This old blog will stay in place as an archive, and heaven forbid, a safety net should there be some kind of bunny uprising in the new digs.

(openpandora.wordpress.com, September 2009)

The bunnies have risen. And they broke stuff. The WordPress installation at pandorapress.net is having a very bad day, and atomicthumbs is busy re-installing and restoring backups. So here we are in the old digs, just letting you know we’re still alive. Bits and pieces of production news are still trickling out, and there will be some catching up to do once pandorapress is back online. In the meantime, Twitter is what’s for dinner.

www.twitter.com/_mfk
www.twitter.com/craigix
www.twitter.com/evildragon1717

Update: Pandorapress is back. Mostly.

Happy blogday! It’s a surprise party, and your gift is a new URL. The unofficial blog is growing up and moving out of home, thanks to GP32X member atomicthumbs and his bastion of blog hosting bunnitude.com. WordPress.com has been more than good to us, but private hosting allows us more control to tweak and add features. Kicking off the feature bonanza is our new embedded IRC client, tapping you directly into #openpandora at Freenode. Swish! Want some links?

New URL: http://www.pandorapress.net

RSS: http://pandorapress.net/feed/

IRC: http://pandorapress.net/chat/

Hate change? Never fear. We’re the same blog team, covering the same stuff, displaying the same flippant disregard for your sanity. We’ll just be squeezing it out of a different tube. This old blog will stay in place as an archive, and heaven forbid, a safety net should there be some kind of bunny uprising in the new digs. The only thing missing from the new location right now is a sidebar link to chat, which is on the way. If you’re IRC inclined, bookmark that one now.

Ok, show’s over! Get clicking, there’s new news over there!

After nigh on a year of sweat, tears and beer, Viridior, JavaJake and the rest of the Gentoo Pandora team have restructured, repurposed and renamed their project Neuvoo. (Newbie tangent: What’s Gentoo? It’s a linux distro which, if your geek-fu is strong, you can install instead of Angstrom). The new broader focus will see other platforms join Pandora on their target list (think Beagleboard, Touchbook), giving their code more fields to frolic in, and its users a wider range of software. In addition, they’ll be bending over backwards to make sure you don’t need “I compile source code for breakfast” printed on your t-shirt to get in the door, with a binary repo in the works so you won’t miss out on the Pandora apps your Angstrom friends are using. Bravo.

Source | Neuvoo website

Remember Alf? He’s back, in pog form. Remember PandoraPanic? It never left. The WarioWare-inspired community project has been bubbling away in the background for the past year, absorbing new talent and minigames along the way. Recent developments include some retrolicious 16 bit graphics from Dragons_Slayer, and a WIP gameplay video from Rockthesmurf. Ubiquitous porting machine Pickle even has his hat in the ring.

But time is running out. PandoraPanic is planned for inclusion on the software CD being shipped with Pandora, and with production imminent, project patriarch PokeParadox is starting to feel the panic. Loose ends need to be tied, bugs need to be squashed, tees need to be crossed. There are even things non-programmers can assist with, like writing readme texts / instruction manuals, and PXML files. So how about it? Can you code, or write, or wax on/off? Would you like your name in the screen credits of a launch title, to be delivered in Pandora’s box?

To see what’s what and perhaps offer your services, drop in to the project thread. Your community will thank you.

Case moulds. They’re slow old things to make. When will the moulds be done? Soon. What are we waiting for? The moulds. Thanks blog people, big help. But maybe not everyone out there knows exactly what these moulds are? If that’s you, pull up a pew. Rather than reinvent the wheel, we’ll just tap into some existing educational resources. This technology students page offers a (deceptively) simple overview of the moulding process. They’re not making a gaming handheld, but they are making a blue hedgehog… it’s the best we could do. (You don’t have to take the test at the end). For a more serious read, there’s the slightly less fun Wikipedia page. Pandora’s moulds are currently in the machining phase.

So what can be done while we wait for the moulds? Write code. Paint the fence. Go a little silly. Troll the royal family on MSN. EvilDragon chooses two, perhaps three of these things.

Well, they’re currently cutting the moulds, during the last days, we decided about the material to use, now we are choosing the perfect color (based on PANTONE samples) and I’m working on the silk screen for the case.

That’s what currently happening.

Oh, and I’m working on the new site, but that does take a lot of work, so be patient a bit more

A revamped official site? Gosh yes. Our German counterparts even have a sneaky screenshot or two . . .

Craigix: Oh, forgot to tell you all, the battery was upped to 4200mah and our tests are showing this monster is going to give something like 14 hours

A device that allows you to watch a 10 hour Eurovision marathon, then clock Mario 16 times? Finally! A nice win for frequent flyers, mountain climbers, and anyone who doesn’t carry mains voltage in their backback. Thanks to calc84maniac for spotting it first.

