Spanish Hackers Dump Gamebox Nand

http://www.zonadepruebas.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=11418&forum=8&post_id=112144#forumpost112144

“
They just ripped the NAND from it. It will take sometime i guess.
Unless the spanish really wants to hack the hell out of it and modify linux/dingux for the GameBox.”

Retro Fungeon reviews the gamebox

http://retrofungeon.com/?review=the-gamebox

Found this great site called retro fungeon check out their indepth review of the gamebox http://retrofungeon.com/?review=the-gamebox

The GameBox

I personally find it more than appropriate to kick-off Retro Fungeon with a Hardware review!  I first saw this thing after the new year in January on DealExtreme under the “New Items” tab.  My pupils dilated and my eyes opened wider.  It seemed too good to be true:
32Bit Dual-Core Processor（500MHz X 2 ）
● 32Bit 128M SDRAM Memory System
● 2GB-4GB nand flash
● KeyMax technology，faster speed of gamepad response
● Arcade game：mame cps3 igs mvs snes gba md
● 4 Gamepad Supported，update to 4 wireless gamepad supported.

It was way too good to be true!  Way too good. So on impulse (as usual) I go ahead and purchase it.

First of all the damn thing took 2 months to ship here from China.  During the time I had waited for it I grew eager with excitement over what this miracle box could do.  Well, that day came a few days ago.  What a surprise.  The unit arrived with a US power adapter (an EU plug was pictured actually) which was nice.  came with standard TV cables, the unit and a controller.  Nothing exciting there.  I was actually kind of weary since the unit looked pretty bare bones.  I was starting to get that “Flea Market” Feeling.  Anyhow.. to the right you will find what I saw pretty much. Not pictured are the composite, dollar store-quality cabled with matching Power adapter.  Power adapter actually has an indicator light which I am not sure why it exists.  But it was nice that it was a NA plug and not the EU one as originally posted.  The device was advertised to come with 20+ games and SD Micro SD card functionality.

Hardware:
The build quality is pretty standard for any “Made in China” game console, however it does look nice with the Gamebox logo, as well as power and restart buttons lighting up a la PS3.  It also looks like the tried to impersonate the PS3 a little with its grooves and shine.  The D-Pad feels cheap.  It might totally look like PS2 controller but it certainly does not feel like one.  Also, it’s supposed to have rumble which I doubt very much.  The D-Pad feels kind of atrocious but that will have to wait for a final gaming test in practise.  The analog sticks seem extremely useless unless this thing is going to actually emulate PSX ISOs or gamecube games.  I am sure the dual-core mystery CPU can handle it.  Also, the controller is not a USB directly.  There are some pins missing and many people online are speculating that the plug is just a facade for a re-weired and masked Serial connection.  It’s pretty much believed that this is true.  Just to make sure I added my X-arcade stick and PSX to USB converted pads to the unit, not working.  I was gutted by this.  I really was looking forward to attaching my X-Arcade stick to this thing and basically never touch my 360 or PS3 ever again for fighting games.  But there is another reason later on why that won’t happen. Also there is a “dust flap” in the front of the unit to conceal the controller ports.  Why?  I have no idea.

At this point I was ready to say “screw it” and have the unit make its long trek of going back to China where it belongs.  But I had to examine and play further.  I was originally going to take it apart to look at the hardware but someone already did that.  You can google it.  Basically the unit has internal 2GB storage with the OS and roms on a proprietary access method that people are still trying to figure out.  The unit connects with ultra basic, dollar-store quality composite cables.  I also wondered, considering that most people now own and HD TV, why the heck there was no HDMI or Component video?  Power adapter is also extremely basic.  There is also a plug for GBA cartridges and of course a Micro SD card slot.  All in all, it feels kinda cheap to the touch.  But it looks nice.  The internal fan for what I assumed was for the CPU was also unnecessarily loud.  Now let’s take a look at the interface.  It’s also interesting to note that this thing comes with only ONE Control pad and that buying them separately is not available.  Strike 2.

Menu/OS:

Very basic.  There aren’t even categories present.  All the roms are jumbled up into one long list.  Some roms are listed with their .zip extension, others have their full blown titles.  Most of them have their arcade posters for their avatar.  Only thing that was impressive  was the fact that it came with 2 GBA games.  One being Mario Kart Super Circuit and Metroid.  These had actual video previews in the interface along with their title screen.  I thought that was pretty cool since the days of demo game play are gone!  There’s also a sound effect when you move up and down in the list.  It’s also funny to mention that a copy of “Avatar” is present labelled “720p” but since the unit only sports composite cables, this will do you no good.  It will look like shit on an HDTV anyway.  Also, I’m very sure James Cameron gave a 2-thumbs up to his movie being distributed in this obscure manner.  You basically push “A” to play your game.  Again, nothing impressive here.  Load times are not nearly as bad as previously reported.  I own a PS3.  Now those are load times.  Load times are about 10 seconds maybe?  At least for me it was.  It’s been reported that the games will load slow the very first time but will load quickly thereafter.

