Why Downgrade?

[LegendaryMachine]

I've read in multiple places that users with firmware 3.0.0 should downgrade. I run on the latest firmware and have never had any problems as of yet...why is it recommended I downgrade?

 

[craigix]

I don't understand this either, it's more stable and looks a lot nicer (thanks to eds skin).

It takes 2 seconds longer to boot, but that is just GPHs stupid boot script, which you can fix without downgrading.

 

[Vimacs]

If its fine for you, dont touch it
Never touch a running system.

 

[LegendaryMachine]

I don't understand this either, it's more stable and looks a lot nicer (thanks to eds skin).

It takes 2 seconds longer to boot, but that is just GPHs stupid boot script, which you can fix without downgrading.

Oh I meant to say I just haven't had any problems with it yet, I was just wondering what the problems that people ARE running into with it may be.

 

[Julius]

But there is no reason to upgrade either, which is pretty sad, I guess.

But I am looking forward to Open2X!

 

[toxic_d]

Craigx, what are the changes required o decrease the boot time for the 3.0 fw?

 

[TelcoLou]

Craigx, what are the changes required o decrease the boot time for the 3.0 fw?

... I'm quite sure it involves some alignment of the sun, moon and the shadows cast by Stonehenge.

 

[purple_goat]

Craigx, what are the changes required o decrease the boot time for the 3.0 fw?

... I'm quite sure it involves some alignment of the sun, moon and the shadows cast by Stonehenge.

while on Atlantis :rolleyes:

 

[FarazParsa]

Well, a lot more developers use 2.1.1 . I'd sacrifice cosmetics for the core.

 

[Godmil]

Some people were having problems getting FW3.0 to detect their SD cards and NAND. This could just have been an issue with people who upgraded with the nonofficial firmware in the file archive.

 

[Zeladin]

Some people were having problems getting FW3.0 to detect their SD cards and NAND. This could just have been an issue with people who upgraded with the nonofficial firmware in the file archive.

Yup, not to mention that it seemed pretty much less stable (No, of course I don't have figures to prove this). It didn't seem to like Gmenu2x much either. Longer boot time - whatever way you look at it 2.1.1 is faster to boot, I guess they must have taken a day trip to Atlantis. I felt as well if I was doing any hacking/ trying to get drivers etc working, 2.1.1 is of the main development core, 3.0.0 is developed by different people.

3.0.0 is fine and pretty, if you machine is working with everything, and you're not doing any generic hacking/ developing, its probably fine too. As a general rule you only mess with FW's if there's a problem, or some major feature update. So for people who are running FW 3.0.0 shouldn't worry about it unless they are having trouble.

 

[sparkey]

Craigx, what are the changes required o decrease the boot time for the 3.0 fw?

Can I reiterate this request? Normally I like to keep up with the latest firmware for my kit (I don't own a PSP ), but I've resisted upgrading from 2.1.1 to 3.0.0 because of the reports of longer boot times and incompatible themes. I'm pretty sure even 2.1.1 is longer than 2.0, but another two seconds on top of that would make it unacceptable to my mind.

I too am waiting for Open2x with bated breath - even if I don't use it permenantly, it's great that people have the dedication to get something like this going, let alone usable.

So Craigix, can you let us know this magical change that lets firmware 3 boot quickly - hell, why not perform it on all the machines you send out (you are still checking them all individually for problems aren't you)?

Thanks,
Alyn.

 

[god_at_hell]

i think about a downgrade too ... but not from 3.0 to 2.X . I want to ditch my 2.1.1 and go back to 2.0 ... because the two (semi)-good PC-Engine emulators don't run on my gp and I think this is a fw problem (or is it not?).

 

[Parkydr]

The reason a lot of people still have FW 2.1.1 is that it's the latest official release.

I'm not going to use the dodgy version from the archive.

If 3.0 is so good, why hasn't it been officially released?