Source

We knew it could happen. We hoped it was happening. Today, we know it is. A new face appeared on the GP32X boards over the weekend; a coder going by the name of Ari64. If GP32X had an award for “best first post ever”, this would be leading the field.

I have rewritten the dynamic recompiler for Mupen64plus to generate ARM code. This will run on OpenPandora, TouchBook, and BeagleBoard.

That’s right folks. Nintendo 64 emulation, for real reals. Ari64 says he’s been working on this for “around 4-5 months,” wisely keeping a lid on the project to avoid an onslaught of premature hype. There is still work to be done of course:

Unfortunately OpenGL acceleration does not work. It is possible to use software rendering, but it is very slow and some of the textures display incorrectly. Since several people are working on OpenGL ES libraries, I am posting this as-is for testing purposes.

As you’d expect, some of the scene’s best known coders are now hovering around this like kids at a candy store. The next few weeks should be interesting, but before you get caught on the hype train, take a moment to tip your hat to the scene’s newest household name: Ari64.

Source

We’re used to speed bumps on this road; we’re not so used to spec bumps. Code guru Exophase has discovered some interesting revisions to the OMAP3530 data sheet, which seems to be giving us a little more head room in terms of clock speed than we had before. The Cortex-A8, known to us as a “600Mhz+” processor, is now being listed as “Up to 720MHz”. Also getting an on-paper boost is the DSP core, which has jumped from 430Mhz to 520Mhz. MWeston speculates:

The truth is that the chips all seem to do 720MHz for sure but TI only lists speeds they have tested so maybe they have finally qualified it at 720/520 now.

Or to re-phrase, the 700Mhz mark could now be considered “normal operating range”, rather than being a cheeky 100Mhz overclock. It’s like eating a guilt free hamburger, even though you would have eaten it anyway. The 520Mhz DSP figure is more interesting though, as it may push us further into HD decoding territory.

The hardware itself hasn’t changed, it should be said. The team doesn’t have to run out and replace their stock of 3530s (gasp!) or anything crazy like that. All this means is that we can squeeze more fun out of the existing hardware, without feeling too naughty. Hit the source link if you’re up for some scarily in-depth discussion.

Source

You might have noticed the lack of updates this week. Well, good news! There aren’t any now either. The case moulds are reportedly going smoothly, and all we can really do is wait for them to finish. But a quiet blog is a cold, dark hell, so a little forum trawling was in order. Below are some questions, answers and pieces of banter from the last week on GP32X. Consume slowly. You need to conserve your strength.

Bosbeetle: “…how is the mould for the case coming along? Did the guys at the factory already run into some problems or is it still going smooth?”

EvilDragon: “Didn’t get any reports on problems from the company (that’s why they reviewed it before doing it, I guess )

So still coming along smoothly.”

Source

Vorporeal: “Don’t get too comfy yet and jinx everything!”

EvilDragon: “Nope, don’t you worry. Though the major things are done, both the case design and the board design is finished. There’s not too much that can go wrong now.

Asmo: “Were the first 100 not being used for extensive testing, supplying Devs etc? Did all that go out the window?”

EvilDragon: “Nope, they’re still at the MP company who are doing extensive burn-in-tests.
But there’s no reason to throw them away when they all pass, is there?”

Asmo: “WiFi and all that sorted, AC supplies and everything?”

EvilDragon: “AC: A PSP AC Plug works fine. The first 100 don’t need to necessarily be delivered the same AC Adaptors as the [rest].
WiFi: No, not yet. DJWillis is also waiting for the final unit But the firmware can be updated.”

Source

Lingenfr: “While We Are Waiting Can We Get Some Pics Of The Accessories?”

Craigix: “You should be seeing the TV cables next week when they arrive, it’s possible we will get some photos of those from that factory sooner as they seem more willing when it comes to taking cameras on to the factory floor.”

Phawx: “…is the wifi the only thing that needs to be finished to have a fully working Pandora?”

Craigix: “The wifi has been working in various forms for months, but it’s just wrapping it in to something which people expect which is the hard work.”

Enverex: “Craig, can I tac things onto my order before the Pandora ships? Only reason I say that is because I’d want to know what the case is like before ordering.”

Craigix: “Yes, the good news is that you might be able to do that via credit/debit card once we start shipping the first 100 or so.”

Source

… and as a final note, bonus points go out to those who have already spotted the cheeky update on MWeston’s site, openpandora.ca.

“Menus. Launchers. Desktop environments. Window managers. Pmenu! Pangea! Matchbox! E17! What’s going on?!”

Last week we heard that Matchbox may be superseded by E17, as Pandora’s default window manager. Today, we’ve seen new footage of Pmenu. So what does it all mean? What’s going to greet us on that screen when we first flip the lid? If you’re feeling a little in the dark, this article aims to bring the light. We’ll start with a brief description of Pandora’s operating system, then we’ll get into the GUIs. If you’re a seasoned Linux user, and you’re easily offended by gross simplifications (which all Linux users are), feel free to skip the first bit.

