Tips, tricks and tweaks

[gruso]

This thread is a reproduction of the Tweaks Thread on the GP32X forums. Most items link back to threads on GP32X.

 

For the latest hotfixes, firmware images and the community codec pack, head to the official support page.

 

Now for the fun stuff. IMPORTANT:

Most of the tweaks listed here have been put together by the community, and are not officially supported unless otherwise indicated.

The use of opkg is not officially supported, and if used recklessly can fill up the NAND or break the OS.

Any fixes that involve opening or modifying the hardware are likely to void your warranty.

If you're in any doubt about applying one of these tweaks, feel free to start a new thread and ask.

 

 

 

[Hardware]

Battery not charging? (UK) check adaptor [pic] / battery flat

Wonky shoulder button fix / Further improvement

Stuck keys

Scratchy stylus tip

Nub disassembly, cleaning / More info / More info and pics / Fix broken Nub PCB traces

Fix bowing LCD bezel (Advanced, might void warranty!)

Pandora resetting when bumped?

Wonky gaming button

Battery troubleshooting mini-FAQ

 

[OS]

Run latest firmware from SD card

Reflashing firmware / (old firmware here)

Can't browse filesystem (Thunar)

[XFCE] - Change desktop icon text to white on black

[XFCE] - Putting firmware applications on the desktop

[XFCE] - Creating hotkeys to launch apps

[XFCE] - Making XFCE sexy

[XFCE] - Altering window decorations

[XFCE] - Add custom launchers to the main menu

[XFCE] - How to move windows that are larger than the screen

[XFCE] - Titlebar disappeared? Restart window decoration handler

[XFCE] - XFCE style changing with brightness button hack

[XFCE] - How to get the Pandora menu button back if it disappears

[XFCE] - How to get the taskbar back if it disappears

[XFCE] - Increase scroll bar width

[XFCE] - Making titlebars and window decorations bigger

[XFCE] - Configure shoulder buttons as mouse buttons

[XFCE] - Making group launchers on the desktop

[XFCE] - Move desktop icons

[MMenu] - Launch Minimenu from XFCE with icon

[MMenu] - Skinning Minimenu

[MMenu] - Auto-rescan apps on SD insert

[MMenu] - Fullscreen window manager

[PND] - Convert Angström apps to PND

[PND] - Canging/adding search paths

Want to experiment with Angström repo? Create overlay and install to SD

or Run firmware from SD card instead of NAND

How to enable audio recording

Making screenshots

Adding delete option without using trash (Thunar)

Experiment with different window managers

Debian in a chroot

Quick change CPU speed

Change wireless mode

Change default keyring password / Remove keyring password

Boot into console

How to remove a folder or file that's giving a "Stale NFS file handle" error

Enable 'Delete' key

File transfer to PC via USB cable

 

[system]

How to change battery level at which shutdown is forced

Over-amplify to listen to low-volume recordings

How to turn off WiFi power-saving

 

[software]

How to get MAME4all working

How to get UAE4ALL working

How to get Quake2 working

Reduce CPU load in Mplayer

Password-less login in Dropbear

How to change default browser to Chromium(or other)

DOSBox configuration

How to get Hexen II working

How to get Ur-Quan Masters working

Can't get past a certain scene in PSX4Pandora

Quake 2 too dark?

How to have your nubs change modes upon launching of a PND

 

 

[Tutorials]

A quick and simple guide to ripping your DVDs for your Pandora

How to rip your PSX discs (Linux)

MAME .106 ROM Guide

How to save space on Turbo CD/PC Engine CD games (For Windows)

How to save space on PS1 games without ripping video or music (For Windows)

How To: Fix hinge holes using Sugru NEW

ScummVM instructional video NEW

 

[Accessories]

Broadband USB stick usage

Using USB thumb drive as swap

Bluetooth GPS and TangoGPS

 

[Tools]

SD Card formatter

Background killer

Various (de)compressors for Pandora

 

[Dev]

Get complete toolchain on Pandora

Setting up Code::Blocks to cross-compile in Ubuntu

 

[Other]

Change hotspot channel to increase Wifi speed]/b]

 

[Trip]

Good thread, cheers for bringing it over Gruso B)

 

[Vorporeal]

Great thread - it would be helpful if you marked off which were resolved (either which hotfix/firmware release, for software, or which "batch" for hardware).

 

[Coldbird]

The build tools on Pandora trick is outdated, it should be:


sudo su


opkg update


opkg install gcc gcc-symlinks gcc-doc make make-dev binutils-dev vim vim-syntax cpp cpp-symlinks g++ g++-symlinks libstdc++-dev libgles-omap3-dev libgles-omap3-demos libsdl-1.2-dev libsdl-gfx-dev libsdl-


image-1.2-dev libsdl-mixer-1.2-dev libsdl-net-1.2-dev libsdl-ttf-2.0-dev

 

[pcp]

Thanks for this awesome thread. Very informative and I know it'll be handy when I get my Pandora!

