Win2X : Alternative Frontend

[zaba]

Uh oh - the unthinkable has happened, I uninstalled the old version, deleted it and installed the latest - everytime I turn on my wiz it boots then when switches to Win2X it goes straight to a black screen. Now I can't use my Wiz at all.

I hope it's running but just not showing on screen, so PLEASE can you give me the exact order I'd need to press buttons to get it to exit out and return to the default wiz interface? If I can do it using the keys I might be able to do it "blind", otherwise I'll have to go through the whole unbricking thing. I installed it from SD, but even taking the SD card out it boots into black screen.

I don't want to put people off using this software, it's great, I have no idea why this problem happened, it's just one of these things I guess.

EDIT: In future releases would it be possible to hold a couple of buttons down while booting to automatically go straight to the original Wiz menu, it'd make recovering from this kind of problem very easy. Anyway - HELP PLEASE!

Hi guys, I have the same problem... BUT the difference is I don't have a SD card, I use the NAND memory. In the moment Wiz loads the Win2X systems, I received a non-friendly black screen... nothing more.
I can't do nothing...

Help help!

 

[chrisvcpp]

Hi guys, I have the same problem... BUT the difference is I don't have a SD card, I use the NAND memory. In the moment Wiz loads the Win2X systems, I received a non-friendly black screen... nothing more.
I can't do nothing...
Help help!

Well...unfortunatelly you have to reflash your firmware..It is nothing difficult.
1. Download fw 1.1 from here : http://gpain.com/firmware/Wiz_1.1.0_090617.zip
2. Put the files to the root of an SD.
3.Power up WIZ and hold the shoulder R.
4.Wait for about 15 minutes and you're done!You have your WIZ restored...
Every file that comes with Win2X installation is vital and should not be deleted of modified...

 

[TitanUranus]

zaba, sorry to have to tell you this, but you will need to either borrow an SD card from a friend, or buy one. You can get them fairly cheap, but rather than spend £5-10 on a 4gb card, I would reccomend paying a little bit extra and buying a bigger SDHC card online, I have a 16gb card which I bought for £18 online which is great cause I have lots of emulators, roms, music and video stored on it!. With the Wiz you really cant rely on the small amount of NAND memory, though I understand it's difficult if you do not have lots of money. Like I say, you can try and borrow one from a friend, they are often found in digital cameras. Mini SD and Micro SD cards also work, but you will need to get a very cheap little adapter to use them(usually only £1 or £2) you will find them in cameras and some mobile phones. It is worth the investment in an SD card though, if you are really short of cash look on ebay and try and get a 2 or 4gb one second hand.

CHP - Ahh, no spaces in filenames, that might be what the problem was. That never occured to me. I'm wondering why the virtual keyboard has a "space" key now? Also, a lot of my files do have empty characters in them (files copied from the PC) and these seem to work fine. Since the SD card is formatted with FAT filesystem, these aren't automatically being renamed with an underscore (eg. "my game.rom" renamed to "my_game.rom") and they still work, even GPE files with spaces work. I'm a bit confused about this, perhaps you can explain (if you have a moment and don't mind).

 

[chrisvcpp]

CHP - Ahh, no spaces in filenames, that might be what the problem was. That never occured to me. I'm wondering why the virtual keyboard has a "space" key now? Also, a lot of my files do have empty characters in them (files copied from the PC) and these seem to work fine. Since the SD card is formatted with FAT filesystem, these aren't automatically being renamed with an underscore (eg. "my game.rom" renamed to "my_game.rom") and they still work, even GPE files with spaces work. I'm a bit confused about this, perhaps you can explain (if you have a moment and don't mind).

Well...it goes like this...First it is not a Win2X bug...Second,a filename that includes a space character is not wrong.You can run any .gpe with space character,open any .png file etc.You can also have links with spaces,names,anything...The problems occurs ONLY when trying to rename,copy,paste or delete them.The reason is that Win2X is using linux command lines to do so...And linux command lines do not support empty characters in filenames...

 

[TitanUranus]

Thank you. I understand now.

