someone hacking the ihp code?

[seadzz]

Looks like some poster at the iRiver forum is having a go at hacking the operating code of the ihp-1XX. Must be some Microsoft guys with a bit of free time on their hands. If true (MS or not I don't care) and they pull off fixing the shuffel problem my hat is off to them.

My gut tell me the existing code was a slam bang thank you mam type of job and anyone that writes code for a living should be able to fix this in short order.

Keep an eye on this as it sould move quick.

here's the link: http://www.iriver.com/community/disc...=&p_group=

sdz

[Odie]

Looks very interesting, it'll be interesting to see if anything actually comes of it.

Maybe it'll spur iRiver on to fix the bugs.

It would be really cool if it turned into an open source project similar to RockBox!

- Odie

[seadzz]

You know - Odie this might show what a real lame job iRiver or their subcontractor did on withing the origional code.

If nothing else you are right it might give iRiver a kickstart to finish up and release the inp-120 firmware.

I really feal that with Chinese New Year right around the corner not much will be done until it is over.

Sorry but CNY is a real big deal in asia (in Koreal too).

sdz

[Odie]

Originally Posted by seadzz

Sorry but CNY is a real big deal in asia (in Koreal too).

All the more reason to 'surprise' us with the new firmware, what a nice present that would be!

...sorry got a bit too optimistic there

- Odie

[Odie]

Gary Sheehan posted this in another thread:

http://www.iriver.com/community/disc...0&p_group=

It seems this project got killed off very quickly by iRiver.

The think I'd like to know is why they can't just fix their firmware this quickly? Then there wouldn't be a need for people to reverse engineer it to fix the problems!

- Odie

[divad6719]

Seems the original thread seadzz posted has been deleted, iRiver's on the ball just now.

Reading that guys letter iRiver must have reacted very quickly to the threat, quicker than MS, or was it just a wind up in the first place ? You never can tell with that place.

Could someone get to grips with hardware that quickly to be able to create their own firmware from scratch ?. Seems doubtful to me. Anyway, the guy might turn up here as he did ask for directions

Cheers

[GarySheehan]

Some folks on iRiver forums are convinced this is a hoax. It may be. But it's not to farfetched that someone else can code for the iHP.

Regardless of where it comes from, I just want my iHP to have the playability of my 3 year old peice of crap Creative JB.

[Odie]

I would be more than happy if all it did was scare iRiver into fixing the current bugs quickly

It would be nice to have an open-source firmware that leaves scope for loads of features, but it's better to have a working bug-free official firmware.

- Odie

[divad6719]

Agreed, iRiver have a bit to go yet.
I do think they will get there in the end though.
As to anybody creating a firmware from scratch that would take awhile as well. How long to get a perfect, workable firmware that way ??
Even if iRiver opened the source your looking at a long timescale for someone to get it right.

I'm not dissing 3rd party programmers I think they could do wonders for the iHP's eventually. I'm just not expecting any quick fixes from that direction.

Cheers

[zagor]

Hi guys.

I don't know if this rumor is a hoax or not, but I'm very interested. We are looking to expand Rockbox to new hardware platforms, and the iHP-100 line is a candidate. It naturally becomes a much stronger candidate if someone has already researched the hardware and/or file format.

If someone comes in contact with the person who posted these messages to the iriver forum, please ask him to contact me at bjorn@haxx.se. I will try to post a message in the iriver forum too, but currently their registration script crashes before I can create an account...

Thank you in advance.

/Björn Stenberg
Rockbox Project Leader

[divad6719]

Hi zagor, welcome and good luck with your project and all your hard work.

May I ask if you have you ever tried to contact iRiver themselves about implementing your project for the iHP's ?? if so how did they react/ respond ?

Thanks, just interested to see if anybody has tried to make any headway with iRiver over this type of thing.

Cheers

[jeff]

Welcome aboard zagor, it is truly an honor to have your presence in the forums. We can only hope that something comes of this latest development regarding the firmware.

[sweetspot]

Hey guys, there's one thing that no one has mentioned, and I hate to be a party pooper, but I'll go head and do so... Thrid party software, even open source at that, is a great thing to be able to use, but if it's not officially supported by Iriver, you can kiss any hopes of them fixing something that might potentially go wrong, good bye.

I don't know what became of Gacel and his software (iHP Tools) but as many of you can recall, there were lots of problems because of it, and people were damned lucky that Iriver even agreed to fix the units KNOWING fully well what people had done. There's usually a disclaimer which comes with such products, and most of the time something will be said about using third party stuff that isn't supported, and how the company won't be held responsible for any mishandeling of the product etc...

