This is my threory ( the vga port is supposed to be a serial ) , I was also contimplating if it is a good idea to have a jtag connection ( maybe under a rubber seal or something )

I really want the BOB to be a lock on unit when it comes out and would hate a hanging wire solution much like the wireless adapter for gp32 .

What do you think the BOB should look like ?????


And yes I know I suck at using photoshop.

lol, i seen this and for a second it looked real, i nearly creamed my pants.

a lock on solution like that would be perfect, or even some kind of stand/docking station thing. a wired one would be the ultimate suck. i hope GPH get the bob right.

i also want craig to come post here and give some more teasers about it. its been a while and i need something to look forward too. me selling my gp2x or not is basically riding on how good this thing will be.

Glad to heat I'm not the only one who fell for that, I thought it was real as well!

I was thinking of something along those lines, perhaps a little larger so the 2x can sit on it, say under the TV or something like that, with TV and serial ports on the back, USB on front and back.

Also fly leads for powering the 2x, with the ability to have the BOB run of batteries or a PSU. You could then use it a a fully mobile media centre or use it "in place" at home. Have ideas about USB<->RJ45 as well for networking, although I have no idea at all if that's even possible.

looks nice

That is the worst doctored photo I have ever seen. How can you people fall for that!?

In relation to the topic: WHY HASN'T THIS BEEN MADE YET?!

The bob?

never heard of it


links please

I'm sorry, but that is horribly poorly Photoshopped. That could never be real ever

Still, it would be nice to have one like that. You need a 5V in, but then it's all set.

It's a Break Out Box.
Break Out Box/USB Host

Yeah it's not great, but I want one (hence making my own) and you know what it's like :-)

"Break Out Box"
EDIT: Damn, even "fast reply" isn't fast enough!

I took a slight glance at the image whilst watching TV at the same time, thats HOW I " fell for it" its not like I sat there for 10 minutes examining it. like I said, upon closer inspection (looking at it properly for a few secs) i noticed it was fake.

Ben i like your diea about the TVout stuff being on the back, that way you wont get wires poking out the bottom like a dreamcast controller.

I think it would be better off if it converted the power from two AA's . Since everyone allready has extra rechargables and that their would be plenty of space in the BOB once you got a board pressed (it is just simple connction wires) .

The only problem I see with converting the voltage to 5 volt from the batteries would be a lot of heat .

Then again you could just cut your losses and deal wioth the 100 ma limit coming out of the EXT port .



No way their would be to much strain on the connectors if they were on the back especially using it for games . The only option is on the botttom unless you want to have a cradle of some sort instead of a portable unit .

Allthough a docking station would be pretty badass .

Considering some would want to use high-powered devices on the USB port (external HDDs, etc.) EXT port power is certainly not an option, and AA batteries are not completely plausible for home use. I think it would be better to have an option for either AAs or a power supply (as the GP2X has now). Only problem I see is the fact you'd have to use two plug sockets to power a handheld, though I'm sure you could use one power supply and simply split the power and convert the voltage to 5V inside the box.

I do agree that for portable USB device use, EXT power would be the best option, but if people wanted to use HDDs on the move, then AA batteries would have to be used.

You only get about 2.4v from two AA rechargeables, not enough to run the USB ports.
You'd need about 5 (giving 6v) of them, then regulate it to 5v for th USB ports. Using 5*2500mAh batteries you could run a top wack 500mA (which is what USB devices should pull maximum) HD off the USB port for 5 hours, which I think would do most people. That's if you're on batteries of course, should you be able to plug in a PSU you wouldn't have to worry about that.

This is a good point, then you wouldn't need any external power. Saying that you'd then only be able to use self powered USB devices or low current ones.

I was meaning a cradle/docking station rather than something you held in your hand. As you say if you were holding the unit and the cables were in an odd position then the stress on them and the BOB would be a little much (I'm guessing)

I would be perfectly fine with an externally powered BOB if it had like a battery case to put them inside, not unlike the GP2X. What also can be added is a switch or something for whether or not it is using EXT power or battery power.

Next we need configurable mounting software so that the GP2X can access most external drives.

Finally, we need compatability for USB controllers in all games, and something like JoyToKey where we can configure the GP2X keys to the joystick.

Also drivers for all this!

.... Wow, what a daunting task... Can we hire someone to manufacture something for us? lol

Mounting HDDs isn't hard, all you do is mount them under a directory on your SD and browse them on the GP2X as you would your SD.

I just mean things like I want to be able to mount it anywhere I want like in linux with the mount command.

You can mount it anywhere you want. Accessing it is a different matter. You could always mount it under /mnt/nand and change the NAND icon to a HDD in the skin.

Yeah the mount command is one of the base commands, afaik. So it should be there.

Covers battery. Did in paint.

How would that plug into the ext port ??

w00t it seems great minds think alike I had exactly the same idea

about he 5v cant we just use the 3.3v and add a extra battery in series to make 5v?

would this work?

You could just use capacitors to step any voltage up .

2 batteries running in series ~2.8 volts constant with 2500 mah

2 batteries running in series stepped up to ~5.6 volts with 1250 mah

Depending on how many amps you can pull off a AA without blowing it up you could pull the power from them for anything like a usb based wifi adapter or a mini hard drive .

Granted the runtime would be affected but this really is the best solution .

I would say the ultimate goal of this is not to only have portable powered usb but to also have an intergrated WiFi . That would change the entire concept behind the gp2x . Could you imagine streaming movies ? Or internet tunneling engines running completely off a gp2x ?

I'd really like one of these, but I'd also like a USB host cable with an inline 3V to 5V stepup converter so you could use low-amperage devices like the DreamGear or iType2 USB thumboards or joysticks without any additional hardware. I was thinking of getting one of these to hack something together:

DC-DC boost regulator 3V to 5V output