Games/Gameplay/Performance:

Now, naturally you would think, with the features listed above and on their official website, that you can simply load in a whole bunch of roms on a 2GB card, insert it and go.  Not this time.  More on that later.  First, I tried out the few pack in games that came with the unit.  It features some of our favourites like Street fighter II, Champion edition, Turbo and some hack too.  Also some nice CPS1 beat-em-ups like Final Fight & Punisher as well as their more obscure SNK counterparts like Burning Fight and their feudal Japan era multitude of clones.  There is also some Kinf of fighters 2k2 mixed in there as well as Capcom vs SNK Pro and Samurai Shodown 5.  This is where things kinda of went awry.  I decided to give Capcom vs SNK Pro a shot which I later realized was a hack of KOF 2k2 mixed with some sprites from SNK vs Capcom Chaos.  What a Gip.  It took me around to get used to the D-Pad Timing.  I also found that the ROM was running way too fast.  In other words, the CPU does not slow down for certain games if scripted that way.  The roms are basically running free on that dual core.  I was starting to get jaded.

Street Fighter 2 faced similar issues.  This was the game that really showed me that the pack-in controller was a POS.  You can pretty much forget about using this thing with Charge characters.  On my initial tryout I used Vega (one of my favorites) and could not figure out the timing for the tumbling claw.  Which pretty much made that character useless.  Same with guile.  If you want to pull off a sonic boom or flash kick, you can pretty much scratch the idea unless you can figure out the control delay from game-pad to game-console.  This is one of the worst controllers I have used to date.  So I decided to use Ken and see if that helped which it did.  But that basically means only “fireball” characters like Ken, Ryu, Dhalsim and Sagat can be used effectively.  But even then, there is the delay of pressing the correct punch/kick button with the quarter circle and zig-zag motions for dragon punched.  2/3 times, the controls will stick and will disallow you to execute a move.  At this point I was about ready to throw this thing in the trash or return it to Deal Extreme and get my money back which would probably take about 4 months to complete.  Double time it took to arrive here. One big issue with the CPS1 Games: You can’t custom assign buttons

I decided to try one of the new SNK games, Samurai Shodow V, and see if this helped and if that dual core 500mhz CPU would actually get utilized to some extent.  This game actually ran at normal speeds and controlled decently.  The SNK games also don’t suffer from the option-less issues that the CPS1&2 games have.  It also controlled much better.  I was actually able to get halfway through the game with Jubei on one credit.  Also, This is Samurai Shodown.  So button mashing will get you to the end if need be.  Sound also sounded correct as well.  I did see though that there was some sprite issues though with frames occasionally going missing.  Also, the button mistiming was getting really annoying. It’s just a shame that only the non-arcade emulated software that came with this unit had the option of re-assigning buttons and game settings.  These options would need to be available in (and if there is going to be) a follow up hardware revision.

So given that some of the games suck, can I load my own roms?   The answer to that is “No”.  The only roms that load are Game Boy Advanced roms and DivX movies (like the ones you play from your Xbox 360 or PS3).  There is a Mini USB plug for “Engineer use” as per the manual.  People have been trying to crack this thing open and make it do what everyone wants it for: hardcore ROM emulation across all promised platforms.  But even if that happens, you would have to rebuild a custom OS that will utilize the memory utilization and CPU power evenly to make sure there are no sped-up or slowed-down gameplay with different games/console platforms.  Victor says this thing has potential.  I Fail to see where.

How does it look on your 40″+ HDTV?

Now, everything you have read above was done while I Was simply taking screenshots and recording gameplay footage for a future Video review I will do of this device.  I was ready already to give my first impressions of the unit and start writing this review until our resident Cheap-Ass Retro Gamer Victor reminded me that I should hook it up to my TV.  Which I agreed I should do before putting this thing back into its coffin box.  If one could make their face any emoticon at the reaction I had, would likely fit perfectly.  The interface looks ATROCIOUS on an HDTV.  There was also some flickering in the top right hand corner which annoyed the crap out of me. The games also did not look good.  Street fighter looked like crap!  Only Metal Slug X and Samurai Shodown V looked somewhat decent.  The sound was also pretty low.  On the other hand, what was I expecting out of a device that gave composite output on an HDTV?  Exactly.  You can’t expect much.

