@curlysue wrote:
When you say, " . . . next to the OF and the player can be booted in either firmware at will." I trust this means my will and not the players.
Yes. With the normal installation, when the power button is pressed the unit will boot into the RB firmware. If you plug your player into your computer while RB is running, it will switch over to the OF for charging and adding or deleting content (this is 2 of the things you still need the OF for as RB doesn’t support the USB connection, but they’re getting close).
If you want to boot into the Sansa OF, simply press & hold the REW |<< button just after you press the power button, this will launch the original firmware. There is also a ‘reverse boot-loader’ that will (what else ?) reverse this process, so it boots to to the OF by default.
@curlysue wrote:
I have not spent much time at the Rockbox website, but I did glance over a page or two and recall some boasting about improved the audio quality.
Let me see if I can find a direct quote - one a momento pleez. . . Ah, yes, there it is - ** www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/WhyRockbox - “Another top priority of Rockbox is audio playback quality. Rockbox, for most models, includes a wider range of sound settings than that device’s original firmware.” **
While RB does have a number of enhancements & options regarding this, do not confuse ‘audio playback quality’ with ‘sound quality’. RB allows you to ‘manipulate’ playback settings 'till the cows come home, but one cannot enhance or make better something that isn’t there to begin with. You can certainly ‘pimp out’ a Prius, but it ain’t ever gonna be no Cadillac. They (Rockbox developers) can only work with what they’ve got in the v1 hardware.
The v2 has better sound quality than the v1 thanks to it’s AMS processor chip. This & it’s acompanying hardware is what also allows use of the larger SDHC memory cards (currently up to 16GB) where the v1 does not support them (only SD, up to 2GB). This is probably the biggest single reason people decide to install RB on their v1 devices as RB supports this newer format so the larger cards can be used with the older players.
When the v2 nut is cracked by the folks at Rockbox, the multitude of playback & sound settings paired with the native higher quality sound is going to make an awesome-sounding device.
@curlysue wrote:
Interesting. The initial firmware is still on my e260 v1, version 01.02.15
Given your experience and obvious expertise, I would love to get my e-hands on version 01.02.18 but do not know where to look. Any suggestions?
Ask & ye shall receive . . .
@curlysue wrote:
P.S. I am please to report Newegg effected a modest credit as compensation for the various issues associated with the Sansa e260 they sold me. Anyone could have earned more by working part-time as a French fry cook at McDonald’s, but - as you said - I am happy with the result.
It’s always nice to hear a happy ending to a story. That is, after all the bottom line, isn’t it? 
