"How do I ....... in Rockbox?"

[Febs]

I would like to create a wiki page as part of the Rockbox WikiManual with explanations of how to accomplish common tasks in Rockbox. My intent is that this wiki page would be a FAQ of sorts, but that it will contain tutorials on how to accomplish common tasks that are common to all (or at least most) of the platforms supported by Rockbox.

How would this differ from the WikiManual itself? The WikiManual is organized by menu. It is a great reference for going through Rockbox's features and learning what each does, but it is not as strong as answering the question of "how do I ....?" This is especially true when the answer requires using functions from different menus. In a sense, the "How To" page will function as a topical index for the rest of the WikiManual.

Example:

Originally Posted by Example question

"How do I shuffle all of the songs on my jukebox? I tried setting the shuffle setting to 'all', but that only shuffles the current directory."

Originally Posted by Example answer

Rockbox is playlist oriented. When you play a song, or a directory, or an album, Rockbox creates a playlist and plays it. Thus, to shuffle all songs on the player, you need to create a playlist of all songs on the player, and play that playlist with shuffle mode set to "all."

To do this:

1. Make sure that the Recursively Insert Directories function is set to "On."
2. Go to the folder that contains all of your music. On some players, this will be the root folder; on others it may be the "MUSIC" folder.
3. Use the Create Playlist function in the Playlist Options menu to create a playlist of your music folder and all of its subdirectories.
4. The resulting playlist file will be named after the directory that you were in when you created the playlist, and it will be stored one directory level above the level of the directory from which you created a playlist.
   
   For example, let's say you have all of your music in the directory \files\music. If you created a playlist of the "music" directory, the resulting playlist will be called music.m3u and it will be located in the \files directory.
5. Turn the shuffle mode on. You can do this either through the Quick Menu or through the General Settings --> Playback menu.

If you would like to contribute a "How to" for this wiki page, please write your "How To" and post it in this thread. Later this week, I will organize the guides posted here by category, and create a Rockbox wiki page.

If you want to contribute to the Rockbox project but (like me), lack programming ability, this is a great way to get involved and to give something back to Rockbox.

[LAB DESIGN]

Ok... May I start with something I don't know the answer to?
[Q] How do I delete files with ROCKbox?

Good call Febs. Maybe keep this thread running too?

LD

[ghostface_killah24]

Originally Posted by LAB DESIGN

Ok... May I start with something I don't know the answer to?
[Q] How do I delete files with ROCKbox?

Good call Febs. Maybe keep this thread running too?

LD

Hold down the NAVI button with the file highlighted, select Delete file.

[DD]

EDIT: Oh crap, someone gets there first again! Get deleting.

[Febs]

Yes, I'll keep this thread running. The thread itself will become a good resource, although for reasons I've stated many times before, I think the Rockbox website is the best place to maintain this information.

To delete files in Rockbox, use the Delete function in the File Menu.

Two things I forgot to mention in my first post. One, phrases in italics will be hyperlinks to other parts of the WikiManual. Two, since this will apply to multiple lines of players, try to link to other parts of the manual rather than listing keypresses that are specific to a particular line of player.

[LAB DESIGN]

Thank you both.. I'll try to return the favour by helping where I can

LD

[Mike]

Great idea and may I suggest, as I think already is happening, that tips be included as well? This is what I thought the WikiManual had been lacking, and what I was going to start adding. A tip as vs. a "how-to": a tip may be even briefer, or may reflect how to use Rockbox as vs. how to do something with it (a subtle distinction, I know).

[Febs]

That's a good idea.

[DD]

Not trying to spam this thread up, but you were all ridiculing me a few days ago for suggesting something like this in another thread http://www.misticriver.net/showthrea...714#post372714.

Could this possibly be ever so slightly inspired by that? Anyway, great job Febs, I'll try and add something for it later.

[Febs]

I guess the difference is that you just said, "Rockbox needs to do this." I actually did it.

Incidentally, I wasn't ridiculing you then, and I'm not now. Rockbox is a cooperative effort. If you think that something needs to be done, the best way to get it done is to do it, not to just say in the abstract that someone else should do it.

[Mike]

How do I easily get to the next or previous folder of music, when listening to music?