 

[Mr. Ksoft]

i think about a downgrade too ... but not from 3.0 to 2.X . I want to ditch my 2.1.1 and go back to 2.0 ... because the two (semi)-good PC-Engine emulators don't run on my gp and I think this is a fw problem (or is it not?).

It might, it might not. All I know is that I'm on 3.0 and the PC engine emulators all work fine (I tried them all looking for the best. =P)

On topic, if it's not broken, don't fix it. FW3 seems to work perfectly fine to me. Haven't come across any compatibility problems. Gmenu2x even works great. The boot time is long, but I'm used to long waits (my old Win98 box used to take TEN MINUTES to boot in its last days, after it had been loaded with crap for 8 years)

 

[dcpmark]

FW3 seems to work perfectly fine to me. Haven't come across any compatibility problems. Gmenu2x even works great.

Gmenu2x and PCE emulators work perfectly on my 3.0 unit as well, although I didn't have to upgrade as mine came as a 3.0 unit.

 

[Orkie]

I've been staying out of these 2.1.1 vs. 3.0 threads for a while, but I think people should know what risk they are taking when downgrading to 2.0. There is a risk of bricking when doing so, and I don't mean a simple 'reboot and try again' kind or even 'get JTAG to replace u-boot'. There is a bug in the NAND drivers which means that every time you flash more and more blocks will be marked as bad even if they aren't. This eventually results in a GP2X where the filesystem can't be expanded enough to hold all the files needed and you get a brick. The only way to repair this is a total NAND erase via JTAG using a special utility which can sometimes be a pain to get running.

This is exactly what happened when the dump of 3.0 bricked several people's GP2Xs when it was first released.

Now I don't mean to scare people about using the NAND again, it is there to be used, but the less flashing you do, the better. If 3.0 works for you, I'd advise you keep it. Until Open2x comes of course

 

[sam fisher]

i think about a downgrade too ... but not from 3.0 to 2.X . I want to ditch my 2.1.1 and go back to 2.0 ... because the two (semi)-good PC-Engine emulators don't run on my gp and I think this is a fw problem (or is it not?).

If HU6280 is one of those turn of the MMU hack.

 

[Zeladin]

I've been staying out of these 2.1.1 vs. 3.0 threads for a while, but I think people should know what risk they are taking when downgrading to 2.0. There is a risk of bricking when doing so, and I don't mean a simple 'reboot and try again' kind or even 'get JTAG to replace u-boot'. There is a bug in the NAND drivers which means that every time you flash more and more blocks will be marked as bad even if they aren't. This eventually results in a GP2X where the filesystem can't be expanded enough to hold all the files needed and you get a brick. The only way to repair this is a total NAND erase via JTAG using a special utility which can sometimes be a pain to get running.

This is exactly what happened when the dump of 3.0 bricked several people's GP2Xs when it was first released.

Now I don't mean to scare people about using the NAND again, it is there to be used, but the less flashing you do, the better. If 3.0 works for you, I'd advise you keep it. Until Open2x comes of course

Didn't you say that you'd made some kind of NAND cleaner App to fix this issue? Unmark the bad blocks or something? I'm guessing though that might not be too healthy to use either... Is it in the archives or is it too scary a tool for public release? I did notice on my old Gp2x there were a lot of bad blocks... but I only changed the firmware on it once 2.0.0 to 2.1.0 (No its still running grand I just didn't like the gaping hole from my failed usb host mod, the wires were too small on the ext connector.)

 

[Mudi]

The problem with the NAND cleaner is that it erases everything... including uboot... from the NAND. I had to use this yesterday (thanks for the copy of the blanker Orkie) and it took me a few hours working with JTAG to get uboot loaded back on.

Now, I do believe it's possible to make a program that blanks the NAND then automatically loads uboot back on. I think I'm going to work on this program... the problem with this idea of course is if anything goes wrong you'll have a brick and you'll need to use JTAG to restore it.