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

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 29 Mar 2017, 22:07

Now runs on Firebird with a 32MiB RAM Manuf and reports coherent RAM infos :

The Linux image was freezing because you need a different DTB file for color TI-Nspire with only 32MiB SDRAM, and thus for TI-Nspire CM calculators.
So I'll have to update the Linux image maker for ControlX.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 29 Mar 2017, 22:27

And it's also working on a real TI-Nspire CM !

So your TI-Nspire CM can now also be directly bootable under Linux thanks to ControlX.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 29 Mar 2017, 22:52

Ok, let's go for a public ControlX 4.4.4 beta-test.

controlx4.4.4-beta1.zip

Regarding the source it's a minor update, but it still brings huge new features :

fixed : a parsing bug of the default options - you might need to re-set them if you did use impacted values
added : ControlX now fixes the nBoot corruption of all known official boot splashes (there are 4 of them) and uses them
added: ControlX is now able to launch Linux images on 32MiB RAM models, like the TI-Nspire CM

See previous posts for more informations on the new features.

For Linux, the ControlX image maker and tutorial still need to be updated, as the Linux image also has to be specifically compatible with the TI-Nspire CM.
But if you know what you're doing and can't wait, here is the TI-Nspire CM compatible DTB file :

nspire-cm.dtb

And also a prebuilt TI-Nspire CM compatible Linux image :

linux_cm.img.tns

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 29 Mar 2017, 23:18

Now updated both the Linux image maker for ControlX and the tutorial.

But if you intend to install Linux on a TI-Nspire CM, for the moment you'll also need to specifically download the ControlX 4.4.4 beta image :
viewtopic.php?t=18920&p=214842#p214842

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 03 Apr 2017, 12:54

Some idea to make the payload smaller, and maybe have more OSes supported by the default build.

Here's my TI-Nspire CX CAS setup :

Boot2 partition : Boot1.5 4.4 + Boot2 4.4 images
Diags partition : ControlX 4.4.4 + Diags 3.9.1 images
ExtendeD partition : Boot2 4.0.3 + Linux images

The OS about dialog box is telling me I have Boot2 4.0.3, probably because I did boot with this image.
Question : how does it knows about it ?
It probably didn't check the partitions, and wouldn't have found the Boot2 4.0.3 image anyway, as it isn't the first image in the Diags or Boot2 partition.

Thanks.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **parrotgeek1** » 03 Apr 2017, 19:40

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 03 Apr 2017, 20:16

The 0x8070 field content from the partition Boot2 image is directly decompressed and written to 0x11800000.
It's executable code, so there is no header anymore.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **Bisam** » 04 Apr 2017, 10:46

Boot2 version may have been written directly in the "About" string while installing ?
Doing so, the OS does not have to check anything... it only shows the string.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 04 Apr 2017, 11:04

Possible indeed, that the Boot2 OS loading code is writing the Boot2 version string somewhere in the OS, yes.
Thanks for the idea.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 07 Apr 2017, 15:56

Boot1 is writing its version in RAM at 0xA4012EB0.
Boot2 is writing its version in RAM at 0xA4012EB4.

The OS About screen is using both addresses.

So just patch the Boot2 to write something big enough to block Boot2 updates, and that's it :

So we you can now drop all Boot2 update patches from the ControlX payloads.