My experience and first impression


usurp

Still Fresh
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
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62
Age
45
Location
Kuwait
open-pandora.jpg



I have to say I was expecting the device to feel flimsy and cheap but it turned out to be pretty solid. I've had it now for 24 hours and the only dislike I have with the device is the power switch. I don’t like how it feels and would rather it was a simple on off flip switch instead of this springy button.


Now the OS was very overwhelming. I’ve very briefly used Linux before, I’m a Mac guy who hates Windows. I’ve used terminal before to try and get stuff done and I still thought it was very complicated to get started using Pandora.


When you first get a gaming system the first thing you want to do is play games. I couldn’t do that, I barely can do that 24 hours later. I spent the first 2 hours maybe figuring out how to format my SD card in Pandora then ended up using a windows computer to do it. I then had to learn how to install software, where to get software from and how the whole system works. Once I figured that out I started getting the emulators but even those aren’t just plug in play. As of now I’ve managed to get the SNES, N64 and DosBox emulators working (test drive III kicks ass). I can’t get the NeoGeo nor MAME emulators working, I got PicoDrive working but I can’t figure out how to get my games from the load rom screen. Quake III was surprisingly easy to get working but then I thought I had a broken nub since I started reversing and couldn’t stop. Turns out it’s a bug of some sort.


But even with those issues so far I can already see the potential of this device. I know it might sound strange but the fact I can play games like Captain Comic and Test Drive III makes this device worth it for me. I just really wished there was a better guide that really takes a newbie from A to Z, from flashing the device all the way to installing emulators and telling you what you need to get it going. So far everyone has been extremely helpful here which as I’ve already said in another thread is just amazing and extremely positive. I love it :)
 
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apart from the mario face, this i the kind of thread we need :D


guess you just found a job to make a start on, all the information is around, just either in our heads or scattered in some thread somewhere :p
 
Glad you are enjoying the Pandora! :D


The problem you're having with the Neo-Geo (GnGeo) emu is probably the same one that caught me out at first. Particularly if every rom you run gives you an error similar to this: "GnGeo could not init rom file mslug.zip, the file could not be found". Even if the rom file is there and it was in the list of games to available to launch from the GnGeo menu. You basically need to have the Neo-Geo BIOS files in a zip file and store it in your "Pandora\appdata\GeGeo\Roms" directory and call it: neogeo.zip.


Emu should work a treat the next time it's fired up, well worth the effort too, superb emu! Hope it helps!
 
I actually got metal slug working now but neo drift an aero fighters are giving me a Error: file 097-v2.bin not found maybe the romset you're using is too old
 
I actually got metal slug working now but neo drift an aero fighters are giving me a Error: file 097-v2.bin not found maybe the romset you're using is too old
Neogeo emulation aint perfect what version do you have does it have a gui as soon as you boot? Mame is a pain you need correct romsets 0.37 for mame4all and 0.106 for mame 106 and sdl you can get roms for mame4all from [Removed] under gp2x handheld as far as picodrive is concerned you should be able to browse to where you stored your roms or 32x games giving your sd card a volume label may make this easier as i know the pandora sd labels are hard to distinguish,as far as the formating is concerned note the pandora should be switched off when attaching it to your computer(mini usb) attach it to your computer your pandora will automatically switch on go to system/sd mass storage/(choose your card) and your computer will pick it up stick with it m8 its worth the wait.
 
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Well, you don't need to convert mameroms... Just have roms from the right romset for MAME.


GnGeo (from repo) should work with recent roms.
 
as far as picodrive is concerned you should be able to browse to where you stored your roms or 32x games giving your sd card a volume label may make this easier as i know the pandora sd labels are hard to distinguish,

Well my issue is trying to find the SD card. I keep clicking /.. and it moves up directories but I don't know where the SD card is located in that environment.


Neogeo is working fine, finally found a copy of Neo Drift which works. FYI: it's the best racing game ever
 
Glad you are making progress. Once you get everything in its right place, the learning curve becomes a lot straighter. You get to learn some Linux along the way and file structure which isn't a bad thing for any noob.
 
Well my issue is trying to find the SD card. I keep clicking /.. and it moves up directories but I don't know where the SD card is located in that environment.


Neogeo is working fine, finally found a copy of Neo Drift which works. FYI: it's the best racing game ever
The path to your SD card is /media/<sdcard-name> or /media/mmcblk0p1 if you haven't named your card.
 
The path to your SD card is /media/<sdcard-name> or /media/mmcblk0p1 if you haven't named your card.

God damn i'm such an idiot sometimes!
Thats how i told you too give your sd card a name it makes it so much easier hope these tips make it a more pleasant journey,but thats part of the parcel owning a pandora you learn something new every day.
 
Sweet impressions! Nice pic too, did you take it yourself?


Yes I did. I noticed the one thing really lacking with open pandora is the overall look of the brand, maybe there is some way i can put my skills to good use?
 
usurp: you sure could do that! The Pandora needs more HDR pics .. ;)
 
Well if you compare pandora to boxee and xbmc, pandora is the least prettiest for example.
 
I queried that comparison in my previous post as well.
Yeah, we posted at the same time (i.e. I didn't refresh before pressing post and therefore missed yours).


Speaking of XBMC, I have a project I'm working on to turn XBMC into a Pandora front-end. So far I have an application launcher and segfaulting application store (I still need to debug that damned thing). I've gotten one of the rom manager/database plugins to work as well, though I need to adapt it a bit to properly launch PNDs.


I should do a proper release of this stuff...
 
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