TI to get 500Mhz at stock voltage. Most people are able to reach 800Mhz at stock voltage, however.


TI included an "overdrive" mode, however. Overdrive is a higher voltage, so gives more stable results at higher clock speeds, at the cost of battery life and CPU longevity. TI guarantees 600Mhz to be stable in overdrive.


Most people, when activating overdrive, can clock over 900Mhz, some even reaching 1Ghz or even a little higher.


There are risks to running the overdrive mode for too long, however, which is why OPT originally had it locked down. With hotfix 4, however, it became available to set if you knew the command line to run.


A future hotfix will probably add a gui for it, as well, or make it more dynamic.

Sorry for off-topic, but when you say "There are risks to running the overdrive mode for too long...", do you mean it will shorten the lifespan of the chip, make the system crash/freeze or it can do severe damage to the circuits of the core ? Thanks

 

[sebt3]

Sorry for off-topic, but when you say "There are risks to running the overdrive mode for too long...", do you mean it will shorten the lifespan of the chip, make the system crash/freeze or it can do severe damage to the circuits of the core ? Thanks

It will reduce the chip life-span. The overdrive mode is supported by TI but up to 600, as wizardStan say

 

[WizardStan]

It will reduce the chip life-span. The overdrive mode is supported by TI but up to 600, as wizardStan say

Exactly. There shouldn't really be any problems, no one has noticed any problems yet, and according to the spec sheet even running overdrive 24 hours a day the processor will still last a long time, but it's one of those things you just can't be sure about. "Huh, my system has suddenly decided it will no longer work. Is it because of faulty manufacturing, or is it because I was running it overclocked to 1Ghz all day every day?"


I wouldn't worry about it. Overvolting and overclocking shouldn't cause any problems (systems freeze if you go too high, but then you reset and don't go that high again) but you should be aware that doing so is still technically out of spec and not guaranteed in any way.

 

[alastor]

Exactly. There shouldn't really be any problems, no one has noticed any problems yet, and according to the spec sheet even running overdrive 24 hours a day the processor will still last a long time, but it's one of those things you just can't be sure about. "Huh, my system has suddenly decided it will no longer work. Is it because of faulty manufacturing, or is it because I was running it overclocked to 1Ghz all day every day?"


I wouldn't worry about it. Overvolting and overclocking shouldn't cause any problems (systems freeze if you go too high, but then you reset and don't go that high again) but you should be aware that doing so is still technically out of spec and not guaranteed in any way.

Makes sense. If I overcklock to 900-950 MHz when playing Turok in Mupen64Plus for about 0.5-1 hour per day/two/three/etc, I will be ( will supposed to be ) fine. I hope I wouldn't need more. Thanks for info+warnings.

 

[Musicman]

Ah, in that case, how would I be able to set my Pandora to Overdrive mode? Oh, and thanks for all the help everybody!

 

[WizardStan]

To go into overdrive (technical name OPP5) and set to 1000Mhz (1Ghz), in a terminal window, type


echo 5 > /proc/pandora/cpu_opp_max


echo 1000 > /proc/pandora/cpu_mhz_max


To restore to normal, do the opposite


echo 500 > /proc/pandora/cpu_mhz_max


echo 3 > /proc/pandora/cpu_opp_max


You may not be able to hit 1000, even at OPP5 voltages, so this may cause your system to lock up. Experiment with that 1000 value until you find something that works. And remember, this isn't officially sanctioned advice from OpenPandora, so if anything goes wrong as a result of messing with stuff, it's your own fault.

 

[Musicman]

Ah, I'll be careful, thanks!

 

[meandu229]

To go into overdrive (technical name OPP5) and set to 1000Mhz (1Ghz), in a terminal window, type


echo 5 > /proc/pandora/cpu_opp_max


echo 1000 > /proc/pandora/cpu_mhz_max


To restore to normal, do the opposite


echo 500 > /proc/pandora/cpu_mhz_max


echo 3 > /proc/pandora/cpu_opp_max


You may not be able to hit 1000, even at OPP5 voltages, so this may cause your system to lock up. Experiment with that 1000 value until you find something that works. And remember, this isn't officially sanctioned advice from OpenPandora, so if anything goes wrong as a result of messing with stuff, it's your own fault.

I can get to 950 with opp5 but only 850 with opp3 so have a play about it should give you some more grunt just depends how much