Conclusion:

If I could travel back in time 2 months I would slap myself for buying this thing.  It’s the worst $53 I have ever wasted on anything in Video Games.  I was expecting this thing, due to how it was advertised to me, to be the greatest thing ever.  Instead I was left feeling like I got one of those “TV-Plug-in” N64 controllers that had a bunch of shitty and cloned NES roms in it from a flea market.  This console is of Flea Market value/build quality and any serious Retro Gaming Connoisseur should clearly steer clear of this option.  The fact that you can not use your own USB controllers is a huge shame and you can’t load your own roms into this thing really is the final nail in the coffin.  Also, the manufacturer should have known that most ppl use HDTVs now and you can’t tell me that they could not have thrown in HDMI.  Or even a second control pad for that matter.  Keep in mind you will not be able to play this thing with other people unless you get a second controller.  These are currently unavailable and using your own will not work.  The worst part of course is the fact you can’t load your own games.  The manufacturer instead insists that “Lots of fun cartridge will be available in the future”.  So in other words it wants you to play pirated games off their own proprietary system.  That’s balls.  Seriously.  I give this thing a one star rating am giving it the Retro Fungeon “Buyer’s Beware” rating.

Suggestions for future revisions:

For god’s sake, open the unit up for public emulation!  I would have been ok with the shitty control pad had this feature been there.  Also, allow people to use their own USB controllers.  Would also tremendously help.  Finally, some HD source.  I can Run perfectly emulated roms off a single core CPU’d PC on a 24″ monitor without issues.  Same on a 40″.  It’s possible.  Do it.  If the above 3 features were available I would pay an extra $20.  But the way it is now, It’s a $53 paperweight.  Please send your feedback in the comment section below or if you have any other questions for our debut podcast, please send them to feedback@retrofungeon.com.

http://retrofungeon.com/?review=the-gamebox

 

Spanish hackers get gamebox usb mode!!!!

http://www.zonadepruebas.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?viewmode=flat&topic_id=11418&forum=8

UPDATE: according to this page:
http://boards.dingoonity.org/other-ga … tems/gamebox-gbx-1001/60 /
What is Load GameBox is not Linux, but Mini. Yes someone has been able to see what “out” for the TxD pin:

RCD = 09AA7B3A

Prepare to Download Mini .

Ingenic Semiconductor Electronics ., Ltd. . Loader Version V1.0
00000080
Jump to 0×80800000

Utopian: What to try “minios.bin” was an excess of confidence (but so do things when nobody knows anything). I saw so enviente … was a Chinese forum not understand anything, but some loose English word referring to the system to boot Ingenic JZ, nor I have.

At the end of the day, the operation is just the kernel boot, and was (for lack of data, there is nothing on the network), one or the other must give equal.

The copy restore the 2GB at the moment I’m not going to do. because I’m not sure that’s good. I can not play or when testing with SD, but I can keep tinkering with NAND.

EDIT:
Every cloud has a silver lining: WHETHER YOU LIVE IN THE MINI …

I read part of the Flash again once they had committed the “mess” to put a “minios.bin” false. I compared each other, and have established beyond doubt that when you put a Mini-SD with a file called “MINIOS.BIN” is updated to address 0×4480000 0×04400000 (512k total). As I made the mistake of putting a file instead of 512k 256k ought to be, the other 256k are not clearly recorded in 0 `s (0xFF).
Therefore, the file system MINI 512k between 0×04400000-0×04480000
Now to see if I curro an upgrade of power (I doubt it possible, that the operational failure, there is nothing to look at the SD, but I always left “to flash” for USB)
Indeed, the “Mini” begins with a list of the files on your hard nand …. interesting …..

(Note: these are only assumptions, not assertions, lest anyone try the same thing and break something because of me. It is simply that matches so well, it seems to be as I have written to a 99% chance)

testing

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BlogCatalog

 

Gamebox 1000 ??? China mainland version ???

ok so the console allegedly has a clock and calendar , which no one can access so far , also there is 2 different versions , would love to know if the Chinese version has different functions maybe it can run snes out of the box ??????

