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Post by jj0 on Nov 29, 2020 8:11:21 GMT
So I'm able to access the folder structure on Nandb since installing the Ext2Fsd DRIVER, just wondering if it's normal the /usr/share/the64/games/ FOLDER is completely empty? Well, this might be why you have a black screen. Can the Ext2Fsd driver also write to the ext4 filesystem or only read it? I'm pleased that it is finally working for you, thanks for bearing with me through all the versions! Btw, I've used Win32 Disk Imager to make nanda and nandb backups, that seems to work well. And you can restore them the same way. |
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Post by antjols1973 on Nov 29, 2020 10:09:54 GMT
You've been great JJ no need to apologise I'm just glad I've got some sort of life back into the maxi, I've managed to resurrect the carousel by putting one game from my original games backup list created with the games tool. However I've lost functionality to the keyboard and I'm only able to boot the maxi IF I long press the power button and reset it, how do I now bring it back to its former glory mate? I dont possess the necessary the original nand back ups so am I resigned to the indosycracies it now has?
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Post by jj0 on Nov 29, 2020 10:40:06 GMT
You've been great JJ no need to apologise I'm just glad I've got some sort of life back into the maxi, I've managed to resurrect the carousel by putting one game from my original games backup list created with the games tool. However I've lost functionality to the keyboard and I'm only able to boot the maxi IF I long press the power button and reset it, how do I now bring it back to its former glory mate? I dont possess the necessary the original nand back ups so am I resigned to the indosycracies it now has?
@spannernick has an archive of the Maxi nanda and nandb. You can download nandb (cause your nanda is still fine) and then write it back by either: - Using W32 Disk Imager, writing it back to the drive that represents nandb. First ensure you don't have it mounted via Ext2Fsd.
- Eject the drive that represents nandb from Windows, copy the nandb file to a USB disk (that you know works on the Maxi, so MBR + FAT32 formatted), inserting it in the Maxi and then on the Command Shell type:
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
cd /mnt
dd if=nandb of=/dev/nandb
sync
md5sum /dev/nandb nandb
And in both cases eject the nanda drive as well and then power off/on. However take care to ensure your Maxi has enough power, don't just run it from your PC's USB port as then it might not have enough power for the USB drive and writing the nandb. I've had different results imaging the nandb with different power deliveries to the Maxi, the only consistent one was when I ensured I had enough power by using a powered USB hub in addition to the power form my laptops USB3 port. The last statement (md5sum) calculates a checksum of the file on USB and the actual nandb. They should be the same if all went well. At the time of writing the md5sum would be e8ec7a862e6b16564bafb6ca821568be. Note you can still reboot if they are not the same and see if it works of course. |
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Post by antjols1973 on Nov 29, 2020 10:52:47 GMT
Thanks again JJ is there no way of doing the same thing using Windows x on the actual maxi or is it possible to copy the files from Nick's Nandb file onto mine as I have read/write access using Ext2Fsd?
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Post by jj0 on Nov 29, 2020 11:10:53 GMT
Thanks again JJ is there no way of doing the same thing using Windows x on the actual maxi or is it possible to copy the files from Nick's Nandb file onto mine as I have read/write access using Ext2Fsd? Erm... How is this not on Windows?  W32 Disk Imager is here. But if you want to do it differently, you can try to use OSFMount to mount the downloaded nandb as a drive, then (probably) mount it again via Ext2Fsd, and then you can copy stuff to the Maxi. I haven't tried it though. |
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Post by grasshopper on Nov 29, 2020 11:54:46 GMT
v12 released, it works for me with FEL-mode via the hardware button. I hope it works for you and grasshopper and @spannernick (and anyone who wants to try) as well.
Thanks very much. That's awesome.
Everything appears to work perfectly. And as a bonus, I can now mount USB flash drives as well. All I need to do now is work out how to backup the nand.
Out of curiosity, can you tell me what you did to fix it?