Well, seems that this would be the same case no ? I think that the only way I'd use third party support, is if Iriver officially said that they will no longer continue support for the IHP series. And even then, it's still dangerous. Say you upgrade with a 3rd party firmware dev., and all of a sudden the HD craps out on you.... Ya never know.

Again, I guess we'll have to wait and see. If it happens, cool, I'll let'cha guinne pigs lap up all the action, as I sit back and watch to see who gets the royal treatment, or the royal shaft.

[coreman]

As a very satisfied customer of Rockbox, I can attest the success of their project. As I have posted numerous times, the improvement was tremendous because the motivation was there. They must do it for the fun and challenge since the downloads are free.

Rockbox consists of many developers who share the code and post updates. It is very, very successful and my Archos 6000 has run flawlessly for 8 months. Rockboxx saved it from the trashcan. I can't say enough good things about the project...it really worked!

Personally I have no problem with 3rd party firmware and I will take appropriate precautions when considering loading of the software. These guys are doing it on their own time, as did Gacel, and are motivated simply because of the lack of iRiver's response.

Had iRiver responded AT ALL, even with a status report or plans, maybe some of the motivation for these guys would have dissipated. But so far, NADA, NOTHING....but if the posts are true, at least iRiver is being forced to take some actions, even if it is threatening legal actions (not really sure where this goes legally since I am assuming the new fware won't be sold). I don't think hacking a firmware is illegal but profiting would likely be.

Even so, iRiver still hasn't let us or anyone else in on their plans...the shuffle problem is simply inexcusable. As I posted some time ago, motivation is the most important factor to getting good software..if you want to do it right, you will get it right. If you are doing to beat a marketing deadline, you will beat the deadline but......and that is where we are at the moment.

I offer my machine to firmware gods....

[divad6719]

iRiver have never been the kind to let everybody into their secret plans.
One minute there's nothing, next theres a new firmware

SweetSpot's right , I don't think I could use something on my iHP that hadn't been approved or tested by iRiver first.
Until iRiver agrees to let devs create new firmwares then it's always going to remain an underground activity, probably with mixed results.
It could turn into an expensive mistake for an iHP owner.

I think iRiver will come good in the end, if you look at all those new product photo's then it looks like they have a lot riding on customer satisfaction. I also think that they do listen to their customers, the biggest fault they have is that they give the appearance of not listening.

Cheers

[seadzz]

If these guys are smart they will develop a program that overlays the existing firmware and not a replacement to it. In this way the addtition will work with the default package from iRiver and not in place of it.

Should you develop a glitch you would simply remove the plugin and revert back to the factory package.

just my two cents.

sdz

[coreman]

Originally Posted by divad6719

iRiver have never been the kind to let everybody into their secret plans.
One minute there's nothing, next theres a new firmware

Well since the beta was released on Nov 24, this is one really, really, long minute......I think I am the only here who has actually used a 3rd party firmware but go check out this site,

http://rockbox.haxx.se/

This is one way to develop firmware and if these guys (Tridion) take Rockbox up on their offer and share what they have found/learned, it stands a much better chance of succeeding. If Rockbox posts the firmware, I'm going with it.

[kelemvor]

Originally Posted by divad6719

I think iRiver will come good in the end, if you look at all those new product photo's then it looks like they have a lot riding on customer satisfaction. I also think that they do listen to their customers, the biggest fault they have is that they give the appearance of not listening.
Cheers

Are you sure ? When I see all this new products, i say to myself "these guys are working on a whole new stuff, to compete this market, but the time they use to make new things, they don't use it to make old things works right".

It's like cable company, or ISP, or online sellers that makes promotional very interesting offers to conquer new customers and never give anything to the existing ones...

I'm really hoping I'm wrong, but if not, one day or another, iRiver will regret such a political choice...

[divad6719]

Well, it looks as though Tridions "Last Post" thread has been deleted as well now.
It was there this morning, but now I can't find it.

Cheers

[kelemvor]

I don't know what to think about it. Why doesn't iRiver clearly say what they are planing to do, why don't they say "the firmware is at this point, we're working on that and this..."

It would be so simple, everybody would wait the promised firmware with the awaited improvements...Inste ad, they don't say anything, they threaten their customers. It looks like they blame us for their incompetence. It looks like they don't want to improve anymore the existing players (despite the big "firmware upgradable" in the front of the ihp packages) and prevent other to improve these by themselves!

Please, iRiver, if you want all of us to keep calm, to respect your work that is not so bad...be right and clear, not fuzzy, silent and threatening !

What can we think about this ?

[coreman]

Amen brother.....really is disturbing..especial ly considering the good rep they had...