Upgrading the Firmware on the GP2X Wiz

For the GP2X Wiz there are the first games available which ship on ND cards. Those are SD Cards with builtin DRM technology. In order to run the software on those ND cards, the Wiz needs a new Firmware which will add support for them. The Firmware version 1.2.1 [1] provides this at the time of this writing.

Upgrading the Firmware is comparatively easy but in order not to make any mistakes, a certain amount of care should be taken.

Important note: If you don’t have a 1.1.0 Firmware on your Wiz, install this before you install the 1.2.1 version. I did not not and ended up with my builtin NAND memory being empty and not accessible anymore.

Installation steps:

1. Make a backup of the contenst of your builtin NAND memory first (the upgrade overwrites the NAND)
2. Format a fresh SD Card (best is to use this little tool [2])
3. Unpack the  Firmware ZIP onto the SD Card (ensure there is nothign else on the card)
4. Hold the R-Button of the Wiz boot the Wiz with the SD Card inside the slot
5. The Wiz should now show “Firmware Upgrade…” and start to get working.
6. Keep the Wiz running for ca. 15 minutes laufen lassen, a red progress bar will be visible.
7. If all went well, the Wiz will tell you that the upgarde is finished and you may reboot.
8. Try if the Firmware is working and if the version number is correct (Settings -> Information in the Wiz Menu)

Happy Wizzing!

Links:

1. International Firmware Version 1.2.1 for GP2X Wiz
2. SD Card format utility

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Wiz2600 – an Atari 2600 emulator for the GP2X Wiz

While browsing an archive of available software for the opensource handheld console GP2X Wiz [1] [2], I stumbled upon Wiz2600 [3].

Wiz2600

This is an emulator for the Atari 2600 or Atari VCS console. It enables the user to play Atari 2600 games on the GP2X Wiz handheld.

The emulator is available as opensource [4].

Installation on the GP2X Wiz is very simple. Just put the wiz2600 folder inside your game folder on the SD card or the builtin NAND Flash and leave the ini file there. Place all game rom images into the roms folder and launch the emulator.

First the user sees a configuration menu. Here various options as screen settings, audio and joystick can be  configured. Select the game rom image you want to play and start the emulation. Now the GP2X Wiz will behave like the Atari 2600 and you can play the game. pressing MENU will bring back the configuration menu.

The 2600 functions like RESET and SELECT are mapped to the fire buttons, the directional pad works as the joystick.

From what I tried sofar, the games works. I could play Space Invaders, Jr. Pacman and Mrs Pacman with Wiz2600 well. Only slight problem seems to be the sound. It sounds quite different to what I know from my original Atari 2600jr. The onscreen color scheme also looks a bit off but it does not break the fun.

With Wiz2600 you can easily enjoy Atari 2600 titles on your GP2X Wiz. A musthave for all owners of the GP2X Wiz handheld!

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Links

1. http://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/wiz.cgi
2. About the GP2X Wiz handheld at http://www.gp2xwiz.com/
3. Download Wiz2600
4. Wiz2600 homepage