What A Crappy First Post :(

[VashTSPD]

Hi, I just got my GP2X today and was going through and downloading new skins for it, one of the skins I downloaded was this:

http://archive.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,52,1116

a samurai Champloo skin--I went to install it and the screen went black like normal....but it never 'loaded up' again. After several minutes of waiting (quite a few) I shut the GP2X off and started it up again. The logo flashed just fine, and then the loading screen came up on time, and then black. The screen went black. As if black was my new skin. It shipped with the 2.0.0 firmware and I didn't try to update it at all. Can anyone offer a explaination or help me?

 

[Mudi]

Sounds like something went wrong with the skin install... it should fix everything if you update to the latest firmware (2.1.1 I believe), the alternate skin install is a lot safer in these new firmwares anyway because of the skin selector.

 

[gaterooze]

Judging by the date of that skin, it was made for firmwares below 2.0.

If you put gmenu2x on with autorun, it *should* boot straight to that, until you get around to replacing the skin (or, as Mudi says, just upgrade to 2.1).

 

[Alex.]

I think that autorun is disabled by default, so unless he enabled it before trying to install that godawful ugly skin, GMenu2x won't help. I suggest reflashing your firmware, search the forums for a howto.

- Alex

 

[VashTSPD]

I upgraded to firmware version 2.1.0, as that was what I saw while browsing. I had to find a post that explained how to upgrade the firmware, this is what I did:

1. put the three important files into the root of your SD card
2. Put SD card into GP2X
3. Hold down START and SELECT and turn on GP2X

at that point I got the "upgrading firmware" screen. Then it showed the splash screen with "firmware 2.1.0" at the bottom. And then the screen went black again. The backlight was still on, just like it was before, but nothing else. I waited for several minutes to make sure it wasn't updating still in the background before shutting off the GP2X. Then I turned it on again and on the loading screen it said "Firmware 2.1.0" again, so I believe the firmware update was successful, but it reverted back to the black screen after that orange splash screen.

Then I read that version 2.1.1 of the firmware was out, so I repeated the firmware upgrade except for this time I upgraded to version 2.1.1. The same thing happened. I wonder if somehow everything is running fine, but the skin has turned everything to black pixels. Does anyone have a suggestion for me to try? Is there a way to switch back to the default skin, or a different skin, from the PC?

 

[Shikaku]

Go to 2.0.0 first then 2.1.1

 

[VashTSPD]

Go to 2.0.0 first then 2.1.1

there are two versions of 2.0.0, what appears to be the original and one with a "U-boot updater". Which one should I get?

 

[Shikaku]

If you can't get to 2.0.0 the normal way do the Uboot updater and try again with the normal way.

 

[VashTSPD]

thanks, I'll try that.

 

[VashTSPD]

thank you, that worked great.

 

[VashTSPD]

I've stumbled upon a nother something I don't know how to do: switch skins.

Before you sigh and link me to the search bar, let me explain! I did several searches. I am using FW 2.1.1, I checked the comments for that release and couldn't fine anything about skins. So I went back to the 2.1.0 release, there I found a part that said you should put skins in a skins folder and there was a menu option. That's when I started the searches. After persueing several threads, this is what I understand: you have to make a directory in your NAND called "Skin" and it is case sensative. You should put your new skins (*.GPS) in that directory. Then go to Settings}System. There should be an option there to change your skin. I did just like I understood how to do, and I couldn't find the option to change my skin. I tried changing the name of the directory to "skin" with a lowercase s and rebooting, but that didn't work either. I checked the Menu Extentions branch both times, and now I'm out of ideas. It's probably a user error and I mucked up somewhere along the way--does anyone have any ideas for me to try? What exactly does the skin option say in the system menu?

 

[TelcoLou]

Try Gmenu2x, then you'll have no need for skins

 

[VashTSPD]

I dabbled with Gmenu2X a little, I put it on my GP2X and I believe it gave me a black screen. But that was before I reinstalled the SDLs. I might revisit it and read whatever came with it, but my question is still on the table. is there anything obvious that I messed up?

 

[linoleum13]

Did you us ea skin that was supposed to be used in for the firmware that you are running? Recent firmware updates have made older skins not compatible.

Also, Gmenu2X is great. If you follow the readme right then it should be easy to install. Its superior to the regular menu in almost every way.

 

[VashTSPD]

I did try skins made for the new firmware. Blue Poison and the Unbuntu skins to be precise. Also, I went back and read the whole read me file for Gmenu2X and put the appropriate fold and the autorun file in the root directory of my SD card, and I still boot into the default menu (complete with default skin ). However, I have discovered that I can run Gmenu2X by launching the autorun file via the Utilites launcher. Once launched, it's great, although I haven't made any shortcuts yet. Also, when I tab over to the "games" section and press B the screen blacks out and freezes. That may just be because I haven't put anything in the games section yet. I triple checked the Settings}System preferences to make sure that autorun was enabled. Do the two mount options matter? One is something like "Mount NAND at boot" and I forget the other one. I also put the Gmenu2X autorun and directory in the root of my NAND storage, but that didn't work either. Thanks for the prompt reples.