Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Testing new dual-boot installer

I've just released a new dual-boot installer in the hope that it fixes the "flash write error" problem some users have experienced. The error is caused by one or more bad pages in the first block of NAND. This is normal and there is a mechanism that was supposed so handle it but wasn't working. As I don't have bad pages in this first block in my two A320s, I can't test it myself, so, until someone reports that it is working for him, consider it beta.

UPDATE 1: so far three success reports. Yeah, looks like this bug is squashed!.

UPDATE 2: confirmed. No more flash write errors.
Posted by at 2:39 AM

42 comments:

  1. Worked perfect for me, thanks very much for all your hard work :)
    ReplyDelete
  2. where to acquire said files?
    ReplyDelete
  3. @jamdog

    At the google code page, as usual:

    http://code.google.com/p/dingoo-linux/downloads/list
    ReplyDelete
  4. My dingoo have not arrived yet. Seeing how dedicated dingux project is being kept it makes us all the dingoo scene extremelly happy! I can´t wait to play Sonic CD and other sega cd gems on my TV!
    Good job booboo!

    By the way, I am curious. The point of porting linux for dingoo, instead of port linux apps for the original O.S. (firmware) is for sake of simplicity or the point is make a best O.S. (your linux port) in order to run the aplications more eficiently?
    ReplyDelete
  5. Works great! Thanks a bunch booboo! I've been waiting for this release so I could sit down & do some serious playing =]
    ReplyDelete
  6. @Sillas

    I think that the original OS does its job and does it quite well (can be improved, of course). Running linux on the A320 won't get you any significant advantages IMHO (sure, with time you can improve over the original software.

    The big... wait, the HUGE point is porting. Run linux and you have a almost instantly a HUGE library of software available.
    ReplyDelete
  7. I just hope someone ports this on JXD devices...
    ReplyDelete
  8. hmm, I actually seem to have hit a snag. Turned it on this morning & I was met with a continual 'unable to load theme config file. rc = -1'. Maybe this bug isn't quite squashed?
    ReplyDelete
  9. @Kronus

    The JXD301 CPU seems to be an Analog Devices Blackfin BF533. IIRC, it is well documented but lacks MMU, which makes it suitable only for uClinux. Woule be an interesting project, but I don't have that much spare time.

    The JXD1000 is a whole different story. It has what I most miss from the A320: a large 4.3" LCD, and the price is great (same than A320 but larger LCD and 8GB!!!). I've been lately really tempted to buy it from DX just to pry it open and have a look inside. However, I had to hold myself back. It is wiser to wait until some more info comes out about the CPU it uses, plus anyway as I said I don't have that much spare time at the moment.

    Any info on the CPU of the JXD1000 will be welcome.
    ReplyDelete
  10. I'll try to contact the JXD company, anyways here's their website:

    http://www.jxd.cc/en/product_view.asp
    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Booboo,

    There's been some discussion on the A320 forums about juddering/freezing on the emus about 10 seconds in. Happens on the Snes and Picodrve emus.It only last for a split seconds and usually occurs maybe once or twice more. Is this a known bug?
    ReplyDelete
  12. Hmm now that the showstopper has gone what is next? Tv out, keyboard and a joystick adapter will ever be possible? I know they would consume a lot of battery, but if you can play dingoo while the battery is recharging...Or dingoo uses usb plug for recharge too?
    ReplyDelete
  13. Sorry Silas, USB-host will probably never be possible (plz prove me wrong booboo :D ), the pin isn´t soldered from the CPU (which supports USB-host) to the mainboard. No 2 player games... :(
    TV-Out could be possible, there are linux-drivers for chrontel-chips out there, but making them work on the Dingoo is not trivial i guess. ^^
    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for the reply eule! Maybe a mini Sd adapter, like the mini sd wireless adapter once booboo commented. Is there any mini sd adapter with this functions? or it would be a gadget which we can't find everywhere?

    The TV-out were one of the great motives to buy dingoo at my view point, but maybe it is just me. Don't worry about it.
    ReplyDelete
  15. I tried to use this latest version with my new Dingoo and it never booted the installer. I tested with Mac and XP and the scripts confirmed everything.

    I then used the previous version with no issues at all on the Mac. LCD type is 9331_3.

    No worries but figured you ought to know that an issue has occured!
    ReplyDelete
  16. I have flashed my new Dingoo FW1.1 (9331) to 1.03 for the installer starts. The kernel installer does not start.
    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Booboo,

    Dual boot is working perfectly for me, thank you for you work!

