Rockbox: Clip+

[mammajamma]

Originally Posted by alstrike

So I just grab these two files and put them in the Sansa Device, anything else?
No cmd window at all?

That's right, drag and drop. You'll also need the Rockbox folder in the first post, but I bet you know that already.

[CrowdAds]

[spartacus]

Hi I haven't posted that much - but a few questions.

Is Rockbox now stable(ish) for the Clip+ ?
Can I play AAC through Rockbox on the clip?
Is the battery life improved as discussed earlier?
I haven't used Rockbox before - am I going to notice a big difference in sound quality and what other improvements has Rockbox over the original firmware? ie playlists, folder browsing etc

[dfkt]

I've made a batch file for my Clip+, getting rid of all the junk files I don't need. Maybe it's some use for some, or at least a starting point.

It basically deletes all relevant non-audio files one might have in a folder from the MUSIC directory, changes to my AUDIOBOOKS directory and does the same. Then it goes into the .rockbox/eqs directory and deletes the annoying stock EQ presets (I hate those, always in the way when I'm looking for my own presets), and then deletes the huge useless unicode font from the /font directory. Then it goes to the SD card and deletes all non-music files from the MUSIC directory there.

Of course you have to alter the drive letters and directory names to match your setup.

k:
cd MUSIC
del /s *.jpg
del /s *.jpeg
del /s *.gif
del /s *.bmp
del /s *.txt
del /s *.log
del /s *.nfo
del /s *.pdf
del /s *.rtf
del /s *.doc
del /s *.htm
del /s *.html
del /s *.lnk
del /s *.sfv
del /s *.m3u
del /s *.pls
del /s Thumbs.db
del /s Desktop.ini

cd ..
cd AUDIOBOOKS
del /s *.jpg
del /s *.jpeg
del /s *.gif
del /s *.bmp
del /s *.txt
del /s *.log
del /s *.nfo
del /s *.pdf
del /s *.rtf
del /s *.doc
del /s *.htm
del /s *.html
del /s *.lnk
del /s *.sfv
del /s *.m3u
del /s *.pls
del /s Thumbs.db
del /s Desktop.ini

cd ..
cd .rockbox\eqs
del Acoustic.cfg
del Bass.cfg
del Classical.cfg
del Disco.cfg
del Electronic.cfg
del Hip-Hop.cfg
del Jazz.cfg
del Lounge.cfg
del Pop.cfg
del R*B.cfg
del Rock.cfg
del Vocal.cfg

cd..
cd fonts
del 16-GNU-Unifont.fnt


l:
cd MUSIC
del /s *.jpg
del /s *.jpeg
del /s *.gif
del /s *.bmp
del /s *.txt
del /s *.log
del /s *.nfo
del /s *.pdf
del /s *.rtf
del /s *.doc
del /s *.htm
del /s *.html
del /s *.lnk
del /s *.sfv
del /s *.m3u
del /s *.pls
del /s Thumbs.db
del /s Desktop.ini

[jupitreas]

Originally Posted by spartacus

Hi I haven't posted that much - but a few questions.

Is Rockbox now stable(ish) for the Clip+ ?
Can I play AAC through Rockbox on the clip?
Is the battery life improved as discussed earlier?
I haven't used Rockbox before - am I going to notice a big difference in sound quality and what other improvements has Rockbox over the original firmware? ie playlists, folder browsing etc

From personal experience:
1. No
2. Yes
3. Seems likely; however, never managed to drain the battery completely since it crashed instead
4. Your experience with the Clip+ will improve dramatically due to the far superior EQ and many other useful additions. Rockbox has pretty much every feature imaginable except for sound enhancements such as BBE. The brilliant EQ makes up for it though.


I'd say you definitely should switch to Rockbox but I wouldnt advise you to do it yet since its still far too unstable.

[zozzul]

Just had my first "temp brick" (after 10 hours), was able to turn it back on after 3 min.

funman, other devs:
My Clip+ (r25836) was on pause before the issue, so it's 100% not the playback error. And yes, the "checksum error" screen flashed too quickly to notice.

Question:
I'm ok with this issue as it is, even if it's frequent (the sound worth it), but do you think there is a chance it could just brick permanently one time? Or it's already past the bricking stage and the worst that could happen are those 2-3 min periods of unresponsiveness?

[Artmuzz]

I've installed the new Rockbox release which has write support and so far I am very impressed. I don't want to talk too soon but so far it has been quite stable for me. I went for a 3 hour cycle run with my Rockboxed Clip+ and I haven't come across a single problem on my Clip+ yet and that is even with changing tracks, adding to playlist and adjusting EQ and even the music on the SDHC card works a charm. Well done Rockbox.


