Release SuperZaxxon - Beta 5 released

[Farox]

Uhhh very odd...I have rebooted with the old kernel to test my nubs and all works.


Now i rebooted with the new 3.2 and my right nub work again...


I think something goes wrong when we switch from old->new kernels and back.


All tests without SD cards inside.

 

[NoeleyC]

when I was first investigating my issue with me left nub, the initial solution I found was booting back into the older kernal, then back into the newer one after that, same as you. I think there's a few other users have reported the same issue as me, but I'm not sure if it was always the left nub or the right?

 

[Stainy]

I`ve had the nub issue once.. just went into the nub config, reset and saved... and it fixed it..


What I seem to have now is.. worse battery life,, before I re-flashed ( to fix things ) when I closed the lid, then opened it a while.. I would see a huge amount of hours left figure... ( as it was in low power mode )


That never happens now.. I open the lid and it`s got, sat 14 hours left ( 89% ) etc.. It used to show something like 150-180 hrs after coming alive after low power mode!


I have it set to go to low power mode ( in lid close settings ) but my screen blanking is off ( as it caused my Pandora to freeze )

 

[Binky]

What I seem to have now is.. worse battery life,, before I re-flashed ( to fix things ) when I closed the lid, then opened it a while.. I would see a huge amount of hours left figure... ( as it was in low power mode ) That never happens now.. I open the lid and it`s got, sat 14 hours left ( 89% ) etc.. It used to show something like 150-180 hrs after coming alive after low power mode! I have it set to go to low power mode ( in lid close settings ) but my screen blanking is off ( as it caused my Pandora to freeze )

Betcha thats just a battery monitor glitch

 

[ekianjo]

I don't know if this has been reported in this thread yet (sorry if it has...) but there are apparently some performance issues with Beta 5 on UAE4All - See comments : http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php?/topic/6580-uae4all-new-version/page__st__100#entry151078


UAE4All worked flawlessly on Beta 3 and 4, and on Beta 5 it seems to slow down significantly. Any idea where this comes from ?

 

[Atomos]

when I was first investigating my issue with me left nub, the initial solution I found was booting back into the older kernal, then back into the newer one after that, same as you. I think there's a few other users have reported the same issue as me, but I'm not sure if it was always the left nub or the right?

I've had the same issue with Beta 4 and the left nub. Unfortunately it didn't change with Beta 5. At least it works after reinserting the SD card.

 

[Lao Rebel]

Thanks a lot to notaz for his hard work and numerous fixes.


SuperZaxxon Beta 5a is ready to be tested! Compared to SuperZaxxon Beta 4, this release has the following changes:

• NEW / FIX: switched to Nokia's version of SGX kernel driver (more stable, new kernel only)
  
• FIX: Occasional crash/hang on wifi module load fixed
  
• FIX: Added some missing USB TV drivers
  
• FIX: Sound recording has been fixed
  
• FIX: Removed various sound controls that are not useful on pandora
  
• FIX: (hopefully): TV overlay on the new kernel
  
• FIX: (hopefully) added scaler filter control
  
• FIX: Date/Time-Setting: Allow to cancel dialogs
  
• FIX: Date/Time-Setting: Disable screensaver when changing time
  
• FIX: Date/Time-Setting: Write to hwclock
  
• FIX: MiniMenu: /usr/pandora/mmenu is being scanned again
  
• FIX: MiniMenu: Added scan-delay when inserting SD-Card (this fixes the scanning in MiniMenu)
  
• NEW: Preliminary support for Hold-Button
  
• NEW: Included slaeshjaegs configbutton-Tool (change Pandora-Related settings from XFCE-Tray)
  
• UPDATE: Kernel updated to 3.2.17
  
• UPDATE: Increase audio pm and dirty_expire delays
  
• UPDATE: Changes slider size to 20 (works good with fingers and stylus)
  

Beta 5a release is pretty much stable and the best firmware we got so far.


Suspending is now working fine, charging works properly, the touchscreen is very responsive, powersaving is awesome, ZRAM helps with programs that need more RAM. Aaaand finally we hava a use for the Hold-Button: It simply disabled input. The new SGX-Driver from Nokia might also fix some issues.


Unless we find serious bugs (hopefully not), Beta 5 will probably be the latest beta before we release an officially stable version of SuperZaxxon


So here it is, available as full flash:


Download SuperZaxxon Beta 5a


Please note: Flashing the new firmware will put your unit back into a default state. All your settings and users will be lost. Of course, this does not apply to PNDs which save their stuff on the SD-Card.


For those running from SD cards, you first need to install the new bootloaders.


You can do this by copying everything from above zip to root of SD card, but leaving out rootfs.img and rootfs.md5 and then following usual reflashing procedure. Then everything but NAND rootfs will be reflashed.


To install it, simply extract the archive onto the root of your SD Card.


Insert the SD Card into the left slot. Keep R (shoulder) pressed while switching on your Pandora and select "Boot from SD1"


]If "Boot from SD1" doesn't appear, try to reformat the SD Card using Panasonic SD Formatter, recopy the files and retry


You can also use the SD Installer and run the OS off SD Card.


Grab the image needed for the SD Installer here


Enjoy

after installing BETA 5 i can't unmount my SD cards! this never happend w/beta 4.