Linux in a nutshell. A tiny, tiny nutshell.

Linux is kind of modular, like Lego. You just snap together the bits you want. Instead of being stuck with one GUI (as you are with say, MS Windows) you can choose from all manner of desktop environments, fancy graphical menus, or just the command line. It’s this versatility that has Linux running on everything from desktop computers to domestic cats.

Pandora runs Ångström, a flavour of Linux developed especially for portable/embedded devices. (You can just call it Angstrom if you like, but it doesn’t answer to Armstrong, ok?). Over time we’ve been shown a number of GUI options for Pandora including Gmenu, Pmenu, Pangea, Matchbox, and soon, E17. You’d be forgiven for asking why team Pandora can’t just decide on one operating system, right? The answer to that, is that they’ve been using the one operating system all along. All these graphical front ends are powered by Ångström; one operating system, many faces.

The bloodline

Back in 2005, GPH began shipping the GP2X. What does this have to do with Pandora’s GUI? Very little. But we’re all about lineage in these parts, and you’re on the bus and we’re not stopping. The GP2X ran Linux, with a custom GUI developed by GPH. The original F100 interface was reasonably geek friendly, but somewhat inflexible. Customisation was non-existent; you got eight icons, and launched your apps from the file explorer.

A few moons later, the F200 – with its new touch screen interface – took inflexibility to a new level.

Thankfully, something cool had happened in the meantime: Gmenu2x, by Ryo.

Gmenu2x brought to the table a tabbed, fully customisable app launcher with access to more settings than an F14 Tomcat. RAM timings, overclocking, custom icons, skinning, it was all there. To this day, if your GP2X isn’t running Gmenu, you’ve barely arrived at the party.

So when it came time to find a GUI for Pandora, Gmenu was the obvious choice. Newcomers lured into the forums by Pandora may not have been wowed by it, but to the old scenesters, Gmenu was home turf. Work commenced on the port, and before long we were shown a video.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be. Adapting the Gmenu code to a multitasking environment proved difficult, and the port was abandoned. Pandora was now GUI free, and looking for a Gmenu substitute. Once again it was community talent to the rescue, with Cpasjuste and Efegea both starting work on their own graphical launchers. We’ll call these the “minimal” menus.

The “minimal” menus

As announced by EvilDragon last week, Cpasjuste’s Pmenu is likely to be pre-installed on Pandora, as the default minimal menu option. The most recent Pmenu video, demonstrating Pandora’s .pnd packaging system in action, can be found in our previous post.

There’s another menu option in the wings too: Pangea, by Efegea. We’ve seen a couple of Pangea videos in the past, but Efegea advises that they’re not worth revisiting, as Pangea has become a whole new monster. It’s said to be taking advantage of the latest QT visuals, which is enticing to say the least.

Both of these launchers carry on the Gmenu2x legacy, while adding a new generation of magic tricks and eye candy to the mix. But GUIs of this style aren’t enough for everyone. Early in Pandora’s development, people were looking at the QWERTY keyboard and seeing more than a cool way to play classic games. Especially once the RAM was doubled…

Gaming console, UMPC, or netbook? Yes.

At its core, Pandora will always be a gaming console. But when you’ve got a keyboard, wifi, bluetooth, SD slots, and some horses under the hood, people start asking if they can run a full desktop environment. The answer of course, is yes. The Matchbox desktop – lightweight and nonsense free – was chosen for the task. We’ve seen several videos of Matchbox in action, generally accompanied by the soothing commentary of EvilDragon.

This version of Matchbox, typically a rather plain desktop environment, has come a long way thanks to MDave’s visual tweaks. But now there’s a new contender in the ring. A smooth as silk desktop environment known as E17, the latest incarnation of Enlightenment. You might recognise the stylings of E17 from such Linux distributions as gOS, shown here running on PC:

E17 is not yet confirmed as the default Pandora desktop, but it sure looks the part. According to EvilDragon, most of the developers are already running it on their hardware, which bodes well for its suitability on the small screen.

tl;dr

Pandora will ship with two GUI options. Pmenu will be the minimal menu, with the full desktop option being either Matchbox or E17 (here’s hoping for an announcement soon). You’ll be able to switch between minimal and full desktop modes on a whim.

But what if you don’t like either of the default options? No problem. On the minimal front, if Pmenu doesn’t push your buttons, Pangea could be the alternative you’re after. On the desktop front – well, if you’re a Linux user, you already know that the options are plenty. KDE, XFCE, LXDE, any number of acronyms are out there waiting to be ported. If you’re not a Linux person, it’s only a matter of time ’til someone ponies up a package that will change the face of your Pandora.

Questions, comments, and excruciatingly detailed technical corrections are encouraged.