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

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 13 Jan 2017, 01:14

Below is some very quick/early/dirty fix with an alpha build of nsPartManagic 4.3 :

nsPartManagic4.3alpha.zip

It should be able to shrink huge 32MB+ ExtnD partitions without crashing/freezing.

It worked on the emulator - I was able to shrink such huge partitions.
I've changed the partition table in several ways and couldn't manage to brick the emulator.

But I'd advise you not to use it, as I couldn't test it as much as I wanted to.
Unfortunately, I currently don't have time for more tests.

If possible, I'd advise you to wait some days/weeks.
Indeed, a major ControlX update is coming, which means lots of tests with the whole tools set, and I'll use this nsPartManagic build for them.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **jac4e** » 13 Jan 2017, 01:56

I think I'll just wait a bit, got my diploma exams coming up in a week and I'd rather have a working calculator than potentially having to buy a new one. Probably wasn't smart doing something that could potentially brick it so close to exams

. Thanks for all your efforts. By the way, is it possible to dual boot Non-CAS and CAS with Control X, and if so how difficult would it be for someone to get that up and running?

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **parrotgeek1** » 13 Jan 2017, 02:56

I have been researching the splash screen
Boot1 decompresses data from manuf to 0x10600000, and then boot2 reuses it. I think. look at load_splash and load_splash_data

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **parrotgeek1** » 13 Jan 2017, 05:03

critor wrote:Below is some very quick/early/dirty fix with an alpha build of nsPartManagic 4.3 :
nsPartManagic4.3alpha.zip

It should be able to shrink huge 32MB+ ExtnD partitions without crashing/freezing.

It worked on the emulator - I was able to shrink such huge partitions.
I've changed the partition table in several ways and couldn't manage to brick the emulator.

But I'd advise you not to use it, as I couldn't test it as much as I wanted to.
Unfortunately, I currently don't have time for more tests.

If possible, I'd advise you to wait some days/weeks.
Indeed, a major ControlX update is coming, which means lots of tests with the whole tools set, and I'll use this nsPartManagic build for them.

What is going to be new in this update?

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 22 Jan 2017, 02:06

Today !

ControlX 4.4 has just been released.
This is a major update with lots of new features and possibilities :

you can now store your default choices in the ControlX menu
new ability to run CX/CM Boot2 images older than 4.0.1
new ability to run CX/CM OS images older than 4.0.1
new ability to run light OS images (see nTNOC)
added the 3.1CX, 3.1CM, 3.6CX and 3.9.1CX Ndless installers
added the 4.4CX Ndless installers
now also auto-installs Ndless when directly hot-running decrypted OS images

About default choices :
To store a choice as a default boot choice, just hold

while pressing it.
You can choose up to 2 things :

a default boot action in the main ControlX menu (clearing minOS for example)
a default boot image in one of the Boot2/Diags/ExtnD partitions

Although it's possible, you shouldn't make minOS=0 a default boot action, and select it manually only when needed.
Choosing it as a default boot action means a NAND block always in the same 2-3 NAND blocks is going to be erased+rewritten each time the calculator does reboot.
And NAND chips are supporting a huge but still limited number of erase+rewrite cycles for each block. It's very unlikely you'll run into problems before taking your exams, but it's still not a good choice.

It's not very useful to make something else than Boot2 4.0.3 as the default boot image.
But by manually specifying your Boot2 4.0.3 image as the default boot image, ControlX is going to store its location,
and thus will boot your calculator a little faster as it won't have to search for this image anymore.

About OS launching :
This is important to understand things below.
Let me remind you you have 2 interesting ways of launching TI-Nspire OSes :

through the Boot2 in which ControlX is going to inject its payload with several OS patches (only Boot2 4.0.3 is fully supported)
by directly flashing and hot-running a decrypted OS image (raw or compressed) in the ExtendeD partition, *if* you are able to decrypt OS images

About hot-running decrypted OS images :
You're completely skipping the Boot2 and all its checks.
Thus you are able to :

run a CAS OS on a non-CAS calculator (up to version 3.6)
run a non-CAS OS on a CAS calculator (up to version 3.6)
run a CM OS on a CX calculator
run a development OS on a production calculator

The incomplete source code (keys missing) of an OS decrypting tool is available : archives_voir.php?id=4281
But you should also be able to get the decrypted OS image by dumping the SDRAM in th Firebird emulator with a breakpoint on execution at 0x10000000.

