Rockbox?

@timn wrote:
I was wondering what video RB supports (what formats)… In general I mean

mpeg and mpegII

Amusingly, I’m currently fighting yet another “refreshing your media” hang, and this is looking mighty tempting.

Probably bite if it didn’t permanently disable DRM, though.  I do occasionally check out audiobooks from the library, which will run via WMP et al.  Handy feature to have, even if I don’t use it much.  Would hate to kill it completely.

Probably bite if it didn’t permanently disable DRM, though.  I do occasionally check out audiobooks from the library, which will run via WMP et al.  Handy feature to have, even if I don’t use it much.  Would hate to kill it completely.

Never used it, so wouldn’t miss it.   The very few DRM tracks I have are Itunes which it doesn’t cover anyway.

 

 

For the View owners…

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/GSoCSansaView

Oh I just remembered something very important I wanted to ask. How well does the Rockbox’d FuzeV1 support AAC audio files? Specifically, HE-AACV1 and HE-AACV2 encoded files?

I have a lot of audiobook CD rips that I encoded with Nero Audio encoder. Since I converted to mono, they are HE-AACV1 encoded. Most are around 33 kbps. Average length is 30 minutes.

I was wondering if anyone has experience with HE-AACV1/V2 encoded files.

I don’t believe the page with the data I need has been updated for the FuzeV1 or the E200V2. 

All rockboxed players have the same codecs. According to the info on the following page:

rockbox uses FAAD2 for AAC decoding, which - in the second table - is said to support HE-AAC

@calv wrote:

All rockboxed players have the same codecs. According to the info on the following page:

 

SoundCodecs < Main < Wiki

 

rockbox uses FAAD2 for AAC decoding, which - in the second table - is said to support HE-AAC

I assure you that “support” and “support in realtime” are two very things in practice.

I was really hoping someone had some HE-AACV1 or V2 audio files.

And maybe try this test with their Sansa.

It’s be fun!

Well…it’ll at least be useful.

Message Edited by Cashew on 07-22-2009 05:47 PM

I would have tested that, if the ‘encoder pack’ download was still available. Without that, it’s getting a bit hard to do I think.

I’m not sue what HE-AACV1/V2 is, but ‘AAC LC’ (as produced by and old iTunes) 128kbit/s ABR stereo works fine on my Fuze. If I had any HE-AACV1/V2 files I would test them.

Can’t you use this to encode?  At least test?

Message Edited by zigg on 07-23-2009 11:29 AM

@7o9 wrote:

I would have tested that, if the ‘encoder pack’ download was still available. Without that, it’s getting a bit hard to do I think.

 

I’m not sue what HE-AACV1/V2 is, but ‘AAC LC’ (as produced by and old iTunes) 128kbit/s ABR stereo works fine on my Fuze. If I had any HE-AACV1/V2 files I would test them.

Hmmm…well basically HE-AAC is low bitrate profile for AAC encoding (note: I might be using the wrong technical terms. Don’t kill me.).

It is supposed to achieve pretty good audio quality at low bitrates. I mostly plan to use it for audiobooks but as it improves, I can probably encode some of my CD’s using it as well.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Efficiency_Advanced_Audio_Coding

“Scientific testing by the European Broadcasting Union has indicated that HE-AAC at 48 kbit/s was ranked as “Excellent” quality using the MUSHRA scale. MP3 in the same testing received a score less than half that of HE-AAC and was ranked “Poor” using the MUSHRA scale. Data from this testing also indicated that some individuals confused 48 kbit/s encoded material with an uncompressed original.”

At higher bitrates, HE-AAC encoding is actually less effecient if I remember properly so it should be avoided.

HE-AACv2 cannot be used with mono audio files but supposed to be more effecient than HE-AACv1. Or atleast I assume that’s the ultimate goal.

HE-AACv1 can be used with mono audio files.

Currently, decoding HE-AACv1 and v2 takes more resources than decoding AAC LC so some Rockbox’d players can playback AAC LC in realtime but not HE-AAC. If I remember correctly, on the E200v1, it was playing back at 58% of realtime or something along those lines. Or maybe it skipped a lot. Either way, it wasn’t good.

What the person above me linked is the Nero Encoder which I used. I used it with foobar2000 as the frontend since I don’t want to use the command prompt.

 http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=58668

What I just linked is another frontend program just for Nero AAC. Pretty sure it’ll work as well.

Since HE-AAC is most effecient at low bitrates, I would use something around 24-64 kbps or whatever the coresponding quality setting is at. I personally use q .25 I believe for my audiobooks and it outputs files around 33kbps. I can’t tell the difference between those files from the CD but it is an audiobook and I’m not really an audiophile.

Message Edited by Cashew on 07-23-2009 10:37 AM

If HE-AAC takes more CPU to decode you might want to consider the effect on battery life.  For audiobooks on Rockbox I’ve been using speex, a speech aptimized format that sounds ok (no aspirations of CD quality, but OK) at 10 kb/s.  Under 4 MB/hour.