 

[dejunai]

After spending some time playing with Firmwares today,
I discovered that Win2X installs fine on 1.0.0, 1.0.1, and of course 1.1.0.
Oddly enuf tho, I also discovered the ts_calibrate will fireup just fine on 1.0.0, and 1.0.1.
Also 1.0.1 has the /usr/gp2x/LineDraw.gpe test utility.
Using this I can clearly see that my first WiZ has a crappy TS, and my second WiZ is just fine.
-DEJ

Thank you for your information Dejunai!I have discovered the ts_calibrate problem too.But what I discovered is that it fires up under Win2X BUT you have to previously ran the original frontend or the Media Player.The reason(I suspect) is some kind of initialization with the TSLIB...Also I have LineDraw.gpe too(under fw 1.1.0)

I meant that on 1.0.0 and 1.0.1 you dont hafta initialize thru the original menus,
ts_calibrate fires up the first time every time. I realize that on firmware 1.1.0 you first
need to run the original menus. I was thinking there maybe something worth investigating
that happened with the update to 1.1.0... I usually use 1.0.1 as it boots much faster,
and I am unconcerned about NAND vfat access. And since ts_calibrate worked for me, I was
simply curious if 1.1.0 might be the issue. I dont expect you to do anything about it,
I was just sharing what I discovered. I will be flashing again in the morning, and see if
any of the other software that seems unhappy with Win2X has any better luck on the earlier
firmware. Perhaps I can isolate an "updated" library at the root of the problem. Who knows.
-DEJ

 

[chrisvcpp]

I meant that on 1.0.0 and 1.0.1 you dont hafta initialize thru the original menus,
ts_calibrate fires up the first time every time. I realize that on firmware 1.1.0 you first
need to run the original menus. I was thinking there maybe something worth investigating
that happened with the update to 1.1.0... I usually use 1.0.1 as it boots much faster,
and I am unconcerned about NAND vfat access. And since ts_calibrate worked for me, I was
simply curious if 1.1.0 might be the issue. I dont expect you to do anything about it,
I was just sharing what I discovered. I will be flashing again in the morning, and see if
any of the other software that seems unhappy with Win2X has any better luck on the earlier
firmware. Perhaps I can isolate an "updated" library at the root of the problem. Who knows.
-DEJ

Your sharings are much appreciated Dejunai...I tried to find out why ts_calibrate won't work,and did some experiments...but no luck..
I haven't experimented with fw 1.0.1 at all and I guess that there are some bugs in fw 1.1 . Anyway, any help is welcome!Thank you!

 

[Jan-Nik]

CHP - Ahh, no spaces in filenames, that might be what the problem was. That never occured to me. I'm wondering why the virtual keyboard has a "space" key now? Also, a lot of my files do have empty characters in them (files copied from the PC) and these seem to work fine. Since the SD card is formatted with FAT filesystem, these aren't automatically being renamed with an underscore (eg. "my game.rom" renamed to "my_game.rom") and they still work, even GPE files with spaces work. I'm a bit confused about this, perhaps you can explain (if you have a moment and don't mind).

Well...it goes like this...First it is not a Win2X bug...Second,a filename that includes a space character is not wrong.You can run any .gpe with space character,open any .png file etc.You can also have links with spaces,names,anything...The problems occurs ONLY when trying to rename,copy,paste or delete them.The reason is that Win2X is using linux command lines to do so...And linux command lines do not support empty characters in filenames...

Use double quotes to fix that:

mv "filename with spaces" "new filename"

 

[Ghanji]

CHP - Ahh, no spaces in filenames, that might be what the problem was. That never occured to me. I'm wondering why the virtual keyboard has a "space" key now? Also, a lot of my files do have empty characters in them (files copied from the PC) and these seem to work fine. Since the SD card is formatted with FAT filesystem, these aren't automatically being renamed with an underscore (eg. "my game.rom" renamed to "my_game.rom") and they still work, even GPE files with spaces work. I'm a bit confused about this, perhaps you can explain (if you have a moment and don't mind).

