Dingux

Dingux is an open source operating system (Linux) which is able to drive the Dingoo’s hardware, as an alternative to the Dingoo’s built in firmware.

 

Dingux is installed as a dual booting operating system meaning that your Dingoo can run either Dingux or native firmware. Installing Dingux does not limit you to only using Dingux, the native firmware remains intact. To boot into native firmware do nothing, simply power on the Dingoo as per normal. To boot into Dingux, hold down the 'Select' button whilst powering on.

 

The dual booting software resides in your Dingoo's internal memory. The Dingux operating system itself resides on a Mini SD card that you insert into your Dingoo.

 

Installation is relatively simple & risk free.

 

As always, back-up all your Dingoo data before doing any upgrading.

 

Dingux Installation Overview:

 

  • You will need a formatted Mini SD card (or Micro SD card with suitable Mini SD adapter).
  • You will need to download the dual boot firmware installer (this tells your Dingoo to boot into Dingux when the 'Select' button is held down upon powering on).
  • You will need to download the Dingux operating system files.
  • You will need to download a Dingux software pack, which contains a menu system and pre-configured apps.
  • First, we will install the dual booting firmware.
  • Then we will prepare your Mini SD card & transfer the Dingux operating system to it.
  • Finally, we will install a Dingux software pack containing Gmenu (a graphical front end for Dingux), various applications, emulators and games.

 

Dingux Installation - Installing the Dual Booting Firmware:

 

Please make sure you have a fully charged battery before attempting this.

 

  1. The Dingoo A320 has two types of controllers for its LCD screen. Which one you have will depend on how old or new your Dingoo is. You need to know which version of the LCD driver you have in order to flash your Dingoo. To establish which LCD driver you will need to use, go to the about screen of your Dingoo and press UP, RIGHT, DOWN, UP, RIGHT, DOWN. You will see either 'ILI9325.DL' or 'ILI9331.DL' - remember which one you have.
  2. Download the dual booting firmware installer. 
  3. If you have previously installed the ChinaChip USB drivers (perhaps to use the un-bricking tool), uninstall them now.
  4. Now set your Dingoo to flashing mode. Do this by holding down on the 'B' button when powering on (or you can hold down the 'B' button whilst the Dingoo is turned on and hit the reset button). The screen of your Dingoo will remain black and no indication is given that the device is in flashing mode.
  5. Connect your Dingoo to your PC via the provided USB cable.
  6. Windows should detect a new USB device and prompt you to install new drivers. Manually install the drivers selecting them from the 'dual_boot_installer_20090916' folder. If Windows does not prompt you to install new drivers, un-install whatever drivers are currently installed for the Dingoo A320 device and start again.
  7. Open the command prompt, cd to the directory containing the dual-boot installer files and run the following commands (replace 'ILI9325' with 'ILI9331' if you have the later LCD type):

  • usbtool-win 1 hwinit.bin 0x80000000
  • usbtool-win 1 zImage_dual_boot_installer_ILI9325 0x80600000

  • You should now see your Dingoo launching the flasher script, and a screen like this should appear on it:

 

  • Follow the instructions on the Dingoo’s screen, and at the end of it, something like this should appear:


  • Your Dingoo will now reboot and you should see this screen on your Dingoo:

 

  • As we have not yet prepared the Mini SD Card, it will boot through to the original Dingoo firmware.

  • It has been known for this step to take a few attempts before it works. If your Dingoo screen remains black try repeating the procedure a few times, starting from step 4. It took me 3 tries before it worked for me.

Dingux Installation - Preparing your Mini SD card:


  1. Format your Mini SD card (FAT32).
  2. Download the Dingux System Files.
  3. FIRST copy the the zImage file matching your LCD controller to the root of your Mini SD card.
  4. Now copy the rootfs file to the root of your Mini SD card.
  5. Rename the zImage file to just 'zImage'.
  6. Your basic Dingux installation is now complete!

Dingux Installation - Installing Gmenu & Dingux Software Pack to your Mini SD card:

 

  1. Download Toddler Dingux Local Pack v0.35 - Part1
  2. Download Toddler Dingux Local Pack v0.35 - Part2
  3. Download Toddler Dingux Local Pack v0.35 - Part3 
  4. Copy the entire contents of the 'localpackv0.35' folder to the root of your Mini SD card (do not copy the folder itself). Pay attention to the 'zImage' files, only keep the one that applies to your LCD driver and rename as necessary (to just 'zImage').

That's in. With the Mini SD card inserted into your Dingoo, power on whilst holding down select. If successful, your Dingoo will boot into Dingux Gmenu.



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