Newbie questions about Rockbox

Having stuck with Minidisc players for ages, I finally took the plunge and got a Clip+ last Christmas, and am very pleased with it, particularly the ease with which I can access the basic controls while it’s hidden under my overalls.

The one thing it won’t do which my Minidisc players could do is playback at faster-than-normal speed but without the “chipmunk” effect. (Very handy if I have a lot of Podcasts to listen to and not much time).  I see that Rockbox is able to do this, but it appears to do loads of other things that I don’t need.

Can someone tell me whether Rockbox still allows easy basic operation, as I don’t want to complicate things too much with complex menus just to get fast playback.  Also, if I install Rockbox and don’t like it, how easy is it to revert back to the Sansa firmware?  If you use Rockbox, what other features of it do you find particularly useful?

You can install Rockbox and then, if you don’t like it, simply uninstall it. You also can keep it and still boot into the original firmware. One thing to note, though: Rockbox can seem complicated, just becuase it has so many options. But it really, it is not difficult to get accustomed to. My advice: skim the Rockbox manual, just to get the jist of things, andf then follow the instructions to install it on your player. I then would install a replacement Screen display/arrangement–the original is antiseptic/technical-seeming (Rockbox has separate pages showing alternate screens–you’re bound to find one you like). And then just go about using the player–Rockbox is very easy to use, and you can refer to the manual as you might need for features of the firmware. either more basic or more advanced (and just ignore what you’re not interested in).

Hi Miikerman,

Thanks for the detailed reply; I think I’ll give it a try at the weekend.

Just one more question:  I’m currently setting up playlists of my podcasts and music and importing them to the Clip+ using Windows Media Player.  Looking at the Rockbox manual, I suspect that this will no longer be possible, as it appears I’ll have to drag and drop the files.  Am I right?

Good for you! My biggest piece of advice: don’t let Rockbox intimidate you. Apart from the install instructions, you really need to read little of the Rockbox manual, to use your player with Rockbox from the get-go. Having said that, I find it very beneficial to skim the manual–you actually may find options that are very useful to you, that you didn’t know about before. And if the manual gets to be overwhelming at a certain point, just put it aside. As to playlists, I don’t use 'em–I’ll leave others to advise you there. And just to wet your appetite: here’s the webpage showing the alternate (and much nicer looking than the stock version) screen displays for the Clip+; installing them is a breeze (consult the manual). http://themes.rockbox.org/index.php?target=sansaclipplus