 

[WizardStan]

Well, with SuperZaxxon Beta 5, my Pandora apparently dropped down to about 92% after charging (twice). It didn't resume charging (or, it didn't indicate that it did), but it definitely didn't do it at 95% (or the battery meter is buggy).

Dang it, this just happened to me. The charge LED was off, so I unplugged it to play some, only to open it and find it reading just 92%. If I'd been paying attention I would have checked if it had stopped around there or reached 100% and then discharged to 92%.

 

[Farox]

New test....


Booting with kernel 3.2 i have my right nub NOT operative.


Booting with Kernel 2.6 my right nub works as usual.


If i boot first with kernel 2.6 and then reboot with the new 3.2 my right nub work (but stopped to work if i reboot another time with the 3.2 kernel).


Seems to me that the new kernel (beta 5a) does something wrong (maybe overwrite some file) regarding the right nub.

 

[hmc]

PNDPanager 1.1.4.0 segfaults on Beta5 for me when starting. Is this a known issue?


pndrun log attached.


EDIT:


Sorry for the noise, PND Manager problem seems to be a different one. Segfault does not happen, if I remove /media/DATA SD card.

pndrun_pndmanager.txt

 

[Askarus]

PCSX built in GPU seems to be buggy for me.


I tried games like Medievil and Akuji the heartless.


Both of them run perfectly at 700-800 MHz.


During the game without any reason there are random crashes of tghe emulator.


First screen freezes for some seconds, then everything becomes black and I'm back in XFCE.


When trying the old kernel there was not such a freezes


I also had one of those freezes with Spyro 2. It run perfectly before Super Zaxxon 1.5. Yesterday I also had one of those freezes.


I'll try to get better test results the next days and do some more Medievil tests.


I also will look at the PND_run.out

 

[EvilDragon]

Seems like the overclock might be too high here.


Remember that PCSX ReArmed cannot be clocked as high as other stuff because it uses NEON?


Well, a new kernel and SGX driver might change things a bit (timings might be different, etc.), so it could be you were running on the edge with the old kernel and crossed the line with the new kernel.


Do the freezes happen when you're running with 600 MHz?

 

[superatarian]

Just to report, I installed the Beta 5 on the Pandora and a SD card on the 27th of May. Things worked great and I did a full re-charge to 100%. Then I used it and turn off the Pandora when it was around 88%. I then turned it off and just now turned it on or at least I tried. Nothing happened. I then plugged in the AC chord and it turned on and I noticed the battery level was zero. I took out the battery and then put it back in. Then the Pandora booted up fine with a battery level of 81%. Is this a sign of a bad battery or is this a bug in Beta 5?

 

[EvilDragon]

Just to report, I installed the Beta 5 on the Pandora and a SD card on the 27th of May. Things worked great and I did a full re-charge to 100%. Then I used it and turn off the Pandora when it was around 88%. I then turned it off and just now turned it on or at least I tried. Nothing happened. I then plugged in the AC chord and it turned on and I noticed the battery level was zero. I took out the battery and then put it back in. Then the Pandora booted up fine with a battery level of 81%. Is this a sign of a bad battery or is this a bug in Beta 5?

When the Pandora is off, it is off, no OS or anything is running (except for the RTC).


It might be the battery was not proprly seated.

 

[Askarus]

Seems like the overclock might be too high here.


Remember that PCSX ReArmed cannot be clocked as high as other stuff because it uses NEON?


Well, a new kernel and SGX driver might change things a bit (timings might be different, etc.), so it could be you were running on the edge with the old kernel and crossed the line with the new kernel.


Do the freezes happen when you're running with 600 MHz?

I'll play with 600 MHz and givesome report.

 

[doragasu]

I have flashed this firmware today, and it's working very well. Some apps that didn't work for me in B4, are working now (GoldenDict, Mame4All).


The problems I found:


- SuperGeometryDust is not working with 3.2 kernel.


- IOquake2 works, but I don't know why, when it's launched, both nubs are automatically configured as "joystick". This didn't happen to me before.


Other than these problems, it's working flawlessly for me. Very good work!!!

 

[diligentcircle]

- SuperGeometryDust is not working with 3.2 kernel.

Works for me.


On the other hand, I'm finding that gpFCE-GP2X isn't working on the new kernel (but it is on the old kernel).

 

[john4p]

Meanwhile about five users have reported broken sound with uae4all.


For others, including me, it's running flawlessly with the new kernel. So I can't reproduce the problem and don't know how to help.


Any ideas, notaz?

 

[Askarus]

PCSX built in GPU seems to be buggy for me.


I tried games like Medievil and Akuji the heartless.


Both of them run perfectly at 700-800 MHz.


During the game without any reason there are random crashes of tghe emulator.


First screen freezes for some seconds, then everything becomes black and I'm back in XFCE.


When trying the old kernel there was not such a freezes


I also had one of those freezes with Spyro 2. It run perfectly before Super Zaxxon 1.5. Yesterday I also had one of those freezes.


I'll try to get better test results the next days and do some more Medievil tests.


I also will look at the PND_run.out

Man, why do I always mix up things?


It's not the built in GPU having issues, it's the GLES (High res) plugin.


It also crashes at 600MHz.

 

[ZXDunny]

Meanwhile about five users have reported broken sound with uae4all.

As I said, it's only broken with non-cyclone cores - when running with cyclone it's pretty good. I always run at 1GHz (my Panda is most stable there, I find) so I doubt it's a CPU power thing.


D.