Ndless 4.2 programs won't run

[krisi09]

I have a very big Problem with ndless-programs on My calculator ( TI-nspire cx HW-K with nBoot installed): when I try to Run a program (I tried it with various ndless programs) the Screen just freezes for 1-2 seconds and the calc restarts. However, I am able to install ndless successfully Every time (the Green "ndless installed!" Text shows on the Main Menü.). The issue exists since I tried to resize the "ExtendeD" Partition with nsPartMagic to fit a larger Linux image. After restarting, nBoot did either Fall in a Boot loop or Start up, however, with the Same ndless Problem I am.having now. So I uninstalled nBoot and disabled ControlX from the ControlX Menü and decided to do a fresh install.I wanted to try reformatting the calculator, however, the Maintenance Menü won't Show up when I Press (doc-ee-enter) on Reboot. Diags won't work either. Also, it does Not Show the normal Boot Screen, but the black-white One similar to the One on the nspire without CX...any ideas on getting diags/Maintenance Menü Back?

[critor]

Hi,


Getting a black and white boot screen after disabling ControlX and/or uninstalling nBoot is perfectly normal :


How far does it go ?

This black and white screen in itself shouldn't prevent you from triggering the Maintenance menu.


You'll need Ndless to reinstall the original boot graphics and reenable the Diags software.



By the way, ControlX got updated some days ago with support for larger Boot2/Diags/ExtnD partitions (up to 25MiB).

[krisi09]

Hi,
The NSpire calculator does fully boot up, however, it freezes when trying to launch any ndless program and reboots, so the calc was perfectly usable except of ndless.
However, today I tried to attach my Arduino to the serial port in order to get some logfiles, probably find out what was wrong and upload it. I launched an ndless program to read the data sent by the calc when it freezes, but it loaded the program just like normal. I'm just going to reflash the old, original manuf image and do a clean nBoot/ControlX install again. By the way, the ExtendeD partition has a size of around 20 MB, could that have been the issue with the old ControlX?

[critor]

If it does fully boot up and if Ndless programs now work, then it's perfect.

Yes, old ControlX versions were crashing if the ExtendeD partition was too big.
If I remember well, the limit was 13MiB, and it's now been increased to 25MiB, which is now far enough to hold the latest raw TI-Nspire OS images.

[krisi09]

Thank you for replying!
However, I have some further questions:
1: Will the "startup" feature of ndless work (for use with nClock for example)?
2: Is it somehow possible to flash an OS Image to the ExtendeD partition (mine has a size of around 20 MB, the upgrade file should fit fine, however, it needs to be converted somehow. Can I use the same images that are used by the firebird emu?)
Thanks in advance!

[critor]

Thank you for replying!
However, I have some further questions:

No problem. Feel free to ask everything you want.

1: Will the "startup" feature of ndless work (for use with nClock for example)?

As long as Ndless works, the "startup" should work. Or maybe I've misunderstood your question ?
Note that nClock doesn't work properly since OS 4.0.3.

2: Is it somehow possible to flash an OS Image to the ExtendeD partition (mine has a size of around 20 MB, the upgrade file should fit fine, however, it needs to be converted somehow. Can I use the same images that are used by the firebird emu?)

With the latest ControlX version, you can put a TI-Nspire OS image in the ExtendeD partition, but it's not very useful for now - although I'm still working on improving this and on related things.

Since some days ago, ControlX is able to load :
- programs/tools (SPLASH 1.0 for example)
- raw Nspire OS images
- slightly compressed Nspire OS images (compression type #1 in the TI-Certificate format)
- 3rd party Nspire-like OS images (Dummy OS CX for example)


Now, regarding images with the official Nspire OS...
We have a public tool for the #1 compression : archives_voir.php?id=11755

The .tcc / .tco OS image files are using the same TI-Certificat format, but a stronger compression (type #6) which is not supported by ControlX for now.
The OS data is both compressed with PKzip and encrypted.

Meaning that for the moment, to build a ControlX-compatible OS image from an official .tcc/.tco file, you'll have to decrypt+decompress the .tcc/.tco file data.
Decompressing is ok, with WinRar or 7-Zip for example...

But decrypting is something else...
We have some public source code for such a tool, but unfortunately the required keys aren't included, probably for legal reasons.
archives_voir.php?id=4281

I haven't tried, but there might be some other way to get a raw OS image.
Like dumping at address 0x10000000 (SDRAM bank #0) with an Ndless program, once the OS has started.


So for now, there is no public+easy way of generating ControlX-compatible Nspire OS images from an official .tcc/.tco file.