Topic: Greetings all - New Year New Members (Read 4970 times)

danko.ba.nanko · « **on:** January 07, 2011, 12:31:03 PM »

Hi all,

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Happy New Year, may it bring you many happy moments with your friends (old and new), family and in play with your Pleo's, health and success. When my daughter was diagnosed a milder form of autism I decided to try to stimulate her as much as possible and since she responded very well (on my greatest joy) on robotic toys and was not afraid at all we had so far Furbies, I-Cybie and now we have Mrvica which came today and she was delighted when she first saw it. She is only 26 months but despite her condition she is having loads of fun.

Even-tough I come from very small country named Bosnia and Herzegovina, God knows life is not easy here and despite my wife's not approving me spending not insignificant amount on "Just Toys" (one Pleo averages one monthly salary here) I could not resist seeing my daughter smile and spend even few minutes in joy away from everyday problems we face. Maybe it helps me too

not just her.

As I said she was delighted, but honestly I am too. I cam across a chance to buy fair priced UGOBE 2007 Pleo with two batteries (green one) and since I have already been reading this wonderful forum, I still have few questions in regard to this truly amazing creature.

Moreover I already downloaded personalities found here and on pleoworld, new and old OS as well and can't wait to try them, but before I touch anything about Pleo I would like to ask experienced companions to Pleo a few fairly simple questions.

1. Software update is as I see OS1.1 - OS.2 and if upgraded is it possible to downgrade to original software?
2. Should I upgrade or play with original SW for a bit?
3. Any special precautions I should be aware during SW update or when using personalities (if you have some links please post here, will look 4 my self in meantime).

I am sure it will be interesting to be a part of this group and look forward to new Pleo friends

Cheers
and all best

RedwoodsMama · « **Reply #1 on:** January 07, 2011, 01:55:34 PM »

Hello and welcome to the forums, I am glad to see a new member and your daughter's story really touched me a lot, I have two healthy children of my own, but for several years worked with children that had various physical special conditons, including Down's Syndrome, Cebral Palsy, Tourette Syndrome, Brittle Bone Disease, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and also Austisim. I know chidren that have Autisim have various degrees of being able to communicate with the " outside" world they live in, and I am glad that your daughter has a milder form,
I know if my son or daughter had any degree of Autisim, I would do what ever it took to try and reach them, and if that meant a bit of happiness with a certain type of toy, then I would without question do what you have done and not feel one bit of doubt about it, How you cope also with the hardships of where you live is also amazing,

You are indeed a strong person and I think you must have great faith. I think once your wife sees the reaction of joy your daughter has with Pleo, she will be on the same page as you,
   Pleos are amazing and so lifelike it is hard to forget they are not were it not for the battery charges and the noisy movements which soon are forgotten. I think if it were my first Pleo, I would enjoy, let your daughter enjoy the operating system that is in there first for however long you choose and then ask members here and read all you can and then if you want to upgrade there is plenty of time to do it, and if you decide you do not like the operating system you have uploaded you can revert back to the one you had.
   The one thing I am afraid that does happen to most older Pleos, is that the green batteries that come with them often do not work or only work for a short time before they need to be replaced. I hope the Pleo you have is an exception and the batteries will be working at least for awhile, There are good articles here on this site that explain all about batteries and how to fix them etc. I also sell the batteries that Pleos use, If it comes to that, there are lots of other places you can get them, but I would be willing to work with you because of your situation and esp because of your daughter to give you a battery for free if you could come up with the shipping cost, Please check your batteries first though and there is just as good of a chance that they do work so I am keeping my fingers crossed, I am glad to have a new Pleo Forum Member friend, If you have a camera, I would love to see a photo of your Pleo and or daughter with him/ her. I know there are lots of members here who can give you lots of help with whatever problems or questions you may have.
   Welcome,
   RedwoodsMama

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #2 on:** January 07, 2011, 02:06:16 PM »

Hello and welcome to the forum, so pleased to hear that Pleo is making your' and your daughters life a little brighter

In regards to your questions,

Update as soon as you can before your daughter becomes attached to the current personality, that way it will be just a part of Pleo 'growing up'. I would recommend the 1.1 OS in this case since the 2.0 has a very long hatching phase during which time Pleo will be grumpy, and not as responsive to touch, although once that is over it is a very nice OS, but your daughter may find it upsetting that her new pet ignores her. All upgrades can be downgraded if you need to.

