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Omnimaga => News => Topic started by: critor on December 25, 2012, 04:40:03 pm

Title: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: critor on December 25, 2012, 04:40:03 pm
In the past, many NAND related Ndless tools were released for the TI-Nspire ...



And this list is a problem in itself, because this wide range of NAND tools is very difficult to keep up to date.
Some tools have been updated to Ndless 3.1 for TI-Nspire CX, but not for TI-Nspire ClickPad / TouchPad for exemple. (FlashBoot2CX, FlashDiagsCX, DowngradeCX) :(
Other tools have never been updated to Ndless 3.1! (Boot2Launcher, DiagsLauncher) :(



I had already started to sort things by releasing my universal dumping tool, Polydumper, compatible with all TI-Nspire models and compiled for every released Ndless version from 1.1 to 3.1! ;D(http://www.omnimaga.org/Themes/default/images/gpbp_arrow_up.gif)



Today I'm at it again with nsNandMgr! ;)

nsNandMgr is destined to become the Swiss Army knife of the NAND memory on the TI-Nspire. It includes all the functionalities of the tools mentioned above and even more! ;)

It allows you to:

Published under a free license of course, the critic code is centralized with only a total of two NAND writing instructions in the whole program for all mentionned functionnalities! ;D(http://www.omnimaga.org/Themes/default/images/gpbp_arrow_up.gif)
It should be easy to maintain for future versions.

nsNandMgr has also been designed to check the Boot2 and Diags images before flashing or running them, in order to prevent some unintended accidents. ;D(http://www.omnimaga.org/Themes/default/images/gpbp_arrow_up.gif)



Let's try to understand the possibilities with examples. Here's a TI-Nspire CX CAS:
(http://i11.servimg.com/u/f11/13/23/13/53/dsc01910.jpg)
So just a few keystrokes and you perform a Boot2 downgrade from 3.1 to 3.0.1, the removal of the OS antidowngrade protection, and the launching of the TI-Nspire CM diagnostic software! ;)
(http://i11.servimg.com/u/f11/13/23/13/53/th/dsc01911.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=2438&u=13231353) (http://tiplanet.org/forum/gallery/image.php?mode=thumbnail&image_id=1745) (http://tiplanet.org/forum/gallery/image_page.php?image_id=1745)



Now let's take a non-CAS TI-Nspire ClickPad:
(http://i11.servimg.com/u/f11/13/23/13/53/dsc01912.jpg)
So just a few keystrokes and you perform a Boot2 downgrade from 3.1 to 1.4, the removal of the OS antidowngrade protection, and the launching of the TI-Nspire prototype diagnostic software! ;)
(http://i11.servimg.com/u/f11/13/23/13/53/th/dsc01913.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=2440&u=13231353) (http://i11.servimg.com/u/f11/13/23/13/53/th/dsc01914.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=2441&u=13231353)



Finally, let's take a non-CAS TI-Nspire ClickPad prototype:
(http://i11.servimg.com/u/f11/13/23/13/53/dsc01915.jpg)
So just a few keystrokes and you perform a TI-Nspire to TI-Nspire CAS transformation and the removal of the OS antidowngrade protection. ;)
(http://i11.servimg.com/u/f11/13/23/13/53/th/dsc01916.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=2443&u=13231353)



nsNandMgr: take the control! ;D(http://www.omnimaga.org/Themes/default/images/gpbp_arrow_up.gif)



Source & download:
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=133849&lang=en
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on December 25, 2012, 05:39:07 pm
I didn't know there were that many! O.O

I often noticed, however, that every week or so, we would see a news on Omni or TI-Planet saying that the boot1, boot2 or OS of one Nspire model/prototype in particular was flashed/dumped/etc for the first time ever, and I kinda got confused over time so I hoped one day there would be a topic compiling every single news link in one page D:

ANyway awesome program :D
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: critor on December 25, 2012, 06:08:51 pm
I often noticed, however, that every week or so, we would see a news on Omni or TI-Planet saying that the boot1, boot2 or OS of one Nspire model/prototype in particular was flashed/dumped/etc for the first time ever, and I kinda got confused over time so I hoped one day there would be a topic compiling every single news link in one page D:

I'm glad to see you're interested :)
Someday... ;)
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on December 25, 2012, 06:29:41 pm
By the way I like the background in nsNangMgr :P (using a chip that is)
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: TIfanx1999 on December 25, 2012, 06:32:27 pm
Nice work as usual. :)
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: ElementCoder on December 26, 2012, 09:49:04 am
I think nice job is an understatement here :P This passes by my knowledge by far, but I guess all I really have to know is that this again shows nothing's gonna stop us :)
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: TheNlightenedOne on January 01, 2013, 06:20:33 pm
What does each option mean? ???
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: excale on January 01, 2013, 06:32:13 pm
If you want to flash your boot2:
1)place your boot2 image in ndless/boot2.img.tns
2)run nsNandMgr
3)Option 2 (boot2)
4)Option 2 (flash boot2)

:).
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: TheNlightenedOne on January 01, 2013, 06:33:12 pm
Thanks, exactly what I needed! :D

EDIT: Is boot2 hot-launching not reliable? I tried it with boot2 1.4 and it doesn't get past the thatched clock screen.
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: excale on January 04, 2013, 12:16:32 pm
EDIT: Is boot2 hot-launching not reliable? I tried it with boot2 1.4 and it doesn't get past the thatched clock screen.

There seems to be some strange protections in the OS. OSLauncher fails at the same point.
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: juny on January 16, 2013, 01:45:57 am
I tried to use nandmgr. After I input boot2.img.tns into my "ndless" folder, the prog didn`t work.
It rebootd.
How can I fix it?

I use Nspire cas with TP and the os version is 3.1
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: critor on January 16, 2013, 03:45:46 pm
And without the Boot2 file, was it working?
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: ebzzry on January 18, 2013, 01:55:58 am
I tried it with boot2 1.4 and it doesn't get past the thatched clock screen.

I am experiencing the same issues, too. I did it multiple times, and I have always gotten the same results. Does anybody else have better luck? If yes, how did you do it?

Also, if I power reset the device when it is stuck at that point, does it mean that boot2 1.4 is no longer running?
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: critor on January 18, 2013, 02:58:57 am
Again, if you just hot-run the Boot2 (option 3), it is going to freeze on the watch-screen because OS 3.1 and later have features which defeat hot-runs (and by the same time OSlauncher).

If you hot-run a Diags (it's the same code in the program) you'll see that everything works correctly.


If you really want to use Boot2 1.4, you have to flash it (option 2).
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: ebzzry on January 18, 2013, 03:03:14 am
Again, if you just hot-run the Boot2 (option 3), it is going to freeze on the watch-screen because OS 3.1 and later have have features which defeat hot-runs (and by the same time OSlauncher).

If you hot-run a Diags (it's the same code in the program) you'll see that everything works correctly.


If you really want to use Boot2 1.4, you have to flash it (option 2).

Ok. So what exactly do I need to do to follow the instructions in the README file
of nLaunch, with regards to nsNandMgr.
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: ebzzry on January 18, 2013, 03:07:19 am
If you really want to use Boot2 1.4, you have to flash it (option 2).

When I select option 2 (flash), the screen freezes.

Are there other things that I need to prepare, for it to complete successfully?
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: critor on January 18, 2013, 03:12:31 am
Flashing takes some seconds.
You should then be able to press 0.

Unless... does it show you a warning/error message?


If it's really a freeze, please provide me with some details as I never ran into this:
- your TI-Npire model
- your original Boot2 version
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: ebzzry on January 18, 2013, 04:42:24 am
Flashing takes some seconds.
You should then be able to press 0.