To easily get to the next or previous folder, press and hold the ON button while moving the PLAY button to the right or left. Or, press the PLAY button to the right or left quickly, followed by a long right or left press of the PLAY button.

(iRiver specific?)

[BlaqReaper]

These two I find useful.
How to turn on the original firmware?
Press play and record and hold it until the original firmware boots.

How do you play games on rockbox?
You need .gb or .gbc files and you press play (like you would a music file)

[musichound]

Q. I have hundreds of albums. It takes a long time to scroll to the one I need. How can I get to them faster?

A. While browsing, first press the play button, then press the up and down keys on the NAVI button to jump one page at a time.

[DD]

Yea. When I referred to "Rockbox" I meant it as the community; Rockbox is everyone who uses it- isn't that the open source spirit?

Anyway, any suggestions for what I could do? You don't get answers without questions and I can't think of any good questions!

[DD]

Aha, this one comes up loads. I don't know why anyone would actually want ot get rid of RB but oh well...


[Q]How do I uninstall Rockbox?

Rockbox comes in two parts; the bootloader and and the build. To uninstall Rockbox both of these items need to be uninstalled...

1)Locate a clean firmware file on the manufacturer's website, i.e. iriver.com.
2)Follow the usual firmware update procedure for your model (can be found in your manual).
3)This has removed the bootloader. Now when you turn on your player it should boot straight into the original firmware.
4)Now delete all Rockbox files off your player (the ".rockbox" directory and accompanying files).
5)Your player is now does not have Rockbox

[Febs]

Originally Posted by drippydonut

Anyway, any suggestions for what I could do? You don't get answers without questions and I can't think of any good questions!

Look through some of the recent threads in this forum for questions that come up over and over again!

I've created a wiki page and jotted down some initial ideas. Go to the Rockbox wiki and go to the ManualHowTo page.

[Mike]

Can I use the tags in my music to select music to play under Rockbox, i.e. is there Database play under Rockbox?

Yes. Rockbox includes a database function, under development, which currently allows selection of music by artist, album, and song title; it also allows you to search your music under each of these fields. To enable the database, you need to (1) download various pieces of software/software files onto your player and computer, (2) build your database, and (3) select the database as your file selection means.

Instructions on how to do this are located at the Rockbox TagDatabase page. http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/TagDatabase

Note: it appears that a bug has entered the system so that the player currently (16 January 2006) freezes when "ID3 database" is selected under "Show Files" (the third step above). To avoid this while it awaits fixing, select the ID3 database under the regular menu (Menu->General Settings->File View->Show Files) rather than the Quickscreen, and then back out a screen and turn the player off, and then on again.

[Mike]

How can I find a particular song or album or artist to play, when I only know part of the name?

Rockbox has the ability to search by string under each of the song, artist and album tag fields, under its TagDatabase (under development). To do so, you first need to enable the Rockbox database using your previously filled-in music tags, by (1) downloading various pieces of software/software files onto your player and computer, (2) building your database, and (3) selecting the database as your file selection means. Then, to find your music, choose "Search" under the database, followed by the field you want to search (Artists, Albums, or Songs), at which point you are presented with a letter/number/symbol data entry screen. Insert a string of characters (this does not have to be a full word) and press ON, at which point Rockbox searches the selected tag field and gives you the results, for you to select between.

Cool!

Instructions on how to set the database up are located at the Rockbox TagDatabase page. http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/TagDatabase

Note: it appears that a bug has entered the system so that the player currently (16 January 2006) freezes when "ID3 database" is selected under "Show Files" (the third step above). To avoid this while it awaits fixing, select the ID3 database under the regular menu (Menu->General Settings->File View->Show Files) rather than the Quickscreen, and then back out a screen and turn the player off, and then on again.

[Febs]

Bump.
.....

[DD]

[Q]How do I add a plugin?

To add a plugin, simply place the .rock file in the "rocks" folder (found in ".rockbox") on your player. Some plugins such as Rockpaint require a few extra files; for these simply follow the included instructions. You should now be able to run that plugin by accessing the menu then selecting "browse plugins".

[moneyike]

Thank you for this Febs, I have just one simple question before i flash to Rockbox in a few months. How do i create playlist. ..Ike