 

[st0kes]

Can I add another tip to the above that may be of use?


I recently had problems with WiFi - I thought Hotfix4 had resolved my lack of connectivity, but it suddenly stopped working after the power ran out and would not connect when recharged. At this point I also noticed that my external hard drive (usb bus powered) stopped working - when plugged in the screen would go black and would not recover until I had unplugged. I resorted to re-flashing the firmware thinking this would at least fix my wifi problem. It didn't. The tip is:


If you have what you think is a hardware problem, shut it down, take out the battery and leave it unplugged from the mains power for a few minutes. After I did this my wifi started working again and my external drive also now works.


I think I wasted my time re-flashing and if you have issues you can probably save time by doing a "cold boot" like this.

 

[Tickles]

I completely forgot about this, thanks bumpers! (and of course Mali/Gruso)

 

[Eisner]

I just typed up a how to on adding sound during boot cycle - Thanks in large part to Chris C.


Near the end of the thread...


My link


Pinballwzd

 

[Blue Protoman]

Whatever happened to adding my nub scripts to this thread?

 

[Blue Protoman]

Can you add these to this thread?

 

[Prometheus]

It would be easier if you sent a PM about that sort of thing so that there's no chance of us missing it, BP. Anyway, give me a minute and I'll get it sorted out.


EDIT: There, done.

 

[PowerGod]

Because I want to remove the keyring, but NOT the wifi passwords (cause I don't remember them), I've found a way to at least SEE THEM !!!


1) Right click on "NetworkManager Applet" (the icon with 2 black monitors in the bottom bar) and choose "Edit Connections..."


2) In the "Wireless" tab select an access point from the list and click "Edit"


3) It may ask you the keyring password (if you didn't used it before in that session), and THEN it will ask to access the keyring stored passwords, click either "Allow Once" or "Always Allow"


4) In the Editing window go to the "Wireless Security" tab, and select "Show password"

 

[Stainy]

Hi guys..


The 'make xfce sexy' link... I tried following this last night..


Tried installing gtk-engine but there was a dependency on lib something something.. I did an opkg list but couldn't see it..


Also that original guide some of the pics are way too small to follow..


Can anyone help??

 

[danielo515]

Does anyone noticed that this tweak

[XFCE] - Increase scroll bar width

Looks like is silenty implemented but not activated?

 

[Neelix]

I'm not sure what you mean by not activated.   The wide scrollbars were implemented by default in recent firmware images,  but they were not when this thead was posted.

- Neelix

 

[danielo515]

I'm not sure what you mean by not activated.   The wide scrollbars were implemented by default in recent firmware images,  but they were not when this thead was posted.

- Neelix

What I mean by "not activated" is, the lines that makes the scroll-bars wider are commented in the corresponding file, and there is no option in any menu or reference to it in any guide. 

 

[Neelix]

*blinks*  What version of the firmware are you running? 

I've already overwritten that file on my recently reflashed unit with copy I had previously backed up containing my preferred settings,  so I can't easily check how it appears in a fresh install.

- Neelix

 

[FelixNemis]

I can confirm that they aren't wide anymore, after updating to 1.52 (it might have been after 1.51, but it's in not wide in 1.52 either)

though I can't check right now because I don't have my pandora (lcd cable repair)

 

[sewlek]

youtube on pandora

i dont know how many other had this problem, at least i do (did) have it: since the change more towards html5, none of the youtube players in the repo seem to work, also in firefox those videos wont play properly (very slow and no sound).

the fix for firefox: disable html5 videos. type about:config in the address bar. search for media and disable media.wave, media.ogg, media.mplayer, media.sound(?) this will force youtube to fallback to the flashplayer since your browser no longer supports html5 vids. this also reenables 240p and 144p option for most videos.

hope someone else finds this also usefull!

 

[TrashyMG]

youtube on pandora

i dont know how many other had this problem, at least i do (did) have it: since the change more towards html5, none of the youtube players in the repo seem to work, also in firefox those videos wont play properly (very slow and no sound).

the fix for firefox: disable html5 videos. type about:config in the address bar. search for media and disable media.wave, media.ogg, media.mplayer, media.sound(?) this will force youtube to fallback to the flashplayer since your browser no longer supports html5 vids. this also reenables 240p and 144p option for most videos.

hope someone else finds this also usefull!

The Tube still works and to me it's the best youtube player for the Pandora, but the version on the repo is broken.. Sepulep did release a beta version in a forum post that does work, but since it breaks TV Out he didn't post it on the repo.. 

http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/14810-the-tube/?p=325189/URL]

Edit: Wow... Most of the info on the first post is pretty outdated.