Rockbox?

I’ve been using the unofficial version for a few days now and I’m absolutely amazed how good it is. Of course, there are some minor bugs,some visual glitches from time to time, but overally…

Dear Sansa designers - you really should take a closer look at this firmware and learn from it. Learn some basic ideas, not necessarily visual concepts as such. I realize it is not possible to allow so much customizability in a mainstream device, but to some extent, this really does change a lot of things. I for instance have set a theme that is totally minimalistic and is text-only. Small white font with absolutely no graphics. One might think that this would be unappealing for an avarege consumer. But I believe its the other way around. The theme is extremely elegant and looks quite spectacular in combination with Fuze’s body , which is btw very pretty IMO. The original gui looks like Microsoft Office, with ths black and white theme you get the sensation of using something much more ‘serious’, so to speak. 

(the photo does not really capture the feel of this gui, it looks much better in real life ;P)

Not to mention how EFFECTIVE it has become. Much more readable, with quicker access to most options. Besides, there is another thing which actually kind of puzzles me. The wheel mechanics with Rockbox is MUCH better. How come an unofficial alpha version-whatever firmware can handle the hardware better than its creators themselves? Acceleration has been added to the Fuze but unfortunately it has been implemented rather poorly - it was very difficult to access the items which are in the MIDDLE of the list, because it accelarated way too fast. And here - there is absolutely no such problem. I have an 8 Gb fuze with 16 Gb card - this provides space for really a lot of music - and I can reach everything instantly and with great precision. 

!(file:///Z:/fuze/P1170298.JPG)Another feature that really should be taken into account by Sansa itself - optional reloading of the database. In Rockbox, I can decide when I want to update the database. For instance, if I only place data and use the Fuze as a storage device, I don’t have to refresh everything each time I plug in the player (which sometimes happens even if I do not access any files whatsoever). Plus, the file view does refresh, the only thing I have to wait for is the mp3 database. Which , btw, takes place much quicker.

There are tons of such useful little features here. I’m not too excited about being able to play Doom on my Fuze (although it is completely playable and fun), but the changes introduced by Rockbox really make the device much better. And don’t get me wrong - I’m not writing this to bash Sansa. On the contrary. I have done some research and I see no other player of this kind that could be compared with the Fuze. It’s size, durability, memory extension capacity, ease of use, sound quality… its just top-notch, and for a really modest amount of money. Seriously, you guys did a GREAT job. However, take a look at Rockbox. I know that certain things are too advanced for an average user and I don’t blame him/her. However , there are some very interesting ideas which could inspire future changes.

Regards 

P.S. I’m not saying that everyone should try it - if you are not absolutely sure how to handle this - don’t do it (although I can’t imagine how anyone could damage the Fuze by using Rockbox). Battery life is a bit shorter , there are some bugs from time to time… It really needs a lot of work. 

Message Edited by Riven on 08-19-2009 06:34 AM

I’m been using Rockbox since the Official Test Build, and it’s been great.

Oh man, just trying to access www.rockbox.org right now and its offline…

I hope that this firmware don’t wreck my Fuze, cause its very complicated to find another one on Brazil… :neutral_face:

Yup, it’s down. Hopefully it will be up soon.

hello all,

i am a brand new fuze buyer and very happy with it except for i’m really eager to have rockbox, and i unfortunately have only a v2 which doesnt have RB.  i’ve used RB in the past on my iAudio AND iRiver (old-school!) and love it - i really would welcome it for the v2 and judging from google/forum threads, many people are as well. is there any news on a v2 port? is the hardware that different?

@yelped wrote:
Yup, it’s down. Hopefully it will be up soon.

Is that what’s going on?  For several days I’ve been trying to DL the latest test build and getting no connection.  Is there another place I can find it?

@odd_bob wrote:


@yelped wrote:
Yup, it’s down. Hopefully it will be up soon.


Is that what’s going on?  For several days I’ve been trying to DL the latest test build and getting no connection.  Is there another place I can find it?

 

 

I saw a post in another forum claiming that “the server is under attack” but I have no idea if that is true or not.

How to update the database in rockbox after adding new songs ?

@paleskin wrote:
How to update the database in rockbox after adding new songs ?

 

Go to Settings->General Settings->Database->Update Now

 or set Auto update to yes (updates when you turn the player on)

or initialize the database 

 If you manually update while autoupdate is going on, you can mess things up a bit.  Fix that by reinitializing.

 

@Donp, thanks, and how to delete music files ?

Have you bothered to read the manual? All your questions are answered there.

@paleskin wrote:
How to update the database in rockbox after adding new songs ?

@paleskin wrote:
@donp, thanks, and how to delete music files ?

Have you bothered to read the manual? All your questions are answered there.

Uhuh, I’m also using a prety much look-alike theme like Riven’s one :

I understand everybody has different tastes, but I definitely prefer this one as the original Fuze ugly one (but don’t worry Sansa team ; the default Rockbox theme also ■■■■■ :D). It’s clearer, simpler, and stays readable even with the sunlight glare.

I kinda like the default rockbox theme :smiley:

@paleskin wrote:
@donp, thanks, and how to delete music files ?

 In Windows, select the files and hit the delete key.

@summerlove wrote:
I kinda like the default rockbox theme :smiley:

I like the Unicatcher theme, especially since I’ve played with the colors a bit…

@Tapeworm, Donp, no, what I meant is how to delete music files in rockbox os directly, not via windows nor rebooting to of =)

@paleskin wrote:
@tapeworm, Donp, no, what I meant is how to delete music files in rockbox os directly, not via windows nor rebooting to of =)

FOr the e200 (guessing it works the same on fuze), in the file browser or while playing a song, press and hold the select button.  That gets you into  the “context menu” which has an entry for deleting the current file/directory.

 I tried it just now, but have never done this before.  It frees up space, but there’s not much you can do with the space until you conect to the computer again anyway… except for recording. 

@Donp, yeah it works but only when the file which I’m going to delete, is still being played, if I scroll to another file which is not been played, the context menu doesn’t have a delete option, also the delete function seems buggy, even after deleting, the deleted file still exist, I prefer delete directly, because some of my mp3/flac has defect, to listen them all via my pc, to find which one is defective is almost impossible, so if I just coincidencially find the defective music file while hearing random tracks in my sansa fuze, I just choose delete                                                                                                                                                     Thanks a lot, Donp =)

@tapeworm wrote:

…You can also install a reverse boot-loader to do just the opposite if you wish (boot into Sansa OF, unless the REW button is held).

 

Tapeworm, where can I get the reverse boot-loader? Is this from Sandisk or Rockbox?