Release SuperZaxxon - Beta 5 released

[Asmo]

Since we're talking about charging -


Been using SZb5a for about two weeks, the only oddities I've encountered have been the shrinking rom list in PanMame/4all* (consistent behaviour) and sometimes the Usb host toggle only 'disabling' so if I've enabled and then disabled it, it won't re-enable.


But just last night my battery meter was at 14% and I plugged it in to charge from AC (charged it under SZb5a several times already). The charge light didn't come on, and the meter didn't rise after a few minutes. Unplugged the AC, rebooted - same thing. Booted with HF6 instead and charging started as normal.


*Edit: Just discovered that in PanMame Star Wars doesn't work for me under SZb5a, even though it still appears in the list, but works under previous OS versions still.

 

[DrKlaw]

Since we're talking about charging -


Been using SZb5a for about two weeks, the only oddities I've encountered have been the shrinking rom list in PanMame/4all* (consistent behaviour) and sometimes the Usb host toggle only 'disabling' so if I've enabled and then disabled it, it won't re-enable.


But just last night my battery meter was at 14% and I plugged it in to charge from AC (charged it under SZb5a several times already). The charge light didn't come on, and the meter didn't rise after a few minutes. Unplugged the AC, rebooted - same thing. Booted with HF6 instead and charging started as normal.


*Edit: Just discovered that in PanMame Star Wars doesn't work for me under SZb5a, even though it still appears in the list, but works under previous OS versions still.

I just logged in to check to see if people were seeing the same odd charging behavior I have been seeing. I have also seen similar charging behavior as you. When I plug my unit in (using the mini USB or charger) sometimes the red charging light doesn't come on and it doesn't charge. I have to unplug/re-plug (perhaps a few times) to get it charging. Also, sometimes the battery monitor indicates that it's charging but no red light.


Yesterday I woke up and tried to turn on my unit (which I had left plugged in overnight and had thought it to be charging) it wouldn't turn on at all. This gave me quite a fright! I then plugged it in and it came on briefly, only to shut itself off after a few seconds. After doing this (in a panic) a few times, it eventually started charging and was back up to fully charged by then end of the day.


This only started when I started using SZB5a, by the way.


Thanks.

 

[DaDaDaniel]

This might be a stupid question, but where is the 3.2 kernel? According to uname and the bootscreen my Pandora came with 3.2 pre-installed. When I boot the rootfs from SD I'm at 2.6. I can't seem to find the 3.2 image in any /boot, neither on NAND nor on SD. The modules for both kernels are there though.

 

[mcobit]

Which hotfix are you on?


When you install szb5a the 3.2 kernel should be the default one.


Edit: scratch that, misread, that you boot from sd. But I think someone else had a similar problem before.

 

[DaDaDaniel]

Found it. The 3.2 kernel is hiding in /lib/boot, that sneaky bastard! I could have come up with the idea of looking into the NAND autoboot.txt earlier.

 

[notaz]

Actually it does. Precisely, it displays a message with countdown till an automatic shut down. But the level cannot be configured (nor disabled) in the Battery Monitor.

Right click (tap and hold) on the battery percentage and choose "Properties". The low and critical percentages can be configured. Used to be by default that low would give a text box warning, and critical would run a command ("sudo poweroff" to shut down). Apparently the critical no longer does that, a grave mistake. Also when it reaches 0% it would attempt to shut down anyway, regardless of what the settings are, as final move to save the battery.

To clarify this, the shutdown is actually done by pndevmapperd and works (for me at least). The battery meter used to also have this enabled (so there were 2 shutdown "sources") but I disabled the meter because it's a bit dumb and shutdowns while charging too.

Zink, what you just did was extremely dangerous. 0% is coded at 3 volts in the BQ chip. It runs for a while after dropping below this, sometimes quite a while, but while it is doing so chemical reactions are happening in the battery to produce that energy. A lithium polymer battery starts to crystallize when it drops below 3 volts which can do irreversible damage to the battery.

