Set a permanent sleep timer?

[cromag]

I recently got a refurb Sansa Clip to replace a no-name player that I use exclusively at bedtime. It came without a manual. I've been able to figure out most of what I want, but I have an open question about the sleep timer.

I would like to use the sleep timer, set to 120 minutes, every night. Ideally, I'd like to set the sleep timer once, and then on subsequent nights just turn on the power and still have the sleep timer set, but it looks like the sleep timer has to be set every night -- is there a way to set the sleep timer so that it's in effect every time I turn the Clip on without having to go to the administrative settings every time?

[CrowdAds]

[Dreamnine]

I don't believe it's possible...however other Clip+ owners may chime in and say differently.

If you Rockbox your player, though, it does offer an unparalleled range of settings and you may find it can be done.

Good luck.

[dfkt]

No, neither the original firmware nor Rockbox have a permanent sleep timer. Both reset on reboot. (I assume it would be possible with Rockbox, it's just that nobody ever implemented it.)

[FreeZ5]

The Clip+ does not come with a User Manual. You must d/l it.

http://mp3support.sandisk.com/downlo...lip+-en-um.pdf

Steve

[TackyTiger]

Originally Posted by dfkt

No, neither the original firmware nor Rockbox have a permanent sleep timer. Both reset on reboot. (I assume it would be possible with Rockbox, it's just that nobody ever implemented it.)

I've implemented it in Rockbox, here's the patch;

http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/10849

I've been using it for a few months now, seems reliable.

[dfkt]

Very nice - do you have any idea if it will ever get committed to SVN?

[TackyTiger]

I went on IRC, but no-one seemed very interested in sleep timers.

I ought to have another go pushing it at some point, with the pace of development at the moment, it's a pain keeping the patch up to date.

[Mikerman]

Am surprised that a sleep timer feature like this isn't part of Rockbox--you'd expect it would be. I'd try it again.

[cromag]

Thanks very much for the replies. I can live with setting the sleep timer every night, for now, and I'll keep an eye on Rockbox.

[nick_sub]

Originally Posted by TackyTiger

I've implemented it in Rockbox, here's the patch;

http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/10849

I've been using it for a few months now, seems reliable.

I've always wanted an MP3 player that could do this. I mainly use mine in the car and when I turn the engine off I sometimes forget the player is still on and then when I next use it the battery's dead.

I haven't used a patch with Rockbox before - could you point me to some instructions please?

Also, am I limited to using the versions synced in your patch? I'm currently using r26046 which seems to be running perfectly so I'd rather not change it but if I have to I will as I really want this feature.

Thanks

[TackyTiger]

If you're happy with compiling, there's instructions on building an environment here;

http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/Developm...ur_Environment

I update the patch whenever I notice it can no longer be applied to the current trunk. If you wanted a specific revision number, you could try downloading the patch revision higher and lower and seeing if the following complains.

patch -p0 --dry-run -i sleeptimer_submenu_xxxxx.patch

In case you want to have a go with the revision 26279, I've just built a zip for the clip+ with this patch and the mix volumes set to 0x1b. I had a quick go and it seems ok, let me know if you find it unstable and I might be persuaded to build an earlier revision.

http://peskett.co.uk/rockbox/rockbox...timer-0x1b.zip

The updated manual is here;

http://peskett.co.uk/rockbox/rockbox...79M-100525.pdf

[nick_sub]

Thanks very much for that. I'll give that r26279 version a go as soon as I get home. Is that a higher volume setting than the standard build? That would be good too as it's too quiet for the car and I have to turn the stereo right up.

Will report back later. I really hope this makes it into the main build - let me know if there's anything I can do to help get it in there!

[TackyTiger]

The volume setting is lifted from discussions/ investigations between funman, marc2003 & dfkt. Read from here for more info;

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...062#post471062

If you find the sleep timer modifications useful, you could mention it in either of the following places. I'm sure positive reviews from anyone other than the author would have a positive effect on it being considered for inclusion

http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?board=37.0
http://www.rockbox.org/irc/

[JK98]

i would like a different type of timer. One that turns the player off if a button hasn't been pressed for a certain amount of time. I want this to be active while the player is playing, or if it is stopped. The amount of time should be user settable.

[nick_sub]

Originally Posted by TackyTiger

If you're happy with compiling, there's instructions on building an environment here;

http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/Developm...ur_Environment

I update the patch whenever I notice it can no longer be applied to the current trunk. If you wanted a specific revision number, you could try downloading the patch revision higher and lower and seeing if the following complains.

patch -p0 --dry-run -i sleeptimer_submenu_xxxxx.patch

In case you want to have a go with the revision 26279, I've just built a zip for the clip+ with this patch and the mix volumes set to 0x1b. I had a quick go and it seems ok, let me know if you find it unstable and I might be persuaded to build an earlier revision.

http://peskett.co.uk/rockbox/rockbox...timer-0x1b.zip

The updated manual is here;

http://peskett.co.uk/rockbox/rockbox...79M-100525.pdf

Thanks, it works a treat I'll definately keep it in my build so next time I update I'll have a go at compiling.

I'll mention it on IRC and the forum - lets hope it gets included soon.

Edit: The patches section of the Rockbox site hasn't been working since yesterday so I'll wait until it's working again before plugging it!

[dfkt]

TackyTiger, I just compiled myself a Clip+ build with your patch. It's impressive, and very useful, to say the least. Thanks for your efforts!

[TackyTiger]

That's great to hear, dfkt, thanks. It's my first contribution, so was a bit nervous about it being somewhat amateurish.

I've been busy recently, but plan to do a bit of promotion and additional development soon.

One idea is to add another menu option "Reset timer on keypress" (or similar wording). I was thinking I could tap into the code that handles bringing the display/ backlight back to life after timing out, putting a call to reset the current timer value while it's at it.

In retrospect I should have discussed all this on IRC first, but it was just a quick hack as an aid to my insomnia that got out of hand

[dfkt]

Having used your patch a few times in the meantime, I think maybe a simpler approach might have gained more cooperation/benevolence from the Rockbox developers? Your alternative sleep timer does feel and handle rather complexly. I thought that maybe a simple additional "Permanent sleeptimer: on/off" in the menu of the current sleep timer would do the trick for most people too, instead of reordering the whole structure and mechanics? Just a socio-political thought... I can see how that patch fits your personal needs, but maybe it's too advanced for general use?

[TackyTiger]

You might have a point there, though I've way to go before I got anywhere near as complex as, say, the compressor menu.

Could it be that it's the wording I chose that's awkward? I'll have a think about ways to make it more intuitive.

Rockbox by default doesn't have a sleep timer menu, just a one-shot, volatile timer that you can set the duration of from the system/ time & date menu. If I was to do away with the menu I'd created, replacing it with just an persistent on/ off value, there would be no way to say how long that timer should be (stripping back the stock functionality somewhat) - is that what you were suggesting?

The three options I added in the menu I created were designed to be as flexible and quick to use as possible;

1) Activate /deactivate the timer: Analogous to the stock operation, I imagined most people would enter the menu and just choose this option. I thought messing about with durations to switch the thing on every time was clumsy itself.
2) Set the value you'd like to use from now on.
3) Permanent sleep timer