    Do you plan to support the FM receiver?
    ReplyDelete
  18. When I upload the installer, instead of displaying the installer script screen, the screen remains blank. USBTool gives me no indication that anything went wrong with the upload process and I definitely picked the right LCD Driver. Any ideas what is wrong? (my dingoo is brand new- got it today.)
    ReplyDelete
  19. I should add that I am also using OS X, but unlike Ashura, I was unable to get it working with the previous version of the installer. (I tried using USBTool on Linux as well, but it made no difference).
    ReplyDelete
  20. Not sure if this will help anyone or not, but I thought I'd add this.

    The first thing I did with my Dingoo (after charging) was to flash it with dual-boot firmware. I had put the Dingoo in USB-boot mode (or so I thought) by holding B as I powered up the system. I went through the steps of installing the drivers and sending the dual-boot installer. All seemed to go well, but nothing appeared on the Dingoo screen after sending the installer.

    I then realized that the Dingoo must actually be reset (by pressing the recessed reset button) while holding B in order for the installer to complete loading.

    Seems obvious now, but it initially stumped me.
    ReplyDelete
  21. Booboo,

    The JXD 1000 uses the new Sunplus 8000 chip. I think it´s powerful (can output 720p and show 720p films) but, I think there is any document to port Linux on it.
    ReplyDelete
  22. I think their specs are wrong about the video out. If it outputs a composite signal the max resolution supported is standard video out 480i. Wouldn't it need a component out to achieve 720p, that would require a multipin video out connector and I think they are just using a 3.5mm phones jack like the dingoo. Correct me if I'm wrong.
    ReplyDelete
  23. My dingoo arrived yesterday. I've installed everything, looks like there is a NEW LCD 9331_3.
    I am thinking here what in the world passes in the head of that dingoo factory's engenerings. They know there is a scene growing up and instead of take advantage of this, making new firmwares with better emulators and bug fixes, no! They have to mess around with the hardware and delay our progress...Is there some one in this situation here?
    ReplyDelete
  24. LCD version 9331_3 is the same one that has been around for a while. Have you tried the dual boot with it yet?
    ReplyDelete
  25. I did flash it. The "DINGUX" screen shows up when dingoo starts.. But when I press select evething freezes.
    ReplyDelete
  26. This comment has been removed by the author.
    ReplyDelete
  27. Hola, mi nombre es Miguel, estoy intentando comprender el proceso de instalación de Dingux, creo entender que el proposito de instalar/ejecutar 'hwinit.bin' antes de 'zImage_dual_boot_installer_ILI93xx' es que este 'hwinit.bin' prepara la SDRAM para ser utilizada por 'zImage_dual_boot_installer_ILI93xx'.
    ¿Me lo podrías confirmar?
    ReplyDelete
  28. I ended up fixing the problem that I had- I reinstalled the firmware and I could flash the older dual boot installer (August). The newest version didn't work for some reason.
    ReplyDelete
  29. I confirm that dual_boot_installer_20090916 works fine with 9331_3. I have two a320: 9325 and 9331_3, and both of them install and run dingux without problems with usbtool-win.exe (over windows xp). Over linux (ubuntu intrepid) usbtool-linux gives a "timeout".
    ReplyDelete
  30. This is weird. I tried to install the boot loader with the latest dualboot package, I did everything as stated in the readme, and the usbtool reported that everything was OK and Done. However, my Dingoo doesn't boot as it should have (I still see the default Dingoo Digital boot screen, and holding SELECT doesn't do anything). Do you have any idea what might be wrong?
    ReplyDelete
  31. Was having serious frustration with this over the last 2 days, as my screen would stay black after sending the two commands. I'd tried on a Mac, Ubuntu, Windows XP... no joy.

    Tonight I tried again, and after the second command, and a little annoyed, I unplugged the Dingoo USB cable. The flash installer screen popped up straight away.

    I used Mac OS X 10.6.1 and Terminal to do the flashing, worked just fine. Don't forget to simply unplug the USB cable if your Dingoo stays at the black screen.

