Update SuperZaxxon v1.75

[notaz]

So it's a national holiday here today, and that gave some extra time to put out this release.

This release is mostly about idle power saving (reduced battery usage when you close the lid or leave pandora doing nothing), which was released and discussed before, but now you get a flashable image too. It also comes with an updated bootloader. I'll just go forth with a changelog now:

• u-boot: updated to a newer version
• u-boot: enabled booting from the second (right) SD card slot; it's now also possible to reflash from it
  
• u-boot: enabled booting directly from ext4 partitions
  
• u-boot: added a keypad driver and an option to enter u-boot shell (urjaman)
  
• u-boot: some compatibility changes for the kernel idle power saving stuff (CC unit might not show u-boot menu if you stay on the old u-boot version and require removing battery for 5 minutes to recover)
• kernel: updated to 3.2.81
• kernel: added various idle power saving hacks
• kernel: enabled all USB related drivers which were still disabled
• kernel: enabled the SmartReflex driver (inactive by default, more info here)
• kernel: it's now possible to change the voltage of the expansion port supply (or disable it) by using /proc/pandora/exp_power_mv . Note that the bootloaders still set it to 3V, but the kernel will disable it if nothing writes to exp_power_mv after a minute.
• kernel: audio playback no longer interrupts recording
• the screen no longer turns on if a button is pressed while the lid is closed (Zink)
• xfce4-battery-plugin: now shows "time to full" while charging

I recommend to at least update the bootloader to gain the booting/flashing ability from the right slot, so in case the left one ever breaks, you can use the right one. If you don't want to wipe the NAND you can just prepare the reflash card as usual, but delete rootfs.* files and then it will just flash the bootloader and keep the NAND. If you do so, run the OS update first to get all the kernel modules.

The battery meter reports over 2 weeks of idle runtime on my units now when the screen is off.

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Upgrading from a previous SuperZaxxon version (1.5x or newer):
Use the "Upgrade Pandora OS" option

Please note:

• If you are updating from v1.61 or lower, it is highly recommended to do a full reflash because many system libraries have been changed in 1.70 and some users reported failures updating from v1.61 or earlier. Updating from 1.70 should be completely safe.
• Be sure to backup any important data you might have in your NAND for the above reasons.
• User-Modified configs will not be overwritten with the new version.

It is recommended to do a full flash in case you are encountering any issues.

Upgrade instructions using the Full-Flash-Image:

Download SuperZaxxon v1.75

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.

Please note: When reflashing from v1.72 or earlier, some SD cards might not be detected ("Boot from SD1" will not appear). You will need to find another SD card, usually older ones work.

Edit: updated the link to minor bugfix release to fix missing terminfo (which caused shell tools like top or nano not to work).

 

[Askarus]

Very nice

 

[atari_afternoon]

Thank you

 

[Ian J]

All these years on and we still get firmware updates, anyone who complains about the cost of a Pyra wants something nasty doing to them.

Many thanks notaz.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Killer update !
Thanks notaz !!!

 

[EvilDragon]

Over two weeks idle... wow!

Thanks a lot for the ongoing support

 

[asimov-solensan]

Thanks a lot, it's great to have updates even after all these years.

 

[ingoreis]

Wow it sounds realy good.
Great work..i am just Downloading the Fullflash Version

This newer Uboot will be very Helpfull for me when i experimenting
some Things or have 2 Bootable SD Cards @the same Time in the Pandora.

Thank You

 

[notaz]

Over two weeks idle... wow!

That's with the screen and everything else (wifi/BT/USB) off of course. I've noticed on my CC the whole system now draws roughly the same amount of power as 1 LED while idle. For 1GHz it's like 1 and a half LED, not sure if it's because of the silicon lottery of all chips on the board, or if it's still something misprogrammed in DM3730.

 

[Farox]

Thank you notaz...and happy holiday

 

[lukey]

Many thanks from me too
RedHat/CentOs is the only other Distro i know of which receives Updates that long. So you're competing with an multi-million Dollar Company here.

 

[levi]

Pandora OS has kind of become a rolling release, which makes more sense on a platform where there are only a handful of different variants around and a community who cares about testing things. We'll lose that on the Pyra if we use Debian (or some other non-rolling-release Linux), but hopefully the community can step in by testing out upcoming releases and letting us know when things are usable.

 

[rSl]

wow, thats an awesome update, thanks notaz!!!

 

[directive0]

All loaded up and working fine here.

Stuff like this is why I want to go back in time and reassure past me that paying the high price for a used Pandora was worth it. Thank you for all you do!

 

[jonlad1]

Just in time for my 1Ghz unit to arrive!

Thanks Notaz!

 

[PowerGod]

Cool stuff !! Thanks

 

[PokeParadox]

So when do we move to release Y?

j/k Thanks for your continued work Notaz!

 

[Citizen_Lurker]

Thank you sir!

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

notaz! You Are The Reason.....

Thanks!

 

[ptitSeb]

Firmware updates Yeah!