Why Won't It Work?!

[backudog]

I got my gp32 BLU 166mhz from gbax.com today and so far it seems as though i have bought an expensive paper weight!
I installed the manager thing onto my computer, connected my gp32 to the usb whatsit as per the instructions in the guide book,started them up and got "an error occured while enabling device" then it keeps telling me to connect the gb32 to the usb then i get a time out, and then finally it slows my computer down till it locks up and i have to restart!all the while the gp32 says "now waiting"(my comp is a P4 3GHZ win xp (with Service Pack 2)).
I've not been able to install anything (mp3 player, video player etc) or do anything with it. Please help ! how do i fix this?

 

[Steve-O]

do u have a SMC Read / writer ?

 

[backudog]

yep i got a 6 in 1 reader.

 

[backudog]

I've tried putting stuff straight onto the card (videos mp3s and the various players needed games emulators etc) but nothing seems to work all i have on the gp32 screen is play and pc link.

 

[don]

Dont blame the GP32 for your fubar'ed Winblows. Or didn't you install the USB driver yet?

 

[mechanori]

I've tried putting stuff straight onto the card (videos mp3s and the various players needed games emulators etc) but nothing seems to work all i have on the gp32 screen is play and pc link.

​

All you need is play and pc-link. To access the FXEs you put on your SMC, just choose the Play option, and choose the FXE you want to run. Make sure all of your programs are in the GPMM folder, and none of the others. If you don't have a GPMM folder, you have not formatted. I believe you can do that by choosing PC-link and then pressing Select to fix your SMC directories.

 

[backudog]

Tried what you said , still nowt. pressing select didn't seem to do anything. Don the usb driver whatsit was installed with the manager...er...wasn't it?

 

[sam fisher]

He installed service pack 2. Its come to my attention thaat service pack 2 stops pc link from working.

 

[backudog]

So does that mean i'm screwed?

 

[sam fisher]

i don't know. I haven't tried it on anyones but mine and my dads both with sp2 but it no longer works. But have no fear get a card reader or get acess to a non sp2 machine preferabley the other pc so you can format the card.

 

[DaveC]

So does that mean i'm screwed?

​

No it means you will want to use the card reader. I have NEVER used that PC-link crap as even if it works it is a pain.

Just drag and drop the .FXEs into the GPMM dir on the SMC. You can create all of the directories (folders) you need through the reader just like you would do on a PC.

Beware that some programs require separate stuff to be in sub-dirs. Emus for example have sub dirs where all of the ROMz go, and they must be named as they say in their readme file.

 

[backudog]

The card is empty, completely empty, i got the gp32 to format it (followed mechanori's instructions and it finally did it) but i still have no folders on it in which to place all my bits. so how do i do that? can i just use windows to create a new folder called GPMM on the card and whack everything in that?

 

[backudog]

ok didn't notice the last post DOH!

 

[DaveC]

The card is empty, completely empty, i got the gp32 to format it (followed mechanori's instructions and it finally did it) but i still have no folders on it in which to place all my bits. so how do i do that? can i just use windows to create a new folder called GPMM on the card and whack everything in that?

​

Yes just use windows to create dirs. There is probably a FAQ of what all of them are and what they are called. You may want to search for that as I can't remember all of them right now (except for GPMM).

 

[backudog]

What about the mp3 player, movie player,image viewer etc i need to install those, do i just whack 'em in the gpmm folder or do they go somewhere special? (sorry to be such a dunce).

 

[yaustar]

if it ends in fxe.. stick it in GPMM... Read the readme to make sure

 

[EvilDragon]

FILE DIRECTORY
.fxe gpmm
.gxe game
.gxc game

That's most important for you.
Where you have to put the mp3s, depends on which mp3 player you're using.
You just have to read the readmes that come with the program you want to install.

 

[GPJosh]

The directories are:

GAME - (Don't worry about it, very few things go here)
GPMM - (Put the *.fxe and any other additional files that come with the fxe here unless said otherwise in a readme)
MP3 - (Put your MP3's here for the sake of orgainzation)
GPETC - (I normally put some of my movies/Pictures here but the Fxe's normally let you load the from anywhere)
GPSYS - (Where your GP32 puts system files - DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT )

Just create the directories in capitals and follow the instructions above and you should be fine.

Hoped that helped and feel free to ask any more questions if you are still confused.

 

[backudog]

Ok, i used the card reader to create the directories (GPMM GAME etc) and tried putting a gpdoom.fxe into the GPMM folder as per the instructions that came with it, i then put the doom.wad into the GAME/DOOM folder i created ,again as per instructions, i placed the card back into the gp32 and pressed play and ....."smc is not inserted or no game exists press B to cancel"! Bwaa? what ?! it is there you stupid machine!
Also where do you put .fpk files? as i downloaded the image viewer ,movie player and mp3 player .fpk files from gp32eu.com as i couldn't get them to install from manager but i don't know where to put 'em (GPMM folder don't do anything).

 

[Tobriand]

Possibilities:
- Dirty SMC slot; answer - blow into it, being careful not to spit, before trying again
- SMC in thw wrong way round: Make sure you've put it in with the contacts facing towards the sreen.
- Faulty SMC bit of your GP32: Your GP32 needs replacing
- SMC reader not disconnected from Windows properly and data did not actually get written: Make sure you "Unplug USB device" before you physically unplug the reader.
- SMC has bad sectors on it: Try and find a "scan SMC for errors" option in the firmware (don't know how in the new one, I'm afraid - used to be done by chosing PC-Link wthout the cable being plugged in and following instructions). If no such option exists, scanning for errors in Windows will likely be as effective, as long as you make sure the surface chec option is turned on (assuming its available).
- SMC was formatted with windows and has started to play up sooner than usual: Reformat your SMC using the GP32 or PC-Link (though of course you can't use PC-Link ) if possible, or format it with a custom cluster size of 8kb (as opposed to 2kb) in Windows as Fat12. This should not be the problem, though - usually it only causes problems with loading of roms in some emulators, not with recognising that the SMC exists.

I think that's everything I can think of that could possibly be wrong, bar a broken/faulty SMC. Hope it helps