The Ennis Project (firmware for ihp-120)

[Tridion]

Yes this is the same tridion from over at the IRiver forums. This is my first post so hello to you all.

I wont have much time to post here in the future so I'll answer as many questions as I have received by email as possible.

The firmware project - now called 'The Ennis Project' - dont ask why its complicated is for real. Whether we ever get something usable will have to wait and see but lets hope so. As someone has already let the cat out of the bag, I may as well mention that we are still attempting to reverse engineer the firmware but will not publish it. It is for our own educational purposes and will likely speed up our development ten-fold.

We did receive a very prompt email from someone saying they represented IRiver (it wasnt from IRiver directly) saying that they would carry out legal action if we continued. Whether or not this was legit or not or some hoax we decided it was not worth taking the risk. I for one, work for one of the largest IT companies in the world and cannot risk what might come of it. It did look like a pretty legitimate threat though.

I have spoken briefly to Bjorn from Rockbox and he seems pretty interested in creating the Rockbox for the ihp-100 series so thats good too. The only problem is that the material I have on the ihp-120 was given to me in very very strict confidence. And I gave them every assurance that I would not pass it on to anyone. I have to honour that agreement but will try and get their permission to pass it on to Bjorn. Maybe in the meantime, someone with a broken ihp which is beyond repair could open it up and give all the hardware details to Bjorn. Then there would be little point in not passing on the documentation as some of it would already be common knowledge

A common question has been - will we have our own web site ? In the hopefully near future we will and will have our own forums. Posting here is ok but we need to administor and moderate our own forums. Plus we will at the very least have an progress page. But time is pretty scarce so it may take a while.

Priority is certainly to look at fixing bugs not adding new features. Sorry to all who have asked for new features but our motivation for trying this is our own frustration with our players not functioning as they should like that damn 'shuffle' feature.

My last word is that if all that comes out of this is that IRiver get off their backsides and sort out their own firmware we will be happy. Afterall, it would be very embarrassing for them, if we beat them too it. Imagine ther bad publicity. I'll be only too happy if they beat us to it.


Thanks
Tridion

[Tridion]

Should have added that I am currently based down in London, UK but will soon be moving back up to Manchester. So I may not reply to anything for a couple of weeks. I am currently using my flatmates internet connection and once back in Manchester will be getting an ADSL line so it will take me however long that activation takes to get back online.

Once thats done, I will be setting up a server for our project.

[divad6719]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your project, I hope something good comes from it but you'll forgive me for being a little bit of doubter.

You see I just can't believe that a group of dedicated professional individuals like yourselves would go blabbing about something like this on (of all places) iRiver International forum. Not a good or very smart move. Especially in light of the fact that you DON'T even have a working version yet.

Heres some other things that bother me,

As someone has already let the cat out of the bag

Yes, you did on the iRiver International forum.

The only problem is that the material I have on the ihp-120 was given to me in very very strict confidence

I thought you spent the holidays working it out for yourselves.

Maybe in the meantime, someone with a broken ihp which is beyond repair could open it up and give all the hardware details to Bjorn. Then there would be little point in not passing on the documentation as some of it would already be common knowledge

Uhhh ?? You don't have a clue about it, do you ?

Right thats my spiel out of the way, I hope you are genuine and not just getting peoples hopes up over vapour and if it comes good I'll be the first to apologise but I'll believe it when I see it.
Until then maybe more DISCRETION is required on your behalf in regards to this project.
Sorry to sound a bit harsh. Maybe you are genuine and plan to produce a new firmware, but are only guilty of glossing it up with this cloak and dagger BS or a bit of over enthusiasm on your part. If so I wish you all the best.

Cheers

[Tridion]

No, I meant let the cat out of the bag that we were still working on it after the threats when we tried to give the impression that we had totally abandoned the idea.

No we were given a lot of documentation. But documentation is only that. We spent the holidays trying to understand some of it and mess about with a few things.

And yes I am currently using a flatmates internet connection as I had to move down to London for 6 months consultancy work (commuting to/from Manchester is hardly an option) and decided I would rather stay with old University friends than in a hotel (I'd have gone mad!) or other options that my company gave me.

And why I feel the need to explain myself I dont know.

Thanks for such a warm welcome. What a friendly forum this is. I think I'll leave it alone and wait until we have our own forums up and running. Bloody hell - was only trying to help ! Obviously that is a crime round these parts.

[divad6719]

Okay, apologies for my having a laugh at your expense over the internet connection thing. That was uncalled for on my part.

And why I feel the need to explain myself I dont know.

I feel you need to explain yourself because it was you that started it, add to that the fact that there are a lot of people desperate for some third party firmware for the iHP's just now. Do you think it's fair to string them along ??

If you can't take some criticism then maybe it's better that you do stay clear of forums, which would maybe have been a wiser choice for you to have made to begin with.
All I did was point out some anomalies in your posts, that also is no crime.
You are welcome here, but don't spit the dummy out when someone disagrees or doubts you. By posting on a forum you should have expected it.

Cheers

[seadzz]

Tridion,

First, a very warm personal welcom to our forum. This as you know a public forum and aside from a little moderating by jeff and pro, we tend to let people post whatever is on their minds.

You will see if you visit offten that the vast majority of regulars here are professional and trusting of others and in addition we try to be as polite as possible.

I welcome your addition to this group and want you to know the group if we were to poll them (I think that is a good idea) would overwelmingly support your efforts. We too would offer our help if and where you need it.

The "welcome" post you recieved from divad6719 is his and only his opinion and in no way represents the members of this forum!

good luck my friend and I wish you all the best.

seadzz

[coreman]

Tridion, unlike others on this forum, I have used Rockbox and know that 3rd party firmware can be very, very good. I also liked your closing comment that if iRiver beats you to it...great! Otherwise there is a plan B in the works and that is good news as well.

Whether it works out or not, doesn't really matter to me...I am glad that you are trying and can only wish I had the knowledge to try and reverse engineer it. I can only wish you the best of luck.....

If you do start up another forum, please post back here so we know where to go and follow your progress.

I also agree with your comments that the initial effort will be to fix a couple of bugs.

My Rockbox firmware (for Archos) is <120Kbs, the iRiver firmware is nearly 2Mb....any idea why the difference? The Rockbox has all of the features of the iRiver plus on the fly playlist, a couple of simple games, but does not record or view test files. Is the recording feature the big user of the space or is the code likely to be inefficiently written?

Just seems to be huge difference....having written computer programs years ago I am very familiar with the problem of code efficiency..many different ways to get from A to B...

GOOD LUCK!!

[Odie]

Welcome to the forums Tridion,

I would like to echo what others have said, in that it would be great if either of two things come from this project:

1. iRiver fix their own firmware
2. someone else comes out with a stable firmware that fixes iRiver's bugs


My only concern is that if what you are doing has caused iRiver to respond as quickly as you claim with a "cease and desist" type of e-mail, then your participation and other's support of your project on these forums may hurt our chances of getting iRiver to participate on this forum.
(According to an e-mail that was recieved by a moderator here, iRiver are monitoring these forums)

- Odie

[divad6719]

@ Tridion,

My apologies for coming across as a little strong, it was not my intention to give this forum a bad name.
I just have a bad habit of questioning things.

@seadzz,

Thanks, but please don't feel you have to make apologies for my views. As you say it's only my own opinion and I am entitled to it, as you are to yours.

Cheers