Why should I NOT RB?

[scubaski]

There are so many threads about how good RB is, so I am wondering if there are any good reasons not to rockbox?

I am not the most technically inclined person....having only recently cut my umbilical cord with iTunes/iPod. I really like my Sansa Clip+, but of course if sound & battery life can be improved then I am very tempted to try RB. I also do not like the OF display too much and heard a lot about the unlimited themes available on RB.

The only thing that worries me is that reading through the threads makes it look like installing/setting up of RB is quite technical and one needs to understand computers quite a lot, especially once things do not go to plan.

[rickysio]

Only when things go wrong, does it become technical.

Otherwise, just use the Rockbox utility and it's just click click click done.

[Mikerman]

The downsides:

The Clip ports still have not been committed/finalized, and may be a bit buggy (although I have not read many reports, recently, of issues, which typically can be cured with a reset). The USB connection for the Clip+ still must be done via the original firmware (which Rockbox connects under automatically for that).

Using Rockbox may permanently eradicate DRM file support on your Clip (it did so originally, although it's unclear if that still occurs--the manual says it will).

Of course, having said that, it's super firmware (although I'm still waiting a bit).

[skip252]

Why are you asking? Is there a problem with your installation?

[Nuntius]

Why should I NOT RB?

I don't know!

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by skip252

Why are you asking? Is there a problem with your installation?

Nice catch, skip!

[Confuseling]

1) Rockbox is for geeks.

2) Rockbox gives you amnesia.

'Nuff said.

[Adub]

The following reasons are why you should not rockbox a clip+:

1)

[scubaski]

Well, Skip, thanks for asking. I have been reading RB threads every once in a while; back in May I asked for some basic info in one of the threads but I have been sitting on the fence ever since as there was always the excuse to wait for a more stable build. Yesterday I finally downloaded the user's manual and I could not agree more....RB is for geeks! There are so many options that it's almost off putting for someone who just wants to listen and enjoy his music. Whilst the OF is not the best in the world my music files sound quite nice so I am not sure I really want to fiddle too much with the player itself, especially since the display is so small. If the display was bigger I think I would enjoy it much more cruising through the menus. Having said all of that I am pretty sure that one day I will try RB. Thanks everybody for their replies. Very helpful people around here.

[WalkGood]

I'm confused o_O, if you are not using it, why did you post what Skip pointed out?

Originally Posted by scubaski

... I have the OF and RB both on my Clip. I use OF for transferring stuff from my Mac to the Clip. I use RB to listen and do all other stuff.
Thanks.

[scubaski]

Walkgood, this is a classic case of taking a quote out of context. If you look at all of my 2 or 3 posts in the quoted thread you will see that I am just asking a hypothetical question.

I do NOT have RB ... yet :-)

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by scubaski

... I do NOT have RB ... yet :-)

what are you waiting for

[Confuseling]

Originally Posted by scubaski

...Yesterday I finally downloaded the user's manual and I could not agree more....RB is for geeks! There are so many options that it's almost off putting for someone who just wants to listen and enjoy his music. Whilst the OF is not the best in the world my music files sound quite nice so I am not sure I really want to fiddle too much with the player itself, especially since the display is so small. If the display was bigger I think I would enjoy it much more cruising through the menus. Having said all of that I am pretty sure that one day I will try RB. Thanks everybody for their replies. Very helpful people around here.

Well, I was being facetious really... Rockbox is great for geeks (self confessed geek here), and people who really want to tinker with their sound, but it's also a very cleanly designed and simple to use interface - the number of options in the manual may be somewhat bewildering, but you aren't *forced* to understand much beyond the button layout in order to use it.

I highly recommend it. Even if you think you don't need the extra options, I bet you'll end up using some of them - the dearth of people who have used it and ended up uninstalling it afterwards is testament to that (though it is reassuring to know that the uninstall process is similarly simple).

If the automated install works for your player (my understanding is that it won't on some of the newer clip+s), so much the better - but the instructions here are as simple as they sound. Make sure you are in MSC mode, then copy the bootloader and the latest version of the .rockbox folder into the root of your clip+, reboot, and enjoy!

That said, as Mikerman pointed out, there is as yet no confirmation that DRMed files still work once you've RBed your player. There is no confirmation that they don't, either, but if you use lots of them, bear that in mind. And there is *always* a risk of bricking your player when installing firmware. On a player that cost £100, this would worry me more, but for the amount you pay for a clip+, I personally think it's negligible.

And if this thread has taught us anything, I think it's the importance of punctuation.

[rEUD0yNGneUGi9n]

one way to try out the rockbox UI without installing it is to download a simulator. just drop some music files in the simdisk folder and launch the exe. of course, this is no substitute for the real thing.

http://rasher.dk/rockbox/simulator/

[Mikerman]

Re DRM:

A bunch of months back (maybe a year now?), 1 or a couple of people, if I recall correctly, had posted that applying Rockbox to their Clips got rid of the Clip's DRM capability. Since then, a user experimented and found that it no longer did so. Hence, the uncertainty, especially if you're a DRM file user.

[Marvin the Martian]

No DRM files here!