Before you upgrade try out your SD card in Pleo to make sure it is working, use any one of the personalities or skits available here to test it. Be sure to remove all files on the SD card before doing an upgrade on Pleo. The most important thing is to use a fully charge battery! The best battery you have out of your two. Most problems are caused by batteries failing during updating.

Welcome again

RedwoodsMama · « **Reply #3 on:** January 07, 2011, 02:21:20 PM »

Sorry, I missed the fact that your Pleo has the original operating system and I think IMR is right, the 1.1 is the best way to go, Thanks IMR for catching that, IMR is very good at answering any other battery questions and do make sure the battery is fully charged and if you have time to charge both, it is good to have backup so your daughter won't be sad if Pleo suddenly
" wants to take a nap", Just explain if the battery stops or does'nt last long, that Pleos have to take lots of naps as they are very young babies, and she can probably relate to that even at her young age.
RedwoodsMama

kat · « **Reply #4 on:** January 07, 2011, 03:18:19 PM »

Welcome to the forum

I hope your pleo bring as much joy to you and your wife as it does your daughter.

There are plenty of people here on the forum who will help you out if your pleo has any problems so if you have any questions just ask.

Your daughter is very lucky to have such a loving and caring father.
Kat

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #5 on:** January 07, 2011, 04:45:27 PM »

I really should add that if you are not getting AT LEAST 40 minutes of run time (without having to switch Pleo off and on, or without Pleo turning off by himself) then DO NOT TRY TO UPDATE! The green batteries should at their best give you one hour of continuous use, if you are not getting at least 40 minutes you are taking a risk with the update not working properly or Pleo shutting down during the update. While a bad install is repairable it is not easy and it is better safe than sorry.

danko.ba.nanko · « **Reply #6 on:** January 07, 2011, 05:56:56 PM »

Thank you, thank you, thank you is all I can say. You made me very fuzzy around my hearth, something I do not feel often and something that I am not expected that "strangers" would make me feel, at least not at first.

Thank you for your offer Mama, if it comes to that at least I could try to send you mine batteries or try to sell them on ebay or somewhere and send you what I get for them, if it comes to that. I know you are true hearted person when you said what you said and do not misunderstand me because I really appreciate it, really and my intention isn't/wasn't to cause false sympathy or something to possibly gain from that, please be sure of that.

P.S. will post some pictures with us playing as soon as I manage to make few.

As for Kat and InmemoryofRomeo thank you for advices and compliments, now as you said we (two of us koz wify is still panting fire in the other room

) will get to know each other and take it from there, slowly with your advices as guides.

BR
D

Crewella · « **Reply #7 on:** January 07, 2011, 06:01:54 PM »

Hello and welcome, Danko (it's OK to call you Danko?). I'm glad Pleo has been such a success within your family, and that your daughter is so happy!

There is lots of help on here, as you can see from the very good advice given so far. If you have any queries I'm sure there will always be somebody on here who can help.

danko.ba.nanko · « **Reply #8 on:** January 07, 2011, 06:17:15 PM »

@ Crewella Sure,

Danko is fine (and my alterego is Bananaman - translated in my country Dankobananko

danko.ba.nanko · « **Reply #9 on:** January 07, 2011, 06:38:22 PM »

One more question before hitting my sack, do one upload on SD card separately skits and personalities in some order, e.g. I choose certain personality of my likings and than I can choose skits. I presume only one at the time

Crewella · « **Reply #10 on:** January 07, 2011, 07:01:34 PM »

Yes, you can only run one personality on any SD card at one time - I only have one card for each Pleo, so I keep the files on my computer and keep wiping the SD card and downloading the next one I want to play. You need to download them directly onto the card, not in a file, and there are often two URF files - one for each OS version the Pleo might be running (eg. one might be called 'pleo' and the other 'pleo1'). The Pleo will select the one it needs itself, but you do need to be running OS 1.1 at least to run the Pleoworld personalities I believe.

