Hey,

Im thinking about buying myself a GP2X, but Ive seen a lot of threads about them "bricking". It doesnt seem to be covered under the warranty either, even if you use the official firmwares. What are the chances of a GP2X bricking?? I dont want to waste my money on one if its almost certain that it will be bricked as soon as I upgrade to the latest version.

Thanks,

Will

If you do it right, you wont brick it.

And it's easy to follow the directions. I wouldnt worry, they kick ass.

OK, Ill probably get one then I was just wondering if the upgrade app was unreliable and randomly bricked the things.

Thanks,

Will

Pre firmware 2.0, there were some random brickings from GP2Xs that thought there was a firmware upgrade file on SDs when there wasn't, but firmware 2.0 has fixed it so that you have to specifically hold down a button combination when you turn it on to upgrade firmware.

So order with confidence, the chances of GP2Xs bricking now are very remote. You'd have to go out of your way to intentionally brick it now really.

Like White Demon said, auto-bricking is a thing of the past.

and if it does...you can usually unbrick it.

ALso keep in mind, the very few people who brick their units will post about it. The thousands who upgrade successfully with no issues usually won't post about it.

Very small chance of problems. like you're more likely to be in a car accident I am sure.

Very true .

I have some experance in the bricking arena .

As said, units that shipped pre-2.0 F/W and as a rule all MK1's are much more prone to bricking problems (the older version of the GP2X U-Boot custom updater did not attempt any checks before fashing your unit with any old sh*t).

Newer MK2's and units that have been upgraded to 2.0 without issues should be fine for the most part. Even if you do brick a unit as long as your not upgrading the bootloader (U-Boot) then you can unbrick (i.e. restore the FS and Kernel) using things like my guide as a starting point.

With tools like the BoB repairing your GP2X even if you break the bootloader is not that hard as long as your unit is not physicaly broke.

The key to doing all you can to aviod bricking is to follow some simple advice.

NEVER upgrade on batts (I have had to fix so many because batts went flat ) - Always use a PSU.
NEVER upgrade if your not sure (why be the 1st if all it does is break your unit) - wait, let others test the water and shout about problems (i.e. the people that can unbrick there units). Give it a few days.

I always use fresh batteries but I suppose you're right. When I get my job I'll buy a psu.

Its pretty cool that the community here is nice and active Ive put my GP2X on order, cant wait to get it

Will

Nice to have you on board .

As long as you don't expect everything on a plate then it can be a huge amount of fun.