Version 0.0.4 of the CramFS custom firmware (and a version with the blue Poison skin) has been released for the GP2X. It boasts two main features. Firstly, it write-protects the NAND to stop naughty programs saving things to that area, and secondly, most importantly, it decreases the boot time significantly – instead of the 30-seconds-to-a-minute that I’d previously had, it’s now in the region of 10-20 seconds. Wow.
It is built from the official 1.4.0 sources, and also adds a couple of extra touches. For example, a console app is included by default, so you can browse the GP2X’s Linux subsystem. You can also hook this up to a PC and log in to a console. Cool, but pretty pointless if you aren’t a developer.
There are two stages to install this custom firmware (after downloading the file, obviously 
):
- Copy the cramfs-0.0.4.dump and flash_cramfs.gpu to the root of an SD card. Boot, go into Utilities and run the flash program. The screen will blank for quite a while – make sure your batteries are well charged, or ideally use an AC adapter.
- Turn off once it’s done, and copy across gpx2kernel.img to the SD card root. Insert and power on; the flash process will take place automatically (this is exactly the same as for any firmware update).
You should notice the next boot to be amazingly quick. It really is a nice peice of work.
For more info and full instructions, go here.