Product Description

Full Nmae GAMEBOX

Model: GAMEBOX-1000(Chinese Mainland Version), GAMEBOX-1001(U.S.Version)

Color: Black Whitey

CPU: GAMEBOX Dual-Core Processor(500MHz X 2 )

Memory: 64MB

Video RAM: Video RAM Shared with main memory

Video Output: AV Cable, PAL/NTSC supported

Audio Output: Dual Channel Stereo

Expander Port: USB 2.0 Device

Wired KeyMax Gamepad

Expansion Slot: Gamepad Slot, AV Slot, Memory Stick Slot

Power Interface: 5V AC

Button Reset:Power(ON/OFF)

GameBox Performance Specification

CPU: GAME BOX Dual-Core Processor(500MHz X 2 ), 32Bit SDRAM Memory System, Faster and Stronger

Graph manipulation Built-in graph manipulation engineer, Zoom, Swing, Distortion, Multi-reel special effects supported, Game Support, Game Card:

2:Built-in Macro-operation-system, Perfect facility
3:Mega-memory card

Compatible Card:
1:GAME GBA CARD supported, web-downloaded form supported
2:Built-in Operation system, Instant Save, Tutorial, No-battery Save, Reset supported

Video Support:720P <1280×720> supported.MP4, RMVB\ASF\MKV\WMV\VOB\MOV…

Audio Support:
Audio Codec engine built in, Dual Channel Stereo.
Over 20 audio forms supported:MP3\WMA\WAV\FLAC\APE\AAC\OGG

Power Consumption:Xpower technology, less power consumption

Memory System: 32Bit SDRAM Memory System, Video RAM Shared with main memory
TF card supported, Up to 32GB

Video Slot:TVOUT – AV OUTPUT(PAL, NTSC SUPPORT)

Gamepad :4 Gamepad Supported, update to 4 wired gamepad supported

Others: Clock built in, calendar built in

Operation System
1:KeyMax technology, faster speed of gamepad response

2:EnPreview technology, instant game video review supported

3:EnAutoSave technology, instant game save supported

Size and weight:

Game console (D*W*H):190*165*45mm
Gamepad (D*W*H):95*160*40mm

Net weight:
Game console+gamepad+power adapter:0.582kg

Game card:
Size (D*W):60*43mm capacity tapes:1GB

Gamebox Locking out modes ???

playing around with the gamebox and reading the instructions it seems to lock out modes
in this order
Gamecart >>> Microsd card >>> Internal Memory

so if you play a game cart it will run in higher priority then the micro sd and internal memory card

Gamebox Controllers – Fake Analog Stick , Fake usbs ???

From a post at arcade controls

“I don’t think the translator is doing justice to what I am trying to tell you….each gamepad has two thumbsticks. Of the two thumbsticks, only one is real, and that is the left one. The right thumbstick is fake.

Yes, there are lines going to each of the 4 ports on the front of the system. They go directly to GPIO pins on the processor. This processor, unlike the processor in the Dingoo 320, has no built in USB Host lines. It only has USB Device support. It’s unlikely that the ports on the front are USB, as there is no good reason to go through the trouble on a machine this inexpensive, and only for gamepads. If you look at the brochure, they refer to something they call “Keymax”. My guess is that it is a proprietary 2-wire serial protocol between the gamepads and the console. Even if they aren’t USB, it’s still quite clever of them to use the inexpensive and widely available USB connectors for this purpose. A little confusing, but clever.”

Seems they are building this console without usb controllers which will make it harder to hack and cheaper to produce.

Gamebox Hacking Scene – Calling all console hackers

More news about the gamebox i dont understand most of this post but hopefully someone out there can help hack this console.

“I actually managed to solder a cable to PIN93, but when i connected it to GND, it blow one of the fuses next to the power connector – obviously the pin is connected to VCC somewhere under the CPU and so I did a short-circuit, I should have checked that before. This will make it really hard to get the pin down to GND because it would probably have to be liftet from the board.

The other option is to get the CPU into USB booting mode. To do that, Pins UART_TX and ADIN1 have to be altered. UART_TX is accessible on a test pad on the board, I guess that ADIN1 also has to be accessible somewhere because USB booting is probably how the system is programmed at the factory, but I have not yet found it. As soon as it’s in USB booting mode, it should be detected as a usb device by the PC and we would be able to access it with the driver and tools provided by Ingenic. I’ll keep investigating…”

Gamebox Gbx-1001 Testing Golden Sun For Gba

looks like the gamebox runs golden sun gba pretty well.

Gamebox Console Gbx-1001 is a arcade console which can run gba games.
heres one of the best game boy advance games – golden sun running on the tv with this console.
Sorry for the vid cutting half the tv off

Does the Gamebox Have a Hidden button code or mode to unlock extras ???

There is a lot of rumerz going around about the gamebox and a hidden mode or code to assess the menus and add files .

“I still think that, pressing all buttons at the same time may do something nice. As it was said on the other board, “one of the directional buttons is actually another button” if im not wrong. Perhaps its got something to do with a “hidden mode”"

 

 

we need more investigation on this console but this will be great if a code could unlock the full potential of the gamebox