Unless... does it show you a warning/error message?


If it's really a freeze, please provide me with some details as I never ran into this:
- your TI-Npire model
- your original Boot2 version

I pressed 0 and it went back to the previous screen.

1- Does flashing not show any progress indicators, that it has commenced and completed the flashing?
2- How do I know if I have successfully flashed my boot2?
3- How do I check my version of boot2?
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: critor on January 18, 2013, 04:56:44 am
There is no progress bar currently.

Your Boot2 version is shown on the main screen.
So you can immediately check if it's been flashed correctly or not.
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: ebzzry on January 18, 2013, 08:43:52 am
There is no progress bar currently.

Your Boot2 version is shown on the main screen.
So you can immediately check if it's been flashed correctly or not.

It looks like I bricked my device. The screen is stuck with the message:

Operating System not found. Install OS now.

Using a linking software, I can see that the My Documents folder doesn't
contain anything.

What should I do from here?
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: Lionel Debroux on January 18, 2013, 08:52:35 am
You should, precisely, install an OS, as your boot2 suggests you to ;)

AFAWCT, only the oldest Nspires (prototype or old production Clickpads) can be bricked - and that requires reprogramming the boot1 with garbage, which you haven't done, otherwise you wouldn't see the boot2 telling you to install an OS :)
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: ebzzry on January 18, 2013, 09:08:15 am
You can now add me to the list of people who can verify that your work, along with the works of others, function as expected.

I own a TI-Nspire with Touchpad (non CAS).

Inserted below is a picture I just took now of the About screen, after using nsNandMgr, nLaunch, TNOC, and ndless, to "upgrade" my device to the CAS version.

(http://i.imgur.com/ta45P.jpg)

Thank you to all that have made this possible. Your work is well appreciated.
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: critor on January 18, 2013, 11:26:51 am
It looks like I bricked my device. The screen is stuck with the message:

Operating System not found. Install OS now.

Using a linking software, I can see that the My Documents folder doesn't
contain anything.

It seems you just have to resend an OS.
But this shouldn't have happened if you 'just' flashed the 1.4 Boot2 - I'm going to check on non-CAS ClickPad/TouchPad again.
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: heimsothe on April 05, 2013, 01:23:36 am
when I try to flash my boot2 it gives me this error message:
Image rejected as determined unsafe if flashed on this model
press a key...

What am I doing wrong?

I have Nspire-CX and I'm trying to flash 1.4.1571 boot2
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: heimsothe on April 05, 2013, 01:32:04 am
And my current OS version is 3.1.0.392
Title: Re: nsNandMgr, the NAND Swiss Army knife for the TI-Nspire
Post by: Lionel Debroux on April 05, 2013, 02:17:55 am
See my TI-Planet PM reply to the topic you created, then deleted, on TI-Planet.

For the reference of others trying to do the same thing which cannot work:
Quote from: Lionel Debroux
Hi,

I wrote a reply to your message before you suppressed it. Here's my reply anyway ;)

Quote
I have Nspire-CX and my current boot2 is 3.10.16 and I'm trying to flash 1.4.1571 boot2
1.4.1571 boot2 works only for Clickpad and Touchpad calculators. nsNandMgr and FlashBoot2 are fully right not to let you flash that to a CX calculator. If they did, you'd have to fix your calculator through the RS232 port, which requires extra equipment (cheap enough, but not provided out of the box by TI).

Quote
I don't care how I get my boot2 to 1.4.1571
Nobody shall help you making a "dangerous" operation (which will semi-brick your calculator until you reflash the boot2 through the RS232).

Quote
I just need it to happen.
Why, in the first place, do you need to make happen something that will flat out not work and leave your calculator in a sorry state ?
If you're interested in running arbitrary OS (Linux without going through TI's OS, to begin with) on your Nspire CX, then use "nLaunch CX", which works directly with the CX boot2 3.10.16 that you already have ;)


Lionel.