Well...it goes like this...First it is not a Win2X bug...Second,a filename that includes a space character is not wrong.You can run any .gpe with space character,open any .png file etc.You can also have links with spaces,names,anything...The problems occurs ONLY when trying to rename,copy,paste or delete them.The reason is that Win2X is using linux command lines to do so...And linux command lines do not support empty characters in filenames...

Use double quotes to fix that:

mv "filename with spaces" "new filename"

you could use quotes as Jan-Nik says, or escape special characters by using backslashes: filename\ with\ spaces, especially when working with wildcards.

 

[TitanUranus]

You know, the quotes thing occured to me too, but I wasn't sure if it was juat an msdos thing (damn, I'm too old).

 

[chrisvcpp]

Use double quotes to fix that:

mv "filename with spaces" "new filename"

OK,thank you!I'll try it...

 

[docterry]

I fully admit that I am a complete n00b, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get links in the menus or on the desktop!

I try the (+) button (as well as using the R-shoulder), navigate to the xxx.gpe file, press "B" to select. The explorer window goes away and backs up to whatever category window i was in, but it is always blank!

What am I missing? Using fw 1.10, and Win2x v1.1.0.

@docterry
...
Press the R button when you are in the desired window (Applications, Ports, etc) press B on the folder train i.e SD +B , Games + B, Location of file

Then Press B on the desired file, it will then be added to the desired window.
...

@CodeOfTheBenchpress: Thanks for the advice. But I've followed the manual's directions as well as yours. When I get the point of selecting a file, I press the "B" key. The explorer selection window goes away and brings me back to the Category window (e.g. "Emulators"), but the window is still totally blank! I can never get icons to populate the Category windows.

I'm drawing a blank. Grrr... I really want to use Win2X!

 

[chrisvcpp]

@CodeOfTheBenchpress: Thanks for the advice. But I've followed the manual's directions as well as yours. When I get the point of selecting a file, I press the "B" key. The explorer selection window goes away and brings me back to the Category window (e.g. "Emulators"), but the window is still totally blank! I can never get icons to populate the Category windows.
I'm drawing a blank. Grrr... I really want to use Win2X!

Well,I made some tests,but I really can't see why you come across with this.If you could give me some info:
1.Fw you use(not much of importance but just in case)
2.Location of your files
3.Have you installed Win2X or run it from an SD?
4.IMPORTANT:In case you run it from an SD,you should really check if your SD card has a write-protection switch on it and if it is on...

 

[milkawax]

If someone interests , found out how to start the other apps in Win2X.

gph.gpu --view-music for mp3 player
gph.gpu --view-photo for photo viewer
gph.gpu --view-ebook for ebook reader
gph.gpu --view-flashgame for flash game player

and some more if needed

greets milk

forgot - rejump into win2x doesn't work for now from this apps...

 

[NEIL L]

Another problem I've found is that games/emulators etc. using the Pollux set don't work (they just hang up with a black screen), apart from this and the overlapping letters problem, this runs perfectly.

Cheers, Neil

I don't think it's the pollux set but .gpu files that are hanging the Wiz, all my pollux set start up files are .gpu's, I tried to run another .gpu file (without using the Pollux set) and this hangs up also (but .gpe's run fine)

Also I thought the Wiz ran at 533 MHz, but the default is set at 550 MHz. (Could this be changed?, and could this be causing the touchscreen/overclocking problem as my touchscreen is worse than normal on Win2X)

Cheers, Neil

 

[chrisvcpp]

If someone interests , found out how to start the other apps in Win2X.

gph.gpu --view-music for mp3 player
gph.gpu --view-photo for photo viewer
gph.gpu --view-ebook for ebook reader
gph.gpu --view-flashgame for flash game player

and some more if needed

greets milk

forgot - rejump into win2x doesn't work for now from this apps...