Hmmm…I dunno. I was pretty set on HE-AAC support. I might almost consider it obsessive.

Well, I really only need it to support it for 4+ hours. I’m usually near a computer and I could always charge it up. 

I encoded a couple of FLAC tunes (music, not audiobook tracks) with neroAacEnc (through Foobar2000) to LC, HE and HEV2 profiles.

All versions played well (realtime). But I had the distinct idea the HE/HEV2 versions drained the batter fast. Even the fading of the screens slowed down noticably.

So yes, it plays, but I doubt you can get 4 hours at this point. This of course is guesswork. If you can beat your obsession, there should be more efficient alternatives :wink:

Oh, I doubt that’ll happen. But thanks a lot. It’s good to know that it’ll play in realtime.

Hello All

My first post on the forum.

I have owned an 8GB Clip for a couple of months and was so impressed by it that I couldn’t resist picking up an 8GB Fuze the other day. To my delight (as I’m a long term Rockbox fan) my Fuze is a V1.

I should start by repeating the warnings - installing Rockbox will invalidate your warranty and isn’t entirely risk free.

Having said that, however, I have been using Rockbox on my Iriver H140 since the very early days of its development - I have installed numerous ‘daily builds’, revisions etc and have never once had a serious problem. The Rockbox developers certainly know their stuff.

Anyway, just a few words on rockbox for the Fuze:

My Fuze cost me less than £35. That, and the fact that my experience of rockbox has thus far been entirely positive, led me to give it a go…

The installation instructions on the rockbox site are not for computer illiterates like me - if you don’t understand command prompts, you will struggle (I did). Fortunately, some very kind soul on the Ubuntu forum has put together a simple rar file containing everything you need. Just download the most recent file (mine was dated 24th July) and unzip it to the root of your Fuze. Read the relevant thread on Ubuntu first.

When you disconnect your Fuze from the pc it will automatically install Rockbox.

So, does it work?

Yep, it does. I have only had it on the player for a day, but I have yet to experience any crashes, hangs etc. It does seem very stable. TBH, I think the Rockbox people take a rather stricter view of what qualifies as ‘stable’ than average end users like me…

My initial impressions are very good indeed. My experience with a rockboxed Iriver has meant that the only real surprise was seeing it in colour for the first time!

Rockbox introduces so many new options and features that it is difficult to know where to start in describing them. Here are a few of my favourites:

Customised themes and fonts - personalise your fuze!

Proper bass and treble controls.

Cue sheet compatibility (though I haven’t tested to see that it’s working yet).

Games (some of them are actually very good. Jewels, anyone?)

Applications - customisable clock display, calculator, calendar (with on screen keyboard, so you can add appointments!)

Heck, loads more - I’ll report back from time to time once I’ve tried a few more things out.

If you are considering putting rockbox on your fuze, I would offer the following advice (which is, in truth, very much in the ‘teaching granny to ■■■■ eggs’ category, but here goes):

Read up on the risks and downsides (eg you will lose DRM compatibility forever - is that important to you?). My philosophy is simple - I’m taking a risk. If I brick my player, I am prepared either to wait until a fix is developed (if ever) or buy another one. If you are not prepared to do the same, enjoy your fuze as is. It’s an excellent player already, of course.

I should stress that I am not a rockbox expert - I have been using it for quite a while, but have no idea how it works, so can’t provide any technical insights. But I will keep you updated of any problems I encounter or new features I discover. It appears that other contributors to this thread are doing the same, but there’s always room for one more…

If I can get my digicam back from SWMBO (how many pictures of baby do we really need? :stuck_out_tongue:) I’ll try to post some screenshots.

Cheers

Martin  

@horace wrote:

Hello All

 

My first post on the forum.

 

I have owned an 8GB Clip for a couple of months and was so impressed by it that I couldn’t resist picking up an 8GB Fuze the other day. To my delight (as I’m a long term Rockbox fan) my Fuze is a V1.

 

I should start by repeating the warnings - installing Rockbox will invalidate your warranty and isn’t entirely risk free.

Having said that, however, I have been using Rockbox on my Iriver H140 since the very early days of its development - I have installed numerous ‘daily builds’, revisions etc and have never once had a serious problem. The Rockbox developers certainly know their stuff.

 

Anyway, just a few words on rockbox for the Fuze:

 

My Fuze cost me less than £35. That, and the fact that my experience of rockbox has thus far been entirely positive, led me to give it a go…

 

The installation instructions on the rockbox site are not for computer illiterates like me - if you don’t understand command prompts, you will struggle (I did). Fortunately, some very kind soul on the Ubuntu forum has put together a simple rar file containing everything you need. Just download the most recent file (mine was dated 24th July) and unzip it to the root of your Fuze. Read the relevant thread on Ubuntu first.

