Quickstart

This Wiki is an unofficial community project, and Open Pandora Ltd. is not responsible for its content. Neither is the Wiki an official source of information about your device.

Introduction

This page provides a very simple walk-through to get you up and running.

If there is only one document you will take the time to read, it is this one.

For additional help, see the user manual or search this wiki.

Powering up

Removing the battery from its case

If your battery is in its case, and you find it difficult to open the battery case, try one of these methods.[1]

1. Stick a fingernail into each corner of one end and then run it around one side to past the 3/4 mark.
2. Squeeze the bottom half just a smidge where the semi-circular markings are on the sides and the top pops off fairly easily.
3. Hold the case vertically, get a fingernail between the gaps and slowly separate the two sides.

Inserting the battery into the Pandora

The battery cover is on the bottom of the Pandora, held on by two tabs. Remove the battery cover by pulling on those two tabs.

One side of the battery has three copper contacts. Line up the three contacts up with three copper contacts on the Pandora and insert the battery. Add the battery cover and make sure it's closed completely.

If your Pandora has issues staying powered on, and you're sure it's charged properly, then perhaps the battery is not seated correctly. Ensure the cover is on tightly. If the battery is still loose, try inserting a folded piece of paper in top of the battery before closing the battery cover.

When inserting the battery, the Pandora will begin booting up automatically.

Using the mains adapter

1. Plug the charger into the mains.
   • Depending on your region, you may need to use the provided mains adapter.
2. Plug the charger into the Pandora.
   • A green light at the right hand side should come on as the Pandora wakes up. Soon after, a red light will appear next to this.

     If your battery is completely drained, you may need to wait between 10 and 30 minutes for it to trickle-charge enough to wake up.

Battery and charging notes

• It's ok to keep your Pandora plugged in overnight to charge.
• It's ok to charge your Pandora at any time. You do not need to worry about "over charging" it.
• It's ok to use your Pandora until it runs out of power and shuts down.
• It's ok to leave your Pandora laying around not plugged in. All batteries will diminish in strength over time, and the Pandora's battery is no different. It will discharge about 5% each week. This does not damage it.

The stylus

The stylus is located on the right hand side of the Pandora, near the front. Pull on it to slide it out.

A new Pandora's stylus may be a little bit "firm". Over time it will become easier to pull out and push back in.

For a brand new stylus, 'write' on some regular paper. This will polish the tip and help prevent scratches on your screen when using it.

Get used to putting your stylus away inside the Pandora, not leaving it elsewhere. Don't loose it!

First Run Wizard

Some information is needed at this stage in order to set up important stuff. Make sure you keep the charger plugged in.

1. After booting, a dialogue will offer to shutdown, or start the configuration. Press 'Start Now' with the stylus
2. The first run dialogue will appear and ask you to enter some information. Use the pointer and touchscreen or left nub to move the pointer, move the right nub to the left to click
   1. Name (Conventionally your full name)
   2. Login (Must not contain spaces)
   3. Password (and confirmation). Do not forget this!
   4. Machine Name (Again no spaces. Short is good. How your machine appears on a network.)
   5. Select if you want to login automatically with no password prompt
   6. Prefered GUI (Use XFCE for this tutorial)
   7. Time Zone (can be changed later)
3. Once done, Pandora will reboot. From this point it is safe to unplug from the mains

Around the XFCE screen

Connect WiFi

This step is optional, you can use another PC to download apps to an SD card or USB stick.

Note: You must already have actual wireless networking set up and working in your household. Pandora Wi-Fi is not magic. You may be able to find a free wireless internet connection in your region. Some libraries and coffee shops provide one.

1. Click the menu button, click System, click Toggle Wi-Fi
2. The 3rd light on the left is red, and should come ON (Wi-Fi)
3. A popup might say networks are available.
4. To the left of the battery indicator (a %charge and small run-time) is the network manager icon - A black square.
5. Move the mouse with the left nub, and left click by moving the right nub to the left.
6. Select your wireless connection. If you have security enabled, you will be prompted for details. You can also right click (nub to the right) to turn networking on and off. Wi-Fi may sometimes be difficult to connect reliably.
7. A spinning circle indicates the connection is in progress.
8. A beacon icon shows the signal strength when connected

Slow Connection?