Art

[CLipster]

dfkt,

Me being a newbie, I would just put that stuff in a folder on my Clip+ and it would take care of all those things you mentioned?

I have be reviewing this forum and site for some time and decided to take the dive and enlist in the forum. Much goodness to all.

[dfkt]

Clipster, you have to copy it into a text file, then rename the file extension from .txt to .bat (make sure your Windows doesn't hide file extensions). I keep that file in the root directory of my Clip+, and execute it every time I load new music on the player.

[funman]

Originally Posted by zozzul

do you think there is a chance it could just brick permanently one time? Or it's already past the bricking stage and the worst that could happen are those 2-3 min periods of unresponsiveness?

When Windows crashes, do you have to throw away your computer ?

No, at worst you must shut it down (by unplugging the power cable for the PC, or keeping power button pressed on the Clip+, or in a very worst case wait for the battery to be empty).

Installing the rockbox bootloader is like motherboard BIOS upgrade : if it fails then yes you must throw away your computer, if it works then it's all good.

And like upgrading a motherboard BIOS, installing rockbox bootloader should only be made infrequently : if it works don't fix it.

[illusion]

never thought i'd say this but my RB'd clip+ sounds better than my Sony ... Thnks RB guys and dfkt...u r awesome ... will post further impressions and pics after i've spent a good few hours playing with it ...

[Adub]

Loving the bat file dfkt, very handy.

[Mikerman]

Originally Posted by funman

Originally Posted by zozzul
do you think there is a chance it could just brick permanently one time? Or it's already past the bricking stage and the worst that could happen are those 2-3 min periods of unresponsiveness?

When Windows crashes, do you have to throw away your computer ?

No, at worst you must shut it down (by unplugging the power cable for the PC, or keeping power button pressed on the Clip+, or in a very worst case wait for the battery to be empty).

Installing the rockbox bootloader is like motherboard BIOS upgrade : if it fails then yes you must throw away your computer, if it works then it's all good.

And like upgrading a motherboard BIOS, installing rockbox bootloader should only be made infrequently : if it works don't fix it.

Thanks for the info.

At the same time, the OP has a valid question: the Rockbox SansaAMS wiki port page advises people that "Even though the bootloader installation and rockbox itself are tested, there's always a risk of BRICKING your device PERMANENTLY." Especially in light of that as well as the current status of the port, understandable (and commendable) for the OP to ask.

[dfkt]

In that case it's very simple: don't install Rockbox. Nobody is forcing anyone to do it.

[Mikerman]

Absolutely. And good for the OP to ask, to assess matters as part of that.

[zozzul]

My question was very simple: is this particular issue now considered dangerous. Just because this coma-like bug is not a common crash-and-reload issue.

My second issue happened 1.5 hours ago, still cannot turn it on after a manual shutdown. This is not typical afair, as others reported only crashes during playback, and it revived in minutes. I hope it eventually revives, but it is probably better to give the AMS part of the Rockbox some time to mature.

P.S. If some could give an advice on if there is anything to do besides waiting, I' be grateful (r25836 Clip+).

[CLipster]

dfkt,

what do some of those drives designate? just curious.

[jupitreas]

I will most certainly switch to Rockbox once the "temp brick" issue is gone. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I seem to be getting the bug very often. Can't even go thru one full album before it happens.

# .cfg file created by rockbox r25799-100503 - http://www.rockbox.org

volume: 0
balance: 1
bass: 2
replaygain type: album
replaygain noclip: on
replaygain preamp: 30
dithering enabled: on
tagcache_autoupdate: on
Last.fm Logging: on


The bug occurred regardless if the file was on the internal storage or the SD card. In all cases so far, I've been listening to LAME encoded files. Hope some of this helps.

In the meantime, I submitted a theme as my very small contribution to Rockbox.

[zozzul]

Revived by holding home+power for about 10 seconds (which wasn't a very obvious solution). Power alone didn't work. Again, this time it wasn't the 2-3 min issue others reported, but a rather long coma.

dfkt, maybe you could add a warning about this specific problem (along with the revive solutions) to the 1st post until this is sorted out? It is related to the bootloader (as per the RB AMS thread), so maybe it's not a very good idea to use it at this stage of development.

[marc2003]

for people who are having stability problems with normal playback, have you tried boosting the cpu? you can do this via system>debug>cpu frequency. now press up so the boost_counter goes to 1. i've done this on my clip v2 and it's rock solid stable now. it uses more battery but i still get over 14 hours so i think that's a small price to pay for stability.

[saratoga]

Originally Posted by jupitreas

I will most certainly switch to Rockbox once the "temp brick" issue is gone.

I think the "temp brick" issue is just a "people who don't know you can reboot your player with the power button without waiting for the battery to go dead" issue.