Question To All Those Whose Gp32s Have Broken


manalone

Still Fresh
Joined
Oct 26, 2005
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Hi everybody. I ordered a gp32 system from ebay last week, and as I wait for it, I've been looking over these boards. I see a lot of people who mention having more than one system because of breakage and some people say they're fragile, etc.

So I was wondering, can anyone who's had their gp32 break, can you tell me why? Even if you don't want to post because someone already described having the same problem, could you still please post anyway? The reason is because I'm very curious to know how fragile the system may or may not be and I'd like to know the common ways that it's been fried or destroyed or whatever..

So I can avoid those ways of course! :)
 
I fried my original Nlu (Non lit unit) ages ago by connecting it to my multi power adaptor with the polarity the wrong way round (i was using it (the PSU) with something else before hand and forgot to change the polarity. REMEMBER: The GP32 has a non-standard power supply polarity which is CENTRE NEGATIVE and most other devices have a CENTRE POSITIVE polarity, Just for future reference.

I now have 2 Blu (Back lit units), Which has helped soften the blow. :D

Trooper
 
Thanks for the response. I'll defenitely be wary of polarity issues, that's something that I had already been concerned about.

I see several people here say they have more than one system. Is this because they're at all known to eventually just sort of quit working or something?
 
No, Not on the whole, You`ll be pleasantly suprised how well made and robust the GP32 really is. A lot of the users on this board have more that one system mainly because there are 3 version of the GP32 and a lot of them have upgraded to a better version.

These are the 3 different versions of the GP32:

1) Nlu (Non lit unit): This is the original and first unit to appear and is almost identical to the others except it does not have any form of screen lighting, Similar to the original Gba without the after burner screen mod.

2) Flu (Front lit unit): This was the second version of the GP32, Exactly the same as the Nlu GP32, Except it had a factory fitted screen light with a little push button switch on the back to turn the light on and off.

3) Blu/+ (Back lit unit) This is the third version of the GP32 (I won`t go into the Blu+ issue`s :rolleyes:) Which was a MUCH improved version of the Nlu GP32, With a back lit screen (just like a pocketpc or a laptop, If you like) and a few internal improvements (not user noticable).

Hope this helps, And welcome to the community. :)

Trooper
 
Thanks! Your descriptions make sense, I believe the BLU+ is the only one I really see available anymore and I'm almost 100% sure that's the one I'm going to receive. There was a site somewhere (should've bookmarked it) that mentioned the BLU+ has a better joystick or doesn't break as easy or something?

Well anyway thanks for the help. I was a little scared there hearing people mention stuff like "I have two since mine died last month" and stuff like that, but if they aren't known to "wear out" then that's cool.

Meanwhile can anyone else tell me about their system quitting on them?
 
I just had a scary time with my right shoulder button the other day ... it just up and quit working on me :(

Luckily I read the "ghetto shoulder button fix" and it worked; so well in fact, that my left shoulder button now feels sloppy :lol:
 
I let my friend borrow my Gp32 and he killed it from screwing around with the firmware dumping software. Obviously if you dont use the software correctly your GP will essentially be dead so whenever i turn it on the power light comes on but the screen is blank and nothing happens. Ever since I havent been around the forum (its been so long i cant remember my old screen name so i made this new account) but now that GP2x is coming out I plan to get back into the scene.
 
Yeah sorry to hear that, I'm already decided to leave the firmware alone after hearing how easy it is to screw up.

I've heard of the shoulder button and joysticks screwing up too, but then again I heard the BLU+ is supposed to somehow not do this as often. Don't know if it's true though.

So I gather so far that the system is a little susceptible to normal wear and user errors. I could swear I heard people mention theirs just quitting or having the smart media cards not work suddenly one day. ANything like that?
 
Well, my screen is slightly darker in about 1/3rd of the space and one of my sound channels is missing (still ok with headphones, though). What happened? I dropped my GP32 in a lake. Don't drop your GP32 in a lake! :ph34r:

A far worse problem is that my Smartmedia Card seems to be at the end of its life - it's been acting strangely lately... some things crash that used to work before, and DrMD takes FOREVER to save a savestate.

I'll have to get a new SMC soon probably (I only have one right now).
 