I've just tried this out to reproduce "system resets while booting from a flat battery" issue and the cutoff point seems to be slightly below 2.7V, just like the datasheet says. The voltage begins to fall rapidly when below ~3.2V, so it doesn't stay below 3V for too long, maybe a few minutes at most. If going below 3V is so bad maybe it's worth adding "shutdown, no questions asked" "feature"? That would be not hard to implement, although would have to do it in pndevmapperd since the kernel doesn't monitor itself. Still failed to reproduce boot problems from flat battery though

 

[Linux-SWAT]

I noticed it's not possible to save a TV-out setting.


I run from NAND, and after a reboot, i see only pal and ntsc settings.

 

[WizardStan]

If going below 3V is so bad maybe it's worth adding "shutdown, no questions asked" "feature"?

When I was doing my testing with the BQ chip, no matter what values I made it think were good, the instant it hit 3V it report 0% and the Pandora shut down. You've got about 3 seconds to respond to the dialogue. I'm not certain how pndevmapperd handles that exactly, I don't remember seeing a hardcoded check against 0 percent but it has been a while since last I looked.

 

[thatgui]

Maybe a dumb question, but wasn't it possible to shutdown the Pandora via the power switch in the past (by moving it to the right and holding it for a couple of seconds) ?

 

[Kosmos]

Which hotfix are you on?


When you install szb5a the 3.2 kernel should be the default one.


Edit: scratch that, misread, that you boot from sd. But I think someone else had a similar problem before.

That would be me. See the following two threads to understand the process and solution. TNX to all who chimed in.

• http://boards.openpa...__fromsearch__1
  

• http://boards.openpa...140#entry145854
  

 

[ekianjo]

Two bug reports related to TV-outs:


1) Even though I have a TV-out cable with S-video, it does not work on NTSCmode : most of the colors are not reproduced correctly (blue becomes green, and there are many artefacts on screen).I suspect this may be a driver issue, since a S-video to composite adapter solves the problem.


2) The TV-out config : I cannot save it, not matter if I try "write settings" or if I save under a new profile. It always comes back to the default values no matter how many times I tried and rebooted. There must be a problem in the code somewhere.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

2) The TV-out config : I cannot save it, not matter if I try "write settings" or if I save under a new profile. It always comes back to the default values no matter how many times I tried and rebooted. There must be a problem in the code somewhere.

Same here.

 

[ekianjo]

2) The TV-out config : I cannot save it, not matter if I try "write settings" or if I save under a new profile. It always comes back to the default values no matter how many times I tried and rebooted. There must be a problem in the code somewhere.

Same here.

Glad to see I'm not the only one

 

[slaeshjag]

How do you launch the TV-out settings? If it's via the tray applet, I might've forgotten to add sudo to it or something.

 

[ekianjo]

How do you launch the TV-out settings? If it's via the tray applet, I might've forgotten to add sudo to it or something.

Yeah, through the tray applet.


It's wierd because you can save new profiles, but the profile parameters are never saved.

 

[slaeshjag]

Try to open it with via the main menu. If that works, I'll try adding a sudo -n to the TV-out settings option.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Try to open it with via the main menu. If that works, I'll try adding a sudo -n to the TV-out settings option.

I think i did both, but i'll check anyway.

 

[lordbobjones]

One thing I noted with super zaxxon is that my usb wifi nub no longer works. I turned on the hub (Great feature btw) and my mouse works but the USB wifi stick that works with my older panda no longer works. Am I missing something.


Otherwise these new silver pandas and the OS improvements are awesome. Makes writing on the go in abword even more smooth! Amazing work!

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Try to open it with via the main menu. If that works, I'll try adding a sudo -n to the TV-out settings option.

I think i did both, but i'll check anyway.

Scratching my head... Settings were saved.


I used the Xfce menu first, then the tray, both worked...

 

[RobFord]

Evening All


I have experienced something a little strange with this release of the OS.


Every time I boot up my Panda it doesn't seem to boot with the requested clock speed. I have set it to automatically boot at 850 MHz, and changed the warning message to 900 MHz.


However when I first start up the Panda I get stuttering in videos, and the sound on Skeezix's new Hatari continuously stutters. I go to the clock speed short cut and set it to a different speed, then set it back to 850, this then makes everything work as it should.


Any ideas?


Cheers


Rob