Sg.Gme.R3.95h5a tw

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Sg.Gme.R3.95h5a tw
Pandora case.jpg
Manufacturer Unknown
Dimensions width171 x height157mm
Release Date Month year
Specifications
SoC A13
DRAM 512MiB/1GiB/2GiB DDR3 @ xxxMHz
NAND 2/4/8/16GB
Power DC 12V
Features
Video HDMI full, VGA
Audio 3.5mm headphone plug, internal mono speaker
Network None
Storage µSD
USB X USB2.0 Host, X USB2.0 OTG [to be confirmed]
Headers yet to be found

This page needs to be properly filled according to the New Device Howto and the New Device Page guide.

This is the PCB

Identification

This is a so called "Pandora's box 5s". According to what I found online (mostly on youtube), that very case is also sold with a different PCB (mine has a button on the right to adjust screen tearing while other ones did not feature that), while also the same PCB is found in different looking cases (different graphics, different shape of the board or buttons layout). So it is impossible to distinguish the content according to the shell according to my findings.

On the back of the device, there is nothing printed. Literally nothing.

The PCB has the following silkscreened on it:

Sg.Gme.R3.95h5a/TW

It boots a Linux OS that is stored into an 8GB microSD card with what looks like a proprietary frontend and the MAME emulator. I found a modified version of the OS as well that also runs Linux; with the well-known open source softwares "retroarch" and the frontend "emulation station". To run that in place of the original I just had to replace the SD card.

There is a Lattice FPGA chip (pictured below) that is maybe used for the HDMI output.

Sunxi support

Current status

The original system is already running Linux and proprietary userspace binaries. I found an alternative image which I like better and that also runs Linux. I am still trying to figure out useful informations out of those system images. There are no source codes whatsoever available.

Images

HW-Pack

Optional. Add MANUFACTURER DEVICE sunxi HW-pack specifics here. When empty, this section can be removed.

BSP

Optional. Add MANUFACTURER DEVICE sunxi BSP specifics here. When empty, this section can be removed.

Manual build

You can build things for yourself by following our Manual build howto and by choosing from the configurations available below.

U-Boot

Sunxi/Legacy U-Boot

Use the MANUFACTURER_DEVICE build target.

Mainline U-Boot

Use the MANUFACTURER_DEVICE build target.

Linux Kernel

Sunxi/Legacy Kernel

Use the MANUFACTURER_DEVICE.fex file.

Mainline kernel

Use the FAMILY-CHIP-DEVICE.dtb device-tree binary.

Tips, Tricks, Caveats

Add MANUFACTURER DEVICE specific tips, tricks, Caveats and nice to have changes here.

FEL mode

The something button triggers FEL mode.

Device specific topic

The board can also be used unpowered as a dual USB controller by using a male-to-male USB cable attached to the topmost USB port. It shows up in Linux with the USB device id 17c0:06e1.

When plugged in an USB male connector (and there is no other supply of voltage) the LEDs D47, D9, D46, D45 and D3 light up, as pictured

Pandora led usb plugged.jpg

Plugging an USB cable connected to a PC in the bottom port apparently does nothing. It might be used to add external inputs to the powered on board but I have not been able to test that.

When powered up, only the LEDs D3 and D45 light up, followed by D4 in a matter of a second.

...

Adding a serial port (voids warranty)

Still to be confirmed.

Candidates for the UART pads

Device disassembly

Unscrew three phillips screws and you're in. :-D

Locating the UART

I found two candidates for the UART port, the most likely being the one beneath the VGA and HDMI port. Still waiting for a USB to Serial adaptor to find out for sure.

Here's a link to the UART howto.

Pictures

See also

Add some nice to have links here. This includes related devices, and external links.