Try to run gph.gpu with the parameter "--enable-terminate".Maybe this works...
Also note that this will not run unless Win2X is installed.If not replace "gph.gpu" with "gp2xmenu"

 

[chrisvcpp]

I don't think it's the pollux set but .gpu files that are hanging the Wiz, all my pollux set start up files are .gpu's, I tried to run another .gpu file (without using the Pollux set) and this hangs up also (but .gpe's run fine)

Also I thought the Wiz ran at 533 MHz, but the default is set at 550 MHz. (Could this be changed?, and could this be causing the touchscreen/overclocking problem as my touchscreen is worse than normal on Win2X)

Cheers, Neil

Sure can!Although I cannot tell if the overclocking affects the touchscreen.
The pollux_set causes problems if not used properly.I have noted that pollux_set and overclocking above 700Mhz makes many of my programs to crash...

 

[Sitizen]

I don't think it's the pollux set but .gpu files that are hanging the Wiz, all my pollux set start up files are .gpu's, I tried to run another .gpu file (without using the Pollux set) and this hangs up also (but .gpe's run fine)

Also I thought the Wiz ran at 533 MHz, but the default is set at 550 MHz. (Could this be changed?, and could this be causing the touchscreen/overclocking problem as my touchscreen is worse than normal on Win2X)

Cheers, Neil

Sure can!Although I cannot tell if the overclocking affects the touchscreen.
The pollux_set causes problems if not used properly.I have noted that pollux_set and overclocking above 700Mhz makes many of my programs to crash...

Overclocking (and underclocking) definitely affects the touchscreen, everything touchscreen-related should be run at exactly 533 MHz. I hope GPH fixes that soon.

 

[fahizzle]

Just a question though, nothing major...

Thank you very much!Very nice to hear or you and that you liked Win2X!
The skinning feature is under construction yet...For now the only option is to edit the files in the existing themes(Blue or Gold).But it should be
done very wisely as a missing file could result to render Win2X useless...And it could also mess up the user experience if the specific structure of the image design is not followed.
For now, any seperate theme must be included to Win2X's coding...The reason I went through all this, is because as I stated before,any mistake in theme creation could mess Win2X up.What I'm thinking of right now is creating a theme tool so as any user can design and add his own theme...
The screen saver issue you stated is a bit weird though...Because as long as you execute any program,Win2X is unloaded from memory meaning that the screensaver process terminates aswell.I tested PicoDrive myself with screensaver on,and nothing happened(as expected).May I ask what fw do you use?

Yeah I'm operating on FMW 1.1, and version 1.1.0 of your program, I don't know why the program self terminated when the screen saver activated, but I just disable it before I start up an emulator, so its nothing major.

O yeah, and as far as skinning goes, I've gone through most of the changes to make it a personal desktop....I was just wondering about the windows...If you were to change how the windows look, would the exit button {X sprite} be in the same position?

Meaning if I were to change the entire outlook of the window, and placed the Symbols back in their same pixel position would it still register on the touch screen, or is a change in code needed.


|--------------------|
|.................{X}|
|....................|
|....................|
|....................|
|--------------------|

 

[NEIL L]

I don't think it's the pollux set but .gpu files that are hanging the Wiz, all my pollux set start up files are .gpu's, I tried to run another .gpu file (without using the Pollux set) and this hangs up also (but .gpe's run fine)

Also I thought the Wiz ran at 533 MHz, but the default is set at 550 MHz. (Could this be changed?, and could this be causing the touchscreen/overclocking problem as my touchscreen is worse than normal on Win2X)

Cheers, Neil

Sure can!Although I cannot tell if the overclocking affects the touchscreen.
The pollux_set causes problems if not used properly.I have noted that pollux_set and overclocking above 700Mhz makes many of my programs to crash...

Thanks for agreeing to sort out the 533/550 MHz problem.
I'm not sure that it is the pollux_set causing the hang ups as I can't get any .gpu files (pollux_set or not) to run, but .gpe's run fine. (Most of ZX81's emulators need to be ran from a .gpu)

Another few ideas:
1. Could the name of the chosen game/emulator etc. on the desktop be shown on the bar at the bottom of the screen next to the 'Win2X' box? This would be more room saving than having the names on the desktop. (There could still be an option to name them also)
2. Could the delete desktop shortcut key be moved to Select instead of X as I've deleted a few by mistake (the edit function in the game/emulators etc. menus is Select but X on the desktop???)
3. Could the orange start up & shut down screens be changed to something a bit prettier?

Cheers, Neil