[Tuto] [EN/FR] Install/Installer nBoot + ControlX (+Linux)

[jaroslavN]

Little question, Any good reason to update from 4.4 to 4.5?








<random
did u know about this thread ? https://www.reddit.com/r/nspire/

[critor]

No good reason if don't plan to install OS 4.5 for now.
OS 4.5 support is the only new thing.

And yes, I know.

[jaroslavN]

thanks

[geekpersonman]

It all depends on factors such as the availability of vulnerabilities and the free time of the unpaid volunteers who do the work. For the past seven years and a half, Ndless releases have not been publicly pre-announced, for good reasons

Sorry, I meant just the ndless_resources.tns file with updated syscalls so it will work like OS 4.3 did, ControlX launches ndless and then you are good to go without a need for an updated ndless_installer.tns file, (which is the one you are talking about there, isn't it). Just about how much work has to be done on the resources file before ControlX users are good?

[yalewoo]

Hello critor,
I have owned an Ti-Nspire CM-C for a while and I have installed the Nlaunch CXM to dualboot Nspire OS 3.1/3.3 CAS. After seeing the new features of nBoot, I decided to flash the new bootloader. However I have some questions:
1. Since Boot2 3.1 of CX has been installed, should I remove nlaunch at first (by flashing the original CM boot2/diags/manuf or can I directly flash the new bootloader?
2. controlx does not support boot2 3.1, so should I flash the 4.0.3 boot2 into the extended partition?
3. How did nBoot exploit the boot1 since boot1 is stored on the NOR chip and thus not writable?
I would like some instructions to complete the installation on a nlaunch-ed CM.
BTW, I have been studying the Nspire secure bootchain for some while, but I cannot understand what the boot sequence of boot2 and diag matters. Under no circumstances will diags boot unless boot2 was corrupted or the key was pressed?
I hope that you can solve my problems.

[critor]

Hi yalewoo.

So you've got a TI-Nspire CM running TI-Nspire CX OSes.

1) and 2) Give me some time to think about it, but removing Nlaunch CXM is dangerous.
Because if you don't undo all modifications, your TI-Nspire CM may get stuck in a state in which it won't be able to install CX/CM OSes anymore.
I think a full uninstall requires :

• reflashing the CM Boot2 3.1 *without* rebooting
• reset your model ID from TI-Nspire CX (0x0F/0x10) to TI-Nspire CM (0x11/0x12)
  (reflashing the Manuf with BtMg/nsNandMgr won't reset this, since these are critical and thus protected values)

Some first thougts :

• don't uninstall/remove anything
• keep the CX 3.1 Boot2 in your Boot2 partition - don't overwrite it - so if nBoot+ControlX gets uninstalled for some reason, you can still use Nlaunch CXM
• put the Boot2 4.0.3 required for nBoot+ControlX to be fully working in the Diags/ExtnD partition, as indicated in the tutorial

Note that your TI-Nspire CM has only 32MiB SDRAM.
OSes 3.6/3.9 are huge.
With the CX CAS 3.9.1 OS, you can't even install Ndless because there is no SDRAM left.
You'll be able to install it by staying with the CX CAS 3.6 OS which is slightly smaller, but you'll probably run into SDRAM problems when launching non-tiny Ndless programs.

Staying with OSes 3.1/3.3 might be a better choice...

3) Boot1 3.0.0.99 has some flaws, that's all.
And since it cannot be written to, there is no way to fix it on models coming with this version.

nBoot+ControlX require your calculator to boot on the Diags partition, in which you're going to put Boot2 4.0.3.
Indeed, the OS is going to update the Boot2 image in the Boot2 partition, but not in the Diags partition.
So Boot2 4.0.3 is here forever.

[fridam]

Hi! When i Flash control x, i got a error saying file is not supported. I have ndless5.0

[critor]

Sorry, nothing comes to mind.

Maybe a picture/capture of your BtMg home screen would help.

[yalewoo]

Thanks critor.
I rechecked the current partition info on my calculator and according to the tutorial, after resizing the partition, the filesystem will be wiped, and a new OS must be installed. So when I'm willing to add the Extended partition, I'll lose the OS.
So,
1) Which OS should I install after the repartition? Now I'm on OS 3.1. Since directly reinstalling OS3.1 will reflash the Boot2, losing Nlaunch CXM, it's not the deal.
2) What's the purpose of resizing the Diags/BootD partition? The extended partition is "compressed" from the FS.

[Ti64CLi++]

Est-il possible avec nBoot et ControlX d'installer l'OS 3.0 et je ne me souviens plus de la suite qui contient un editeur de theme sur une nspire CX CAS OS 4.5 HW-C? Est-il possible de combiner ca avec nSwitchOS pour pouvoir passer de OS 4.5 a 3.0 quand on veut?