Sorry to hear this too. Definitely wont be going near a lake with my system but I can easily see why one would want to!

About the SMCs though- is there a general life expectancy for these things?
 
For SMC's I think it's 50,000 writes or so and I think I heard somewhere that it'll last ~100 years in a time capsule (too bad nobody'd know how to use a smc then anyways :p but I can't remember where I read it or if it was true)

I've had 4 GP32's of which only one died... and that was due to user idiocy (avoid cold weather while playing gp32 and/or listening to music)
 
Hooka posted on Oct 25 2005 at 09:41 PM said:
For SMC's I think it's 50,000 writes or so and I think I heard somewhere that it'll last ~100 years in a time capsule (too bad nobody'd know how to use a smc then anyways :p but I can't remember where I read it or if it was true)

Oh wow, if that's the case then I have nothing to worry about!

I suppose, as is fitting to the topic here, that I was also worried about these in addition to the system itself. Like is it really bad if you put some stuff on the card, then a few more times that day add more stuff to it, etc? I mean sure there's gonna be wear, but I don't know if it shortens the life of the card or system to turn it on several times in an hour or keep adding stuff to the card every day or so (which I plan on doing when I get the system so I hope not!)
 
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To put it simply, someday's I copy the same file over and over (possibly using the same area for some of the file over and over) while testing stuff... so far I haven't noticed anything wrong with my SMC so I'm not sure but it's a good example I guess.
 
manalone posted on Oct 26 2005 at 05:44 AM said:
I suppose, as is fitting to the topic here, that I was also worried about these in addition to the system itself. Like is it really bad if you put some stuff on the card, then a few more times that day add more stuff to it, etc? I mean sure there's gonna be wear, but I don't know if it shortens the life of the card or system to turn it on several times in an hour or keep adding stuff to the card every day or so (which I plan on doing when I get the system so I hope not!)
no that won't be any problem :)
 
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Oh good, I've never used these before and they're expensive as memory cards but flimsier, so I was concerned.
 
Yeah, on the whole, SMC cards are awful IMO. I'm on my third in three years, so I get about a year out of them. SMC must have been the growing media in 2000-2001 when they designed the system. My joystick broke recently, but i just glued it, and it's good as new. I volt modded mine maybe a year ago to play Osnes9x better, and it hasn't let me down yet.

Not trying to hijack, but has anyone out there been running with the pencil trick for the last 4 months and still running?

Hi-ho.
 
reaper79 posted on Oct 26 2005 at 09:47 PM said:
Yeah, on the whole, SMC cards are awful IMO. I'm on my third in three years, so I get about a year out of them. SMC must have been the growing media in 2000-2001 when they designed the system. My joystick broke recently, but i just glued it, and it's good as new. I volt modded mine maybe a year ago to play Osnes9x better, and it hasn't let me down yet.

Not trying to hijack, but has anyone out there been running with the pencil trick for the last 4 months and still running?

Hi-ho.

Yep, I was the first to do the pencil trick, She is still running as good as the day i modded her. 204mhz, Though i only ever use 200 max where ever possible and have not had any problems what so ever, I`ve not even had to re-apply the lead once in all that time.

Trooper
 
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Yeah sorry to hear that, I'm already decided to leave the firmware alone after hearing how easy it is to screw up.
Flashing the firmware isn't that bad.
You just have to be careful:
1. Flash with the right firmware (ie. a BLU+ firmware for a GP32 BLU+)
2. Use a power supply, or fresh batteries, you DO NOT want the GP32 to lose power halfway through flashing. So make sure that the DC power supply does not fall out during the (10 second) flashing process.
3. If the worst comes to the worst the GP32 can be flashed with a JTAG cable which cannot be bought (i.e. you have to build one or get an electronically minded friend to do so for you).
4. Flashing is pretty safe if you don't do anything stupid like switch the GP32 off during the flash.

It's also well worth it. Slumans firmware is excellent!
 
Is the main purpose to flashing firmware simply to get a nicer or more direct user interface? Or is there a big benefit (the system runs faster or something)?

Also what is volt modding and the pencil trick? I've searched but most of the responses are written in ways that are clearly not meant to be directed at someone who doesn't yet understand.
 
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