 

When you disconnect your Fuze from the pc it will automatically install Rockbox.

 

So, does it work?

 

Yep, it does. I have only had it on the player for a day, but I have yet to experience any crashes, hangs etc. It does seem very stable. TBH, I think the Rockbox people take a rather stricter view of what qualifies as ‘stable’ than average end users like me…

 

My initial impressions are very good indeed. My experience with a rockboxed Iriver has meant that the only real surprise was seeing it in colour for the first time!

 

Rockbox introduces so many new options and features that it is difficult to know where to start in describing them. Here are a few of my favourites:

 

Customised themes and fonts - personalise your fuze!

 

Proper bass and treble controls.

 

Cue sheet compatibility (though I haven’t tested to see that it’s working yet).

 

Games (some of them are actually very good. Jewels, anyone?)

 

Applications - customisable clock display, calculator, calendar (with on screen keyboard, so you can add appointments!)

 

Heck, loads more - I’ll report back from time to time once I’ve tried a few more things out.

 

If you are considering putting rockbox on your fuze, I would offer the following advice (which is, in truth, very much in the ‘teaching granny to ■■■■ eggs’ category, but here goes):

 

Read up on the risks and downsides (eg you will lose DRM compatibility forever - is that important to you?). My philosophy is simple - I’m taking a risk. If I brick my player, I am prepared either to wait until a fix is developed (if ever) or buy another one. If you are not prepared to do the same, enjoy your fuze as is. It’s an excellent player already, of course.

 

I should stress that I am not a rockbox expert - I have been using it for quite a while, but have no idea how it works, so can’t provide any technical insights. But I will keep you updated of any problems I encounter or new features I discover. It appears that other contributors to this thread are doing the same, but there’s always room for one more…

 

If I can get my digicam back from SWMBO (how many pictures of baby do we really need? :stuck_out_tongue:) I’ll try to post some screenshots.

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Martin  

glad that your having such a positive experience with Rockbox on your Fuze!. Just FYI there are still problems with it…namely reports of file corruption and the recording feature are still not working. I got this from a few of the Rockbox dev’s that I’ve corresponded with lately. You should still keep an eye on it. Me, I’m waiting impatiently for it to become public. I sure hope it’s soon! :wink:

@oobergeek wrote:


glad that your having such a positive experience with Rockbox on your Fuze!. Just FYI there are still problems with it…namely reports of file corruption and the recording feature are still not working. I got this from a few of the Rockbox dev’s that I’ve corresponded with lately. You should still keep an eye on it. Me, I’m waiting impatiently for it to become public. I sure hope it’s soon! :wink:

Yeah, I’ve read reports of some problems, but haven’t encountered any myself yet. I am doing my best to make rockbox misbehave…

I don’t really miss the recording feature - if I do need it, there’s always the original Sansa firmware to fall back on.

Some promising features:

Pictureflow. This is included as a demo only, but mimicks Apple’s coverflow. The demo works very smoothly indeed and looks stunning. Occasionally the covers and album titles get a bit mixed up (a known issue), but it looks very sweet indeed. I really hope they manage to get this working in rockbox.

Doom looks absolutely terrific on the Fuze and plays very smoothly. I’m not much of a gamer, so I’m not sure all the control buttons are mapped (how do you open doors?), but it does look great.

There are a few themes available (tip: the Ipod colour/photo and Iriver h300 rockbox themes are fuze-compatible, as they share the same screen res.) and they are fun to play with. I believe you can customise the display to include any info you want (eg bitrate, file format etc) though I’ve never tried this. Might give it a go…  

Anyway, a very promising start. All the basics seem to be in place, so let’s hope the bug fixes and missing features are ready soon.

Three cheers for gapless playback and the ability to play just about any file format you can think of - that’s the real beauty of rockbox IMHO.

Cheers

Martin

oobergeek wrote: 


glad that your having such a positive experience with Rockbox on your Fuze!. Just FYI there are still problems with it…namely reports of file corruption and the recording feature are still not working. 

 Just to stay “fair and balanced” there are reports of file corruption with the original firmware as well.  It’s even in the FAQ.

 

Message Edited by donp on 07-27-2009 03:15 PM

@donp wrote:



 Just to stay " fair and balanced" there are reports of file corruption with the original firmware as well.  It’s even in the FAQ.

 Message Edited by donp on 07-27-2009 03:15 PM

Do you work for Fox News? :smileyvery-happy:

@marvin_martian wrote:


@donp wrote:



 Just to stay " fair and balanced" there are reports of file corruption with the original firmware as well.  It’s even in the FAQ.

 Message Edited by donp on 07-27-2009 03:15 PM


Do you work for Fox News? :smileyvery-happy:

:smileyvery-happy: :smileyvery-happy: :smileyvery-happy:

Too funny! That’s the exact same thing I thought! Donp is actually Bill O’Reilly!