Gp2x Power Supply Mod


Orkie

Super Duper Mega GP Mania
Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
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Location
UK
Website
www.gp2x.dev
I have no idea if this has been done before, but here is mine to show off :p. Basically, the 1A power supply from Argos wasn't enough for my GP2X (never has been) and the GP2X often crashes on bootup due to it drawing huge amounts of current when first turned on (1.5A, settling to 0.5A after about half a second). I can't afford another power supply, so I used a couple of AA sized bits of garden cane with screws in the ends as terminals and a spare ATX PSU to make my own.



 
One sometimes wishes GPH's engineering skills had been this good
 
1.5A, I also measured 1.6Watt, the bootup of the GP2X is to much for my old 2400mah batteries. :D They still can run the GP2X for 3-4 Hours but they have to be full charged AND warmed to survive the green starting screen, after that, everything is fine. I really need new Rechargables but my Power Supply is stable (buyed from ED's shop)
 
Is there any way to build a GP2X USB PSU? Or USB do not have the enogh power?
 
On some PCs that allow much more current to be drawn than the spec. allows, maybe. But USB only allows for 500mA officially, and even if the voltage were dropped to 3V and the current raised a little, it would fall well short of what the GP2X needs. Maybe if you had 2 or 3 USB ports providing the power it would work, but then is it really work it? :)
 
Right, it just made a loud bang and smoke came out so I don't think I'll be using it again :D.
 
Orkie said:
Right, it just made a loud bang and smoke came out so I don't think I'll be using it again :D.
Yeah...I wouldn't think using an old computer PSU as a power supply for ur GP2X would be a good idea...cool while it lasted though.
 
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Well the PSU still works. The fact that it was sat out in my garden for a year before this use probably hasn't helped (I bet a bit of mud dropped down or something and shorted a cap).
 
Orkie said:
Well the PSU still works. The fact that it was sat out in my garden for a year before this use probably hasn't helped (I bet a bit of mud dropped down or something and shorted a cap).
Is mud conductive?
 
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Come to think of it, I did see a spider in there when I opened it up after first bringing it in...
 
Peter R said:
Orkie said:
Well the PSU still works. The fact that it was sat out in my garden for a year before this use probably hasn't helped (I bet a bit of mud dropped down or something and shorted a cap).
Is mud conductive?


ROFL, this thread is pretty hilarious...

Yeah, mud would be conductive. I think it should've been obvious that this might have been a bad idea, but meh, if you're going to make a psu, an old comp psu would probably be ur best option.
 
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Peter R said:
I'm sorry but I can't understand what "ur" post says... :blink:
What don't you get? It's not as if I was replacing letters with numbers, dropping numerous vowels,

I said that mud is conductive. It should've been obvious that using an old power supply from a computer to power a GP2X is a bad idea. But, if you're going to use any random thing to use as a power supply, a computer PSU is as good a thing as any.

That help? I didn't realize that "ur" for "your" wasn't good enough.
 
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A lot of ATX power supplys are typically very bad at regulation unless they have a decent amount of load on then, and they expect the load from a motherboard, harddisk, etc. I used one for a 12V power supply once, bad idea.
 
Mud is conductive because of its water content. If/when it dries out, it would lose said conductivity.
 
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