As hot-launching is skipping the OS installation, the resources files aren't updated. Thus you should keep versions of your hot-launched decrypted OS image and of your installed OS image as near as possible (for example, if you have a CX non-CAS with OS 4.3 and want CAS, decrypt, flash and hot-launch the 4.3 CX CAS OS image).

The only way to really install such "forbidden" OS images and thus not having to decrypt them is to also install Nlaunchy, if compatible with your hardware.

About Boot2 4.0.3 OS patches :
When running OSes normally through the Boot2, you'll still need Boot2 4.0.3 for patches to be applied to the OS (nBoot fix for versions older than 4.0.1, Ndless auto-installers, discrepency fix, disable Boot2 updater...).
The discrepency is a set of auto-checks performed by the OS itself, and triggering an OS self-destruct process if the OS considers itself as unsafe

The Ndless auto-installer only works if you have the right ndless_resources.tns file in your /ndless folder.

Thanks to the new discrepency fixing patch, you can use nTNOC to gain some space by removing useless things (Boot2 image + sample files) from your installed OS image.

The size of the payload injected in Boot2 4.0.3 is limited. So not all patches are available when launching the OS through a Boot2.
Patches enabled by default in the Makefile are :

OS 3.1 (nBoot fix + Ndless auto-installer + discrepency disabled)
OS 3.6 (nBoot fix + Ndless auto-installer + discrepency disabled)
OS 4.2 (Ndless auto-installer + discrepency disabled)
OS 4.4 (Ndless auto-installer + discrepency disabled)

For other OS versions, you'll either need to rebuild ControlX by disabling support for some of the above versions, to flash and use a decrypted OS image in your ExtendeD partition, or to also install Nlaunchy if compatible.

About downgrading.
Boot2/OS 3.6+ won't let you install OSes older than 3.6 (although they'll still be able to boot them).
To install older images, you'll have to :

temporary install a Boot2 image older than 3.9.1 somewhere in your partitions
trigger the maintenance menu and remove the current OS
ask ControlX to reset the minOS version
ask ControlX to launch the older Boot2
then send your OS older than 3.6

Of course, the Boot2 image will have to be compatible with your hardware.
Boot2 3.1 for example won't work on harware revisions J-V, but you can use Boot2 3.2.4 in its place.
The OS will also have to be compatible with your hardware - see the table over there : viewtopic.php?f=57&t=17770
To sum up things :

no OS older than 3.2.3 on hardware revisions J-R
no OS older than 3.9.1 on hardware revisions S-V

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **michael sherman** » 23 Jan 2017, 07:26

Hello I am brand new to ti I just got a nspire cx last christmas, I had an 89 titanium and was wondering with nboot if there is any way to get cas on the cx? I have a J HW version. I have about bricked it 4 times now luckily I have been able to recover it each time; I was hoping for some guidance. Am I doomed forever with just khicas with this?

Thank you in advance for your help.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 23 Jan 2017, 12:53

Hi and welcome.

See my previous comprehensive post :
viewtopic.php?f=57&t=18920&p=212242#p212164

If you can't figure out from this by yourself how to do it, then you should just forget about it for now and stay with KhiCAS.
There are currently no public user-friendly tools for this.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 24 Jan 2017, 20:49

Dear nBoot+ControlX users.

You can now use nTNOC to gain some storage space by optimizing^(*) your OS image directly on the calculator.
(*) Removing some entries which are useless once the OS has been installed.

Just download and run the program once from an Ndlessed OS and wait around 30secs.
With OS 4.4 for example, you'll then have 2.9MB more free space.

You won't need to rerun the program another time, unless you install a different OS.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **macpat** » 29 Jan 2017, 13:59

Hi Critor

As I said earlier, I'd like to downgrade to OS3.1. Could you do a little tutorial?

Boot1: 3.0.0.99
Boot2: 4.0.3.49
ControlX: 4.4

Thank you for your help and continue the excellent work you have done.

→ **MyCalcs** profile · by **critor** » 29 Jan 2017, 14:31

With ControlX 4.4, downgrading to OS<3.6 is possible (assuming your hardware revision is not too recent), but not easy.

Even if you reset the minOS value, both OS and Boot2 3.6+ are still going to reject the installation of an OS<3.6.
Currently, you will need a Boot2<3.6 image (3.2.3 or 3.1.0) just for the OS 3.1 installation from the maintenance menu. The problem being that you can't replace your Boot2 4.0.3 image or ControlX will cease fully working.

But I'm currently working on an Ndless-based OS installer. So you won't have to deal with different Boot2 images or maintenance menus anymore.

More soon.