It sure took a while - but here we are: The final version of SuperZaxxon has been released!
Compared to the old Zaxxon OS, it introduces numerous fixes and new features.
EDIT: Small update on 03.07.2012: The touchscreen can now be calibrated without a restart. No need to reinstall the image unless you often calibrate your touchscreen
Here is what happened compared to the last stable Zaxxon Hotfix 6:
If you are already using SuperZaxxon Beta 5a, here are the changes compared to that:
And if you never used SuperZaxxon before - here are the major new features of SuperZaxxon compared to Zaxxon Hotfix 6:
Some thing to keep in mind:
The USB Host port is now disabled as default (to save power). If you want to use an USB device, be sure to enable the USB Host port upfront.
In case you regularly use USB devices, you can also switch it on on startup using Settings/Startup.
I suggest that EVERYONE who owns a Pandora switches to this firmware.
It enhances your Pandora experience A LOT.
Thanks to anyone who helped develop this firmware, especially notaz, who did a top-notch job porting kernel 3.2 to our Pandora!
Thanks a lot - you're one of the most important guys in the Pandora development scene.
And personal thanks from me - it's not an easy job keeping things running, but you are always encouraging me. Thanks
DOWNLOAD AND INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Download SuperZaxxon Final
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.
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"
It will then flash the firmware onto the NAND. After it's finished, reboot your Pandora and patiently wait until the First Boot Wizard appears on the screen.
If "Boot from SD1" doesn't appear, try to reformat the SD Card using Panasonic SD Formatter, recopy the files and retry
Note for users running the OS off SD Card:
The kernel has now moved to /boot/uImage again. If you've been using a previous SuperZaxxon version, be sure to update your boot configuration.
Compared to the old Zaxxon OS, it introduces numerous fixes and new features.
EDIT: Small update on 03.07.2012: The touchscreen can now be calibrated without a restart. No need to reinstall the image unless you often calibrate your touchscreen
Here is what happened compared to the last stable Zaxxon Hotfix 6:
- NEW: Moved to Kernel 3.2 as default kernel - which includes awesome powersaving features (old kernel is still bootable from Bootmenu).
- NEW: Suspend to RAM instead of Low-Power-Mode (keeps your Pandora in standby for up to about 180 hours!)
If unit is charging while you try to go into suspend mode, it goes into low-power mode instead (as the charging is software controlled)
- NEW / FIX: switched to Nokia's version of SGX kernel driver (more stable, new kernel only)
- NEW: Preliminary support for Hold-Button (moving the PowerButton to the left now disables most input).
- NEW: Included slaeshjaegs configbutton-Tool (change Pandora-Related settings from XFCE-Tray)
- NEW: op_runfbapp now minimizes when you press the Pandora-Button (some fixes have also been made)
- NEW: USB Host can now be toggled (similar to WiFi) and can be automatically switched on on startup (use the startup-settings dialogue for that)
- NEW: ZRAM Swap is now included and enabled (stuff like FireFox or Battle for Wesnoth shouldn't run out of memory anymore)
- NEW: snd-seq module added
- NEW: Added more codepages: cp1250,koi8-r, unicode, utf-16 (fixes missing Umlauts in programs like Pidgin)
- NEW: Scrollbars in XFCE are now a bit wider (easier for touchscreen usage) and icon texts now have a transparent background
- NEW: DSP modules available for old kernel (player elements still missing, but can't be included anyway due to patent issues)
- NEW: addded option to boot the system with RAM reserved for DSP
- NEW: notaz' SDL now included in the firmware
- NEW: modemmanager has been added - but it's not tested yet (didn't have a 3G stick handy). Please test - some 3G sticks (the ones that don't need a modeswitch) should now work using NetworkManager
- NEW: MiniMenu: Added List-Mode (lists all your apps instead of showing icons).
- NEW: MiniMenu remembers the last selected application now.