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Post by spannernick on Nov 29, 2020 12:31:44 GMT
There is a nanda and nandb for THEC64 Maxi uploaded in the PCU Download folder under folder "NAND_Backup_Files_For_THEC64Mini_Maxi_and_THE_VIC_20" if you need it...  |
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Post by jj0 on Nov 29, 2020 13:48:01 GMT
v12 released, it works for me with FEL-mode via the hardware button. I hope it works for you and grasshopper and @spannernick (and anyone who wants to try) as well.
Thanks very much. That's awesome.
Everything appears to work perfectly. And as a bonus, I can now mount USB flash drives as well. All I need to do now is work out how to backup the nand.
Out of curiosity, can you tell me what you did to fix it?
Thanks, good to see it works for you too! I've update the first post with additional instructions to backup and restore nanda / nandb. I might do a separate post on backing up the raw nand as that is more generic, not just for the Maxi, I fixed it by changing the way the Maxi is initialised (SPL - S... Program Load) when it is in FEL mode. If i remeber correctly: - Originally (up to and including v9) I used the 'modern' 2020.xx u-boot-sunxi-with-spl.bin which combines the initialisation with the actual u-boot. The worked in UART 'Press 2' method but not with the FEL button method. And the kernel had a number of crashes and normal USB didn't worklinux-sunxi.org/FEL/USBBoot
- For v10 I changed u-boot-sunxi-spl to a different (2017) version that displayed stuff on the HDMI output. Same problems as the previous ones.
- For v11 I switched to an older method of separate initialisation (sunxi-spl.bin, still from 2020.xx u-boot) and u-boot load, and I used an 'original' 2011.09 u-boot, compiled from the nanopi-m1 SDK. This at least fixed the kernel crashes so normal USB now worked. Still no FEL-button method support though
- For v12, thinking there must be something wrong with initialisation in FEL-button mode I did some further archaeological research and used the method of initialising not with the modern u-boot spl's but with fes1.fex / u-boot.fex (also a 2011.09 variant) again for the nanopi-m1. Luckily these were available from the nanopi-m1 SDK. For whatever reason this method of initialisation was more thorough than the other methods and it finally worked.
More on the v9/v10/v11 FEL boot methods here, and on the fes1.fex method here. |
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Post by antjols1973 on Nov 29, 2020 17:16:50 GMT
Think I've certainly killed my Maxi now, used the OSF tool to transfer files between my nandb and Nicks, going OK until i came across a symbolic link folder which im not able restore with far manager. Cant boot to the splash screen and not able reset it either, came so far and now have taken two steps back...should have left well alone!!
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Post by grasshopper on Nov 29, 2020 18:20:31 GMT
Think I've certainly killed my Maxi now, used the OSF tool to transfer files between my nandb and Nicks, going OK until i came across a symbolic link folder which im not able restore with far manager. Cant boot to the splash screen and not able reset it either, came so far and now have taken two steps back...should have left well alone!!
I think you'll have to restore the entire nandb partition as a single block, preferably in Linux.
If you try to copy over the individual files in Windows you'll almost certainly lose Linux specific things like file permissions and hard and soft links.
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Post by antjols1973 on Nov 29, 2020 18:44:07 GMT
Thought i'd give it one more go while watching Spurs draw with Chelski, (becoming early morning here) and by some miracle I managed to get an USB mounted to the MAXI. I applied the Nand copy commands supplied by jj above and BOOM the MAXI is back in business....YIPPPPEEEEE!!!
Big lesson learnt here, DO NOT mess with your carousel using the Game tool, in future i'm sticking with the PCUAE, surely nothing can go wrong ;P
Thank you jj and spannernick, thank you for your patience and support, you guys are legends!!
Ciao for now.....
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Post by jj0 on Nov 29, 2020 20:25:16 GMT
Thought i'd give it one more go while watching Spurs draw with Chelski, (becoming early morning here) and by some miracle I managed to get an USB mounted to the MAXI. I applied the Nand copy commands supplied by jj above and BOOM the MAXI is back in business....YIPPPPEEEEE!!! Big lesson learnt here, DO NOT mess with your carousel using the Game tool, in future i'm sticking with the PCUAE, surely nothing can go wrong ;P Thank you jj and spannernick, thank you for your patience and support, you guys are legends!! Ciao for now..... Capital! Now don't do it again;-) |
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