H120 will be here today, should I just load up Rockbox?

[jbroad572]

Well, I'm new to the whole iriver scene, but my player will be here tomorrow. I am used to ipods and had no problem at all with them. All of my files and playlists are organized just the way I like them in Itunes, am I up for a long night getting all these files transferred and even worse, syncing? I add a lot of music regularly. Should, I stick with the regular software? I can't wait to be able to record events with this bad boy, especially after hearing the quality these players are capable of.

[spikey]

the only advice i can really give you is to try both firmwares. i am currently using rockbox on my H320 and love it but there are some who dont like it, granted very few here.

anyhow i would deffinatly reccomend at least trying it because most of the people who use it never go back to the iriver firmware

[DD]

Although with the H1xx I would say there will be no looking back- people turn away from Rockbox on the H3xx because its lack of video, etc, but the H1xx can't do that anyway so where's the loss (and you can always boot back into the original firmware at any time by pressing record when you turn it on).

EDIT: Do I remember correctly they did get a B+W video playing on a H1xx once? I'm sure I remember something about it. You know like you can play video on the Archos with the .rvf stuff, like that. Anyway I think that one disappeared.

[jewman]

Some guy named "wett" actually did get video working on an h120. I emailed him, but he said it was not stable enough to work consistantly.

[Mike]

One firmware is not exclusive to the other. I recommend loading Rockbox and then flipping between the 2, and choose what you like best.

[Febs]

The Rockbox bootloader is safer than the iriver firmware, as it will allow you to access the hard drive in some situations where the iriver firmware won't if the HD develops problems. Moreover, Rockbox is dual boot, so you can choose to start either the Rockbox firmware or the iriver firmware. Thus, I recommend that you load Rockbox. You can find installation instructions by following the Rockbox link in my signature.

[coreman]

I recommend Rockbox...and forgetting the iRiver...Rockbox loads a lot faster and has way more features, like gapless/crossfading/customizable WPS screens...and did I mention gapless?

But one of the more important features for me was a true "shuffle" program that works quite well (since I use playlists a lot but want a different sequence each time)...besides I've gotten used to the 3-4 sec boot time vs 30 sec or more under iRiver firmware...and Rockbox is continually being developed and new features added all the time like recording from FM (which I don't use since I don't have any hard drive space left, really need a 60G or better now)...

[adama]

Likewise, I'd say give Rockbox a go. I never use the iriver firmware now. Startup time is way better with rockbox, and it's just much nicer to use. (Quicker scrolling and a font size that you can choose yourself are what I like the most.)

[jbroad572]

thanks guys, seems like a no brainer especially since I would be able to dual boot.

[larry_llama]

The only time I go into the iriver firmware is by accident. This is from the first day I had a working H1xx!

[jewman]

jbroad572: I would recommend using Pilot000's h1xx optimized rockbox build. It is just as stable as the regular builds, and includes various enhancements not found in the regular builds, including the recording enhancement patch, which enhances Rockbox's recording features.

[jbroad572]

Originally Posted by jewman

jbroad572: I would recommend using Pilot000's h1xx optimized rockbox build. It is just as stable as the regular builds, and includes various enhancements not found in the regular builds, including the recording enhancement patch, which enhances Rockbox's recording features.

Thanks loaded it up, froze up on Blackjack, one of my favorites though. Hopefully it is a one time thing. Will try it again in the AM.

[jewman]

Originally Posted by jbroad572

Thanks loaded it up, froze up on Blackjack, one of my favorites though. Hopefully it is a one time thing. Will try it again in the AM.

I did hear over on the h1xx optimized disscusion thread that there have been some problems on the latest build.

[jhebert]

You'll always have the option to start up with either interface, so load up RockBox!

My first week or two with RockBox was kind of rough... I felt like I was battling the interface some (I still think the current button configuration has issues with consistency in the way various menus operate, even more so when you add in the plugins and patches people have developed).

I also tried learning the remote operation at the same time. It has a different button layout than the main unit, and it added to my initial confusion. I would advise you work with either the main unit or the remote exclusively at first, because trying to learn both will seem baffling at first. And ask questions here! This group is expert.

That said, after I got myself trained on it, I have had only the occasional oops.

As far as features and performance, the iriver firmware cannot touch it. For a time I used both, now I only *rarely* go back to the original firmware. RockBox has become the master of my 120 and I would hate to give it up.

James

[irv]

As has been said above, it's definitely worth having Rockbox on your player as you can always use the original firmware if you really want to. If you're intending to do any recording I'd definitely recommend Rockbox, it's so easy to use.

[Lad]

Originally Posted by irv

If you're intending to do any recording I'd definitely recommend Rockbox, it's so easy to use.

Just be aware that only format currently supported when recording via RockBox is WAV.

Lad

[adlai]

You know, it shouldn't be that difficult to clone the ipod interface...

[GeoffJ]

If you are a tinkerer you'll like Rockbox. If you just want to listen to audio and don't mid the longer boot up then you'll prefer iRiver firmware.
The dual boot bootloader from Rockbox will give you the flexibility to try both worlds and then decide for yourself.

My personal opinion is that the playback quality of the iRiver firmweare is currently superior, but the word is thae Rockbox Ver 3 due early May may resolve this.

[Danfried]

Originally Posted by jbroad572

Well, I'm new to the whole iriver scene, but my player will be here tomorrow. I am used to ipods and had no problem at all with them. All of my files and playlists are organized just the way I like them in Itunes, am I up for a long night getting all these files transferred and even worse, syncing? I add a lot of music regularly. Should, I stick with the regular software? I can't wait to be able to record events with this bad boy, especially after hearing the quality these players are capable of.

If you're used to iTunes, you can find a hack to let it work with your H120, but I don't have personal experience with it.

For something I've actually used, I'd highly recommend Mediamonkey. It duplicates just about everything iTunes can do except interface with ITMS, but it will work with all USB drive-based mp3 players. Most importantly for me, it has smart playlists, and it also allows me to keep the original filetree organization on my H320.

Most importantly for you, it can arrange a filetree structure for you based on tag info, so you won't have to scroll through long lists of tag information to find the track you want. For example, you can get it to automatically set up a directory tree structure like /genre/artist/album/track.

[earldabear]

Is Rockbox Version 3 expected to record MP3?

[jewman]

I'm not sure, but I know that if you hold the select button over the newly-created wav file, you can click on "wav2mp3" and it will convert the file and put the converted mp3 file in the same directory as the wav file.