Have fun!

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #11 on:** January 07, 2011, 07:04:17 PM »

Just put one at a time on an SD card. But you can download them and use them, one at a time in any order, and save them to your computer to swap them over whenever you like.

All of them are temporary, once you remove the SD card Pleo will return to his/her lovable self

Edit: Crewella I must be getting slow at typing

Or you are getting much faster

Crewella · « **Reply #12 on:** January 07, 2011, 07:20:13 PM »

Crikey - I must be, IMR!

Good - there was definitely room for improvement this end! Must have got a head start!

danko.ba.nanko · « **Reply #13 on:** January 08, 2011, 05:32:49 AM »

Hello and good day,

I already tried two skits which I dl from some Holland site (link from this forum) where Pleo sings Dinosaur song and few others. It was great, my girl even danced with me and Pleo, it was a sight so full of love

I have seen in store that there is green batteries to buy, but on my battery instead of Pleo picture it says PLEO Ugobe life form, while in shop here there is picture of Pleo on one side. I presume that this green battery I have was sold with 2007 UGOBE Pleo and one that can be found here is from 2009 version or? I hope I did not receive some copy from China

(I see on ebay green batteries only saying PLEO? If have time please check the link http://img641.imageshack.us/i/08012011371.jpg/

Well from this short time what I can see you were correct, with full charge I can play certain Skit several times (where some skit drain power in different scale depending on how complex skit is - does it have song, range of movement ect. from what I was able to figure out), and play with "normal" Pleo for additional 20 minutes before it gets sluggish and almost none responsive to touch. I was really scared that me and my girl were too enthusiastic in our games with Pleo and did something wrong, but when I inserted second fully charged battery Pleo (I should really start using his name Mrvica from now on

) was his old happy self.

I will give more time to fully charge discharge batteries to be able to judge their full potential (like with mobile phones I presume) before I consider getting this white better battery as you suggested, for now I am more than happy spending time we can in game together.

Now I am going to post some pictures of my daughter and Mrvica, please do not resent the quality I do not have some fancy camera other than my mobile

But before that I just remembered I need to ask something else, I noticed in instructions manual to charge battery 3-4 hours (or when light switch to green - Pleo logo). But from what I seen the logo goes to green after just two hours even less. Now from what I can conclude it can mean what RWMama said that these stored older batteries do not hold full charge or I did not deplete them fully. Does Pleo go to some special (sleep) position when battery is fully discharged or it just stop? Should I leave him to fully discharge battery before trying to change to backup. If so it is a bit drag to wait koz of its less responsive reactions when battery is at its end...

Thank you for your time to give me further instructions.

BR
D

kat · « **Reply #14 on:** January 08, 2011, 06:33:15 AM »

I can't help you with the battery as I only have the new version of pleo the pleo rb and the batteries are different. But i did want to say that I love the photos you posted in the gallery. I'm glad your pleo is bringing some happiness to your daughter.

danko.ba.nanko · « **Reply #15 on:** January 08, 2011, 07:00:13 AM »

@ Kat thank you for your compliment, at the end battery or not what you say is most important. Maybe some day I will be able to get her what you have, a normal life (which is not easy nowdays no matter where you live, looking from this world of ours which we obviously do not appreciate enough). Pleorb is out of my reach ATM, maybe if I go work in Afghanistan where a lot of my friends went in search of a better life, but in my book one hour with her can't compensate what Bill Gates earns in a day. Hope I will be able to remain this Faith, which are my best friends.

