Back to the Fuze for my primary player

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1

While I believe the Fuze+ has some real potential, it just doesn’t cut it right now as my primary player.

I recently bought an Fuze V2 and placed Rockbox on it and it is working fantastic.

Unfortunately the OF of a Fuze V2 has a 8000 song limit, which I found out was much lower since the OF would not read my +6500 tracks, but Rockbox took care of that.

Sure, Rockbox breaks Rhapsody integration, but that’s where the Fuze+ shines.  I use the Fuze+ for rented music, and the Rockbox Fuze V2 for the stuff I own. 

Someday perhaps the OF will become usable enough to use the Fuze+ as my primary player, but until then I will use Fuze V2.  It’s superior hardware with the Rockbox firmware is an amazing combination (if you don’t require DRM playback).  If you need Rhapsody, Rockbox doesn’t do much for ya. 

I just wish the Sandisk Dev’s would actually Rockbox one of their own players (like the Fuze) and see how things like, fast database integration, folder navigation, playlist creation, can be done. 

Sandisk is one of the few MP3 player companies that are really good about upgrading their firmware.  But unfortunately they seem to repeat some of the same mistakes they make with earlier models. 

I understand that the Fuze+ is an entirely new beasty.  But the original Fuze firmware was already very mature when the Fuze+ was introduced, and some of the features that are missing in the Fuze+ is just plain puzzling so now we are asking for new “features” that were already introduced on the earlier model.

I have faith though, I think the Fuze+ has great potential, but if the sales figures don’t support further development, at least the Rockboxed Fuze V2 will give me years of operability.

2

I also got so frustrated with the Plus, that I dug out my older Fuze v2. Lower capacitty, but then again, can’t use an SD card in the Plus anyway, because it is so friggin’ slow.

I tried Rockbox on the Fuze a few months ago, and it installed fine, but I could never get my XP system to recognize that the Fuze was plugged in. Reverted to Sansa f/w and all was fine.

Did you have to do anything at all for Windows to recognize it? I notice there is a new release of RB, so maybe I should try again.

3

Rockbox for the Fuze is not yet capable of USB transfers, so while Rockbox is running, your Fuze will not be recognized.

If your Fuze is off, and you connect to USB, then the Fuze should boot into original firmware and thus be ready for transfer.  Make sure you have your USB mode set to MSC mode when connecting.

Also, you can alternately boot into original firmware by holding down the left hand side of the clickwheel during power up and it will boot into original firmware.

Unfortunately, you still have to deal with the infamous  “refreshing your media” everytime you transfer but it is a small price to pay.  I have a 32GB card with over 6700 tracks, so the Fuze never recognizes all my music, which is why I use Rockbox.  The “refreshing your media” is annoying.  Perhaps in the future RB will get USB working for transfers (it works for charging) and thus dual booting into original firmware will not be required.  But until then, I’ll pay the price with the periodic “refreshing your media” to have fast menu access, and the improvements provided by RB.

The worst thing is the lack of DRM support for Rhapsody subscription tracks and channels.  But then again, I use the Fuze + with no card in it for my Rhapsody fix.  If I purchase tracks, I move them to the Fuze.

4

Thanks for this p_opus.

I did not realize that I could, in effect, dual-boot. I printed out your post above, and I’ll download the latest RB and give it another shot. Not tomorrow, but soon(ish)?

Might be an excuse to get a much larger SD card, so that I can carry more of my 60GB collection. I don’t use Rhapsody or similar services, all my own CDs, so the other shortcomings aren’t an issue for me.

Thanks again.

5

The way I boot into the OF on my rockboxed fuze V1 is to hold down the left side of the scroll wheel while turning the player on.  Works every time I do it.   With the player still on, I plug it into my computer and can access the internal and external memory.