Risks of rockboxing.

[dawning]

Hey there,

I'm planning on rockboxing my sansa fuze v2. But...I need to know 1) what are the risks? (I've heard about it bricking devices) and 2) is it easy to uninstall?

Thanks.

[CrowdAds]

[Xinz]

Yes easy, even with the manual method. The only risk is bricking

[TuFur]

I rockboxed my fuze V2 8g July 22 and haven't any problems other than the normal learning curve. The dual boot is nice as most of my music videos are avi and rockbox only does mpg. One thing I didn't expect was a dramatic improvement in sound clarity and I'm not an audiophile.

1) Accorrding to info on the rockbox website, the fuze has a physical unbricking method. It requires disassembly of the fuze, but its there.

2) Uninstall is just a matter of reinstalling the original firmware and erasing the rockbox folder. I have done the uninstall as I flubbed installing all of the rockbox code the first time. I used the auto install software rockbox has. I only got an error message that a file couldn't be found. But it was my fault. Uninstall is very easy.

All the information is on the rockbox website.

I have developed one problem. I've become addicted to playing minefield while listening to audiobooks. I find I only get 14 hours of playing time doing that...lol

[lestatar]

Like any kind of aftermarket alteration for pretty much everything in this world, there does entail a certain amount of risk and Rockbox is no exception. However, anecdotally, there appear to be far more success stories of users installing Rockbox than there are horror stories. Draw you own conclusions.

For me, I had never even heard of Rockbox prior to joining ABi. Since installing it on 2 separate players [both went 100% flawlessly], I simply cannot imagine using those 2 devices ever again without Rockbox.

Yes, there is a certain amount of learning curve.
Yes, one should carefully read the extensive Rockbox documentation before any attempts.
Yes, I honestly believe that if one follows the installation instructions to the letter, barring any unforseeable acts of god/whatever, one will be just fine.

Bottom line: IMO, the very very small risks are overwhelmingly outweighed by how great Rockbox will make your players [Fuze, in this case].

I am not a fanyboy - too old for that nonsense. And RB is indeed not for everyone. But if you are semi-computer competent, can follow detailed instructions without error and are prepared to expand your mind a bit, then yes, Rockbox is amazing.

cheers and good luck!
-lestatar

[dawning]

Thanks for all the advice!

I installed rockbox and I have to say, I'm very pleased with the results. I still have a lot to learn (I'm planning on reading through the manual today...) but I really can't wait to get it fully functioning!

The only problem I've encountered is (like TuFur said) the games are slightly addictive. Haha.