    Hope this helps some one.
    ReplyDelete
  32. Booboo, please, I need to test psx4all! I uninstalled and reinstalled dingux, formated my mini sd on fat32, but it still freezing on dingux splash screen (when I press select). I already checked all steps of installation, and nothing appear to solve this. Help me please!
    ReplyDelete
  33. I've put the lastest local 31 and it finally get working. But when I adjusted the overclock to 430 mhz and everything got stuck again and I had to format it and reinstall everything. anyway...sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for dingux!
    ReplyDelete
  34. No luck here. Tried with winXP SP3, uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers, and the screen stays black after I execute the commands. It's very frustrating. Using the other method with usb tool, the screen stays white after the commands and z_man's solution didn't work for me too. Bought my dingoo last month, and the lcd type is ILI9331_3.
    ReplyDelete
  35. I'm on mac and I'm mixed up with the procedures to "Flash" the Dingoo.

    The Dingux Files are already on my mini sd (rootfs and zImage). The mini sd is in my Dingoo.

    Question 1
    When I try to boot in USB mode (holding b button) I cant see the Dingoo mounting on OSX... Or is it normal if the device stays invisible to my computer?

    Question 2
    When I try the first command line to Flash the Dingoo I get this message : «USBtool v0.4 - (C) 2008 Maurus Cuelenaere This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Bus error»

    What am I doing wrong? I get this message for the second command line too and I get this message even if I dont start the Dingoo in USB Mode.

    I'm unsing the last files from the Google-code website. Maybe it's that don understand the guide. I would need something more clear I guess ;)

    I need help!
    ReplyDelete
  36. Nada, imposible instalar el dualboot.
    He probado 3 cables distintos, sobremesa con Win-XP sp3, Ubuntu 9.10 (32 y 64 bits), Ubuntu 9.04 (32bits)
    Portatil Compaq con XP Sp3...
    Se queda negra y ya esta.
    Curioso: si pongo en Ubuntu el comando "usb-linux" con la opcion 3 al terminar los otros dos comandos me dice "time-out" o algo parecido... O sea, esta practicamente dormida desde que entra en modo usb ¿?
    ReplyDelete
  37. Ya lo tengo. Paso a explicar como lo he conseguido (pantalla ILI9331_3)

    1 - Conectamos la Dingoo en modo USB normal
    2 - Presionando B encedemos/apagamos la maquina
    3 - Instalamos el driver que viene en el zip (jz4740)
    4 - Procedemos con la carga de los 2 comandos desde la linea de comandos tal y como se explica en el README.

    Y ya esta.

    Lo importante es el punto 2, en vez de "reset+b" en este modelo es "power+b" una vez que este conectada.

    Espero sirva de ayuda.
    ReplyDelete
  38. To all the people having trouble with the ILI9331_3 version wherein it recognizes the dingoo, accepts the commands but remains black screened after the last command I've found what appears to be solution. The newest dual boot installer, where you need to use a command console, would not work for me at all. I had to use the older, .exe installer that contained .bat installers. It worked automatically when I did this. The youtube video "New Dingux Dual Boot Installation.avi" from user whosaywho has the .exe links, I wasn't sure if I could post links here.
    ReplyDelete
  39. Hello All,

    I just bought a Dingoo A320 with firmware 1.2 and ILI9331_3 LCD. Just wanted to let you guys what I went through...

    I managed to do all the tricks with usbtool as described in the docs, tried the latest and all older dual boot installers, tried with WinXP and proper drivers and with Linux as well. All passed with flying colors but the screen remained black despite of everything.

    Then I did one thing... I (again) powered on my Dingoo, got the green menu screen and then inserted my 8GB Mini SD card. Then kept pressure on the 'B' button and clicked reset. Repeated all the usbtool thingies on Linux and BLAM! I saw a Tux booting!

    So. In my case, having a 8GB Mini SD card inserted even with an empty partition at least got the installer booted.
    ReplyDelete
  40. Hi, I have a A320 with firmware 1.2 and ILI9331_3 lcd.

    I put my device in USB mode as instructed, connect to the PC, cancel the driver install when prompted.

    I then type in the first command, but I get an error saying that the device is not found.

    Any advice please?
    ReplyDelete
  41. Same as Keith. Starting to wonder if I really should've spent the money on this device.
    ReplyDelete
  42. There's some situations in which the installer is known not to work. Also usbtool has some trouble in windows due to the driver mess (and I've heard that it doesn't like USB hubs too).

    There are plans to build a native OS dingux installer that would obviously not need usbtool. Stay tuned (but as always, don't hold your breath).
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)