If your connection is slow, try changing the channel of your WLAN to a higher value. Visit your router's control panel and change the settings for your wireless network.

Download the codec pack

Codecs are not bundled with the Pandora because there are different licensing laws in different countries.

Please understand that you need to take responsibility for any patent restrictions which apply in your country. The codec pack also includes a video player (not fully optimised to used the DSP yet)

Note: You must perform the previous step in order to do this one!

If you are not connected to WiFi, do this on another computer.

1. Click the blue globe icon (3rd from left)
2. type open-pandora.org into the address bar, click on Community & Support
3. Click on Updates & Firmware
4. Click the Click here to download Community Codec Pack link for the codec pack
5. Select save as
6. Scroll the left hand list down, select the name of your SD card or mmcblkxxx if your card is not labeled.
7. Double click on the pandora folder (right nub up once)
8. Double click on the apps folder (right nub up once)
9. Click save
10. Wait for the download to finish
11. Put the SD card in your pandora if done on a PC
12. Press the pandora button in between the nubs (short press)
13. Use the D-pad to scroll up to System then right, and down to Community Codec pack installer. Press enter
14. Follow the prompts and enter your password when requested

Playing Music

Put your music in a folder somewhere on your SD card, then open GNOME Mplayer and navigate to that folder.

To learn about the directory structure on the Pandora, read Basic Linux Guide.

Applications

See Category:Software.

• Emulators: Emulator list
• Games
  • PandaPacks can be downloaded, copied to an SD card or USB stick and just run.
• Software projects

Switch to MiniMenu

Assuming you are in Xfce and using Hotfix 6:

1. Open up the Xfce menu (on the bottom-left of your screen)
2. Go to Switch GUI
3. Highlight MiniMenu and press OK

Switch to Xfce

Assuming you are in MiniMenu:

1. Go to System, then Switch GUI
2. Highlight XFCE4 and press OK

Change the default GUI

1. If in Xfce, open up the menu by pressing the Pandora button
2. Go to Settings, then Startup
3. Highlight Change Default GUI for current user and press OK
4. Highlight the GUI you want and press OK

The next time you log in, the chosen GUI should load.

Fix known problems with the default installation

It is assumed your are using Xfce for these fixes. If you wish to switch back to MiniMenu after making these changes see above.

Take ownership of your desktop

Your desktop maybe owned by root in the older installations. Fixed in Zaxxon Hotfix 6, maybe before. To check open the terminal as described below and type "ls -l [ENTER]". If you see "root" in the line where Desktop is shown you need this fix to write to your desktop.

1. In Xfce, open up the menu by pressing the Pandora button
2. Select Terminal from the menu.
3. Type whoami and press [ENTER]
4. Note your user-name which has just been printed to the terminal
5. Type sudo chown {your user-name} Desktop
6. Enter your password if it is required and press [ENTER]
7. Type sudo chgrp {your user-name) Desktop
8. Enter your password if it is required and press [ENTER]

Fix the installer's time-zone set-up

There appears to be a problem with Pandora's first-run wizard that incorrectly sets up your time-zone. This can cause confusing behaviour when you or a program attempts to change the system time. Instructions are taken from this [2] board post.

1. In Xfce, open up the menu by pressing the Pandora button
2. Select Terminal from the menu.
3. Enter the following commands:
4. cd /usr/share/zoneinfo
5. ls
6. Note the continents listed, such as America and Australia
7. Enter the following commands, where America is your continent:
8. cd America
9. ls
10. Find a listed city in the same timezone as you
11. Determine the full path of the file you have chosen. For instance for the Eastern timezone use /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York
12. Enter the following commands, replacing 021915402011 with the current date in MMDDHHMMYYYY format, and America/New_York with your city:
13. sudo ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime
14. export TZ=America/New_York
15. echo "export TZ=America/New_York" >>~/.bashrc
16. date 021915402011
17. (date format is MMDDhhmmYYYY)

Shutdown

To really shutdown, the charger must not be plugged in. The Pandora will power up when the charger is plugged in.

From Xfce:

1. Press the Pandora button for the menu.
2. Select LogOut
3. Select Shutdown

From MiniMenu:

1. Press the Select button
2. Select Shutdown Pandora

If you're unable to shut down for whatever reason, try doing a hard shut-down.