Where can I find a breakout board for the GP2X today?

[mediocrevegetable1]

I got a GP2X very recently and I really want to mess around with the UART for debugging because I'm having some funky issues with the ne2272 driver. I also wouldn't mind hooking up a keyboard and mouse and using the TV-Out functionality. Obviously, all of this requires me to have a way to interface with the EXT port. I was sure AliExpress would still have something I could use, and maybe it does (the search functionality kinda sucks IMO) but I came out empty-handed. I do have some soldering skill and I know the connector itself was used by other companies like Samsung, but there's no way I have the self-confidence to open up a 24-pin cable and manage that properly. Anyone know what I can do?

 

[TeDaDeS]

I never tried this myself, and as you indicated it might be tricky soldering those tiny pins, but this is what I would try if I was trying this:

Get one of these (or similar): https://www.amazon.de/GP2X_or_whatever/dp/B0FPPR9QFK
Find one of these Samsung E800 (or compatible) cables with the 24pin connector: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/LOLCOPTER/dp/B008I2D5YK
Some electrical wire, and some perfboard, or something else to solder a cable to. And you'll need the tools, like soldering iron and a multimeter.

The tricky part, a standard samsung USB cable only connects GND for you. We don't need/want the USB part so we ignore those.
You only need to connect pins 6 (RXD) and 7 (TXD), for that you would have to break open the connector itself. And I don't know what you'll find it there, it might be difficult to solder onto these pins.
As these are tiny cables I would use the perfboard (or similar) to solder the tiny cables to and solder a cable from the USB-UART adapter to that board. If a cable breaks off, you want it to be the bigger one not the one going to the connector.
You can use the multimeter to check which USB-pin / cable is connected to which pin.

Note: Use only the 3.3V pins on the USB UART plug.
PC-adapter: TXT <--> PIN7 GP2X
PC-adapter: RXD <--> PIN6 GP2X
PC-adapter: GND <--> GND (PIN1 or 2, or maybe even PIN22) GP2X (USB cable should already be connecting this)

Pin layout EXT port, if you look from front to the pins:
.........................................................................
| 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 |
| 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 |
.............................. \ .. / ....................................

Check your pin-out, after soldering, with a multimeter so double check you connected to the correct pins. Also check if you use 3.3V as higher might damage the GP2X.

You can use PuTTY with these settings to connect:
Baudrate: 115200
Data bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop bits: 1
Flow control: None

 

[mediocrevegetable1]

Thanks for the info, you've given me the strength to go ahead and order the connector at least, I'll just do that.

Aside from that one thing, I'm mostly covered already. For hooking up the UART pins to a computer I've got an Arduino lying around that's worked well in the past, and I live near a college that provides tools to solder. No clue when I'll actually be able to do that though, since I'm working a 9-5 this semester and the lab has the exact same opening times, but hopefully I'll be free sooner than later. If I end up succeeding with the UART then maybe I'll even try the USB Host stuff.

I'll post another reply after my attempt, hopefully a positive one!

 

[TeDaDeS]

Thanks for the info, you've given me the strength to go ahead and order the connector at least, I'll just do that.

Aside from that one thing, I'm mostly covered already. For hooking up the UART pins to a computer I've got an Arduino lying around that's worked well in the past, and I live near a college that provides tools to solder. No clue when I'll actually be able to do that though, since I'm working a 9-5 this semester and the lab has the exact same opening times, but hopefully I'll be free sooner than later. If I end up succeeding with the UART then maybe I'll even try the USB Host stuff.

I'll post another reply after my attempt, hopefully a positive one!

It will be the start of a nice adventure.
At my university there was also a lab with soldering equipment. Luckily the person operating the lab was a well experienced in soldering so the tiny stuff he actually did for me (I think it was replacing a blown 0603 resistor). Maybe there is someone to help you around the lab who can help you with soldering tiny things to.

Good luck!

 

[Todespreis]

Hey there! What do you want to do with the NET chip? I remember buying a breakout board from a guy a couple years ago, maybe he still has something in stock.

 

[Orkie]

GP2X dev board

You will struggle to find suitable connectors with all the pins populated (you may be able to get by with fewer pins by moving them around, and obtaining some from other cables), as far as I'm aware none have been available anywhere for a few years.

 

[mediocrevegetable1]

Hey there! What do you want to do with the NET chip? I remember buying a breakout board from a guy a couple years ago, maybe he still has something in stock.

For now I just want to get mass storage mounting to work to make modifying the NAND easier. I looked up some scripts used by launchers like GMenu2X and the first step seems to be loading in the net2272 driver and then another one after, I think it was g_file_storage. But loading net2272 fails for some obscure reason, the dmesg log only confused me further.

Getting UART working through the EXT port would not only let me edit NAND stuff easier but let me debug this driver issue as well. Information online is super spotty so I can't even tell if anyone else has had this issue or if it's F-200 specific or Open2X specific or anything really. Maybe I'll make a separate post about this, but I really still want to work with the EXT pins regardless.

I'd love to get in contact with the guy you're talking about, just in case he's still got something. If you could put me in touch or give me his contact info, that'd be great.

You will struggle to find suitable connectors with all the pins populated (you may be able to get by with fewer pins by moving them around, and obtaining some from other cables), as far as I'm aware none have been available anywhere for a few years.

Oh hey, I came across this page myself when doing some research! It's cool to see you're still active.

Yeah, that's another worry I have. I've ordered a cable and it'll take a while to reach me, so I guess I'll only know when it's here. I hope there is an easy way to move pins around somehow, because really for now I'd need at most 4 just to get UART running.