Only thing is they do not put food on the table

Thank you all, this forum certainly have ppl with positive spirit which is invigorating for me. Thank you

Crewella · « **Reply #16 on:** January 08, 2011, 07:12:01 AM »

Hi Danko, both types of battey are OK, but the one you have is the same as the ones I received in the box with my original Ugobe Pleo. The white egg-charger batteries are very good, but you can probably improve the life of the green ones - Innvo do sell a new type of charger with a 'reconditioning' switch that runs a full discharge and slow charge cycle over 16 hours to improve the older green batteries. For now, it's worth putting the battery back in the charger after it has turned green - you will often find the green light has come on too early. When the red light goes green after just a few minutes then run the battery in the Pleo to discharge it.

danko.ba.nanko · « **Reply #17 on:** January 08, 2011, 07:22:16 AM »

@ Crewella, thank you. Heh already tried that it turned green sooner than 3-4 hours, released it, placed back and than it went red again for certain time which means it needed additional charging. Savvy ain't I

Crewella · « **Reply #18 on:** January 08, 2011, 07:26:47 AM »

Good on you! Hopefully your battery will improve!

danko.ba.nanko · « **Reply #19 on:** January 08, 2011, 08:24:02 AM »

Here I go again

I tried the 1.1 update as per dl instructions, but when I unziped the update files only (not folder, but just files on SD card) I followed instructions as it said the update would last for several minutes, but I only heard initial sound and after that some more sounds and Pleo was awake (he did not go to sleep at all). I was afraid I did something wrong, but could it be that my SD card finished update so fast or more likely it was already upgraded?

I mean what would happen if one would insert update 1.1OS into already updated Pleo. Does this what I described sound familiar, I mean update finishes in amtter of several seconds (basically it did not update, no need).

Cheers

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #20 on:** January 08, 2011, 01:14:50 PM »

Danko we have a thread on the batteries which you might find helpful http://bobthepleo.com/forums/index.php?topic=962.0 it explains how to recondition the batteries

It is quite possible that your Pleo is already updated, to check place one hand under Mrvica's chin and another hand on the rump near the tail, hold both sensors/places for thirty seconds, you may have to try more than once if Mrvica is ignoring you

Eventually Mrvica will pull his front feet and rear feet together and you can help him sit. If while sitting Mrvica moves around he is already running the 1.1 OS if he holds perfectly still then he is on the 1.0 OS and you can try the update again

Malfie · « **Reply #21 on:** January 08, 2011, 01:19:14 PM »

I'm not very learned regarding updates, but I updated my 1.1OS Pleo to 1.1.1OS, which I understand to be the same operating system, but instead of hearing chimes at the beginning and end of the update, you hear words that tell you the update has finished. Pleo then wakes up and goes to sleep. It was a while ago but I remember the update seemed to take even less than a minute!

danko.ba.nanko · « **Reply #22 on:** January 08, 2011, 03:34:36 PM »

Thank you for taking time to clear things up 4 me. I did try what you say IMR, but it was still a mystery to me. So I tried the inlove personality and holiday which both worked with Mrvica. From what I understand they would not work on 1.0 Os (TBH I placed both *.urf files not just the *.urf with number 1 in it - which I figured that is for 1.1 Os) or it could be other way around (the one without number one in .urf name to be for OS 1.1). Would this method reveal the mystery of Mrvicas OS?

LoL it seems to me that I knew more about Pleo at start, now it seems like info overload

But I guess that is one of the charms of Pleo - taking time to know each other. Everything else would be just mechanics and I do not think that was creators intention.

P.S. my wife is mellowing down staring at Mrvicas blue eyes, there was a hug involved when I wasn't looking. According to her it never happened, but I know different Shhh

Crewella · « **Reply #23 on:** January 08, 2011, 04:19:25 PM »

I had to upgrade via a USB cable recently and that will tell you which version your Pleo is running - if you try the 1.1 it should either upgrade or tell you your Pleo is already running the OS. The files and instructions are available in the Downloads section, so that might be worth a try?

fancyfont · « **Reply #24 on:** January 08, 2011, 08:00:23 PM »

Hi Danko, family and Mrvica! Just catching up on all of the newer posts. I got behind over the holidays.

It sounds like Mrvica is being enjoyed by everyone in your family. Happy New year to you and all of your loved ones!

Bob the Pleo Forums

Author Topic: Greetings all - New Year New Members (Read 4970 times)