- NEW: Bootmenu can now be configured using /autoboot.txt and /bootmenu.txt
- NEW: Added a QuickStart-Guide to the Desktop (for new users)
- NEW: Added CPU Speed profiles for quick setup of preferred CPU speed
- NEW: ext4 filesystem support added
- FIX: Fixed the Crashing warn dialogue to only show once after a bootup after a crash.
- FIX: Touchscreen: notaz tweaked the touchscreen and it is now WAY more responsive. The system feels way faster thanks to that
- FIX: Charging: As some had issues with getting less time out of the battery since HF6, one patch has been reverted. So charging should hopefully work good for everyone
- FIX: Removed various sound controls that are not useful on pandora
- 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: Added scan-delay when inserting SD-Card (this fixes the scanning in MiniMenu
- UPDATE: updated 1st level bootloader x-load to latest release 1.5.1
- UPDATE: 2nd level bootloader u-boot to latest release v2011.12
- UPDATE: MiniMenu: Now reading the PNDs WAY faster, this reduces the startup speed a lot if you have many PNDs on your card!
- Some other tweaks and bugfixes.
If you are already using SuperZaxxon Beta 5a, here are the changes compared to that:
- FIX: few wifi fixes from 2.6 that were not in 3.2 before (fixes disconnections from some access points)
- FIX: USB charging should now start immediately after boot
- FIX: Fixed the Crashing warn dialogue to only show once after a bootup after a crash.
- NEW: added Android's lowmemorykiller for Android port
- NEW: Added a QuickStart-Guide to the Desktop (for new users)
- NEW: Added CPU Speed profiles for quick setup of preferred CPU speed
- UPDATE: merged latest ubifs patches
- UPDATE: Kernel updated to 3.2.21
- UPDATE: Kernel 3.2 moved from /lib/boot to /boot/uImage-3 (or /boot/uImage symlinked).
And if you never used SuperZaxxon before - here are the major new features of SuperZaxxon compared to Zaxxon Hotfix 6:
- Aggressive idle power saving and suspend to RAM support
- More stable SGX kernel driver from Nokia
- CPU frequency scaling support (disabled by default because of noticeable slowdowns while changing frequency and no additional powersave while idle)
- ZRAM has been included: This is basically a virtual swapfile. Your unit will make use of it before it runs out of memory, so apps like Wesnoth or FireFox won't crash anymore when they run out of memory.
- profiling hardware support (oprofile, perf)
- ext4 filesystem
- lots of new USB device drivers
- DM3730 and 512MB RAM support (missing in 2.6)
- includes Android support modules backported from 3.4
- Android (Gingerbread in a PND) can be run!
- workaround for data corruption hardware bug when reading from SD1 on 256M units (often seen when copying data from SD1 to SD2 on 2.6)
- RAM overclocking support
Some thing to keep in mind:
The USB Host port is now disabled as default (to save power). If you want to use an USB device, be sure to enable the USB Host port upfront.
In case you regularly use USB devices, you can also switch it on on startup using Settings/Startup.
I suggest that EVERYONE who owns a Pandora switches to this firmware.
It enhances your Pandora experience A LOT.
Thanks to anyone who helped develop this firmware, especially notaz, who did a top-notch job porting kernel 3.2 to our Pandora!
Thanks a lot - you're one of the most important guys in the Pandora development scene.
And personal thanks from me - it's not an easy job keeping things running, but you are always encouraging me. Thanks
DOWNLOAD AND INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Download SuperZaxxon Final
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.
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"
It will then flash the firmware onto the NAND. After it's finished, reboot your Pandora and patiently wait until the First Boot Wizard appears on the screen.
If "Boot from SD1" doesn't appear, try to reformat the SD Card using Panasonic SD Formatter, recopy the files and retry
Note for users running the OS off SD Card:
The kernel has now moved to /boot/uImage again. If you've been using a previous SuperZaxxon version, be sure to update your boot configuration.
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