Storio 2 firmware v21.21000

[baanerp]

Hello,

I had the idea of flashing my son's Storio 2 (blue version), but it appears to have firmware v21.21000.
Now I didn't see this version in the list of flashable firmwares (http://spiffyhacks.harmonypogo.com/thread-19.html).

So my question is now: which version can I take to flash this Storio 2 ?

Thanks.

[Deak Phreak]

21 is quite low. Connect to the lodge and update your firmware.

[baanerp]

Ok, I've done that.
Now the firmware version is 74.30409.

And for this one, I can't find a patched firmware one on this site either

Now below are the steps I've taken in trying to proceed. These steps left me with some questions .

So, here goes the lengthy post:
1) I wanted to get the new firmware from the Storio2. So I installed the SpiffyHack on an SD card, inserted it in the Storio2, but alas, nothing happened when I inserted the original cartridge that came with the device and went to the cartridge game. No menu was shown.

2) Then I found in the FAQ a way to extract the firmware from the .ugdx update file. I followed the guide and succeeded to get the 'bundle' and 'system' binaries. I could not get the last binary ('rootfs') since searching on the string '1F 8B 08 00 D8 B2 F3 50' resulted in zero hits.

3) Next I retrieved some modified firmwares that were close to my version (since I wanted to get to know what was changed to the firmware so maybe I would be able to do this myself). So I got the s2_uk_v74.30408_mod version and the s2_fr_v74.30321_mod version.

4) I extracted all the files (also the ones in the .bin file which seems to be only the 'system' part of the .ugdx file (so you don't need the 'bundle' & 'rootfs' ??)) and I compared them. Strangely enough, all files are identical to each other.  Does this mean that the version and language do not really matter ? Where is the language choice then stored in the Storio2 ?

5) Next I compared all files from the s2_uk_v74.30408_mod .bin file with the 'system' files I retrieved from the ugdx file. And here only 2 differences occur: one in /bin/vtech/RunApp and another where the file only exists in the mod version: /bin/vtech/RunApp~

So, now I get to the main question: since apparently there are no differences in the firmware files between the different versions/languages of the latest firmwares, can I safely assume that I can use e.g. the s2_uk_v74.30408_mod version to flash my NL v74.30409 Storio2 ?

Thanks.

[Deak Phreak]

The firmware files you flash does not always contain changes between versions. You are right that the firmware we patch is only part of the system. When you get an update from Vtech, it contains updates to other file systems as well which all make up the device. If you flash a version of "system" that is different then the rootfs that is installed, you may brick the device. I would not risk flashing anything other then your exact version specified or it could cause a version miss-match on boot and brick.

If the files are all the same, it could be because they updated something in rootfs instead of the firmware... again I wouldn't risk it and only flash your exact version. The RunApp~ is a backup file and RunApp is the file that is patched for the mod to allow apps to be run from the SD card.